Marist overcome Heartland XV

A determined New Zealand Marist XV overcame the cream of Heartland division rugby 23-11 in a dour match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
In a game of few highlights, the Marist XV was never headed, leading 7-6 at halftime.
The Heartland XV, which included seven starters from Wanganui's Heartland championship-winning team failed to achieve any great dominance throughout the match, despite a wealth of first half territorial advantage.
Too often the game developed into a kicking duel, with little opportunity for either side's backs to get a decent run. Whenever they did fire up, there was little cohesion on either side, perhaps an indication of their lack of time together as a squad.
Marist shocked the Heartland XV from the start of the match when halfback Dane Shelford (Napier OB Marist) launched a 30m burst from a scrum and flicked the ball on to Rowan O'Gorman to score in the corner. Dean Cummins converted and Marist were ahead 7-0.
Wanganui winger Cameron Crowley was taken in a high tackle in the seventh minute, allowing Poverty Bay's Scott Leighton to notch the Heartland team's first points with a 40m penalty after seven minutes and he slotted another penalty in the 35th minute to make the score 7-6.
Just two minutes into the second spell Marist went further ahead when Dean Cummins kicked a penalty, and he added another two in the 18th minute and 32 minute of the second spell to take Marist out to a 16-6 lead.
The Heartland team battled back into the match a few minutes later when Josh Cornish charged down a Marist clearing kick and ran 10m to score his side's only try of the match, which went unconverted, bringing the score to 16-11.
A final try to O'Gorman, who had been subbed off but then returned to the field because of an injury to a Marist player, came when he burst from a ruck and cantered 15m to the tryline just minutes from the end of the game. Cummins converted, to make the final score 23-11.
Hawkes Bay flanker Scott Waldron was the standout forward for the Marist XV, launching several bursting runs, while O'Gorman at hooker and first five Dean Cummins also had strong games.
In the Heartland XV, West Coast halfback James Ferguson battled hard all day until he was subbed off with about 20 minutes to go, while in the forwards feisty Wanganui Peter Rowe, hooker Cole Baldwin stood out.
Wairarapa-Bush players Nick Olson got the last 20 minutes on the field for the Heartland team and Corey Reid a similar amount of time in the Marist pack.