FRANCIS PARKER
West Taieri secured a Southern Region semifinal spot with a 36-14 win over Clutha Valley at Outram on Saturday.
With the Holmes Milk Can on the line, it was a spirited affair and the home side controlled from the outset.
The first half was one-way traffic as West Taieri, marshalled by first five Callum Smeaton, mounted an assault on the Valley tryline.
The Pigs led 29-0 at the break and had already wrapped up the bonus point.
Clutha Valley came back into the match in the second half, but the damage had already been done.
The defending champion is in real danger of missing out on the post-season with two massive games coming against other top-four sides in the next fortnight.
Heriot also secured a semifinal position with a strong 41-31 win over Toko at Heriot.
A first-half hat-trick to flying winger Jack Blair gave the home side a perfect start although Toko was still in the game at halftime.
The teams traded tries at the start of the second half before a period of dominance by the home team led to two more tries.
Toko ended the game in the ascendancy and crossed the chalk twice more through replacement Camrin Brown.
Heriot was too far ahead by this stage and took an extremely important bonus-point win.
Owaka carried on its late-season form with a 32-31 win over Crescent at Swamp Hen Park.
Crescent led 21-15 at halftime before Owaka fought its way back into the contest.
The home side scored twice in quick succession to take a slim lead before Crescent converted a penalty with 15 minutes remaining to snaffle back the lead.
Owaka grabbed a penalty through fullback Allan Maclean to push ahead by a single point before defending with everything it had in the dying minutes.
Crescent missed two late penalties and failed to break Owaka’s defensive line.
The Swamp Hens lock away the Greg Smith Memorial Trophy for this season.
Clutha made a statement after coming back off the bye.
The Steamers beat Lawrence 46-10 in Balclutha to push their way back into the top four.
Clutha scored eight tries in a largely one-sided game, and led 36-5 at the break before emptying the bench 10 minutes after halftime.
Lawrence showed glimpses of form but was not allowed to play with any real momentum.
