Central Otago competition leader Cromwell will face a stern test when it takes on last year's beaten finalist, Maniototo, at Anderson Park tomorrow.
Cromwell, which went down by a solitary point to Clyde Earnscleugh in its first outing of the season, has won its next three games to lead the competition.
The side has shown plenty of heart and commitment on defence with Charlie Tiko standing out in that department.
Halfback Ben Maxwell has been sending his outsides away in fine style.
Maniototo, which had the bye last week, is three from three this season and is the holder of the coveted White Horse Cup.
Its forwards, led by player-coach Andrew Hore, will bring a hard-nosed attitude to the game.
Arrowtown travels to Molyneux Park to take on Alexandra and should come away with a win.
Impressive loosies, captain Aiden Winter and Adam Hubber, have been in fine form for the visiting side while first five-eighth Laurence Wadham has guided his team around the park superbly.
Arrowtown, which lies mid-table, will be looking to back up well after a fine win over Wakatipu last week.
Defending champion Alexandra has had a horror start to the season, losing four games on the trot.
Coach Wayne Soper and captain Dave Lilley will be looking to continue the improved showing from last week's game against Clyde Earnscleugh.
Roxburgh, which lies in sixth place on the table after four rounds, is hosting Wakatipu, which sits one place below it.
Both teams have one win each.
Roxburgh has had two close losses in its past two outings and will be looking to show the Queenstown-based visitor that lessons learned earlier in the season have been remembered.
Wakatipu coach Justin Pewhirangi must be scratching his head trying to figure out how to turn those narrow losses into wins.
Captain Raf Tahuru has been in great form while fullback Chris Young has shown solid all-round form to complement his fine goal-kicking.
Clyde Earnscleugh is back with a vengeance after a year in isolation and is only a solitary point off the competition lead at this early point.
With a competent set of backs to complement a hard-working forward pack the Clyde based side, which has good numbers, is playing a pleasing brand of rugby and should just edge Upper Clutha in the final game of the round, at the Clyde Domain.
Lock Mike Harvey and No8 Tom Ballantine have been more than handy up front while the talented Matt Te Tana leads the team around from the pivot position.
Upper Clutha travels to Clyde with a one-win, three-loss record which does not reflect the effort put in.
The irrepressible Ben Purvis has been outstanding for the Wanaka-based outfit in either the No10 or No15 jersey.
Matakanui Combined has the bye.
- Malcolm Jones
