KEY POINTS:
Glenfield's two representative backs, Brett Ingham and Jack McPhee, guided the side to a major upset in the opening round of the North Harbour premier rugby competition yesterday.
With Ingham scoring one of the side's two tries and McPhee adding a conversion and a penalty, Glenfield, who finished second from bottom last season, edged out the 2007 runners-up, Marist, 15-12.
However, the most exciting game was that between Silverdale and Helensville in the battle for the Country Cup. Silverdale retained that after an epic struggle 25-24, in which each side had matched the other with three tries.
It was an appropriate way for Silverdale to celebrate flanker Rob Colhoun's blazer game for the club.
Helensville, for whom prop Mike Noble played his 50th game, contributed well to a deserving encounter and were most unlucky not to at least gain a draw.
Three of the usual top clubs, Massey, Takapuna and Northcote, all opened with comfortable wins. Massey, with Chris Smylie back at halfback, came away strongly in the second spell to beat Mahurangi 42-8 and Takapuna, also with a strong new halfback in Matt France, capitalised on a confident start to win a rugged clash with Kumeu 35-6.
Northcote, with Doug Fletcher and James Afoa anchoring a big pack, outmuscled East Coast Bays 20-3. But it was a performance which wasn't entirely satisfying for Northcote and to miss a bonus point by scoring only three tries would have been disappointing.
Though Bays defended bravely after being hammered, especially in scrums, Northcote lacked sufficient attacking ideas in the backline and, with a big territory and possession advantage, should have won by considerably more.
