IN my first season covering Tasman Tanning Wanganui premier club rugby, they were one of my favourite teams to watch.
Not in any technical sense of greatness like the fundamental strengths of Ruapehu or the attacking flair of Pirates, but you could not help but want good things for the battling Marton team.
Under new coach Cornel Mason, with a promising group of young players arriving to join some spritely veterans, a new-found sense of belief emerged which saw them have a 7-9 season to lift from the premier mire to being semifinal contenders right up until the final Saturday of the round robin.
They defeated everyone below them on the table and gave everyone above them a real headache - the most memorable effort was holding out for 40 minutes with no ball or territory on home turf to beat their Rangitikei sub-union big brothers Ratana 13-0.
Scoring a freak try after future Steelform Wanganui centre Soonalote Tauailoto grabbed a grubber kick from behind his own tryline to start the breakout, Marton held a fortuitous lead.
Yet a baffled Ratana, who refused to take penalty kicks, simply could not believe the thin blue line kept getting back up and chopping them down.
"They played with a passion I haven't seen in a while," acknowledged then-coach Wilson Walker.
"I think it is [Mason's influence] and some of the new guys they've brought in. They played well."
Ratana would never make that mistake of arrogance again - they now take any kickable points on offer in the local derby.
A year later, Marton were not replicating their earlier successes, but there was still the magic day up at Memorial Park, where determination won out over a skilful opponent as they swiped the Grand Hotel Challenge Shield from semifinal-bound Taihape, 16-15.
Again it was Tauailoto who typified the 'never give up' mentality when he chased down another shocking kick inside Marton's dangerzone to set his team off for what proved the match-winning seven-pointer.
Cornel and manager Justin Lock should have received appearance caps for that game as they were on and off the pitch constantly, barking instructions and encouragement to their technically-flawed but undeniably eager charges.
So how can things have gone so wrong in the nine months since that day?
Marton's decision on Monday to fold their premier team for 2015, just a week and a half from kickoff, is completely unacceptable timing and throws the makeup of the entire season out of kilter.
In the wider scope, there are now 20 or so fewer guys able to put themselves front and centre in a meaningful way for Wanganui coach Jason Caskey and his staff, who last year brought Marton lock Meni Faasau then loose forward Lake Ah Chong into their wider training group, while picking six others for the Town vs Country trial game.
Cornel has returned home to Ratana while Lock is settling into a new role as a WRFU development officer, and in the wake of those departures it appears no-one has put together a proper back-up plan.
Rumours of personality clashes have abounded and in small country club, it only takes 5-6 players to decide the pastures are greener elsewhere to bring the whole house crashing down.
Cornel always had a delicate balancing act motivating his team - more than half of them couldn't train regularly due to night shifts - but whether or not the club administrators think they know better, there needed to be a summer's worth of groundwork making sure everyone else was still on board this year, no matter who was going to coach.
If that involves sitting down with those young guys, one by one, and convincing them that Marton is still the best place for their playing future, then you do it with ego kept well in check.
As of right now, premier rugby will have the ludicrous scenario where two teams will sit out on every weekend because the funds - from an already cash-strapped union - have been spent on accommodating travel costs.
A properly planned eight-team competition could have also finished a fortnight or so earlier than 2015, thanks to starting in March, giving Caskey & co even more time at the back end for training camps and Heartland pre-season games to fine-tune their squads while familiarising their import players.
Instead, they will have the same buildup time with a squad who have had a disjointed club campaign with fewer matches.
But really, it is the Marton supporters who lose out the most. The 2013 and 2014 seasons produced some magic moments. What a shame they have all come to nothing.