Border also worked a superb kick-chase with a counter-ruck to set up centre Alekesio Vakarorogo, finishing off an excellent team try, while aggressive flanker Ekenasio Fiso and promising young halfback Blake Mitchell scored off a close-range lineout and ruck-sneak respectively.
But from 29-10 down approaching halftime, Marist’s newfound belief saw them try some risky passes which now go to hand – whereas a year ago they would have been dropped – backed up by working upfield off the penalty whistle with a strong lineout and had them in touching distance inside the last 10 minutes.
Try-scorers skipper Ben O’Leary and No 8 Samu Kubunavanua gave standout performances, the former leading the lineout plays along with returning veteran Brad Graham in the final quarter.
Halfback Daniel Kauika and fullback Tim Goodwin made good use of the second-half wind with their kicking, while try-scoring flanker Rongomai McLean-Wanoa was dangerous on quick tap penalties and maintained a high workrate.
It took all of Border’s signature determination to hang on – skipper Toby Lennox extolling them to keep making tackles and leading by example, having nothing left in the tank by fulltime.
Right at the finish, Marist’s solid lineout deserted them with a couple of errors, but they produced a tighthead 50m scrum win right off the final play, where their chip kick ahead bounced just away from the chasers for Border to ground it in-goal for a pulsating finish.
In the absence of Tyrone Albert after his blue card, Silio Waqalevu maintained the first five-eighths spot and proved a safe pair of hands, while his two conversions of the Symes double proved vital.
“We weren’t too keen on getting the calculator out for the last week, so we knew we had to put out a performance today, and we also felt we owed our club and supporters one today as well too, being our last home game,” co-coach Todd Cowan said.
“There’s still a fair bit of improvement we can do in the next couple of weeks.
“Touch wood, it was a fairly physical game today so we’ll just have to monitor how guys get through this game but I’m hoping a week off again, we’ll be back to full strength into the Taihape game.”
For Marist coach Steelie Koro, it was a reminder of how slim the margin for error can be in Premier, after ultimately letting the hosts get too far ahead.
“Second half, we gave ourselves every opportunity to win the game, where it’s who can be patient enough and capitalise on those gains.
“There was the area where we marched our way up, exactly where we want to be, and then a stray ball goes missing or lineout not straight etcetera.
“But it’s a really good learning for us, I guess it was a repeat of the last game [with Border] where it could have gone either way.”
