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Taranaki kept Southland waiting for their first Mitre 10 Cup victory of the season with a 30-14 win on a miserable Thursday night in New Plymouth.
Southland remain rooted to the bottom of the Championship after they were outscored by three tries to one by a Taranaki side who move up to second in the Premiership following a third win out of four.
Sean Wainui charged down a kick to score the only try of the first half before eight points from the boot of Marty McKenzie gave Taranaki a 13-9 lead at the break on a wet and windy evening.
Taranaki ought to have been further in front, but Ben Matwijow and Lachlan Boshier touched down after the interval in testing conditions, with Jason Rutledge's late try and three Greg Dyer penalties in the first half all Southland could muster.
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McKenzie was perfect from the tee, landing all six kicks as Southland slumped to a fourth defeat from four.