Athletic Marist and Valley were forced to share the points in an entertaining 19-19 draw in North Otago.
Athies struck first as Sione Osamu sliced through the defence off a scrum to put his side in front in the opening 10 minutes.
Unfortunately for Athies, that would be their only points of the first half, as Valley controlled possession and territory.
They got on the board in similar fashion to Athies’ first try as their rolling maul sucked in defenders, allowing Joji Rinakama to crash over.
Athies struggled with discipline as they gave away consecutive penalties until eventually Paula Nonu was yellow-carded for repeated infringements.
Ben Paton made them pay as he shrugged off two tacklers to score a superb individual try and put Valley in front.
Things went from bad to worse for Athies as Yann Bayle was also sin binned a few minutes later, leaving them with just 13 men on the paddock.
However, they rallied well to keep the Valley attack at bay as long as they could.
Front rower Jake Greenslade eventually crashed over from short range just before halftime to extend their lead heading into sheds.
The first 20 minutes of the second half were dominated by Athies. However, they could not crack the excellent Valley defence.
Eventually, Matt Vocea was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock on when Valley were on their heels.
Athies then scored through Kurt Ehret a few phases after taking the quick tap.
Down by five and with time running out, Athies needed one more try to give them a chance at the win.
They attacked the Valley defence tirelessly and eventually Osamu was able to break free of two tacklers and drew in the final defender before passing to Posiano Kamoto who scored.
The missed conversion left the match tied and there was not enough time for either to break the deadlock.
Kurow knocked off defending champions Excelsior in a low-scoring match up the Waitaki Valley.
The Red Devils led 12-7 at halftime and a scoreless second 40 saw them get out with a win.
Maheno also got their first win of the season as well, albeit in the opposite fashion.
The green machine beat Old Boys 43-40.
Each side ran in six tries, but a Ben McCarthy penalty was the difference.
