"A beautiful autumn day at Devonport saw Marist's new-look U21 side take on North Shore - 2009 Champions - & joint-winners of the 2010 championship averaging a scoreline of 40-10 for last season; but the Marist boys weren't about to be overawed by statistics, scoring an early penalty to lead for the first quarter, before conceding a soft try, but still well within reach at halftime, down only 6-10 with 'Alfy Garnett', keeping us in touch with his reliable boot. [Unfortunately a boy by the name of Botica was doing the same for Shore at the other end!] In the third quarter Shore scored again, which stung Marist into action, hitting
back with a try to Pera Wihongi; while Shore's 3rd & final try sealed the game, the generally staunch Marist defence prevented the 5 point victory Shore would surely have come to expect in recent seasons.

So while a first up loss was not on the agenda for the day, and a bonus point which was on offer was missed, [as were a few too many tackles missed!], generally a good showing against a very polished Shore side, who showed that they intend to spend the season at or near the top of the table; however they're now acutely aware that for the first time in perhaps 10 years, this Marist side will hound them all the way to the Championship Final, determined to prevent Shore achieving a three-peat. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to the 2 Shore players who head-clashed, needing ambulance evacuation before half-time.

[The starting 22: 1 Sammy Cadman; 2 Angus Evans; 3 Ray Hutton; 4 Matt Vellekoup; 5 Brehan Lennie; 6 Kellin Pungatara; 7 Josh Van Wyk; 8 George Farmer (C); 9 John Poe (VC); 10 Ryan Gordon; 11 Pera Wihongi - 5pts; 12 Alfy Garnett - 8pts; 13 Ilaisa Loti; 14 Nicholas Russell; 15 Mark McPhee; 16 Jordan Stephens; 17 AJ Hendry; 18 Tyler 'Chicken' Jelas; 19 Cam Nicholas; 20 Josh Munn; 21 Benny Mataitini; 22 Hendrik van Wyk. ]

This team shows the benefit of a staunch pre-season program, during which they defeated Counties-Manukau reigning Champs Patumahoe, went very close to beating eventual Spillane Tournament winners Marist St Pats of Wellington in Hamilton, and running North Harbour Champs close yesterday. A special word of encouragement & commendation to the new & youthful coaching combination of Sam Ward & Nick Blincoe for successful preparation of this 2011 side.

GO THE SAINTS!!!"

'Hail Marys' offered up for nice footie weather didn't work too well today, and it fair bucketed down all afternoon, clearing
shortly after the final whistle! Both sides battled with a greasy ball all game, Massey having an even battle with our boys
up front, with Marist probably finishing slightly on top.

However the Massey backs handled better well in the wet conditions, managing a half-time 6-3 lead; then an exchange of penalties saw the scoreline 9-6 towards the end of the match, blow out to 14-6 with what's unfortunately becoming a regular 8 point loss, as a last minute blunder conceded a try right on full time.

Huge frustration to coaches, spectators & players alike at two bonus points being sacrificed in 2 games, and we look forward
to the fine-tuning needed for this side to play a hard 90 minute game, score some tries, and convert these narrow losses into
victories. Bring on another leading team Northcote after Easter - GO THE SAINTS!!!

Northcote

A beautiful day at Stafford Park saw our fired-up side take control from the kickoff with a team-executed try by Mark McPhee, followed by a solo opportunist try by Sheldon Armitage, both converted by Alfy Garnett, which saw Marist out to an impressive 14-3 lead at halftime against the 2010 co-Champions.

But our control up front dissipated too easily and too soon after halftime, when Cote emptied their 'big forward'-dominated bench, and we played too much of the second half in Marist territory with defensive errors again creeping in up front, at the back and tries were conceded on both flanks. A good looking Marist winger try was disallowed, and a promising 7 point breakout which would have restored parity was brought back; both were game-turning decisions, and we sadly capitulated in the end by 14-28, [and farewelled 1st/5 & kicker Alfy Garnett returning home to the UK].

Not all bad news on the day though with Matt Vellekoop being selected today to tour USA in July with the NZ University U21 Side [along with Travis Larsen from the Marist Premiers].

Transferring from the Auckland competition, Eden were welcomed to Albany for the first time. Conditions were good for running
rugby and while Marist showed patches of good play in the first half, were generally patchy & inconsistent, but good enough for
3 tries to lead at the break by 18-9, Eden's very useful kicker converting Marist indiscretions into points to keep them in touch.

Kicking consistency for the season improved when Tommy Faiva stepped up, and he added a try for good measure; tries were
also scored by Mark McPhee[2], Sam Cadman[2], Michael Kelly & Ray Hutton, the latter fronting a dominant scrum throughout
and setting a platform for the 80 minute effort we've been waiting to see, and look forward to watching through the season.
A second-half defensive lapse saw Eden rewarded with a try for their energetic efforts throughout, the final score being 44-14.

Silverdale - The day was right for some good running rugby, but the positive display came from the visitors, whose strong
running was met with some slack defence; we must have missed close to thirty tackles during the match, which
is not easily forgiven in this grade.

We never recovered from conceding 22 unanswered points in the first half
hour, though finished the spell well with a converted try right on the break 7-22. We showed some grit at times
in the second half, battled some mystifying officiating, & conceded three tries to one for a final score of 12-43.

[Moving on, tackling practice will intensify this week!] - Graham Ward

Navy - Some general reshuffling caused by skipper George being injured, a centre stepping up for Premier duties, and a
couple of others absent midweek was never going to be easily compensated for, but generally attack looked positive
and defence was far superior to some we've seen in the past, with several promising Navy invasions successfully
repulsed.

Winger Hendrick Van Wyk started the scoring early in the match with good following-up of a loose ball,
and Tyler Jelas showed ability with the boot with a penalty, for a lead at the break of 8-0, [after we'd fumbled
an open-line scrambling try; this week's only tryline lapse in this unforgiving grade]. Navy stepped up their defence
in the second spell and went on attack threatening our line several times, but a speedy breakout by Mark McPhee
who fed Johnny Poe following up well at speed, resulted in a satisfactory final score of 13-0.

Our kicking remains
an unresolved issue with a season success rate of well under 50%, and while our scrum dominated in the set pieces,
our lineout [which has worked reasonably well to date], showed a need for some urgent attention.

With a full selection starting the game, Marist showed the benefit of 6 weeks playing together, and weren't about to take a
backward step against an improving Takapuna side. After an even first quarter, a couple of midfield loose ball defensive
mishaps allowed Taka in for a couple of quick reasonably soft tries, and they got their tails in the air at 14-3 with anticipation
that this would build into a walk in the park with the wind at their backs in the second spell. But our boys showed the Saints
character they've been steadily building together over 6 previous games, and started their fight back.

Tries to Mike Kelly & Pera Wihongi, one converted by Tyler Jelas to add to his first half penalty, gave us the lead at 15-14, silencing the Taka sideline. However we conceded an opportunist drop goal and a penalty late in the match for a final scoreline of 15-20 which at least achieved a losing bonus point, and took us well clear of the cellar. With our kicking success rate steadily improving, the backs attacking & defending in unison and running very well, the lineout woes of last week sorted and the scrum having proved itself
as second to none in the competition, our boys are excited about attacking the second round in a fortnight, with deserved
confidence and the knowledge that they will do us proud for the rest of the season.

Great support from the squad for Head Coach Sam Ward returning today to play Premier rugby after a serious injury in the 2010 Representative season.

After a rest week between rounds, the challenge of playing the 2010 Champs and first round winners was met with
quiet confidence in our ability to reverse a close loss in the first round. After an even first quarter, a handling lapse
at the base of our scrum led to the only try in the match, which lock Tyler Jelas countered with well-taken penalties
to turn at the break 6-13 down. A combination of two further penalties in the second spell, with some mature defense,
resulted in a concerted period of time close to the Shore goal-line, but the Shore defences held and we had to be
content again with a losing bonus point, the final scoreline a very commendable 12-13.

Despite the narrowest loss of the season, this was a heartening start to the second round; Loti's line and Tyler's place
kicking have dramatically improved the team's performance, and the young pack, while taking a step backwards to no
side in the competition to date [despite being often outweighed], again showed maturity in the set pieces, and while too
slow to the breakdown in the second quarter, repaired this efficiently in the second half to spearhead the recovery.

Worthy of comment is that backs coach Nick Blincoe has been forced to change his backline constantly throughout the
season, and the situation was no different this week with yet another lineup not seen in its entirety before. Despite
these setbacks, they're showing a maturity second to none; combinations and confidence will continue to improve with
more time together, and winning results during the rest of the season are inevitable.

Finally a word for an uncomplaining and supportive bench who maintain the standard when called on, and never take
a backward step. Great spirit shown by several boys reserving for an U19s side short on numbers in the following game.

After a couple of very good performances in previous weeks, a mediocre Massey Colts side prevailed on the
Moire Park scoreboard. Our performance was not good, game plan changed with untrained moves, failing to
respond to the whistle, kicking away possession aimlessly, and failing to convert penalties into points. After
the previous 2 games where errors were kept to a minimum against superior opposition, errors were the norm
in this game, with tackling poor through most of the game, and driving leadership hard to detect. During a
reasonably even first quarter, Benny Mataitini showed great presence to charge down a clearing kick, touching
down to level the scores, after which we enjoyed some territorial advantage. Then however some forgettable
defence allowed in a couple of Massey tries, for a regrettable but reversible 5-17 halftime score.

Despite Sam Cadman touching down in the third quarter after some good sustained pressure to close the gap a
little, [Tyler Jelas converting one of very attempts], the Massey backs ran back at us at will following aimless
midfield kicks, and shrugged off our ineffective fourth quarter jersey-tugging tackles, to balloon the score out
to 12-37 by the end.. [Compared with the first round final score v Massey of 6-14.] The whistle-blower played
a part in our disappointment with some seemingly pedantic and hard to follow calls, and at times struggled to
keep up with the play, but we've got to adjust to the referee, and this we failed to do. Many standards have
slipped, and we'll need a big effort to re-establish some cred with our faithful followers for the rest of the season.

This was very much a game of 4 quarters when we showed during the first quarter how not to defend, with the
visitors gleefully running in 4 converted tries for a 0-28 scored after half an hour. When we woke up to the fact
that we had a game-plan, things settled down in the second quarter and we reached the break at 7-28 after a
well-taken touch down by Mike Kelly, converted by Tyler Jelas.

As has happened recently with this team, the second spell produced gutsy footie, and apart from a well-taken
try by Cote through some ordinary tackling on the left flank, the boys finishing the game could hold their heads
up high after pressuring the opposition line for long periods, and despite the very one-sided final score of 7-33.

Report and photos by Graham Ward

This was probably one of the first times a MNH Colts side has played in Mt Roskill, and certainly the first time against a team coached by former All Black flanker Josh Kronfeld. But the boys stepped up confidently to the plate for this one, starting with several tries in the first quarter; before taking the pressure off when Eden came back at us for a 24-12 lead at the break.

The second spell saw the hosts restricted to 1 try, the final score being 49-17. Tries were scored by strong-running fullback Tommy Faiva [3], Mike Ross, Sam Cadman, Brehan Lennie, Johnny Poe & Ilaisa Loti who also kicked 3 conversions and a penalty. The team then returned home to celebrate Coach Sam Ward's 50th Premier game at Marist.

This was always going to be a tough ask for a team short on players, coming up against a top team comprising some very big players, but we managed to spend some first spell time in the lead after 2 well-taken penalties by Isaila Loti, before succumbing to 2 Dale tries before trailing 6-17 at the break. In the second half our defence on the flanks was awol too often, with the result that they ran in some more tries, and despite Skipper Johnny Poe crossing towards the end, converted by Josh Munn, the final score was 13-51. We now face a couple of teams closer to our standing in the comp, and march into the Plate competition with a realistic confidence of achieving some silverware for the season, if we can field our A side.

MATCH REPORT - Navy

Never knowing whether the fleet's in or at sea makes Navy a hard side to chart a course for, and today was no exception. The boys
took some time to settle against a willing defence, until a runaway intercept try by Benny Mataitini started the scoring, with Tyler Jelas
converting from in front, then adding a penalty, to give us a good but by no means comfortable lead of 10-0 at halftime

In the third quarter the Navy defence again held reasonably well before Mike Ross crossed out wide after a lengthy period of consistent attack; then in a solo action play of the day which brought the crowd on both sides to its feet with a roar, front rower AJ Hendry burst out of a breakdown on about halfway, and showing the kind of spirit which will win us some silver at the end of the season, started an amazing 50m run to score under the dot, leaving many Navy defenders sprawled in his wake.

Skipper Johnny Poe anchored the result by slotting the conversion for a final deserved score of 22-0. This was only the second game in the season when opposition sides were kept scoreless, [the 4th win] and the dogged - no mistakes - defence we witnessed today - along with the willing attack we've witnessed all season - will undoubtedly serve us well in the playoffs. Go the Saints towards that Silver Plate!!!

MATCH REPORT - Takapuna
This game would decide whether Takapuna or Massey would finish the season in the top 4, but it wouldn't affect our situation.
While the forwards managed good possession from the set pieces, an ordinary performance at the breakdowns saw much of that
advantage lost. Good possession was lost in midfield, and defence on the flanks was ordinary, though the h/t score of 5-18 after a
well-taken try by Nick Russell was fixable.

A mainly accurate first spell performance by the whistle-blower was negated in the
second spell when off the ball play by a Takapuna side desperate to make the Championship playoffs, was not well monitored.
In reality however the result was never in doubt, and a big improvement will be needed in the remaining 2 games to avoid a score
like the 5-46 blowout we witnessed with dismay on Saturday. The good news is that we'll have a full squad to select from, with
all the Premier backup boys available again for 80 minutes.

For the third time this season we met up with our mates from Devonport. They started well and our midfield looked
a little out of sorts until we settled with a couple of well taken long range penalties and a try to Tom Faiva who was
firing well and finished the day with a tidy points haul.

Consistency was the order of the day, and further tries were
scored in the second spell by Daniel Ross, AJ Hendry, with Johnny Poe chiming in with the final try - converted by
Pera Wihongi, making the final score 36-17, and securing our place in the 2011 Plate Final.