There were a number of surprising results on the opening weekend of the 2022 Shute Shield season. 

Warringah came from nowhere to beat Uni, Souths held off a resilient Manly outfit, Norths smashed Easts, Gordon just got past Hunter, West Harbour beat Western Sydney and Randwick upset Eastwood at TG Millner. 

Catch up on all the action below. 

Warringah 29-26 Sydney Uni

Warringah fought back from 26-12 down to hand Sydney Uni their first defeat since October 2020. 

After crossing twice each in the first half, Uni looked to be in control when they received a penalty try in the 50th minute to extend their lead to 14 points. 

Rats prop Wes Thomas received a yellow card for taking out a Uni attacker in pursuit of a kick near the Warringah try line. 

But down to 14 men, the home side rallied and hit back immediately on the back of some individual brilliance from winger Mojee Veremalua. 

Prop Sateki Latu then dived over from close range on the back of some impressive Warringah attack, and fill in captain Ben Woollett nailed the conversion from the sideline to level the scores at 26-all in the 59th minute. 

Esera Chee Kam almost sealed the win for Warringah, but had the ball knocked out of his hands just inches from the try line, before Woollett kicked a penalty goal to give his side an impressive three point victory. 

Southern Districts 13-7 Manly 

Southern Districts claimed a hard fought, albeit ugly six point victory over Manly at Forshaw in their season opener. 

Rebels winger Christian Kagiassis scored all 13 of the home side’s points, scoring once in each half and kicking a penalty goal in-between. 

Leading 8-7 in the 72nd minute the Rebels spread the ball across the field to Kagiassis’ wing and the prolific try scorer showed plenty of pace to score the watch winner. 

A number of Manly’s recruits impressed on debut but it’s hard to imagine that either coach would be happy with their opening round performance. 

Northern Suburbs 42-12 Eastern Suburbs

Northern Suburbs have sent a warning to the rest of the competition with a comprehensive bonus point win over Eastern Suburbs at Woollahra. 

The Beasties had few answers from the opening whistle, conceding five tries in the first half to trail 32-0 at the break. 

Norths found space through the middle and out wide. The big, mobile Norths’ forwards were tough and abrasive and the backs looked fast and slick. 

Prop Ratu Kuitakeivuravura was particularly devastating scoring and setting up a try in the first half.

Easts crossed twice, at the start and end of the first half, but were never really in the match in a worrying sign for Simon Kneebone. 

Gordon 31-26 Hunter

Gordon held off a fast finishing Hunter side who came within inches of causing a massive boilover on the opening weekend of the 2022 season. 

Gordon led 21-0 in the first half following two tries to centre Alesana Pohla, the second coming from a likely contender for ‘falcon’ of the season. 

Hunter fought back, scoring twice but Highlanders flyhalf Reece McDonald appeared to have put the result beyond doubt when he scored back to back tries and kicked a penalty goal late in the match. 

But the Newcastle side refused to go away. Impressive centre Luke Nadurutalo scored to give the home fans some hope, then Issac Hulberg crossed to reduce the deficit to just five points with two minutes remaining. 

In the final play of the game, Hunter looked to have levelled the scores with a brilliant long range team try, but the final pass was ruled forward, handing Gordon a tough, tight 31-26 victory. 

West Harbour 28-27 Western Sydney

West Harbour flyhalf Kodie Hawkins kicked a penalty goal in the final minute to steal a one point victory from Western Sydney in their first Shute Shield match at Eric Tweedlate Stadium. 

West Harbour led 25-6 in the 55th minute following three back to back tries to Jamie Karatea, Justin Masters and Kuki Maufu. 

But the Two Blues hit back through prop Hamdahm Tuipulotu, then took the lead following back to back tries to returning lock Tuitakau Kioa and a sideline conversion from Reece Suesue. 

With minutes remaining, Pirates flyhalf Hawkins showed plenty of experience to lead his team down the field and draw a penalty inside their attacking quarter. 

He then calmly slotted the penalty to seal a 28-27 victory, breaking the hearts of the revitalised Two Blues. 

Randwick 27-21 Eastwood

Randwick started their 2022 campaign in style, upstaging Eastwood at TG Millner. 

The visitors took their changes in the first half, scoring two opportunistic tries including one from a cross field kick off a penalty, but still trailed 21-14 at the break following an Enoki Muliufi try on the stroke of half time. 

Randwick reduced the gap to one point in the 52nd minute when Christian Yassmin broke a lazy tackle and raced away to score. 

The visitors then took the lead when prop Declan Leaney scooped up a loose ball, potentially from an offside position and offloaded to centre Tominiko Maiava who linked with lock Angus Houston to score the match winning try.