To the surprise of many, it was the Whales who started the better, but they could not convert a couple of half-openings, as the usually reliable Jakob Bell-Kake saw one roll away off his stick when a chance presented itself at close range.
The Whales kept pushing, as Benji Culhane and Liam Williams pinned the Tuataras in their own half, but they just could not make it count, and they would live to rue that.
In the second quarter, a Jordan Ward drag-flick was deflected home by one of the Whales’ posties, leaving Hugh Nixon with no chance.
Nixon was on a mission, but that mission got harder as Manu Henderson doubled the lead with a rebound strike shortly before halftime. It was a dagger through the heart of the University side, who were being roared on by a boisterous crowd.
At halftime, it felt inevitable the Tuas would push on to a convincing victory, and those thoughts only grew louder when Oliver Battrick impressively finished from a tight angle, Nixon’s defence unable to clear the danger after he made another great save.
Things were firmly against the Whales, but you would have been a fool to write them off, and finally they got a stroke of luck.
A hopeful crash ball from the right edge found the stick of Jean-Luc Peyroux with the ball taking the finest of touches to nestle itself in the bottom left-hand corner. It was a lifeline for the students, and they were full of belief they could grab another.
With a spring in their step, they found a couple of penalty corners, but Taieri keeper Isaac Hallam made one particularly important save to keep the margin at two goals, as the points champions weathered the storm.
They did enough, and ultimately the Whales faded once again. Their efforts could not be questioned, but there was to be no fairy-tale run for the defending champions.
Despite the best efforts of Nixon and Culhane, the Whales were simply no match for the star-studded Tuas side.
Patrick Ward was classy for Taieri, beating many on the dribble, while Chris Hill found plenty of joy bombing on from half. Jayan Goldsworthy was also very tidy for the champions.
Inspirational player-coach Jordan Ward signed off in game No 150 as a champion.
— Nicholas Friedlander
