Bay of Plenty have held of a second half fightback from Hawke's Bay to take a thrilling 51-24 victory in the Mitre 10 Cup this afternoon.
With the two sides occupying first and second place in the Mitre 10 Cup Championship, leaders Hawke's Bay could take a huge step towards promotion by seeing off the Steamers.
However, Bay of Plenty would strike after just two minutes, winger Joe Ravouvou opening the scoring, before grabbing another just five minutes later.
Three more first half tries to Kaleb Trask, Chase Tiatia and Mitch Karpik saw the hosts take a huge 31-0 lead into halftime.
After the break though, Hawke's Bay emerged to avoid being the second team in as many days to be held scoreless, with Danny Toala grabbing the Magpies' first points of the match.
Tiatia's second briefly saw the Steamers halt Hawke's Bay's charge, only for tries to Geoffrey Cridge, Ollie Sapsford and Marino Makaele Tu'u bring the scores to 39-24.
Bay of Plenty's win was effectively sealed when Tiatia had his hat-trick going into the final 10 minutes of the match, before one last try to Tevita Mafileo saw the Steamers pass 50 points.
The win sees Bay of Plenty move to within three points of Hawke's Bay at the top of the Mitre 10 Cup Championship, both sides picking up a bonus point in today's high scoring thriller.
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