North Harbour came to McLean Park last night as an unbeaten premier division rugby side, and the holder of the Ranfurly Shield.

They left as a beaten side, and a side that had been well and truly out thought, and tactically mastered by a Hawke's Bay side intent on making up for the effort against Tasman, and of course to prop Arizona Taumaloulo a fitting performance in his blazer game for the province.

The Bay pack was superb last night in every aspect of the game, and no one more so than openside flanker Karl Lowe, who capped an excellent performance with an outstanding solo effort try down the Harris stand side of the field.

The Bay were slow to start and quickly found themselves 15-3 down,but then just when you thought another lack lustre effort may be on the horizon someone lit the fuse and the team responded fantastically well with 3 tries of excellent quality to Shoemark, Lowe and Guilford who once again showed his immense pace when he simply roared past the Harbour defence collected the ball and slid in under the left hand upright.

As in any game of rugby the foundation is laid up front, and this is where the Bay were impressive. They out rucked ,mauled,and outscrummed their opposition, and this pressure told in the second half when George Nauopou scored his try.

Many of the patrons may have gone the park last night thinking maybe a close win, but to come away with a win and bonus point is something to very proud of. And lets not forget the crowd, who once again supported the team to the hilt, with a very large turn out. Well done to the team, to the coaching staff, and the supporters.

Oh and to the idiots who ran across the field, get a life and streak in your own back yard.

The Magpies recovered from last week's disappointment to post a useful 35-25 win over North Harbour in the Air New Zealand Cup on Friday.

Three tries late in the first half handed the home team an advantage which the Magpies never surrendered, after a slow start.

North Harbour head into a Ranfurly Shield clash with Waikato next week needing a good performance to boost what has been an indifferent start to this season.

Harbour certainly started the game the brighter, with both George Pisi and Nick Williams going close, before those two combined again to send scrum-half Daniel Deveraux in for the opener.

Controversy reigned minutes later, after wing Jack McPhee extended Harbour's advantage to 12 with a try and conversion.

George Pisi appeared to have clearly knocked the ball on in the tackle before McPhee scooped up the loose ball, but referee Jonathon White thought otherwise.

Hawke's Bay fly-half Matt Berquist brought the home team's first points near the quarter hour, making it 3-12 with a penalty, but McPhee made it 3-15 with a penalty of his own five minutes later.

Berquist landed another after a strong run by hooker Hika Elliott, and then the game turned on its head.

Firstly, a flat pass from half-back Danny Lee missed out three players and centre Jason Shoemark crashed over the line, with Berquist making it 13-15 with the conversion.

Then, barely 60 seconds after the restart a slip from Deveraux at a line-out handed possession to Magpies flanker Karl Lowe, who charged away from some feeble tackles for another try.

The bizarre set of three quick tries was completed just before the break when Sam Giddens made good ground and broke poor Harbour tackles, before kicking the ball for Zac Guildford to score. Berquist made it 25-15 at the break.

Harbour bounced back towards the hour mark, having defended some stiff Magpies pressure for the first part of the second half, with McPhee beating three tackles to score a try, and converting it for a 25-22 scoreline.

Berquist and McPhee traded two penalties to make it 28-25, and then when Villiame Waqaseduadua dropped the ball by his own tryline, replacement George Nauopu dived on the ball to score the bonus-point and match-winning try for the home team.

The scorers:
For Hawke's Bay:
Tries: Shoemark, Lowe, Guildford, Naoupu
Cons: Berquist 3
Pens: Berquist 3

For North Harbour:
Tries: Deveraux, McPhee
Cons: McPhee 2
Pens: McPhee 2

See the tries on Magpie TV