Clutha Valley carried on its strong form from the first round of the Southern Region competition with a comfortable 36-22 win over West Taieri at Clydevale.
The top-of-the-table match lived up to the hype, as both sides left everything on the field in a tremendous 80-minute display.
The first half was evenly contested up front, as both forward packs showed their physicality, and both backlines enjoyed front-foot ball.
The host finished the half with the advantage and went into halftime 17-15 ahead.
Valley showed its ability in the second half and ran in three further tries.
Valley fullback Lachie Moore was inspirational at the back, injecting himself into the backline well and scoring a fantastic try.
His defensive positioning was also spot on as he defused plenty of West Taieri’s aerial attacks.
The forwards were led well by prop Lachie Gunson, who carried on his stellar form this season.
Hooker Adam Turnbull was another to stand out in the first half.
Ben Scorgie was the best of the West Taieri forward pack. Isaac Timoko and Callum Smeaton were the pick of the backs.
Roxburgh picked up its first win of the season with an enthralling 28-22 win over Clinton in Clinton.
The first half was evenly contested.
Clinton had the advantage at scrum time, which gave it attacking ball and plenty of possession.
The halftime score was 22-11 to Clinton.
Roxburgh started the second half well with two quick tries to put it back in the lead.
Clinton’s momentum at scrum time was halted when golden oldies scrums were called due to a front-row injury.
This allowed Roxburgh stable set-piece ball which its backs capitalised on and finally showed their ability with space in front of them.
Clutha produced a nail-biting 36-32 win over Heriot at the Balclutha Showgrounds, in which the home side came from behind in the dying minutes.
In a tight first half, both sides played well when in possession and converted pressure into points.
The halftime score was 19-15 to Clutha.
Heriot took the lead with two consecutive tries mid-way through the second half and began to pile the pressure on.
Clutha showed plenty of ticker to fight its way back into the contest and steal the win with a strong finish to the match.
Brothers Josh and Kurt Turnbull were huge in the pack for Clutha, making plenty of tackles and carting strongly.
Paul Papali’i and Sene Te’o were strong in the backs.
Te’o scored a brace of tries after being introduced off the bench.
Crescent returned to winning ways with a 45-12 win over Owaka in Kaitangata.
Both sides made the most of sloppy defence and found themselves inside the attacking 22 frequently.
The only difference was that Crescent was far more clinical in possession.
The host side went into halftime 24-12 ahead.
The second half was a more one-sided affair, as Crescent continued on its confident way while Owaka was forced to try to create chances from nothing, which failed to pay off.
- Francis Parker
