Occasional point in competition at the outset (8)
I believe the answer is:
periodic
'occasional' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'point in competition at the outset' is the wordplay.
'point' becomes 'period' ('period' can be a synonym of 'point'**).
'at the outset' says to take the initial letters.
The first letters of 'in competition' is 'ic'.
'period'+'ic'='PERIODIC'
(Other definitions for periodic that I've seen before include "every now and then" , "Cyclical" , "Happening at intervals" , "At fixed intervals" , "Intermittent" .)