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The Counties Manukau Steelers have come agonisingly close to winning their NPC quarter-final against top-seeded Canterbury in Christchurch.
The Steelers forced the game into extra time but ended up losing 23-15 to end their late-season rally.
It was the visitors who made the early running, scoring an early penalty on the way to taking a 15-5 lead at halftime.
Gibson Popoali’i and Ioane Moananu scored tries for the Steelers.
But Canterbury fought back in the second half and forced the game into extra time.
Canterbury scored the sole try of extra time.
Counties Manukau threw everything they had at Canterbury, but weren’t able to find a way to score a try to restore the deficit.
A late long-range penalty ended the Steelers’ chances.
