Midlands coach Dayna Cunningham acknowledges week one of Southland’s division one club competition has provided a glimpse as to just how tough 2018 will be for the eight teams in the grade.
The division one competition kicked off on Saturday and three of the four games were decided by six points or less.
That included an 18-16 win to Wyndham over Edendale, which was decided right on fulltime.
Cunningham’s lads had to come from 10-0 down at halftime to beat a tough Waikaka team 16-10 at Waikaka.
In the third tight fixture, Riversdale pipped Te Anau 20-14 in the Bedford Compton Shield clash between the Northern Southland clubs.
Mossburn, which is stepping up from division two this season, beat Waiau Star 21-5 to claim the Dianne Chartres Memorial Trophy contested by the two clubs.
"It is not going to be an easy competition at all. We’ve got Riversdale and Wyndham in the next two weeks, so every week is going to be tough," Cunningham said.
Midlands highlighted its depth in the win over Waikaka, when it introduced three new forwards in the second half, which had a big impact on proceedings.
They were able to keep in touch through three penalties before a well-worked try to Midlands wing Rowan Guise, who ran a nice line off halfback Sam Wheely, provided the key moment in the game.
Guise was probably Midlands’ best in the hard-fought win.
While the division one competition was all about the close scores, the start of Southland’s division two and three club competitions were not quite as close.
Division three was particularly brutal. Bluff crushed Collegiate 73-0, Ohai-Nightcaps trounced Balfour-Lumsden 57-5, and Otautau recorded a 49-14 win over Bush Pirates.
The division two competition is split into A and B sections this season.
Some big scores were also recorded in the B division but the contest between Star B and Wakatipu Wanderers, in Queenstown, was the exception.
After trailing 28-5 at halftime, Star B scored on fulltime to win 40-38.
In the other games, Blues B ran riot in their 71-8 demolition of Marist B, and Woodlands B beat Pirates-Old Boys B 56-0.
In section A Drummond-Limehills-Star, which has dropped down from division one, suffered a 41-17 loss to Gore club Pioneer; Albion Excelsior was a 41-3 winner against Riverton, and in a much tighter contest, Waikiwi beat Tokanui 21-17.
- Logan Savory