Norths, Hunter and Randwick all claimed victories over rivals in the finals hunt and sit two competition points clear of the remainder of the competition on top of the Shute Shield ladder. 

Elsewhere, Western Sydney belted a disinterested Eastwood outfit, Warringah all but ended Easts’ finals hopes and West Harbour were far too good for an abysmal Southern Districts side on Back to Souths Day at Forshaw. 

Norths 30-19 Gordon

Norths remain top of the Shute Shield ladder after grinding out an impressive 30-19 victory over Gordon in the North Shore local derby. 

Wearing the No.10 jersey, Harrison Goddard opened the scoring for Gordon at Chatswood Oval and the home side were unlucky not to extend their lead minutes later when a driving maul was held up inches from the try line. 

Norths hit back with a try to centre Nathan Russell, then took the lead when hooker James Margan threw a lovely flick pass to put Seb Cameron in space and give the visitors a 14-7 lead. 

Norths were then held up over the line twice, but added a penalty goal to take a 17-7 lead to the break. 

Jude Gibbs added a second penalty goal a minute into the second half, then kicked a third midway through the second half after his forwards earned a scrum penalty in front of Gordon’s goalposts. 

Leading 23-7, the Shoreman then sealed the result when Cameron scored an intercept try to give Norths a 30-7 lead with 15 minutes remaining. 

Gordon scored two late tries through Kainoa Gudgeon and Tom Maka, but the result was never in doubt. 

Warringah 43-35 Eastern Suburbs

Warringah scored four consecutive second half tries to set up a 43-35 victory and all but end Easts’ slim finals hopes in a try-fest at Woollahra. 

Warringah opened the scoring through winger Jack Blain before Easts took control of the contest, scoring two quick tries through Archie Gavin and Jonny Van Der Velde and then a third from an intercept to Blake Rixon to claim a 21-5 lead. 

Warringah responded with a long range try against the run of play to reduce the deficit to just 11 points, but Easts added a fourth first half try just before the break to take a 28-10 lead at half time. 

Warringah prop Sateki Latu scored from close range five minutes into the second half and swung momentum in the visitors favour. 

Off the kick off, Ezera Chee Kam kicked ahead, regathered and scored a great individual try, then Jack Blain crossed for his second five pointer and Warringah’s third try in five minutes to claim a 31-28 lead. 

Warringah then pushed ahead when Tyson Davies made a break from deep inside his own half and linked with Ben Marr to give the Rats a 10-point advantage midway through the second half. 

Easts returned serve with a long range try of their own inside the final 10 minutes, scored by Nic Shannon, but Warringah sealed the 43-35 result with a try from a driving maul in the 76th minute. 

Hunter 18-17 Manly

Hunter flyhalf Conor Winchester claimed a brilliant breakdown turnover in the 76th minute to save his side from heartbreak in a thrilling 18-17 victory over Manly on the Northern Beaches. 

Leading by just a point, Winchester chased down Manly replacement back Wilson Dulieu and latched on to the ball to halt the Marlins attack just metres from the tryline in the final minutes. 

Manly led 10-0 after 10 minutes following an early double to hooker Aaron Blacklock. Blacklock rumbled over twice from close range, with the first try coming off the back of a driving maul and the second a few phases after a strong run from centre Ofa Manuofetoa. 

Hunter hit back when No.8 Tiueti Asi broke from the back of an attacking 5 metre scrum and scored, but the Wildfires welcomed Manly deep into their territory off the kick off and young lock Sau Ofahengaue scored moments later to put his side ahead 17-7. 

Hunter added a penalty goal late in the first half before things tightened up after the break. 

In the 60th minute, the Hunter forwards rumbled their way towards the Manly try line. While Manly’s defence was up to the challenge in tight, fullback Nate de Thierry threw a looping pass to Alex Pohla on the wing and Pohla scored untouched to reduce the deficit to just two points. 

Hunter edged ahead with a penalty goal in the 70th minute, before Winchester chased down a stumbling Dulieu in the 76th minute to stop what would have likely been a match winning try for Manly. 

Hunter sit second on the ladder, one competition point behind leaders Norths and three competition points ahead of fourth placed Manly. 

Western Sydney 60-28 Eastwood

Just a week after putting a big score on competition frontrunners Hunter, Eastwood have had a massive score put on them by a super impressive Western Sydney side. 

The Two Blues ran in eight tries against an Eastwood side that look disinterested, particularly in defence, at Eric Tweedale Stadium. 

While Eastwood were poor, the Two Blues were very good and scored four unanswered tries to lead 31-0 in the first half. Hooker Jay Fonokalafi scored a first half double, while Irie Papuni and Rilloy Suesue both scored to give the home side a commanding lead. 

Eastwood hit back with tries from mauls on either side of the half time break, but simple missed tackles allowed the Two Blues to extend their lead throughout the second half. 

Eastwood scored four tries, all from their driving maul but had few other answers, particularly in defence. 

The Two Blues continued to run rampant in the second half, with tries to Nikola Vikena, Kaynan Tua, Austin Wallis and Kafaonga Katoa setting up a 60-28 win. 

Randwick 44-33 Sydney Uni

Randwick gave their top two hopes a big boost with an impressive 44-33 win over Sydney Uni at Coogee Oval. 

In a seesawing battle, Uni scored two tries against the run of play to lead 14-0 early before Randwick responded with two tries from close range to trail 14-12. 

The Students edged further ahead with a try to returning fullback George Poolman before momentum swung behind the home side. 

Ben Dowling scored a brilliant individual counter attack try to reduce the deficit, then with a Uni player in the bin, Ben Houston crossed from close range to give Randwick their first lead of the afternoon.

Dowling then scored his second on the stroke of half time, helping the Galloping Greens to a 31-19 half time lead. 

Uni struck first in the second half with Henry Clunies-Ross gathering a long pass from Jac Lloyd to score untouched. 

After a Randwick penalty goal, Uni struck again, this time from a driving maul and trailed 34-33 midway through the second half. 

With the match in the balance, Christian Yassmin found space on the far touchline. He linked with centre Jayden Blake, who passed inside to Ben Houston to score and give the home side a 41-33 advantage. 

Returning flyhalf Andrew Deegan then kicked a late penalty goal to seal a 44-33 victory. 

West Harbour 31-12 Southern Districts

West Harbour were far too good for a disappointing Southern Districts outfit on Back to Souths Day at Forshaw. 

West Harbour winger Callum Sirker took advantage of some lazy Southern Districts’ defence and scored twice to give the visitors an early lead. 

Justin Masters then ran through a big gap in the middle of the Rebels’ defensive live and scored to extend the Pirates lead to 24 points at the break. 

Masters was in the action again early in the second half and offloaded nicely to Noah Cooper who scored and all but sealed the result 10 minutes into the second half. 

While Souths scored two late tries, through Corey Goldsbrough and Gavin Wood, the Rebels did not perform to a first grade standard, as was noted by many former players in attendance.