A late penalty from first five eighth Ben Smart has given reigning champions, Clutha Valley a 29-28 win over Clutha in their match played at the Balclutha Showgrounds.
The home side started the match strongly and had the lion’s share of territory and possession in the opening stages.
After going 7-0 ahead, Clutha let Valley back into the match with a well-constructed try.
During the middle stages of the half both sides had a player in the sin-bin, but it was Clutha who made the most of things. Clutha crossed the line twice while down a man to go into halftime 21-12 ahead.
Clutha scored first in the second half to extend the score before Valley took control of the match. With 20 minutes left on the clock Valley rolled up their sleeves and ground Clutha into the track. They retained possession well, made metres both out wide and up the middle, and forced Clutha into giving away penalties.
Valley scored two unanswered tries before Smart was given the chance to put his side ahead with less than five minutes remaining. He made no mistake. Clutha also had a shot to win the match on the fulltime whistle but could not convert.
Toko have started their season strongly with a determined 24-7 win over an improved Owaka side at Milton. Toko were ahead 12-0 at the break but were guilty of forcing the last pass which let them down on occasion. Toko scored four tries with three of them going to their impressive backs.
Owaka showed glimpses of brilliance in a much-improved performance from last weekend.
West Taieri have continued their unbeaten start to the season with a dominating 48-24 win over Clinton at Clinton. West Taieri produced a near-perfect first half and were ahead by 36-0 at halftime.
Clinton woke up in the second half and finished the match with a gallop. Clinton scored three unanswered tries to finish the match, but the damage had already been done in the first half.
Crescent handed Lawrence their second loss on the bounce with a 29-15 win at Lawrence. The home side started well by opening the scoring and keeping Crescent at bay for the majority of the half. Lawrence led 10-7 at halftime but could not manage to hold on to the lead as Crescent improved in the second spell. Crescent introduced players off the bench who changed the game. Crescent scored three second half tries to take the points against a very gutsy Lawrence team.
Big River Country have started their season in promising fashion with a commanding 31-5 win over Alhambra-Union at the Balclutha Showgrounds. After a tight first half which saw BRC head into halftime 12-5 ahead, the floodgates opened in the second half as BRC rolled the changes and took control of the match. It was a full team performance from the home side who won the Charles/Pringle Challenge Cup in its inaugural outing. For the home side, midfielder Anna Barrett and Sydney Marshall were the pick of the backs. Captain Tegan Hollows and flanker Kayley Johnson were solid in the pack.
By Francis Parker
