Northcote 23 Massey 22
Kumeu 26 East Coast Bays 24
Silverdale 37 Marist 16
Takapuna 41 North Shore 8
Glenfield 46 Mahurangi 17
As another lead change marked one of the closest North Harbour premier competitions in years, Northcote kept pace with a tight 23-22 victory over Massey which saw them retain the Les Pearce Memorial Shield.
Two tries to North Harbour and Blues No 8 Murphy Taramai, who was adjudged player of the day, were the main features of Northcote's win.
Matt Vaega scored 12 points for the westerners. But the wind played a major role, as it did elsewhere in the region, Massey taking the 15-10 halftime advantage with the wind, before Northcote adopted the ball in hand strategy, which paid dividends and allowed club stalwart Jesse Muir to mark his debut in style.
Buck Shelford Shield winners East Coast Bays again fell, 26-24 to Kumeu, but did secure two bonus points, which might be crucial in the final tally. Kumeu, now 4-4 under coach Adrian Donald, have now moved up to sixth on the table, supplanting North Shore.
Shore were outpointed 41-8 by Takapuna, who now have eight bonus points and lie poised in fourth. It was just 13-8 at halftime before Jon Elrick's boot swung like a pendulum, the veteran five-eighths scoring 26 points.
Doubles to Manning Smith and Fine Inisi helped Glenfield to their second victory of 2017, 46-17 over Mahurangi, who were competitive in the first spell.
Silverdale moved to the top of the standings, downing Marist 37-16, despite the play of Marist player of the day Winston Stowers. Marist actually led 16-15 at the break in a very tight first spell until Silverdale pulled away with Gannon Moore crossing for a double.
A feature of the clash was the presence of two former Rosmini College First XV skippers in the opposing sides' loosies, Hauwai McGahan for Marist and veteran Robbie Colhoun for Silverdale, who scored a try.
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