North Otago shot to the top of the Heartland rugby championship's Meads Cup standings with a come-from-behind 21-16 victory against Wanganui in Oamaru today.
The home team looked at a loss for answers at the hour mark with a 5-16 deficit to make up. But 16 unanswered points in the final quarter saw them sneak ahead to take pole position heading into the final week of Meads Cup pool play.
North Otago's comeback was initiated by a penalty from first five Ben Patston, before a hair-raising chip-and-chase from winger Greg Zampach saw North Otago creep within a point of the defending champions with 10 minutes to play.
Momentum continued North Otago's way, with the turning point coming when Patston slammed a drop goal home from just outside his attacking 22 in the 74th minute. Another penalty to Patston two minutes later sealed the win.
The match was finely balanced in the first quarter, but Wanganui took their chances to lead 10-0 at the break thanks to centre Tau Moeke's 28th minute try.
Wanganui showed more aggression around the tackled-ball area and gained ascendancy upfront to lay a strong platform to work from out wide, but North Otago scrambled well on defence to keep the visitors at bay.
Score: North Otago 21 (Ofa Fatai, Greg Zampach tries; Ben Patston con, 2 pen, dropped goal) Wanganui 16 (Tau Moeke try, con, 3 pen). Halftime: 0-10.
