Turbos done and dusted

Hopes fading: Manawatu's chances of making the quarter-finals are now very slim

The Manawatu Turbos' hopes of reaching the Air New Zealand Cup quarter-finals took a major blow on Thursday after the men in green suffered a 14-3 defeat to Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium.

Manawatu remain without a win since round one and it would be a major surprise if they went on to reach the last eight for the first time since their readmittance to the first division in 2006.

Taranaki looked to be a different side to the one that struggled the week before, scoring two tries through winger Shayne Austin and inside centre Jayden Hayward for a morale-boosting win.

Sporadic bouts of rain and a slippery ball created a forward-based contest and tactical kicking battle between Taranaki pivot Willie Ripia and Manawatu opposite Matty James.

The game finally opened up after Taranaki lock Jason Eaton charged down a Turbos' kick inside their own in-goal area and allowed the home side to pile on the pressure on Manawatu's line.

After deciding that driving through the Manawatu forward pack wasn't going to work, Taranaki scrum-half Brett Goodin flicked the ball all the way out to right winger Paul Perez who was tackled into the corner but managed to flick a pass back into Austin who scored the try.

Ripia slotted the tricky sideline conversion to take the score to 7-0 after 27 minutes of play.

It didn't take long for the hosts to double their lead through the impressive Hayward who burst onto a pass after quick hands from Ripia and Scott Waldrom to score under the posts.

Ripia's simple conversion put Taranaki 14-0 in front, and that's how the score stayed until half-time.

The Turbos finally managed to put some points on the board in the 51st minute when James kicked a relatively easy penalty and added a crucial three points with the match still anyone's for the taking.

However, James missed a chance at closing the gap even further six minutes later when his penalty attempt drifted agonisingly across to the right hand side of the posts.

Frustrations boiled over with 15 minutes remaining when Taranaki prop and captain Tony Penn and Manawatu flanker Doug Tietjens traded blows which resulted in both being sent to the sin-bin.

Although Taranaki were looking dangerous for the remainder of the match, the hosts were unable to make their passes stick in the wet New Plymouth night and struggled to put further points on the board.

The scorers:

For Taranaki:

Tries: Austin, Hayward

Cons: Ripia 2

For Manawatu:

Pen: James

Yellow cards: Tony Penn (Taranaki, 65 min); Doug Tietjens (Manawatu, 65 min)

Taranaki: 15 Asalemo Malo, 14 Paul Perez, 13 Nathan Hohaia, 12 Jayden Hayward, 11 Shayne Austin, 10 Willie Ripia, 9 Brett Goodin, 8 Nemia Soqeta, 7 Scott Waldrom, 6 Chris Walker, 5 Jason Eaton, 4 Craig Clarke, 3 Hamish Mitchell, 2 Laurence Corlett, 1 Tony Penn (c).

Replacements: 16 James Annabell, 17 Shane Cleaver, 18 Tom Ryder, 19 Alex Tulou, 20 Brendan Haami, 21 Jonathan Spratt, 22 Jack Cameron.

Manawatu: 15 Kurt Baker, 14 Aaron James, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Frankie Bryant, 11 Lote Raikabula, 10 Matty James, 9 Aaron Good, 8 Hamish Gosling, 7 Josh Bradnock (c), 6 Nick Crosswell, 5 Hayden Triggs, 4 James Goode, 3 David Te Moana, 2 Rob Foreman, 1 Grant Polson.

Replacements: 16 Sean O'Connor, 17 Talau Hala, 18 Doug Tietjens, 19 Paul Rodgers, 20 Isaac Thompson, 21 Junior Tomasi Cama, 22 Francisco Bosch.

Referee: Kelvin Deaker

TMO: Ben Skeen