Counties finishes strongly

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 72

Counties finishes strongly

PA Invercargill Counties had to come from 16-15 down at halftime to beat Southland 3719 in an entertaining nonchampionship rugby game played in wet conditions at Invercargill yesterday. The power of the bigger Counties pack and its support play paved the way for the win but the second division Southland team deserved credit for competing with vigour until the final 1 quarter of the game. With 15 minutes remaining, it came within two points of Counties on the scoreboard when Eion Crossan landed a penalty goal to bring up his 100 points for the season. But Counties’ bag of three tries in the last 10 minutes, two of which were converted, gave it a comfortable, if somewhat flattering margin at the finish. The Counties loose trio of Te Rau Clarke, Brett Bedwell and Alan Dawson consistently troubled Southland while Tiwai Parai, Sean Lineen and Grant Nolan were the pick of the backline. Brian de Groot, Brian McDonald and Peter Henderson were tireless in the Southland pack with Simon Culhane, Phil Johnston and Murray Brown, applying pressure in the backline. Counties 37 (Alan Dawson 2, Grant Nolan, Te Rau Clarke, Lindsay Raki, Richard Cole tries; Raki two conversions, penalty goal, Cole penalty goal, Tiwai Parai dropped goal). Southland 19 (Peter Henderson, Grant Anderson tries; Eion Crossan, one conversion, three penalty goals).