Wow what a win and to do it in the last phase of the game made it even more special.

Are we pleased for these boys. After being beaten comprehensively week after week, to earn their first win of the season away at Manukau makes it all the more satisfying.

I was wondering, with a minute to go, why we turned down the three points for a tap. Post-match I found out the referee had told our captain, Keenan, the score was 27-23, which was obviously wrong (the score at that stage was 29-27 to Manukau). That was why he elected to take the tap.

Anyway, it was captain Keenan who, in my view, led the way with his hard-running style, breaking the defence time and again. He was well supported by his troops throughout.

Our lineouts have shown marked improvement throughout the season. In Ben's absence over the past few weeks, Liam did a great job, and with Ben back it was as if nothing had changed. Z, who has been a little quiet over the past few weeks, came to the party with his lineout work and his support play in the tight.

Viliame was also a real goer this week, and if you noticed, our last lineout steal came from the Fijian boy, which led to our final try.

Again, Aratz cleared the ball well and scored his first try for the club. Max made some very good decisions, one of which came from his kick in behind for Lani to gather, burst through a tackle and step the fullback to score near the posts... or was it Hokioramai? Whoever it was, I was yelling the rooftops down from my little den parked close to the motorway. The try came at a stage of the game when Manukau were trying to assert their superiority.

Both midfielders have really developed excellent communication on attack and defence. Today their defence was as tight as you could ask for.

Cooper has been shifted to the wing, and he has knuckled down to the job and given it everything. The play didn't quite come his way, but he was there and reliable whenever it did.

The try of the day came from Kyan, who just continues to impress in a side that has been consistently beaten this season. The try involved a couple of cut-out passes, but Kyan ran a superb angle to score near the posts. His defence continues to improve, and his speed across the paddock has increased as the season has progressed.

So it's on to next week against Suburbs and the Portola Trophy.

You wouldn't read about it... We played Eden in the pre-season and they flogged us by 50, and Manukau put 62 points on us earlier in the season. It's great to see just how much this side has improved.

The heroes of this side are the coaches and management, who persevered with a bunch of young guys, raw in talent but willing to listen, and it's paying off. The Weasel says this is only the beginning of good things leading into our Centenary Year.

A big well done to Sooty, Bryan and Steve, along with Jonesy and Ivan, the physios, the other support staff whose names I don't know, and the mums and dads of the players who kept the faith. Also to our loyal bunch of club members - Terry, Vanessa, Ross, GK, Moose, Vuki and Mark. We can only hope that after one win we can take home a trophy next week.

A big shout-out also to our Under 21s, who are now semi-finalists after a comfortable win against Otahuhu, who had beaten them earlier this year.

They have an appointment with College Rifles next Saturday and, based on the first-round meeting, there wasn't much between the two sides on the scoreboard.