Manly are solo competition leaders following an impressive 20-10 victory over Sydney Uni in round 11, while Gordon, Easts and Western Sydney also claimed important wins to further condense the Shute Shield ladder.

Catch up on all the action from round 11 over the weekend.

Manly 20-10 Sydney Uni

Manly furthered their premiership credentials with a gritty 20-10 victory over Sydney Uni at University Oval. 

The Students led 5-0 in the 30th minute when a scuffle broke out near the Manly try line. Uni captain Mitch Whiteley was given a red card for striking and Manly hooker Aaron Blacklock received a yellow to reduce both sides to 14 players. 

While Blacklock returned early in the second half, Uni pushed further ahead after Ben Hughes dived over from a quick tap close to the Manly line. 

Neither side could find a way through for the majority of the second half. In the 75th minute, Manly finally broke the stalemate with a try from a driving maul against a 13-man Uni defence. 

Lalakai Foketi, in his first match back in Manly colours, then found space on counter attack and was tackled inches from the Uni line. Max Douglas scored off the next phase to seal a famous Manly victory. 

The Marlins now lead the competition, four points clear of Uni in second. 

Northern Suburbs 33-28 Hunter

Norths held off Hunter to claim an important 33-28 victory at North Sydney Oval. 

In a seesawing battle, the Shoremen scored three tries in the first 12 minutes to claim a 19-0 lead, before Hunter responded with three tries of their own, two from driving mauls, to take a 21-19 lead early in the second half. 

Max Burey showed good speed to score a classy individual try and give his side a 30-21 lead in the 65th minute but Hunter refused to go away. Issac Ulberg scored his second try of the afternoon with five minutes remaining to close the gap to just two points. 

Norths nudged further ahead with a penalty goal, then defended in the dying stages to secure an important 33-28 victory. 

Warringah 35-22 Southern Districts

Warringah scored 14 unanswered points to claim a 35-22 victory over a disappointing Southern Districts outfit on Back to Port Hacking Day at Forshaw. 

Souths led 17-7 midway through the first half following tries to Sama Malolo and Christian Kagiassis but conceded two tries against the run of play soon after. 

Ben Woollett capitalised on a horrendous bounce of the ball for the Rebels and scored from a kick from inside his own 22, before Rhett Butler finished off an impressive counterattack to score and give his side a 21-17 lead. 

Rebels winger Chris Miller scored late in the first half to retake the lead for the home side but some poor defence from Souths allowed Charlie McKill to score just before half time to give Warringah a 28-22 lead. 

Warringah scored the only try in a dour second half, with Rhett Butler scoring his second to secure a bonus point win for the Rats. 

Western Sydney 21-5 Randwick

A masterclass from young flyhalf Tom Curtis helped Western Sydney claim a 21-5 victory over Randwick and jump back in to the Shute Shield top 8. 

Curtis split the defence from inside his own half to set up his side’s first try, which was eventually scored by equally impressive scrum half Rilloy Suesue. 

The English import then threw a beautiful cut out pass from an attacking scrum to put Faiva Faiva one on one with a defender in the corner. 

A penalty goal soon after saw the home side lead 15-0 after 20 minutes. 

Randwick scored through No.8 Jamie Rickward on the stroke of half time but that was the highlight for the visitors on a disappointing afternoon. 

Curtis controlled the match brilliantly in the second half and added two penalty goals to seal a 21-5 win. 

Gordon 35-30 Eastwood

Gordon produced their best performance of 2022 to outlast Eastwood in a seesawing thriller at TG Millner. 

While seven tries were scored across the 80 minutes, the margin was never great than five points at any point. 

Eastwood fullback Zac Hickey scored his second try midway through the second half to give Eastwood a 20-18 lead. 

But Gordon hit back thanks to some individual brilliance from centre Alesana Pohla, who showed great speed to find space, then stand up Tane Edmed at fullback and score in the corner. 

Eastwood retook the lead with a try from a driving maul in the 67th minute but it was the visitors who would have the final say. 

Prop Tristan Fuli dived over from close range in the 75th minute to claim a 32-20 advantage, before flyhalf Reece MacDonald sealed the result with a penalty goal on full time. 

Eastern Suburbs 26-10 West Harbour

Eastern Suburbs claimed a hard fought 26-10 victory over West Harbour at Drummoyne Oval to keep their finals hopes well and truly alive. 

The battling Beasties trailed early after Kali Nacina and Enari Kilifi combined for a West Harbour try in the 3rd minute. 

But Easts hit back with Charles Elton linking with Jack Grant to score the visitor’s first try, before Jordan Jackson-Hope dived over to claim a 12-7 lead. 

Leading 12-10 in the 67th minute, Charles Elton crossed from close range, before Jack Grant scored his second try in the final minutes to seal a 26-10 win. 

The Beasties are now just two competition points behind Randwick in 6th spot ahead of next week’s local derby.