Top-4 spots on line in tight fight

Several top-four places are on the line in the Southern Region competition this weekend.

With three rounds remaining there are five teams contesting semifinal positions, and just 10 points separate first and fifth.

Crescent was the toast of the town last weekend after its heroic last-minute win over West Taieri in Outram.

This weekend, Crescent is back home in Kaitangata to face Heriot, which sits two points ahead in fourth spot.

Heriot had a strong bonus point win over Toko last weekend, ticking another box on its way to the finals.

Heriot is just a single point behind the struggling West Taieri in third place and a win this weekend would go a long way to securing a semi spot.

Crescent has the bye next week, which gives it only three points due to its first-round efforts, so Heriot has the opportunity to gain more points from the remaining weeks, making this match an even more important fixture for the home side.

West Taieri welcomes Clutha to Outram this weekend in a second v third battle.

Clutha leapfrogged West Taieri last weekend with a convincing win over Clinton and now sits three points above Clinton.

Clutha’s backline has been firing in recent weeks, all nine of its tries coming from the higher numbers last weekend.

West Taieri is rumoured to have two key midfielders returning for this match, which will solidify things with hopes of stopping the losing wave.

A win for Clutha will all but guarantee it a semifinal outing with a bye and a trip to Owaka remaining in its calendar.

Competition leader Clutha Valley travels to Clinton to contest the Brain Steel Memorial on Clinton’s club day.

Valley had the bye last weekend, which gave it four points. Valley is four points ahead of Clutha in second and should pick up five more points in this match.

Clinton offered some resistance at times against Clutha at the weekend, especially at set piece, but a complete performance would be required to take points from this match.

Clinton is in danger of finishing in the dreaded ninth place as it is just two points ahead of Roxburgh, which gets one point for the bye this weekend.

Toko hosts Owaka in Milton in what will be an extreme battle of attrition.

Both sides have more injured players than fit ones — players are being brought in from everywhere just to get two teams on the field.

 - Francis Parker

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