By Angus Hayman

Round five produced the biggest surprises of the GPS season to date, with Scots claiming their first victory of the year in emphatic fashion and Riverview ending Newington’s unbeaten start to create a share of top spot on the ladder. 

The results have dramatically tightened the premiership race, while Shore’s continued rise has added another contender to an increasingly congested competition. As the season approaches its halfway point it is almost impossible to pick a front runner. 

Riverview 20 – 12 Newington

Riverview claimed top spot on the GPS ladder after ending Newington’s unbeaten start to the season with a gritty 20-12 victory in a heavyweight clash.

The home side controlled possession for much of the opening half and continually challenged the Newington defence, only to be denied twice from close range by desperate goal-line stands.

Riverview’s scrum also established early dominance, with Newington clearly missing the presence of captain and front rower Isaiah Sheck.

The breakthrough eventually arrived through skipper Isaac Perkins, who charged onto a short ball close to the line and powered over beneath the posts.

Moments later Riverview doubled their advantage when a charge down inside Newington’s 22 created chaos, allowing second rower Hunter Reich to win the race to the loose ball and score.

Newington’s first genuine attacking opportunity resulted in points, with centre Jaryd King finishing a well-worked movement to reduce the deficit to 12-5 at halftime.

Defence dominated the second half as both sides struggled to find rhythm in attack. Newington flyhalf Cooper Moore continually looked to spark his side but found little reward against Riverview’s organised defensive line.

Errors began to creep into both forward packs, although they proved particularly costly for Newington as attacking opportunities slipped away.

The decisive moment arrived with nine minutes remaining when fullback Jack Plamondon burst through the line before producing a brilliant flick pass for winger Archer Mason to score in the corner.

Two late yellow cards to Riverview gave Newington hope and a penalty try reduced the margin to five points, but despite finishing with thirteen men the home side managed possession superbly before sealing the result with a late penalty goal.

Shore 33 – 21 Kings

Shore continued their impressive campaign with a powerful 33-21 victory over Kings, built on forward dominance and another strong performance from winger Jeremy Bremner.

Kings started brightly and opened the scoring through a clever kicking play, with Talen Risati grubbering ahead for Will Taylor to collect and score after spotting an undermanned backfield.

Shore responded through captain Darcy Squire, who backed up a brilliant sideline break from Bremner to cross under the posts.

The home side then took control through front rower Tom Green, who barged over twice in quick succession as Kings began to struggle at set-piece.

With momentum completely on Shore’s side, Bremner again proved dangerous, slicing down the edge before finding flyhalf Luke Maclennan in support for another try.

That gave Shore a commanding 26-7 lead at halftime.

Kings showed greater urgency after the break, with Risati producing a linebreak before putting scrumhalf Makoto Chapman over beneath the posts.

Any hopes of a comeback were quickly shut down by Green, who completed a memorable front-row hat-trick with his best effort of the afternoon, selling a dummy before carrying defenders over the line.

Risati continued to fight for the visitors and produced a superb solo try late in the contest, finishing with involvement in all three Kings tries.

However, Shore’s dominance through the middle proved the difference as they secured a deserved 33-21 victory.

Scots 54 – 36 St Joseph’s

Scots produced their most explosive attacking display of the season, stunning Joeys 54-36 in a remarkable twelve-try contest.

The visitors arrived with clear intent, defending aggressively and consistently winning collisions against the traditionally powerful Joeys forward pack.

Joeys still managed to strike first through flanker Eddie Garcia-Wood after another successful tap-and-go move close to the line.

Scots responded through a dominant performance from Queensland No.8 Agapetos Leto-Felo, who scored two outstanding first-half tries to swing momentum firmly towards the visitors.

Joeys briefly levelled proceedings when scrumhalf Lachlan Wallace produced a moment of brilliance, stealing possession from his opposite number before racing away to score.

Scots quickly regained control through winger Ben Wright after exposing some lazy defensive work following a goal-line dropout return.

Leading 19-12 at halftime, the visitors continued their dominance after the break.

Leto-Felo completed his hat-trick before Scots produced the try of the match, moving the ball almost the length of the field before Jackson Guilfoyle delivered a remarkable offload for flyhalf Xavier Jones to finish.

The lead continued to grow as Scots repeatedly exposed Joeys’ defence in transition.

Without playmaker Finn Hannon directing proceedings, Joeys struggled to find their usual attacking fluency and consistency.

Wright added two more tries to complete a hat-trick of his own, while centre Oscar Tremlett also crossed as Scots stretched the margin to 37 points.

To their credit, Joeys refused to surrender and scored the final three tries of the afternoon to add respectability to the scoreboard.

But the day belonged to Scots, whose attacking firepower and defensive intensity suggested they could be a genuine threat during the second half of the season.