Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

The Steamers season came to a close last Sunday when the Bay side ran into the Canterbury juggernaut, which was intent on booking a home semi-final in the top echelon of the ITM Cup.

All fourteen teams in the two divisions of the National Provincial Championship started their 2012 ITM Cup journey, with a positive outlook that was full of (winning) expectations.

The reality is the that the only sides that truly fulfil their season start hopes, are the two teams that will lift aloft the ITM Cup premiership and championship trophies, on the last Saturday in October.

Bay of Plenty started their ITM Cup campaign all bright eyed and bushy tailed after a structured build-up and good pre-season results.

Head Coach Kevin Schuler had good reason to look forward to his teams NPC journey with real optimism.

A solid win against Otago in the Steamers second game said that the Bay side was ready to fire.

After an unbelievable limp performance against championship front runners Counties Manukau and being kicked out of the match by Waikato - the Steamers entered the encounter with ITM Cup heavyweight Auckland with just one win from four games.

One of the joys of following the Steamers over the years, is the Bay sides ability to turn mediocre form into dynamic winning action against a competition heavyweight.

Nearly 7000 loyal Steamers fans turned up at the Rotorua International Stadium in the Sulphur City.

In a display of rugby magic, the Blue and Gold side pulled a rabbit out of the hat to trounce their long time rivals.

A 24-6 lead at the break was stretched to a magnificent 37-16 win for the screaming Steamers supporters.

The Auckland game belonged to Lance MacDonald who set the partisan crowd alight with two touchdowns in the first forty minutes.

The second half of the Steamers season became a fight to avoid relegation, when a Hawke's Bay try from nowhere three minutes into injury time, saw the 'other Bay” grab a dramatic 42-41 win.

A ten-point loss to Wellington resulted in an absolute must win encounter with Northland at Baypark.

In front of another good-sized home crowd, the home team were given a good battle in the first half before kicking away to post a 31-19 victory.

Dan Goodwin, who started the season the Bay Development team, was the everywhere man grabbing two tries, in a game that eased the relegation pressure a little.

A second limp performance against Tasman where uncharacteristically weak defence and bungled opportunities cost the Steamers dearly saw them sit firmly in the relegation zone.

Some of the best news of the season, came the day before the Canterbury encounter, when Hawkes Bay lost to surprise Ranfurly Shield holders Waikato - to hand the Bay side another year in the ITM Cup premiership.

A severe injury toll that wasn't helped by the quick fire turn arounds, which saw the Steamers playing 3 games in the space of eight days, didn't help the Bay sides campaign.

However the Steamers management made no excuses and continued to put the best team that was available on the paddock.

There was no better performer game after game than stand-in skipper Tanerau Latimer.

After captain Jamie Nutbrown was injured in the first game, Latts led his troops from the front taking few backward steps. In a day where players change teams at the drop of a hat, Tanerau Latimer is loyalty personified.

It was the new boys on the block who also stepped up in spades. Baywide club players such as Simon Rolleston and Jesse Acton, along with the four or five development team players, who were promoted to the Steamers during the season, paid back the faith shown in them by the head coach.

Such was the search for fit troops, that one development player was pulled from the bus on his way to play Northland on Saturday, to travel with the Steamers to provide cover against Canterbury.

While the Steamers 2012 ITM Cup campaign didn't produce the results that the fans wanted – there is now the expectation of next season to look forward to in the summer break.

Seeya at next year's Steamers' games