The Old Boys-University Colts have suffered their first loss of the season, going down to Marist St Pat’s 17-10 at Evans Bay Park Artificial.
The blustery conditions made it hard for both teams to string together phases, though the biggest hurdle for OBU came to be the two yellow cards they received – one right at the end of the first half, and the other with 18 minutes to play.
The latter card allowed MSP to their second – and match-winning – try of the day, bumping the score out to 17-5 in the hosts’ favour.
The Goats fought admirably to get themselves back in a position to at least finish with a draw, scoring through substitute Hugo Spath, but things just didn’t fall into place as they made one last-ditch effort to complete their comeback.
Things were messy to begin the game, taking 25 minutes for either team to record points. Those opening points came courtesy of a strong OBU lineout maul, seeing hooker Taane Te Aho cross the whitewash.
MSP notched up three points just before the break, though a try 10 minutes into the half gave the hosts a lead that the Goats were never able to snatch back.