The Cannonballs trailed 19-5 at halftime in their Upper Mid North Coast Rugby Union season opener before they put on three second-half tries to start their 2022 campaign on the right note.

Coach Jared Fuller was full of praise for his side who found a rare way to win a close contest despite horrendous conditions that saw the match played in the mud.

"The last couple of years we've lost those close ones and it does start to play on your mind and you start to think 'here we go again'," he said.

"To get the win is a bit of a nod to the young fellas to let them know they can (create wins) if they're willing to put the effort in."

The Pirates opened the scoring inside the first minute before they controlled most of the first half and Fuller then challenged his side at half-time and they responded in style.

"For the boys to fight back like they did was really pleasing and we said at halftime we were going to find out a little bit about ourselves if we were able to hang in there and fight back," the coach said.

"(But) there's nothing for us to get too carried away with and we've got a lot of work to do and a lot of different facets of the game to improve.

"It was great to win, but we'll get back to work."

Pirates coach Cameron Gray didn't sugarcoat where it all went wrong.

The Pirates were impressive in the first half as they raced out to a 14-point halftime lead before old habits reared their heads in the second stanza.

"We took wrong options and didn't follow the game plan," Gray said.

"We were a bit impatient and a bit linear in our thinking. When there was space to be had, we were just trying to hit up really so there are some good learnings there, but it's a bit frustrating at the same time."

The coach was understandably disappointed to let a first-up win slip through their fingers, but he knows what he needs to fix in coming weeks.

"We had our opportunities, no doubt, but in the end we got what we deserved through not executing what we had trained for," he said.

"Kempsey definitely deserved their win. They took their opportunities when they arose, but it was a bit of an indifferent second half (from Pirates), really."

The match was transferred from Stuart Park to Crescent Head after rain again forced Port Macquarie-Hastings Council to close their sporting fields on Friday afternoon.

While the rain stopped for long enough for the first grade fixture, Gray admitted the conditions were challenging before he conceded it was the same for both sides.

"I've been involved in rugby for around 35 years and it's the worst field I've ever seen, but that's the nature of the beast really and you've got to adapt," he said.

"I was speaking to the Kempsey coach and he was of the opinion it was better to play than not at all or have (to play) a catch-up."

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