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South Otago sports roundup

Crescent halfback Josh Cook fires a pass out to his backs in his team's Southern Region...
Crescent halfback Josh Cook fires a pass out to his backs in his team's Southern Region competition match against Heriot in Kaitangata on Saturday. Crescent won 41-19. Photo: Si Leeds
Clutha made a huge statement on Saturday with finals only a fortnight away.

It crushed Roxburgh 87-5 at home to retain the McIntosh Cup for the summer.

Clutha's forward pack was solid and made inroads up front, allowing its backs to attack with purpose.

This performance was needed from the home side after a couple of lacklustre showings of late.

Clutha's 13 tries were scored by 12 different players. Utility back Zak Thoms scored 32 points, possibly a club record. He started at fullback and injected himself into the backline well to set up multiple tries and score a double.

Clutha lost nothing when Thoms moved to halfback later.

Prop Phil Keighley had a strong game, and Maddison Latta played well on debut.

Crescent secured a home semifinal with a 41-19 win over Heriot at Kaitangata.

The forwards got through a mountain of work and the backs found plenty of holes in the Heriot defence.

Heriot coach Craig Stanway was disappointed with his team's effort.

It had some key players missing, but Stanway said that was no excuse.

It was hard to pick any individuals from the Crescent team's performance but prop Lester Papali'i and midfield combination Gene McHardy and Chase Owen were very good.

Owaka leapfrogged Heriot into third place with a composed 33-7 win over Clinton at Owaka.

The home side had the majority of territory and possession in the first half and went into the break 21-0 ahead.

Clinton wrestled back some momentum in the early stages of the second half, but Owaka finished the stronger.

Clutha Valley gave stalwart Hamish Wilson something to celebrate in his 200th game for the club with a 27-17 win over Toko at Clydevale.

The first half was an even encounter and the score was 12-12 at the break, but Clutha Valley pulled away.

Netball

Black Gold Sting claimed a handy 38-7 win over Redwyns on Saturday.

Both teams started hard on attack with full court pressure, but at times Black Gold seemed to be playing too quickly for its circle to handle.

Black Gold's Alyce Allan got some great tips and enabled her team to pick up possession.

Both teams were playing at speed, which was not working for either, while shooting was letting both down.

Black Gold led 6-2 at quarter-time.

The second spell started with Black Gold's Christina Johnston getting some good tips for her team as both sides were fighting hard for possession and to retain it.

Black Gold's defensive pairing of Bridget Holgate and Hannah Phillips made it a hard day for Redwyns to feed their shooters.

At the other end, the Redwyns defensive pairing of Katie Willocks and Janine Lyders worked hard but the ball was finding its way into the hands of Black Gold

who led 16-3 at halftime.

At that point Black Gold changed the personnel in its shooting circle and it took time to settle, while Redwyns started to find their shooters easier.

Centre Amy Morrison (Black Gold) worked hard, attacking every time she had possession.

Kayla Dent went down for Redwyns and after this they struggled to resettle as Black Gold led 23-6.

The final quarter produced some sharp passing and shooting by Black Gold. Kristina Johnston created some nice space for herself in the circle and was provided good ball by Mona Waikato.

Black Gold ran away with the game, the result of its attack working well as a team.

In other games, Hillend secured victory on fulltime, beating Southern Plumbing 31-30.

Likewise, Clutha beat School A 27-26 with a penalty shot on fulltime.

 - Francis Parker

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