The weather forecasters said that it would rain on Saturday, and they were right, it did. It rained and it rained. It was raining when we arrived at the ground and it was still raining when we left. That made for difficult conditions for the second week in a row, but unlike last Saturday, there was no wind. However, the surface of Moire Park was covered with water. You couldn't see much from afar, it was lying beneath the level of the grass, but boots splashing every time they came down told a story.

It was one of those days when there was nothing for it but to roll up the sleeves and rip into it, and that's what the boys did, from kick-off to final whistle. And when that whistle blew, it showed us 31-19 ahead of Massey, an excellent win against a tough side in tough conditions.

Games like that are not won by accident. Massey started strongly, big bodies flinging themselves at the defenders, and they scored the first try but after that, the scoreboard was only going in one direction. A penalty try got Cote on the board, closely followed by Mone Filo sliding across near the posts.

Captain Josef Foley played his normal "my team follow me," type of game, and follow him they did, splitting the game wide open just before the break, first Potroz Rimoni on the end of some great forward work, then Max Stuart with a wonderful individual effort.

26-5 at halftime looked good but Massey didn't think so. Two converted tries had the home team's hopes up. 26-19 with more than 20 minutes on the clock, everyone on the Northcote bench took a deep breath.

The team on the field must have benefitted from that collective breath, bashing their way up field to put Kai Uotani across for the try that took Cote away from that nervous zone where a runaway try can upset the whole day.

But still there was a quarter of an hour to go. Massey had all their big boppers on the field, but Northcote dug deep, tackled like demons, carried hard and hit the breakdown like men possessed. It was an inspirational last stanza, but there were plenty of relieved sighs at the final whistle.