RUGBY - Dramatic kick-off defies prediction

DOOMSDAY theories surrounding a new-look Marist team that is tipped to sweep all before it in this year's Joe Morgan Memorial club rugby competition proved to be unfounded on Saturday.
A robust off-season recruitment campaign has seen Marist gather together a formidable squad under new coach Adriaan Ferris; a team that at full strength will boast eight current Northland representatives and another three Tongan sevens players.
But as most of those players will be unavailable for club fixtures for another three weeks at least, Marist were expected to struggle for early season results and stage a late surge into the competition semifinals.
That was until they stepped up to beat Hikiurangi 18-17 in a nail-biting season opener on Saturday, staving off a late resurgence from a determined Hikurangi outfit to secure the victory.
Led by new players Hayden Hutchinson and Peter Hugo, Marist jumped out to a 13-5 lead playing into the wind in the first half but were put under the hammer by Hikurangi in the second spell, with first five eighths Cass Walding and veteran No8 Aaron Wright leading the comeback to get Hikurangi to 13-12 behind.
Marist scored to extend their lead but then conceded a late try and only just managed to hold on for the win when Hikurangi blew two certain touchdowns in the last minutes of the game.
It was a tense contest and the closest tussle of the weekend, with the opening round of the competition throwing up some big scores. Some teams were obviously under-prepared, even though the kick-off of the club competition was three weeks later than last year.
Mid Northern, the defending champions, hit the ground running with a 65-0 thrashing of Waipu at Waipu. Vaughan Going made his first game back in the Mid Northern colours in more than a decade with two tries, along with his cousin Clint Going, who also dotted down twice.
Waipu were never in the contest and are facing a long season if they can't bolster their forward pack with some lineout winning locks and add some size to their loose forward ranks.
Mid Northern were up 26-0 at halftime despite playing with one in the sin bin during the first quarter after fullback Clint Going was pulled up for a late tackle.
Wellsford also notched up a convincing win, 57-14, over promoted side Mid Western, a performance so compelling that they must now be rated as serious contenders for a semifinal berth this year.
Wellsford has lost the core of the team that performed so well last season and were without strike force winger Rene Ranger, who is overseas with the New Zealand sevens team.
Despite that, Wellsford managed to create nine tries, with Aiden Dewes making a spectacular comeback from injury.
The highlight of the game came from Mid Western's young star Brooke Gilmore, who produced two great tries from broken play.
Fullback Leon Baigent was the star as Hora Hora swept past a feisty Western Sharks side 30-18, his distinctive curly mop of hair making him unmissable as the Hora Hora backline showed some good form. Hora Hora had the running of the game throughout, although they were caught unawares by the fitness of the Sharks, who finished the game with a flourish and were once again well led by Solomon Palu.
Kamo were lucky to escape with a win over Old Boys; their 20-3 victory riddled with errors and lacking the cohesion expected from an established premier club side.
Old Boys, who were taking nervous steps back into the premier ranks for the first time in more than a decade, made the most of limited possession and showed some courage on defence.
Kamo's tries came from Mike Davis, Tiaanus van Loggerenburg and Matt Buckely, but the player to catch the eye was Old Boys midfielder Cess Pou.