Tasman held off Taranaki in their ITM Cup match at Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, the Makos' fourth successive win guaranteeing a home semi-final in the Championship play-offs.

The crossover match was of little real consequence for Taranaki, who were out of Premiership play-off contention and who had avoided the threat of relegation from the top tier, but still they made a big effort in front of their home fans for the last time this season to turn around a 24-6 deficit over the final half-hour.

Seta Tamanivalu began the fightback with a try before Tasman winger Mitchell Scott produced a superb chase to prevent Taranaki fullback Kurt Baker dotting down. Andre Taylor then ran a great line to touch down with 11 minutes to go, and the Taranaki winger converted the try to make it a four-point game, but Tasman had the last say when Billy Guyton landed a penalty three minutes from time to complete a personal haul of 17 points.

Tasman set up their third win from four crossover matches with first-half tries from Joe Wheeler and Scott. Wheeler's try came after a big break by centre Andrew Symons, while Scott won the race to a ball hacked ahead from a turnover.