Southern took its opportunities well to comprehensively beat Kaikorai at Bishopscourt and finish the Dunedin Premier competition round robin unbeaten.
Southern scored six tries to one as it capitalised on Kaikorai mistakes in the first half and rammed home the advantage in the second.
Kaikorai was plucky throughout but Southern's superior cohesion and combination eventually took its toll.
No 8 Andrew Stead continued his fine form and scored two tries, one in each half. Lock Tom Franklin was dominant in the lineouts and a force around the field, Sam Crompton played strongly from the blindside flank, while Warren Moffat led the side well from prop.
Robbie Smith and Julius Glasson were a polished inside back combination and Tony Fenner played with increasing confidence at fullback and contributed 14 points.
Kaikorai contributed much more to the game than the scoreline indicated but was left to rue two mistakes, which gifted Southern tries, in the first half and its own inability to finish. But it plugged away and there was justice when No 8 Nathan Hull galloped over for a try 16 min from the end.
Prop Jim Stevenson was a tigerish worker in the tight, Jye Cormick a plucky halfback, while Cameron Rutherford was steady at second five-eighth.
Fullback Liam Edwards missed the last-minute penalty goal that would have given Dunedin the bonus point and a place in the semifinals.
Taieri won the game at Kettle Park 32-24 to shut Dunedin out of the semifinals.
Along the road at Hancock Park Harbour scored four tries and gained a bonus point when it beat Pirates 30-20.
It was Harbour's fifth bonus point win in a row and it finished on 46 points, the same as Dunedin. But Harbour advance because they beat Dunedin in the two round-robin games.
Southern won the Gallaway Trophy with 84 points and was followed by Taieri 68, Pirates 54, Harbour 46, Dunedin 46, Green Island 39, Kaikorai 35, Alhambra-Union 36, Kaikorai 35, University A 32, Zingari-Richmond 1.
In next Saturday's semifinals Southern will play Harbour, and Taieri will face Pirates.
The leading points scorers are: Liam Edwards (Dunedin) 193, Andrew Reid (Taieri) 158, Peter Breen (Alhambra-Union) 162, Cam Rutherford (Kaikorai) 152, Glenn Dickson (Pirates) 137, Tony Fenner (Southern) 130, Tom Halse (University A) 90.
The leading try scorers are Andrew Stead (Southern)14, Liam Edwards (Dunedin) , Matt Faddes (University A), Roma Sauileoge (Green Island) 12, Liam Edwards (Dunedin) , Charlie O'Connell (Taieri) 11, Tom Davie (Taieri), Sione Pulu (Dunedin) 9, Sam Gavegan (Southern), Tony Ensor (Kaikorai), Harry Uffindell (Southern) 8.
HARBOUR............................30
PIRATES..............................20
Harbour 30 (Lex Kaleca, Sam Ready, Pieter van der Merwe 2 tries; Olly Cuthill con, pen, Ben Main con, pen). Pirates 20 (Stephen Bruce 2, Shaun McCarroll tries; Ben Miller con, pen). Halftime: Harbour 15-5. Referee: Todd Pullar.
SOUTHERN................................41
KAIKORAI.................................10
Southern 41 (Tony Fenner, Hamish Buick, Nick Jones, Andrew Stead 2, Blair Polwart tries; Fenner 3 con, pen; Robbie Smith con), Kaikorai 10 (Nathan Hull try; Cam Rutherford con, pen). Halftime: Southern 15-3. Referee: Ben O'Keefe.
TAIERI..........................32
DUNEDIN.....................24
Taieri 32 (Kieran Moffat 2, Shannon Young, Ben Nowell, Charlie O'Connell tries; Kurt Schrader con, pen, Nowell con), Dunedin 24 (Louis Tili, Mark Grieve-Dunn tries; Liam Edwards con, 4 pen). Halftime: Dunedin 16-5. Referee: Jeff Grubb.
ALHAMBRA-UNION..........................23
GREEN ISLAND..................................20
Alhambra-Union 23 (Matt Dalley, Inia Lala tries; Peter Breen 1 con, 3 pen; Ryan Bowater 1 con), Green Island 20 (Roma Sauileoge, Hanipale Galo, Guy Archibald tries; Sauileoge 1 con, 1 pen). Halftime: 5-3 Green Island. Referee: Adam Morrison.
UNIVERSITY A........................66
ZINGARI-RICHMOND.............17
University A 66 (Matt Faddes 3, David Thompson 3, Stephen Fenemore, Paul Grant, Jack Wolfreys 2, Luke Balvert, Isreili Guise tries; Thompson con, Fenemore 2 con), Zingari-Richmond 17 (Chris Bell, Nigel Fidow, Kris Miller tries; Mark Hunter con). Halftime: University A 15-10. Referee: Liam Scanlon.