Southern held on to withstand a furious finish from Kaikorai at Bathgate Park today, emerging 17-13 victors.
After a dominant first half in which they scored two outstanding tries to Kaikorai's none, Southern were unable to put their opponents away, making too many mistakes.
Kaikorai hung in there and began to make inroads in the final 15 minutes, where they made a handful of breaks and began to look dangerous.
The Southern defence stood resolute though and despite conceding one try, they scrambled well to ensure Kaikarai could not find a way through.
With the final play of the game Kaikorai won a penalty and hammered the Southern line, only for the ball to be tied up, allowing the home side to escape with a narrow victory.
In other games Harbour had a convincing 34-10 win over Dunedin, University A beat Alhambra-Union 31-16, Zingari-Richmond beat Green Island 28-17 and Taieri beat Pirates 59-13.
