TIGHT AT THE TOP AS CRL WHITEHEAD PLUMBING & GAS MEN’S PREMIERSHIP ROUNDS HALFWAY MARK
The CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership lead has been changing hands on a weekly basis – and there could be more leapfrogging and manoeuvring in the Massetti Cup standings this week with three critical matches on the Round 8 agenda.
Riccarton Knights nabbed top spot at the halfway point of the season via a 28-22 Club Day win over Halswell Hornets last Saturday – their fifth in succession after losing their first two games.
The Knights have their noses in front of Linwood Keas on for-and-against but face a tough away assignment at Wainoni Park against a fourth-placed Eastern Eagles line-up eager to bounce back from last week’s loss to Greymouth Greyhounds.
The Knights grabbed a 24-14 win when the teams met at Crosbie Park in Round 3, but the Eagles are unbeaten at Wainoni Park in 2024 – including a draw with the Keas in Round 6.
Galvanised by their historic 24-20 win in Round 7, the Greyhounds are looking to go back-to-back at surrogate home ground Papanui Domain when they take on the Keas.
Defending premier Linwood carved out an impressive 32-22 home win over archrival Hornby last Saturday. But the Keas’ only win away from Linwood Park so far this season was on ‘neutral’ ground in the Ngā Puna Wai Magic Round five weeks ago – a 52-14 defeat of the Greyhounds, after the West Coasters got off to a hot start.
Halswell celebrates its Club Day in fitting style, with the on-field action concluding courtesy of the the third-placed Hornets’ CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership showdown against the neighbouring Panthers.
The Panthers will be hellbent on arresting a three-game slide, as well as avenging their 28-16 westside derby loss to the Hornets in Round 3.
All three premiership matches kick off at 2.45pm on Saturday.
The Hornets’ Premier Reserves side will be aiming to use the Club Day factor to their advantage against the 6-1 Panthers in a pivotal CRL ISC Sports Canterbury Cup encounter.
Meanwhile, Papanui Tigers host bottom-placed defending champs the Keas, and Riccarton Knights have their work cut out snapping a five-match losing streak when they hit the road to face ladder-leading Eastern Eagles.
All three Canterbury Cup encounters get underway at 1pm at the same venues as the premiership fixtures.
The CRL Division One docket includes the Hornets’ clash with Burnham Chevaliers at Halswell Domain (1pm), high-flying Northern Bulldogs’ assignment against Shirley Hawks at Murphy Park (1pm) and the Tigers’ home clash with in-form Ashburton Barbarians at Papanui Domain (2.30pm).
In Round 4 of the CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership, the only undefeated team remaining –Burnham Chevaliers – head to Woolston Park to lock horns with the Rams.
The Chevaliers have carved out wins over Addington Magpies (58-6) and Eastern Eagles (14-4) either side of their second-round bye. The Rams had the first bye before beating the Eagles (32-14) but are looking bounce back from a big loss to Sydenham Swans (58-0) last weekend.
The Swans host the winless Magpies at Bradford Park, while two-time defending champs Linwood Keas host the Eagles in an eastside derby at Linwood Park. The Keas will be buoyed by becoming the first time to defeat Hornby Panthers (24-20) in Round 3.
All CRL Bartercard Women’s Premiership fixtures kick off at 1pm on Sunday.
