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Karaka handed Pukekohe their first loss of the 2023 McNamara Cup and took possession of the Counties Power Cup with a 31-28 victory at Colin Lawrie Fields on Saturday.

It elevates Craig Hill’s side to second on the table with three rounds to play in the round robin and intensifies a three-way battle between the sides and Patumahoe for two home semi-final berths.

“A very good game of club footy,” Hill told Counties Sports Hub.

“Pukekohe showed how aggressive they are at the breakdown and organised in defence.

“We took a while to try and counter that, but we were able to keep in touch kicking penalties and took our chances.

“I was very pleased with what the bench brought.”

Patumahoe skipped to the top of the standings with a 23-7 win over Bombay at Bombay.

“It was a tough old battle up on the hill,” Healy said.

“There wasn’t much grass left by the end of the game.

“Happy with the effort from the boys to get the win and no serious injuries.

“Looking forward to being back at home this week [against Pukekohe] with a big weekend ahead for the club.”

Manurewa secured a 72-0 thrashing of Ardmore Marist to consolidate fourth spot and all but secure a semi-final place.

“Ardmore were tough in the first 30 minutes,” coach Jeremy Clark said. “We knew they would come out and give it to us.

“We worked hard, and things started to fall into place with structures etc.

“We scored some solid tries with a lot of hands touching the ball with forwards and backs connecting well.

“Work still to be done next week for our home game against Bombay but looking forward to getting back home.”

Karaka scored a 26-12 win over Pukekohe to make it the double in the Bob Chandler Premier Reserves competition.

Patumahoe proved too strong for Bombay, claiming a 17-0 win while Manurewa and Ardmore Marist played out a 22-22 draw at Bruce Pulman Park.

Weymouth moved to the top of the Sid Marshall Shield standings with a 27-5 win away at Onewhero while Waiuku consolidated their top four spot with a 29-10 over the previously unbeaten Drury at Drury in a stellar result.

Maramarua picked up a 24-5 win over Manurewa while Te Kauwhata and Te Kohanga collected walk over win against Patumahoe and Tuakau respectively.

Ardmore Marist grabbed a 13-10 win over neighbours Papakura in Massey Cup U21 action.

Elsewhere, Patumahoe edged Manurewa 23-21 while Karaka easily accounted for Pukekohe 43-3 in the Counties Energy Game of the Week.

In the Under 85kg National Club Cup Patumahoe picked up a 25-0 win over Ardmore Marist to move through to the next round.

Onewhero went down 27-14 to Auckland’s Grammar TEC.