North Harbour vs Auckland North Harbour Stadium, Albany 2:35pm, Sunday 1 August 2010
14	36
Try: T Chamberlain Pens: L McAlister (3)	Tries: C Raui, D Braid, B Ward, D Thomas Cons: A Moeke, M Berquist Pens: A Moeke (3), M Berquist
Halftime: 14 - 15

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his song x 2
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his song...

I realise that it is the first fixture of the season but it is starting to wear a bit thin, this continual diet of underachievement we keep dishing up to our dwindling band of casual observers and youthful bucket-hitters.

Thinking back to 1985 and deciding how best to celebrate the not inconsequential milestone of 25 years, I fear it would not be a pants-down thrashing at the hands of our evil neighbours south of the rusting span.

The game itself was largely forgettable even if you do support Auckland.We started brightly and within a very short time (23 mins) had accumulated 14 points. McAlister kicked a 63m penalty or 3, Chamberlain had capped off a lovely move down the the touchline. The rugby gods were smiling and our party was getting off to a majestic start...

Sadly we were awoken in the 24th minute to the arrival Anscombe's band of merry-men who set about to urinate with much vigor on our small but potentially promising parade. We had the wind in the first-half and the other punters around me seemed to believe it was worth about 15. I tended to agree but we failed to score again for the rest of the game and Scum put on 36 unanswered points, which in itself is a tad worrying.

While we have an adequate squad with plenty of lads that have been around for awhile, it appears the frailties of the last few years have not been totally extinguished. I thought McAlister coming back might help things a bit but I believe now he only really excels when either in England or if the boys around him are exceptionally good. This is not going to be the case this year and he will need to lift it considerably if we have any chance of moderate success.

The forwards were ok but could not match the intensity of Auckland, especially at the breakdown. They have recruited quite well this year while the loss of Wulf, Pisi and Tuitavake will be a hard for us to remedy.

I don't know about the rest of you Harbourites but low mood and loss of interest featured quite highly in my appreciation of this game. Without wanting to sound like a John Kirwan ad, I'm feeling a little down about myself and my obsession with all things North Harbour. This is a crappy start to a new campaign but hopefully we can get back on track with a trip to Whangarei next Sunday.

I'm going to put this one down to stage fright, a blip, an unseemly pot-hole in the road, I really hope so.