The Bay of Plenty Steamers have lost their first ITM Cup game over neighbours Waikato, in Hamilton. The Steamers opened the scoring in the 19th minute with a penalty kicked by Dan Waenga following a dangerous tackle made by the Waikato number eight. The lead changed just before halftime though with Waikato halfback Brendon Leonard scoring a try under the posts and soon followed by a penalty in the last play of the half, giving the home team a 10-3 lead at the break. The statistics at More...

Gisborne has beaten Bethlehem College 3-2 in the girls final of the Festival of Hockey at the Bethlehem College hockey turf on Saturday afternoon. It was a tight game between Gisborne and Bethlehem College with the half time score 2-2. Gisborne scored the final goal in the last six minutes. Gisborne scrapped by with a win against Bethlehem at the Festival of Hockey on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Tracy Penwarden. Alice Ansley and Rose Keddell scored the two goals for Bethlehem More...

The cutthroat nature of post section rugby means there are no second chances in the semi-finals of the Bartercard Baywide rugby championships to be played on Saturday. In the Premier division, defending champions Tauranga Sports has taken aim on an unprecedented four successive Baywide crowns. The Tauranga Domain based side will play archrivals Te Puke Sports at the Tauranga Domain in a replay of last season's championship decider. Te Puke Sports has been perennial top four finisher in More...

A group of 56 people divided among 14 teams participated in the inaugural Tangaroa Challenge in Mount Maunganui on Friday morning. The school teams from as far away as New Plymouth and Auckland competed in the triathlon event that was divided into four categories: junior male under-16, senior male under-19, junior mixed and senior mixed. Trident Trihards: Ryan Wesche, Keiran Coastes, Brad Jones, Aaron Mallett In the senior male under-19 category, the team from Whakatane's Trident High More...

With championship semi-finals looming on the horizon in the BOP Polytechnic Secondary Schools competitions the championship contenders are starting to emerge. In Division One of the first XV title race, the top four appear ready to split the competition into two this Saturday. ompetition leader, Western Heights High School, will consolidate their position at the top of the leader board if they defeat Trident High School in Rotorua. Last weekend Western Heights showed their class running More...

The Bay of Plenty Steamers couldn't have been handed a much bigger challenge to the start of the ITM Cup campaign than their first up assignment against Waikato on Saturday. In the days before the National Provincial Championship was established in 1976, the biggest game of the season was always the battle against the team from the other side of the Kaimai ranges. New Bay of Plenty Steamers mascot Steamie goes against the coach's trend of naming experienced players in the team to play this More...

Western Heights High School continued their unbeaten run in the BOP Polytechnic Secondary Schools first XV competition last Saturday when they hosted Reporoa College. The top echelon match-up was far from one-way traffic with Western Heights finally taking out the match 35-20. While the visitors' forwards took the contest to the Rotorua school, a classy back line display from Western Heights saw them run in five tries to continue their unbeaten Division One championship record. Three More...

The Bay of Plenty Steamers face one of their biggest challenges of the season on Saturday when they run on to Waikato Stadium to face Waikato in their ITM Cup opener. In the days before the National Provincial Championship was established in 1976, the biggest game of the season was always the battle across the Kaimai ranges. Mike Delany was a critical player in the Steamers' win over Waikato in the Air New Zealand Cup in 2009. The games between the long time archrivals always bring an More...

Although the four Bartercard Baywide semi-finalists are found, the top fours' form in recent weeks suggests a crystal ball is needed to pick the championship winner at this stage. On Saturday, Rotoiti grabbed a place in the semi-finals when they got past Opotiki at Emery Park. The victory over the Eastern Bay side was the lake-sider's first win since the last weekend in May. Tauranga Sports has finished the regular season top if the table in the Bartercard Baywide Premier Rugby More...

Bay of Plenty golf croquet players have dominated competition on their home turf, winning two out of the three contested sections at the weekend. The event on Saturday was the Tauranga Croquet Club's third of four winter golf croquet tournaments and was held on the club lawns at Tauranga Domain in fine winter sunshine. The handicap doubles tournament, played in two sections of eight pairs, drew entries from Papakura, Waikato and the three coastal Bay of Plenty clubs. Section one was won by More...