LEAGUE - Do not ask who were the scorers

It is with some apprehension that a sports reporter approaches his first match inside the walls of one of her majesty's correctional facilities.
Writing up a report on a game of rugby league between the prison side Ngawha Saints and Marist doesn't sound like much of a problem on the face of it, but after signing a piece of paper with several dos and don'ts on it, a few problems were beginning to form in my mind.
The biggest stumbling block was the blanket ban on identifying individual Saints players. I was dreading writing something like ... with time up on the clock and the Saints leading by two, Marist's Lance Edmonds dove for the line only to be caught short by a flying tackle by the Ngawha number 7. Not the kind of stuff Pulitzer prizes are made of.
Fortunately, by the time I arrived at the prison such thoughts soon gave way to wondering where I had been hiding all the metal that apparently made the trip up with me from Whangarei.
For those who have never had the pleasure of visiting a prison, the security is very similar to what you strike at a major airport just after a bomb threat.
It took three trips through the machine to satisfy the guards on the front gate, and after they'd nabbed my dictaphone and tobacco as contraband, I settled down to wait for the rest of the guests to arrive.
Marist came through the gates after having already changed in a less secure area and seemed to be in good spirits, despite the fact they had no replacements.
I held things up a little when I was equipped with a very small panic room that clipped on to my belt. Just quite how I was supposed to fit in there if things turned to custard I'm not too sure, but the nice man at the gate told me to hold down the red button if I needed help.
Our group made our way into the prison and then out to the field.
We passed a few prisoners clad in rather fetching white overalls, some of whom started cheering for Marist when the game started - they didn't last long and were taken back to lock up, whether because of their temerity to back the travelling team, or because their work detail was over, I never found out.
The Saints soon hit top gear and ran riot. You could tell they were up for the game and had been preparing for it a lot longer than Marist had.
You have to admire Marist's part in the historical moment.
They fought their way back into the game just before the break and acted like perfect gentlemen by congratulating the Saints after.
They got my vote anyway because the story wouldn't have been anywhere as near newsworthy if the Saints had lost, nor did I have to worry about the match report, there were far too many scorers to worry about anyway.