The Hawks went to the top of the Otago table on Saturday, after three torrid, closely fought encounters.
With three rounds to go in the seven-week competition, the fight is on among Pirates TE, the South City Dragonz and the South Pacific Raiders to join the Hawks in the grand final.
The action on Saturday was not restricted to the top end of the table though, with Pirates MT running down a big first-half lead by University to claim a draw seconds from the final whistle with a sideline conversion into a blustery wind.
Pirates TE played the Kaikorai Silverbacks in a battle of fourth and fifth, with Pirates skipping away to a 16-0 lead.
But the Silverbacks answered with tries of their own, and were snapping at their opponent's heels at the break.
It took the strong ball carries and defensive efforts of Pirates second-rower Brendan Taylor, and skilful try-assists and kicking game from stand-off and skipper Enoka Taufua to get their team home 38-22, with three tries near the end of the game sealing the deal.
Pirates coach Mark Nafatali was pleased with his team's efforts, which took it to second on the ladder, in a game he described as "very physical".
The Hawks found their game against the South City Dragonz, until this year the easybeats of the competition, no walk in the park.
The Dragonz scored first, and held on to stay level 10-10 at half time.
But in a game with plenty of line breaks and solid defence, the Hawks started the second spell better and won 40-26.
At the bottom of the table, both University and Pirates MT were chasing their first win.
The students made it look easy in the first half, with halfback Corey McFadzean and five-eighth Tyler Schreurs bamboozling Pirates' forwards around the ruck with good stepping runs, both scoring under the posts, and fullback Ben Loughrey-Webb kicking five from five to take University 30-6 ahead shortly after halftime.
But from then on it was all Pirates.
With McFadzean and captain Loughrey-Webb injured, Pirates took advantage of the students' lack of structure and paper-thin right-side defence, and went on a scoring spree for a 36-36 draw.
