Auckland:
The University Blues cemented their spot at the top of the table with a 11.13.79 – 6.5.41 win over The Waitakere Magpies at Colin Maiden Park. Going into the final quarter there was less than a goal in it, but the Blues piled on the points and kept the Magpies to a solitary behind.
North Shore Tigers took on a determined Pakuranga Panthers side and finished the game on top 14.19.103 – 7.3.45. The Tigers and Magpies are now separated by just a handful of percentage points on the league table.
At May Rd, The Manurewa Raiders came out of blocks and stunned The Mt Roskill Saints in the first quarter. The Saints responded in the second quarter and it was virtually tied up at half time. Another big quarter by Manurewa had them back on top in a match that seemed to be being played at the same end of the ground every quarter. Mt Roskill hit back again in the final and it was anyone’s game. Mt Roskill clung to the lead, taking it 7.10.52 – 8.2.50. The Raiders showed tremendous improvement and will be real contenders for the second round of the comp.
The Auckland league takes a break this week for the AFL Grand Final and will return in two weeks time.
Canterbury:
The Ashurton Eagles have claimed top spot with a gutsy win over The Eastern Blues. An evenly matched start to the game saw the scores close up half time. After the break it was all the Eagles. They pulled away to a comfortable 4 goal lead at 3 quarter time. However the Blues were not laying down and threw everything at the Eagles in the last quarter kicking 3 goals to 1 to try to wrestle back the table topping win. But the Eagles lead prevailed and loose kicking in the last quarter from the Blues point scorers allowed the Eagles to sneak home and stay atop of the table with one game clear.
Eagles 7.7: 49 defeated the Blues 5.10: 40
The Terry Anderson Shield was played between The University Cougars and The Christchurch Bulldogs. This game is played to honour the huge amount of effort and support Terry Anderson put into help both clubs get off the ground.
Former NZ Hawks strength and conditioning manager Todd Andrews stamped his presence in the game and reminded the league about his abilities to ruck, rove and kick goals on the run.
At half time the Cougars had more scoring shots on the board but were two goals behind due to inaccurate kicking.
The Bulldogs ended up running away with the win and claim the Terry Anderson shield.
Bulldogs 13.8: 86 defeated the Cougars 5.11: 41
