BY MARK CASHMAN

SYDNEY UNI V GORDON at Sydney Uni Sports Ground No.2

Sydney Uni took Gordon to some dark places on Saturday night and I’m not just talking about the flood lights at the birthplace of Australian rugby in Camperdown.

The Students came away with a 30-22 victory that snapped their three-game losing streak and pushed them up to sixth place and at the head of the queue for a Shute Shield playoff spot.

It was 1 to 23 effort from Uni that was the winning of this game with sound kicking and some intense defence helping to make things happen.

But the Highlanders were the ones that kicked off the scoring on a gloomy night with a try down the left edge to Dan Stovold who carried well throughout the 80 minutes.

Simple stuff with Harry Snook counting the numbers on the short side and combining with Connor Hickey before Stovold got his hands on the ball.

Uni weren’t to be outdone though and they hit back with a nice try to scrumalf Oli Schmude getting an inside ball from Lucas Ripley down the left edge.

The highlight in my mind of the first half was the individual effort from Gordon No.9 Lachie Albert who took a quick tap, cut through the retreating defence before dribbling the ball forward, regathering and scoring next to the posts.

That gave the 12-10 Gordon ahead scoreline at the break but it was the home side that would emerge from the shadows with some purpose in the second stanza.

It wasn’t all that complicated but an inside ball from Tom Curtis saw Leafi Talataina storm over and grab a 17-12 lead.

A Harry Snook try would see the visitors back in front again but field position and some good work over the ball saw Uni’s Tom Curtis nudge his side to the lead with a penalty goal.

But the critical play of the game was to come with a quick tap causing confusion in the Gordon defence and Joey Fowler and Hwi Sharples putting Declan Moore over under the posts.

Gordon would edge closer with a Cole Spinks penalty goal but Curtis had the final say with his long ranger from a breakdown infringement.

There was a lot to like about the way that both sides went about their work.

We spoke of the Highlanders coming into contention in this competition but they will need to navigate games like this one a lot better.

Lots of upside for Uni though and I am sure their coach John Manenti is not resting on that laurel.

WARRINGAH V RANDWICK at Pittwater Rugby Park

My highly-respected and connected Rugby News colleague Jon Geddes has gone into the late drama in this game elsewhere, but some may ask whether Warringah are slightly off-colour at this stage of the Shute Shield season.

The Rats won 22-21 against an under-manned Randwick side that took the game to their opponents and in the end were a bit stiff not to get a get a better result from their travels to the peninsula.

Rat Park hasn’t been a happy place for the Galloping Greens in recent times but the way that they knocked Warringah off centre on Saturday showed promise.

The Houston brothers put a number of doubts into the Warringah line out on a wet afternoon and at the break had jumped out to a 21-10 lead.

That was never going to be a winning margin and the Rats went about their work with a new focus that comes from reassessing diligently in the dressing sheds.

Tries to Zac Barnabas and big unit prop Jaidan Christian got the home side’s nose in front before the drama of the last couple off minutes.

Conditions on Saturday certainly didn’t help the skills and the quality of the game but it was what it was and winning ugly is better than not winning at all.

Opposition sides will see some cracks in the Warringah armour after sifting through the replay but they’ve got to get on the field and make it happen before that sort of aspiration comes to life.

All that said the closeness of the victory saw them slip one place on the competition table to second behind East on the slimmest of percentages.

NORTHERN SUBURBS V SOUTHERN DISTRICTS at North Sydney Oval

The weather that descended on the lower North Shore had an undoubted effect but I always had an uncomfortable feeling about this game on Saturday.

Norths taking on a winless but consistently brave Rebels side with the expectation that they would win at home and gather a handy bonus point.

And that’s the way that things were ticking over for much of the first half in driving rain and slippery conditions.

Norths jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to tries from Sifa Amone and Josh Barr, but Souths were not going to roll over and think of sunny summer afternoons at Northies.

The visitors hit back just before the break with a try to prop Isi Fukofuka and after halftime had a significant share of field position and possession.

That led to another gritty try to replacement prop Lewis Young and it was very much game on.

Norths then hit back with a try to fullback Shane Wilcox but the 21-14 advantage was short lived.

The game was held up for some minutes late in the contest after Norths’ No.8 Blair Tagi-Fuimaono sustained a neck injury.

On the resumption Souths, as they had done for much of the second half, got in Norths red zone and hooker Lindsay Stevens sneaked over.

That made the score 21-all, a scoreline that probably reflected the way the game had played out.

But a brain explosion from Fukofuka saw Souths penalised within range of the posts.

Up stepped replacement flyhalf Robbie McIntosh to guide the home team into the winners circle.

It was a win that was ugly, lacking in crisp execution and clunky and that was reflected in the relief the home side felt at fulltime.

EASTERN SUBURBS V WS TWO BLUES at Woollahra Oval

Eastern Suburbs jumped to the top of the Shute Shield competition table by the slimmest of percentages with a 29-22 win over the Two Blues on Saturday.

The win retained the Roden Cutler Shield, was the 17th in a row for the Beasties at Woollahra and it means they will push through 700 days without a loss at home.

While the rest of the Shute Shield battled away in the mud, slush and driving rain all these two teams had to cope with was the driving rain on the artificial surface.

Easts made the most of the more favourable conditions and certainly took the chance when they presented themselves with Sam Walker and centre Otto Serfontein again prominent.

The Two Blues were in no way disgraced and continued to take the game to the home side right throughout the 80 minutes.

But the fact that the Beasties’ rolling maul worked so well once again – we described it as a “sexy thing” last week in Rugby News – and their eye for space down the left edge that was the difference.

Despite the result the Two Blues are still well in the hunt for a place in the playoffs on 17 points.

They continue to play a smart brand of footy and have brains in Rodney Iona at No.10 and plenty of strike on the edges.

The cluster of teams in the middle regions of the competition table means they are going to have to start winning a bit more consistently but it must be said they are improving from week to week.

Little things like referee management has come on remarkably for them and that helps when some of the 50-50 calls are made.

The Beasties will roll on from here and as we sit here now at the end of Round 7 they must be considered title favourites.

There’s not much in it but they do at this stage have that edge.

MANLY V EASTWOOD at Manly Oval

The Manly Marlins breathed some much needed life into their Shute Shield premiership campaign with a gutsy 21-17 win over Eastwood in difficult conditions on Saturday.

I’ve heard numerous conversations about the redevelopment of Manly Oval over the years but when the weather is like it was on Saturday the cricket pitch area is a shocker.

That’s the way it was against the Woodies on the weekend but the two teams toiled manfully and made the best of things.

They were locked together at 7-all at the break with Daly Bird scoring a nice try in the wide channels on the left edge and the Woodies burrowing over from close.

Days like this are all about the simple things, scrums and some more simple things and that gave the visitors the ascendancy.

Scrum dominance saw the Woodies score through lock Evan Sheldon and then a booming penalty goal into the wind by flyhalf Brad Roderick-Evans to make it 17-7.

But from there tries to Ben Chapman and then Joe Dillon got the home team in range of sining the “Boom Boom” song in the sheds after the game.

Goal kicking was another key to the end results with Will Kaye perfect from the tee in messy conditions.

I must say that Dillon’s try was one that Eastwood would like to play over again with a quick tap and some indecision in the defence opening up the opportunity.

There was lots of emotion at the finish including oodles of it from stand in ground announcer and former president Anthony Bergelin.

Winning on a Saturday makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside – on to the next.

HUNTER WILDFIRES V WEST HARBOUR at Newcastle Sports Ground No.2

As this Shute Shield season matures the Hunter Wildfires will look back on their 29-19 win over West Harbour on Saturday and reflect on the importance of the victory.

The Wildfires are now handily placed in fifth spot on the ladder with a five-point buffer to sixth placed Sydney Uni.

They are within range of top four finish come finals time and I am sure the importance of winning at home has been emphasised by the Coleman brothers.

But this was one of those contests that could have gone either way and the Wildfires wouldn’t hit the lead until the final minutes of the game.

West Harbour it must be said were pretty handy at times, running straight and hard and making the most of turnover ball.

Their try to Matt Whelan I thought underlined much of the hard work and skills that coach Ben Rutherford has been tipping into this side.

Turnover in their own half and through the hands to the left edge where the space was and Whelan’s pace does the rest from long range.

Wests actually led 14-5 and 19-10 well into the second half before the Wildfires stormed their way back into this game.

Tries to Sitiveni Vahai, Micah Aish-Gillard and replacement prop Max Sawers got the “W” and importantly the bonus point.

Sawers is part of the Western Force wider training group and is pending the entire 2026 season at the Wildfires.

He’s a big unit and runs hard and is sure to benefit from his time “over east” as they say in Perth.

The Wildfires will rumble on from this one and the Pirates will continue to be a worthy opponent despite their ladder position.