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If last week's comeback against the Silktails was remarkable then the One New Zealand Warriors' effort against the Wests Tigers beggared belief in Saturday’s round 19 Jersey Flegg Cup (under-21) clash at North Harbour Stadium.

The scoreline alone was extraordinary enough, a match that produced a whopping 86 points with the home side finishing 44-42 ahead.

Yet that didn’t begin to tell the story about what went on here. It was crazy, phenomenal, incredible and just a touch miraculous.

The short version was this.

Entering the last 10 minutes the Tigers were up 42-22 in this madcap contest. And then it unfolded like this:

71st minute: Etuate Fukofuka try, Brandon Norris conversion. Warriors 28, Tigers 42.

76th minute: Raphael Sio try, not converted. Warriors 32, Tigers 42.

78th minute: Makaia Tafua try, Norris conversion. Warriors 38, Tigers 42.

79th minute: Norris try, Norris conversion after the siren. Warriors 44, Tigers 42.

From 20 points down with less than 10 to play, these astonishing young Warriors had found four tries and 22 points to pull off an insane result. No superlative can capture it.

As Norris was preparing to convert his match-levelling try from in front of the posts, the visiting players were standing in stunned disbelief in their in-goal area. And there they stood for some time trying to absorb what had hit them while Norris’ teammates ran and engulfed him after he nailed the conversion.

So now to backtrack on why this had to be called a madcap match.

Last week the Warriors had given up 18 points in the opening 22 minutes to the bottom-placed Silktails. It wasn’t pretty but normal service was resumed as the Warriors dined out by scoring eight unanswered tries to win 40-18.

The match-up against the Tigers was at another level with the visitors coming into the match in seventh place on the ladder, the Warriors eighth.

After the calamitous start against the Fijians, a good start was the minimum requirement – and the Warriors delivered on that with hooker Tafua scoring twice in the opening eight minutes.

The first came from halfway when Tafua opened up a hole for halfback Jack Thompson to pour through with the dummy half backing up to score.

The second was produced as the Warriors went to their right edge, Norris hooking a kick back into the Tigers’ in-goal. It was threatening to go dead but Thompson hunted it down, flicking the ball back for Tafua to ground.

To say the contest was of the fast and furious type was then reinforced as the Warriors lost the early momentum allowing the Tigers to pounce with a run of four tries in the space of 20 minutes to go 22-12 ahead.

The Warriors checked them with a regulation try near halftime as Tafua served up a short ball for second rower Jackson Kite to score from close range. That left the Tigers 22-16 ahead at the break.

In the opening stages of the second half, the Warriors all but lost contact as the Tigers banged on three tries to hold a 38-16 advantage after 57 minutes.

A Thompson try from 10 metres out reduced the damage to 22-38 only for the Tigers to score their eighth try on the 67-minute mark to stretch to 42-22.

And then the music really started.

From 10 metres out, loose forward Fukofuka bumped off one defender and then blasted through three more to score. Conversion taken quickly and it was 42-28.

The Warriors started squeezing, feeding off penalties and six-again calls before the Tigers were reduced to 12 with Jared Haywood sent to the sin bin with four minutes to play.

The home side tapped and went to the left edge straight away, Norris putting Raphael Sio over in the corner. Norris took the conversion attempt quickly but missed leaving the Warriors 10 points behind with three minutes to play.

That man Norris was in it again shrugging off tackles on the left and then flicking the ball back infield where Thompson released a rampaging Paea Sikuvea. He dispensed of multiple defenders before off loading superbly for Tafua to complete a hat-trick. Conversion in front, no problem and it was 38-42 with a minute left.

The shell-shocked visitors were at the Warriors’ mercy, powerless to stop what had suddenly become inevitable.

Making big ground on the first three tackles after the restart, the Warriors went for the kill, heading left in search of the sublime Norris and the centre obliged in the most wondrous manner.

Standoff Maui Winitana-Patelesio’s sweet pass gave Norris the opportunity he needed from 40 metres out as he stepped inside one defender, gassed another couple and raced away to score between the posts (his 12th try this season). Cue delirious celebrations as he was engulfed.

The conversion was a formality and the Warriors had another scarcely believable win. They might wonder how it came about - the Tigers will wonder how they let it happen.

The result has bumped the Warriors up to seventh on 20 points from eight wins, two draws and eight losses. They're at home again next week against the competition-leading Storm.