The sun may have been shining but it was a bright day for only two Mid Canterbury sides in the combined senior rugby competition. Methven and Rakaia picked up crucial bonus point wins while Southern suffered a second shut out in the playoff race, with Celtic and Hampstead on the wrong side of the ledger again.
In section one Oxford locked in home advantage for the playoffs in handing Celtic its seventh loss 42-16.
Rakaia moved into second with a bonus point 39-19 win over Dunsandel-Irwell as Southern slipped to fourth with a 36-0 loss to Lincoln which leapfrogs into third.
Glenmark continued its rise up the table beating Saracens 45-13 and Southbridge put Prebbleton under the pump 38-3.
Methven maintains its hold at the top of section two going into its bye week with a 65-23 win over Ohoka.
Kaiapoi kept pace winning 31-11 over West Melton and has a game in hand.
Waihora moved off the bottom of the table after beating Hampstead, while the Darfield-Burnham match has been deferred.
Celtic v Oxford
Celtic produced some of its best rugby of the season but could only manage it for 70 minutes against the undefeated Oxford.
"With 10 minutes to go we were still in the hunt but Oxford ran in three tries to finished the match," Celtic coach Dave McCrea said.
The sides traded penalties early on before Celtic struck on the 25 minute mark through Wayne Aquila with Des Kruger adding the extras to go with his penalties for a 13-6 lead.
But right on halftime a Celtic dropped ball saw Oxford swoop and scoop up the loose ball to run away for a try on the stroke of halftime to level the scores.
Early in the second half Oxford crossed for its second try before the sides traded penalties to sit at 23-16 in favour of the visitors.
With the match still in the balance Oxford showed why it was top of the table and Celtic was at the bottom, lifting a gear and scoring three tries to blow the score out to 42-16.
"We are still searching for that elusive win but we didn't play like team with six straight losses," McCrea said.
Pictured: Jason Feutz looks to break the line for Celtic.
Lincoln v Southern
For a second time in as many weeks Southern was kept scoreless as Lincoln leapfrogged into third position with a 34-0 win.
It was an error-ridden performance as Southern slumped to a second defeat after falling 34-0 to Oxford eight days prior.
"We just struggled to with some of the fundamentals of the game as our catching and passing let us down," Southern coach Ken Wills said.
It was only 8-0 at halftime but the Lincoln side lifted with its playoff chances on the line and scored 26 second half points to get the vital win.
"It was do or die week for Lincoln and it turned up with its best performance of the season and we didn't come to the party."
With the other top four contenders all recording wins the pressure now goes on Southern over the closing two weeks.
"Failing to get bonus points in the opening weeks has come back to haunt us a bit but I said at the start of the competition that three losses and you could be missing the cut so we have a big two weeks ahead," Wills said.
Rakaia v Dunsandel-Irwell
Rakaia recorded a 39-19 win over Dunsandel-Irwell to move into second on the ladder with two weeks left.
Rakaia got off to a flyer, scoring from the kickoff and then again on the 10 minute mark for a 12-0 lead but Dunsandel-Irwell came back as Rakaia only led 19-12 at the break.
In the second half Dunsandel-Irwell pegged it back to three points at 22-19 but in the closing stages Rakaia ran away with it to earn a bonus point win and move up into second on the table.
"We were pretty happy with the result," Craig Dunlea said.
"We turned over a bit too much ball which was an issue but to finish the way we did was pleasing."
Mave Tomasi scored a hat-trick with Ben Roddick, Alex Clark and Betti Beluette also dotting down and Josh Walker added three con-
versions and a penalty in the 39-19 win.
Methven v Ohoka
It was a game of two halves as Methven overcame Ohoka with 45 unanswered points in the second half.
Playing into the wind in the first half Ohoka played to the conditions smartly which enabled them to control the game.
"It was a hard first half but we made it harder for ourselves giving away a lot of penalties.
"Ohoka had a strong kicking game and made us pay for our mistakes."
Pete Shearer managed a double in the first half with Pete McAndrew and Ben Kitching also scoring, but Ohoka went to the break ahead.
Down 23-20 at halftime Methven opened up the game with the wind at its back to cross for seven second half tries.
Shearer added another double for a haul of four tries with McAndrew also adding a double for his hat-trick.
The other tries went to Hayden Dwyer, Cam Dixon and Richard Catherwood, who also had a conversion along with four from Davey Maw.
Waihora v Hampstead
It was a bottom-of the table clash that left Hampstead as the only winless side in section two as Waihora managed to take a 21-10 win.
Waihora grabbed its first victory of the season in a two tries to one win.
In the first half Hampstead could only muster a Peter Tare penalty to trail 3-10 and in the second half Jeremiah Nikkel scored a try with Tare converting.
However, Waihora managed to also cross the line and add two penalties to claim the win.
In section one Oxford locked in home advantage for the playoffs in handing Celtic its seventh loss 42-16.
Rakaia moved into second with a bonus point 39-19 win over Dunsandel-Irwell as Southern slipped to fourth with a 36-0 loss to Lincoln which leapfrogs into third.
Glenmark continued its rise up the table beating Saracens 45-13 and Southbridge put Prebbleton under the pump 38-3.
Methven maintains its hold at the top of section two going into its bye week with a 65-23 win over Ohoka.
Kaiapoi kept pace winning 31-11 over West Melton and has a game in hand.
Waihora moved off the bottom of the table after beating Hampstead, while the Darfield-Burnham match has been deferred.
Celtic v Oxford
Celtic produced some of its best rugby of the season but could only manage it for 70 minutes against the undefeated Oxford.
"With 10 minutes to go we were still in the hunt but Oxford ran in three tries to finished the match," Celtic coach Dave McCrea said.
The sides traded penalties early on before Celtic struck on the 25 minute mark through Wayne Aquila with Des Kruger adding the extras to go with his penalties for a 13-6 lead.But right on halftime a Celtic dropped ball saw Oxford swoop and scoop up the loose ball to run away for a try on the stroke of halftime to level the scores.
Early in the second half Oxford crossed for its second try before the sides traded penalties to sit at 23-16 in favour of the visitors.
With the match still in the balance Oxford showed why it was top of the table and Celtic was at the bottom, lifting a gear and scoring three tries to blow the score out to 42-16.
"We are still searching for that elusive win but we didn't play like team with six straight losses," McCrea said.
Pictured: Jason Feutz looks to break the line for Celtic.
Lincoln v Southern
For a second time in as many weeks Southern was kept scoreless as Lincoln leapfrogged into third position with a 34-0 win.
It was an error-ridden performance as Southern slumped to a second defeat after falling 34-0 to Oxford eight days prior.
"We just struggled to with some of the fundamentals of the game as our catching and passing let us down," Southern coach Ken Wills said.
It was only 8-0 at halftime but the Lincoln side lifted with its playoff chances on the line and scored 26 second half points to get the vital win.
"It was do or die week for Lincoln and it turned up with its best performance of the season and we didn't come to the party."
With the other top four contenders all recording wins the pressure now goes on Southern over the closing two weeks.
"Failing to get bonus points in the opening weeks has come back to haunt us a bit but I said at the start of the competition that three losses and you could be missing the cut so we have a big two weeks ahead," Wills said.
Rakaia v Dunsandel-Irwell
Rakaia recorded a 39-19 win over Dunsandel-Irwell to move into second on the ladder with two weeks left.
Rakaia got off to a flyer, scoring from the kickoff and then again on the 10 minute mark for a 12-0 lead but Dunsandel-Irwell came back as Rakaia only led 19-12 at the break.
In the second half Dunsandel-Irwell pegged it back to three points at 22-19 but in the closing stages Rakaia ran away with it to earn a bonus point win and move up into second on the table.
"We were pretty happy with the result," Craig Dunlea said.
"We turned over a bit too much ball which was an issue but to finish the way we did was pleasing."
Mave Tomasi scored a hat-trick with Ben Roddick, Alex Clark and Betti Beluette also dotting down and Josh Walker added three con-
versions and a penalty in the 39-19 win.
Methven v Ohoka
It was a game of two halves as Methven overcame Ohoka with 45 unanswered points in the second half.
Playing into the wind in the first half Ohoka played to the conditions smartly which enabled them to control the game.
"It was a hard first half but we made it harder for ourselves giving away a lot of penalties.
"Ohoka had a strong kicking game and made us pay for our mistakes."
Pete Shearer managed a double in the first half with Pete McAndrew and Ben Kitching also scoring, but Ohoka went to the break ahead.
Down 23-20 at halftime Methven opened up the game with the wind at its back to cross for seven second half tries.
Shearer added another double for a haul of four tries with McAndrew also adding a double for his hat-trick.
The other tries went to Hayden Dwyer, Cam Dixon and Richard Catherwood, who also had a conversion along with four from Davey Maw.
Waihora v Hampstead
It was a bottom-of the table clash that left Hampstead as the only winless side in section two as Waihora managed to take a 21-10 win.
Waihora grabbed its first victory of the season in a two tries to one win.
In the first half Hampstead could only muster a Peter Tare penalty to trail 3-10 and in the second half Jeremiah Nikkel scored a try with Tare converting.
However, Waihora managed to also cross the line and add two penalties to claim the win.
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