But it was all with mixed blessings, in the incident leading to Beehre’s 20-minute red card, dynamite hooker Tyrone Thompson was injured and also left the field.
Immediately, the Magpies won their lineout ball 20 metres out, and brothers Sullivan chimed in – Bailyn Sullivan attacked in midfield, and the clearing of the ruck Ball saw Zarn Sullivan into a gap to score in the corner.
First five-eighths Harry Godfrey converted, for the first of his 19 points, which included a second-half try.
Despite Auckland being down to 14 for half the first 40 minutes, it was 17-17 at halftime, Auckland having scored one of their tries in that time.
They then scored another to take the lead early in the second half when down to 14 again after a 10-minute yellow card just before the break to flanker Randall Baker.
The Magpies barely lost momentum with the departure of Thompson, with replacement Kianu Kereru Symes becoming prominent in many aspects of the game, in his 9th season as a Magpie.
Vice-captain and flanker Cooper Flanders, too, flourished, in mirror-form to that of older brother Devan, who has departed the camp for rugby in Japan.
Where the momentum did stutter it was in the turnovers conceded in the first half, but at best – forward drives and spinning the ball in the backs, the Magpies still played with considerable flair.
It was Flanders who put the Bay up 12-0 with a try in the 17th minute, captain and fellow flanker Frank Lochore winning the lineout and the five-metres drive becoming unstoppable in the shove over the line.
With Auckland centre Xavi Taele having scored the first of his two tries, Kereru-Symes put the Magpies ahead by 12 points again, again in a formidable forward drive after lineout ball claimed five metres out by lock Hunter Morrison.
Auckland were leading 24-17, after the first of two second-half tries to first five-eighths Stephen Perofeta, when Flanders scored again in the 53rd minute
Godfrey levelled the score with the conversion, but Auckland hit the front again just three minutes later, with ominous set-piece perfection ending with Perofeta beating the cover defence to score behind the posts.
It was the jolt the Magpies needed, and they rebounded with a try to Godfrey, spinning out of two tackles to force the ball on the line for what was a crucial five points, and in the last 15 minutes he added two penalty goals and the conversion of Zarn Sullivan’s second try.
It was the 82nd match between Auckland and Hawke’s Bay, dating back to the first in 1889 and including the NPC’s first first-division match in 1976. Auckland has had 57 wins, Hawke’s Bay 20, and there have been five draws.
The match illustrated the movement of players in the modern era, with Saturday’s Magpies starting lineup not including any of the eight forwards who started against Auckland in 2025, and only three backs from that starting fifteen.
Auckland had six who started both games.
The Magpies next face a home match on Friday night against Manawatu, who in Palmerston North on Saturday night lost 29-27 in the last minute to Otago, after leading 17-7 at halftime.
Hawke’s Bay 44 (Zarn Sullivan 2, Cooper Flanders 2, Kianu Kereru-Symes, Harry Godfrey tries; Godfrey 2 penalties, 4 conversions) Auckland 31 (Stephen Perofeta 2, Xavi Taele 2, Harlyn Saunoa tries; Perofeta 2, Rico Simpson conversions). Halftime: 17-17.