Crescent beat Heriot 61-7 in their match at Kaitangata on Saturday. The home side started well with an early try before a 15-minute period where both sides tried to adjust to the conditions.
Once Crescent’s forwards got momentum they were hard to stop. Crescent scored five first-half tries to go into halftime 35-nil ahead.
The second half continued to be dominated by Crescent who scored a further four tries and really played to the conditions.
Heriot never gave up and were rewarded with a try in the final minute.
West Taieri returned to winning fashion with a 22-12 victory over Clutha Valley at Outram.
The result was built on a solid first half by the home side as they raced out to a 22-nil lead inside the first half hour.
West Taieri kicked well and made it difficult for Valley’s backs to attack. The home side’s set piece was dominant which gave them a stable platform.
Clutha Valley woke up in the second half and began to hold on to the ball, building some valuable momentum.
Valley scored two second-half tries but poor ball retention cost them on numerous occasions.
Owaka continued their confident run in the hard-fought 19-18 win over Toko at Milton.
Toko had the wind in the first half but failed to use it to their full potential.
An early try and two penalties gave the home side an 11-5 lead at halftime.
Owaka was the more dominant side in the second half, led by their forward pack who overpowered Toko at scrum time.
The sides traded tries before some ill-discipline from Toko allowed Owaka into their red zone to score the match-winning try with 10 minutes remaining.
Clutha have kept in touch with the leaders with a bonus-point 29-12 win over Lawrence at Balclutha.
Clutha used their strong forward pack to good effect in the first half.
Their forwards carried strongly and asked Lawrence to make lots of tackles.
Despite this dominance, Clutha only led 19-7 at halftime.
In the second half, Clutha threw the ball wide and found space.
Lawrence had their chances in possession but handling errors and poor discipline meant they were unable to capitalise on this.
By Francis Parker
