Ruapehu 30
Marist 27
A comeback worthy of Sinatra had the Ruapehu fans singing as three tries in the last 30 minutes blew away plucky Marist's 27-13 lead.
And, of course, the Ohakune side did it "their way", launching a series of ferocious forward drives that inevitably battered holes in the visitors' defence.
Leaders of the Wanganui premier championship by a fair margin, Ruapehu made it seven straight wins as their forwards took a vice-like grip on the second half, with prop Sheldon O'Hagan, lock David Gower and No8 Fraser Hammond, back to near his best after injuries and unavailability, leading the way.
There were sizeable crumbs of comfort for Marist, who made the most of their superior mobility to score some opportunist tries and never lacked heart.
Tautahi Rawiri and Sean Brown traded early penalties before the first try came in the 14th minute.
When Rua halfback Danny Rolls was caught in possession, Marist flanker Bradley Graham turned the ball over and the green-and-whites quickly moved it wide.
A beautifully-judged kick through by Marek Willis found no one home and wing Simon Dibben scooped the ball up and went over.
Sean Brown landed the conversion and was on target again minutes later when a Matt Nielson punt saw home fullback Hamish Blackburn caught in his own 22m zone. Sam Scown had a burst for the line and Rua infringed at the ruck to concede the penalty - and a 13-3 lead.
With light rain making the ball slippery, both teams were happy to hoof it and play the territory game - a game which Marist, with Brown's right boot prominent, were getting the better of.
A Blackburn clearance was run back with interest by hooker Ross Puhi and he was only brought down by the last defender 15 metres from the line. Scown was again involved and quick ball out to the left saw Dibben take a return pass and score, with Brown adding the extras.
It was fair to say that the blue-and-green steamroller was misfiring for the first 30 minutes, but it slowly kicked into gear after two touch finds by Rawiri got them within sniffing distance of the Marist line.
With Hammond the preferred option in the line, they drove hooker Kim McNaught over to reduce the deficit to 20-8.
However, the visitors quickly exploited a dropped ball by Pehira Huwyler and Scown was pushed into touch just 10m from the tryline.
In the last minute of the half, Graham won a lineout, Willis made the break and Ruapehu conceded a penalty almost in front of the sticks. However, Brown miscued his kick and it was a miss one sensed might prove costly.
The second half opened with Rawiri missing a penalty shot from exactly the same spot that had proved too much for Brown, but when Marist fluffed the 22m drop-out, Ruapehu were back in the game.
After a burst by Andrew Evans, the ball was switched right and O'Hagan found himself in the three-quarter line and on hand to dot down.
Marist lost Scown, who had been most impressive, to a dislodged contact lens, but that bad luck turned good when a Huwyler kick was charged down and centre Mohi Waihi ran 40 metres unopposed to score.
Brown's extras had the visitors up 27-13 with half an hour left ... but that turned into a very bruising 30 minutes of desperate defence for the city team.
With George Williams coming on at first five-eighth, Huwyler shifted centre and Evans from centre to fullback, Ruapehu took control.
Opting for a scrum rather than an easy kick at goal, they scored again after Hammond's pick up and drive was rounded off by O'Hagan.
Rawiri's kick made it 27-20 and, with their set-piece under increasing pressure, Marist were penned in their own half. A lineout win and drive had Gower going over though Rawiri's missed kick left the visitors clinging to a two-point lead.
They couldn't hold out. O'Hagan got over again but was adjudged to have made a double movement, but that only delayed the inevitable.
With eight minutes left, Rua came again and, for once, used their backs after the pack had made the initial inroads - the result was the winning try for wing Shane Crossan.
Brown and Willis sparked a last-minute surge upfield by Marist - a rare excursion into opposition territory - but there was no way through.
Marist's defence was valiant, with Karl Hutching and Joe Nielson never shirking the close-quarter combat, but Ruapehu deserved the spoils.