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Faifili Levave scores -
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Wellington have given themselves a good chance of avoiding Premiership-relegation with a 29-28 win over North Harbour in Albany.
Harbour too, avoided the Championship wooden spoon, as Tasman claims 'coveted' last-place.
In the Premiership, Southland are definitely going to be in the lower-league next year, as they can only finish equal on points with Wellington, and the Lions won the head-to-head match between the sides 30-25 on August 18.
Harbour, though, will rue a woeful end to a woeful season, after fluffing the second half of a match they were well in control of at the halfway stage.
Two Chris Smylie inspired tries and a third to Raikuna had given the hosts a 23-10 lead at the break, but 16 unanswered points to Wellington early in the second half proved too daunting a momentum shift for Harbour to overturn.
North Harbour came out clearly the more determined side and it showed.
Ben Botica opened Harbour's account with a penalty from the sideline, and his side stretched the lead to 10 inside eight minutes.
Ever-aware, Chris Smylie stole around the blindside from close range, and sauntered through in the corner for a soft opening try.
The forwards too, were intent on making an impact for the hosts, and put the opposition under plenty of pressure, particularly at the breakdown.
They were well in control for the entire first half, but Wellington still managed an anomalous try when Faifili Levave slipped through a monstrous gap in the Harbour line to reel the hosts in.
But it didn't take Harbour long to redress the misleading score.
A fortuitous bounce off a Wellington boot gave the Harbour backs a clean break, and a simple draw-and-pass set David Raikuna clear in the corner.
Smylie then engineered another towards the close of the first half, scything by five Wellington defenders from an untidy offensive lineout to see James Parsons over the line with a terrific behind-the-back-flick.
Wellington, though, bit back hard after the break.
Lima Sopoaga was in fine touch with the boot, and he slotted three penalties to bring Wellington to within four points of the hosts, before their backs finally fired on attack, and created enough space for Hosea Gear to race into the corner.
Harbour had bled 16 second-half points inside 20 minutes, and though their defence finally awoke to stem the glut, Wellington simply had to play clever rugby to close out the game.
Raikuna scored his second with 15 minutes remaining to complicate things for the visitors, but ultimately Botica's ineptitude from the tee, and Sopoaga's artfulness from the same gave Wellington the one-point lead they needed to close out the game.
Harbour had one final chance to wrest away a victory when they found themselves deep in the Wellington half with five minutes remaining. But they opted for a crack at the tryline rather than a dropped goal attempt - perhaps knowing their fate in the league was already made safe by the four tries.
Wellington 29 (Levave, Gear tries; Sopaga, 2
con, 5pen)
North Harbour 28 (Smylie, Parsons, Raikuna x 2
tries; Botica con, 2 pen)
Halftime: 10-23
