Defending McNamara Cup champions Karaka all but secured a playoff spot and have kept alive their chances of a home semi-final after a brilliant 27-7 win over Pukekohe at Karaka Sports Complex on Saturday.
A victory for Pukekohe would have sealed a home semi.
There was little between the two sides early, but Karaka worked hard to wear their opponents down.
“Pretty important game for us given the points table,” coach Craig Hill told Counties Sports Hub.
“Very pleased with how the boys defended in what was a physical game.
“Got great impact from the bench, which to be fair we did have a bit to bring on.
“Still got some work to do with two more rounds to go to try and nail a semis spot.”
Ardmore Marist clinched top spot and a home semi with their 26-19 win over Patumahoe at Patumahoe Domain.
Patumahoe remain the only team to beat Ardmore Marist this season, having done so in the first round but the visitors were very focused on reversing that result on the weekend.
“Happy we got one back on Patty after the first round’s result,” Ardmore Marist coach Suliasi Taufalele said.
“The game was played at a pretty high speed in the first 20 minutes but proud of our goal-line defence that managed to keep Patty out in the end.”
Manurewa moved into a share of fourth spot with a 73-12 win over Papakura, setting up a thrilling fight for the final playoff spots in the last two weeks of the round robin.
Bombay beat Weymouth 52-0 at Laurie Gibbons Reserve to spoil Weymouth skipper Asomuamua Satuala’s 50th game for the club.
“Satuala has not missed a game in the past three seasons since joining Weymouth.
Waiuku took a significant step towards making the semi-finals of the Bob Chandler Cup Premier 2 competition after a 38-19 win over Bombay that sees them move seven points clear of fifth place Patumahoe.
Patumahoe went down to Ardmore Marist 31-24, while Karaka beat Pukekohe 51-12 and Manurewa thumped Papakura 102-15.
Onewhero handed Te Kauwhata their first loss of the season after beating the defending Sid Marshall Shield champions 25-22 at Onewhero.
Manurewa made it two from two since the competition split into a top five/bottom five with a 51-29 victory over Drury.
In the Sid Marshall Cup, Pukekohe triumphed 36-24 over Te Kohanga while Karaka defeated Tuakau 39-21.
Ardmore Marist was too good for Pukekohe in the Massey Cup U21 grade, taking a 49=17 while Patumahoe defeated RuaNorth 26-22.
Karaka stormed to a 38-14 win over Morrinsville in the U85 Cup while Waiuku edged Patumahoe 21-13.
In the U85 Shield, Bombay secured a 55-12 win over Fraser Tech but Beachlands Mataetai went down to Hamilton Marist 39-21.
It wasn’t great news for local sides in the Women’s Premier 2 competition. Weymouth were blanked 40-0 by Northcote, Papakura went down to Eden 10-7 while Pukekohe were beaten 29-22 by Waitemata.
