KEY POINTS:
Auckland
Marist beat Carlton Grammar 23-19 after debutant Orian Keil snatched a dramatic try in the dying minutes.
Carlton Grammar, playing with the wind in the first half, shot out to a 19-3 lead scoring three unanswered tries. Two of these tries were direct results of lucky bounces after some average kicking ahead.
Grammar Carlton openside Hamish Paterson won the battle for the loose and Isa Nacewa showed the worth of having rep players turn out for their clubs.
Marist got back into the game in the second half with locks Anthony Elisala and Ollie Fahy dominating the lineouts.
Saimone Taumopeau made sure Marist also had the edge in the scrums. Goalkicker Tom Wells started landing kicks from everywhere but even so they still trailed by three points with time almost up.
Grammar Carlton were hot on attack but Marist kicked the ball back hoping for a lucky bounce of their own. From broken play veteran winger Pasila Wilson burst 40 metres up field and eventually gave it to Keil who crashed over for the match winner.
Ponsonby made short work of a Manukau side still adapting to life in the Gallagher Shield, winning 83-0.
Manukau could not contain David Smith, who caused excitement every time he touched the ball and the pacy left winger set up several tries. For Manukau there were few heroes but halfback Busby Ioapo never gave up.
Waitemata beat Pakuranga 23-3 and also picked up a vital bonus point by scoring four tries. They welcomed New Zealand sevens captain DJ Forbes into the team and he was dynamic at flanker. Lock Aaron Pulman led a powerful performance by the pack.
University beat a tough tackling Mt Wellington side 37-10. Dale Guthrie once more had an excellent game and battled for the ball all day.
After a tight first half, University broke free and finished up scoring six tries with winger Tom Wiley again prominent.
Waitakere City beat an injury ravaged East Tamaki 24-16. East Tamaki's young winger Sam Feliti scored an excellent try but otherwise Waitakere had too much power and pace for a team missing many key players.
North Harbour
Marist confirmed their favouritism for the title when, with up to nine first-choice players missing yesterday, they still gave North Shore one of the biggest hidings in their long history.
Marist, who have made a huge contribution to the Harbour representative squad which spent yesterday in a training camp at Mahurangi preparing for next week's Ranfurly Shield defence against Thames Valley, ran in seven tries in the poor conditions to overwhelm Shore 45-9.
That has taken Marist to a seven-point competition lead over Massey, who had a much more difficult task in just edging out Northcote 18-17.
Northcote were without many key players but outplayed Massey in the forwards, with young loose forward Mike Mayhew playing a leading role.
Northcote could have secured what would have been a deserved victory but James Peck failed to land a penalty in the last minutes.
Two sides which have made minimal contributions to the initial representative squad, Takapuna and East Coast Bays, used that to their advantage with significant wins.
Takapuna ground out an 18-11 win over Helensville, while EC Bays routed Glenfield 55-5.
Silverdale thrashed a heavily-depleted Kumeu 48-5, with former Northland loose forward Tim Henwood scoring a double.
Counties Manukau
Ardmore Marist came the closest any club has all year to beating top-of-the-table Karaka when they battled to a 10-10 draw at Bruce Pullman Park yesterday.
Karaka took advantage of a blustery wind angling across the field in the first half, and opened the scoring with an outstanding penalty to Troy Nathan from wide out.
However, Marist hit back through fullback Sherwin Stower.
Karaka went to the break with a 10-5 lead when Siale Piutau scored in the corner, which Nathan converted with another brilliant kick at goal.
Both sides played good rugby in the second half, despite the difficult conditions, but neither was able to gain the ascendancy.
Finally, Ardmore Marist were able to convert territory into points with a try in the corner to wing Dylan Chatterton. But Daryl Sanft failed with the conversion, leaving both sides to settle for the draw.
Although Waiuku dominanted the scrums, Pukekohe played smarter rugby and secured a comfortable 25-3 victory.
Waiuku applied plenty of pressure in the first half with the wind at their backs, but were punished after a wayward kick was gobbled up by Pukekohe centre Isaiah Tuifua, who raced 60 metres to score.
In the second spell, Pukekohe kept the ball tight and a try to Tuifua's older brother Taiasina from a forward rumble and then a scorching 60m intercept by hooker Mark Price gave Pukekohe a deserved win.
Patumahoe overpowered Manurewa 28-7, largely through the forward dominance set up by prop Poaloi Taula and young loose forwards Haani Halauea and Viliami Fihaki.
