There was no forgiveness between the Balmacewen teams on Saturday, with the Otago Bombers ruthless in a 5-1 victory over their B52 clubmates.
That ultimately allowed the Bombers’ arch-rivals, the St Clair Saints, to return to the top of the metropolitan senior A leaderboard after they dismantled Taieri Lakes in similar fashion on the Taieri.
Chisholm Links are now in the box seat to secure fourth place after stunning Island Park 4-2 at home.
That win has them three points and 5.5 games clear of Island Park, and despite a tricky run home, that margin may be enough to hold on to a semifinal spot, barring upsets.
At Balmacewen, the traditionally close battle was one-way traffic, the Bombers' victory never in doubt with nearly all matches in their favour throughout the round.
Big wins to Luke Murdoch, Callum Judkins Brandon Hodgson and Ben Patston had victory sewn up before any premier club rugby fulltime whistle, while Duncan Croudis was forced to play the full round to beat George Prendergast to make it five wins.
Will McLauchlan did what Will McLauchlan does, defeating Ryan Rosevear at No 1 to give the B52s a consolation game that also keeps them in second place by 0.5 games from the Bombers in third.
At Taieri Lakes, the Saints got their season back on track to lead the series with a 5-1 demolition job.
The strong Saints sextet secured early success through their top order with wins to Jakob Bleach, Jacob Bellamy and Parker Aluesi, while Logan Clarke and Cody McMullan were made to work hard for their wins, beating Jarred Haig and Josh Boath respectively on the final green.
Lakes captain Jarrod Mitchell, who continues to develop nicely at senior A level, beat Conor Howes 3 and 2 for Taieri’s sole win.
At Waldronville, Island Park’s season was left hanging by a thread after only managing two wins against Chisholm Links in what must have been seen as a must-win clash.
The visitors were always in the box seat despite Park picking up the first two games through Michael Minty and Monty Wong with comfortable victories.
The other Links players relished the unsually breezy conditions around the estuarine course, with Kai Koni, Jason Pegler, Mike Weastell and Blair Liffiton securing the win with relative ease.
— Michael Minty
