By Mark Cashman and Malcolm Chuck

A week after getting trounced by Sydney Uni, Southern Districts stunned an in-form and finals bound Manly Marlins outfit at Manly Oval on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Easts held off Gordon while Randwick and Norths both jumped up the ladder following important wins in round 14.

MANLY V SOUTHERN DISTRICTS at Manly Oval

Two late tries by Southern Districts has seen the Rebels pull off the major upset of Round 14 with a 42-35 win over the Manly Marlins on Saturday.

The Marlins came into this game with a spring in their step in the wake of their derby win over Warringah  but the urgency in defence of the week before just wasn’t there.

Rebels’ Winger Declan Mulcahy was the hero for the visitors crossing for a hat trick, including the final score that got his side in front in the 82nd minute.

Look away Manly fans. The winning try, courtesy of Malcolm Chuck!

The Rebels revelled in the clashes up front, working away stoically right throughout the 80 minutes with Phil Potgeiter, Jake Douglas and James Douglas shining through with their appetite for work.

Souths led 25-21 at the break but the Marlins would hit back with a try to flyhallf Brendan Owen after some good work from winger Fraser Toohey.

That got the home side in front 28-25 but Souths hit straight back with a try to Oscar Schmidt-Uili out wide.

But the drama wouldn’t end there with Manly getting a penalty try before the late flurry from Souths.

The Marlins now sit in fourth spot on the table equal with Norths.

GORDON V EASTERN SUBURBS at Chatswood Oval

Eastern Suburbs remained within a win of ladder leaders Warringah after their gritty 21-19 win over Gordon on Saturday.

Both teams scored three tries a piece and there was a bevy of Super Rugby talent on show but in the end it was the goal kicking of Beasties winger Cooper Whiteside that proved the difference.

The Highlanders, who were able to field Wallabies squad member Joey Walton, drew first blood when Ben Pollack offloaded to Will Kaye close to the line to take a 5-0 lead.

Easts’ Jamie Adamson got his side on the scoreboard when after a period of sustained pressure he rolled over from a wet constructed line out maul.

Julian Heaven then ran his side into the right end of the field and eventually crashed over to give the visitors a 14-5 lead.

Gordon would tighten up things with a try to Harry Emery but that man Adamson would give the Beasties a significant edge with a skilful, long range try down the left edge.

The score was 21-12 at the break and Gordon would tighten things up with a try to Tom Horan but East would hang on to grab the chocolates.

WEST HARBOUR V RANDWICK at Concord Oval

Randwick kept a fast finishing West Harbour side at arm’s length to score an important 29-28 victory on Saturday.

The bonus point win sees the Galloping Greens jump up to third place on the Shute Shield competition table with four rounds left before the finals.

But from a Randwick point of view it wasn’t without moments of tension with the Pirates taking the lead 10-5 in the first half thanks to a try from hooker Albert Alcock and a penalty goal from Hunter Hannaford.

The Pirates did have a handy midfield with Jack Debreczeni getting some game time at inside centre after his season at the Brumbies.

Debrcezeni’s skill was evident at No.12 but the Randwick pack continued to toil away led by Ben Houston and things soon turned around.

Wests led 16-12 at the break and they went even further ahead when a Debreczeni kick landed in the hands of winger Senijale Dawai over the try line for a 21-12 lead but the Wicks weren’t to be denied.

Tries by hooker Scott Buckley and Christian Yassmin added to the Randwick tally and got their nose in front while the class of Andrew Deegan orchestrated a lot of the good work of the visitors in the third quarter of the game.

Wests would hit back late with a try to prop Vaotangi Mafi to make the score 29-28 to the visitors but as has happened so often in 2024 they just fell short.

NORTHERN SUBURBS V TWO BLUES at North Sydney Oval

A hat-trick of tries to winger Carrick McDonough, his second of 2024, showed the way as the Northern Suburbs defeated the Two Blues 60-15 to win back the Rod Phelps Cup.

The Shoremen crossed for nine tries throughout the afternoon to virtually secure a Shute Shield finals spot, but it was their cohesion in defence that impressed many in the July afternoon sunshine.

The home side kept the Two Blues to two tries throughout the match but it must be said that they were operating without the service of gun flyhalf Reece Seseu, who looks set for a stint on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

The Two Blues tried hard but they couldn’t get their high tempo offloading game going.

Norths backrower Ed Timpson scored a great try just before the halftime break when he went on a similar charge to Wests hooker Albert Alcock to score in the left corner.

It was 22-3 at the break and the Two Blues did hit back with a try after the resumption to centre Nik Vikena but when the dam wall broke, Norths cantered away with six further tries.

HUNTER WILDFIRES V SYDNEY UNI at Newcastle Sports Ground No.2

Sydney Uni overcame a quick out of the blocks Hunter Wildfires side to score a 43-29 victory to edge their way up the Shute Shield competition table on Saturday.

The Wildfires played some great footy early in this one and jumped out to a 17-7 lead midway through the first half with Rob Puliuvea and Donny Freeman being rewarded with tries for their hard grafting.

But tries from the 22th minute onwards from James Kane (a double) and others from Jack Matthews and Eddie Poolman saw the Students jump out to a 26-17 lead.

That was the score at the break and the domination by the visitors continued when Kane towed through a sloppy pass close to the line to score.

Up front Luke Ratcliff carried the ball well while Angus Allen was busy in the collision areas. Poolman though was the pick of the Students.

Wildfires centre Sitiveni Vahai gave his side a sniff near the 60 minute mark when he wriggled his way over but from there Ratcliff and McCalman made sure of the result with handy tries.

The result means that Uni are just two wins away from sixth spot with four rounds left and still a chance of playing finals footy.

WARRINGAH V EASTWOOD at Pittwater Rugby Park

Warringah hit back from the disappointment of falling to the Manly Marlins in the northern beaches derby last weekend with a 49-22 win over Eastwood on Saturday.

The Rats, led all the way by their forceful flyhalf Coby Miln on back to Warringah day, scored six tries and forced a penalty try to keep their spot at the top of the Shute Shield competition table.

Backrowers Chlayton Frans and Zac Barnabas were other major contributors throughout the afternoon while hooker Wes Thomas enjoyed his chance to run in open space.

The Rats bounced out to a 28-8 lead at the break and were soon adding to their already healthy points differential with a try to Thomas who crossed for his eighth try of 2024.

Ben Woolett, who was sidelined with a neck injury earlier in the season, seemed to make a good fist of his move to inside providing a good foil to Connor Hickey and his skipper Ben Marr.

The Woodies were pretty much outgunned up front and that meant that they had to exist on scraps of possession and field position but toyed did manage to get their score up to 22 points.

The game opened up in the final minutes with the result secure and that mindset saw Barnabas roll one over from a line out after a period of sustained pressure.