Crescent capped off their club day in grand fashion with a 39-15 win over Toko that sent the top four of the Southern Region competition into turmoil on Saturday.
The first half was fairly even after Toko opened the scoring early, and Crescent fought back into the half to lead 18-10 at the break.
The home side carried their momentum into the second half and outscored the visitors three tries to one.
Midfielder Ethan Edwards scored another brace to continue his try-scoring form.
Lock Tyler Brouwer was Crescent’s best on the field and had plenty of support from flankers Ryan Gwynn and Andy Carruthers.
Crescent locked away the Eddie Scott Memorial Trophy with this win and are now just one point behind Toko in fourth position as finals time approaches.
Clutha proved too strong for Lawrence at Simpson Park in a high-scoring game.
The unbeaten competition leaders won 53-31 but allowed Lawrence to play with the ball for long periods, which would have disappointed them.
Clutha paid the price early for trying to attack as individuals instead of sticking to structure.
Lawrence piled the pressure on and were waiting to pounce on any mistakes gifted to them by an uncharacteristically poor Clutha attack.
The halftime score was 24-17 to the visitors.
After some stern words at the break, Clutha found their groove and scored some nice tries when they played together as a unit.
Lawrence continued to thrive with ball in hand, and midfielder Sam Wyber scored two tries, celebrating his 100th try in Lawrence colours.
West Taieri leapfrogged Toko into second place on the ladder with a 57-5 demolition of Heriot at Outram.
The home side played with purpose but came up against a resolute Heriot side in the first half.
Heriot showed they would not be bullied in the first half and gave as good as they got on both attack and defence, and West Taieri led just 15-5 at halftime.
The second half was where the home side flexed their muscles with six unanswered tries as they controlled the proceedings for the entire half.
Heriot’s lack of depth cost them, and they faltered towards the end of the game.
Forwards Luke Moeke and Jaidyn Barringer-Tairi led the way in the West Taieri pack. For Heriot, coach Craig Stanway put in a huge 40 minutes off the bench.
Clutha Valley beat Owaka 38-27 in a messy encounter at Clydevale.
Neither side could get a foothold in terms of territory and possession, but the home side made the most of their chances.
A sluggish first half ended with Valley leading 14-8 as Owaka was again punished for slipping off first-up tackles.
The opening phases of the second half belonged to Valley, and while Owaka came back and finished strongly, they could not rein in Valley, who went on to claim their fourth win of the season.
— Francis Parker
