By Braydon Lindsay

Pleasant Point are on the board with a well-constructed 31-23 win over the previously unbeaten Harlequins side in their Hamersley Cup senior rugby match.

The visiting side had too much skill and were more clinical in the entertaining fixture between the two sides played on the number 2 ground .

Point backs Max Morris, Shay Moseby and Kevin Moore were outstanding in the win, while captain Ben Hewitson and lock Ben Groundwater led the way up front.

Pleasant Point coach Kelly Walsh was pleased with the side's win against a strong Harlequins lineup.

"We are very happy. The boys trained really well all week and to get a win like that was superb."

Walsh credited Moseby for closing the game out.

"He really stood up and kicked a couple of fantastic penalty goals for us at the end."

He said they were looking forward to tackling Temuka next weekend.

Ken Hellier kicked an early penalty to give Harlequins the early lead. 

A Shay Moseby intercept try from 80m about 10 minutes later gave Point a 5-3 lead, however, it was short-lived with livewire Harlequins winger Jone Veutaki scoring a good individual try with an angled 30m run and a step to beat Moseby.

Hellier added the extras to make it 10-5.

The visitors lost first five Brad Tegelaars to a hip injury, forcing a reshuffle in the backline.

Point winger Morris moved into first-five and was superb, scoring shortly after to make it 10-10.

A period of sustained attack by Harlequins finally saw them rewarded with a try out wide to the evergreen Nathan Tubb to make it 15-10 at halftime.

Point came out firing in the second half and were rewarded with a try to openside flanker Mana Taylor.

Another angled run by Harlequins, this time from replacement first-five Cory McIntosh, saw them take the lead back 20-15.

Two Moseby  penalties and one from Hellier saw the score change hands twice before a 42m nudge from Moseby and a late converted try to Hewitson, following a 20m rolling maul earned the visitors their first victory of the season.

Winger Veutaki was outstanding with ball in hand number eight Teki Veikune was also strong, while Leone Nawalu produced a contender for hit of the year with a bone rattling tackle on Moseby.

Meanwhile, Celtic proved too strong for Old Boys with a 29-5 win on the main ground at Alpine Energy Stadium.

Celtic coach Nigel Walsh said they would take the win despite a poor performance.

"To get five points like that was pleasing but we give credit to Old Boys because they came at us really hard and were very good for most of the match."

Walsh said the side finished well.

"We got dragged into the way they wanted to play too often and when we did stick to our structures we could score tries."

First-five Hamish Strachan, halfback Willie Wright, loose forward Tom Fleming and prop Matt Fetu led from the front for the visitors.

Old Boys were competitive and trailed 15-5 with 10 minutes to go but a couple of lates tries, including a good finish from Kalifi Latu saw the green machine home.

Old Boys coach Michael Lang was proud of his troops.

"We went to their ground and took the fight to them and I'm really proud of the boys and how we went yesterday."

He said they were looking ahead to next weekend, when they travel inland to face Mackenzie.

Waimate ran riot on Geraldine with a 69-10 hammering of the visitors, an effort coach Willy Guyton was happy with.

"We turned up and played rugby which was great the guys really turned it on."

Halfback Theo Davidson was sublime, scoring three tries, while a number of other players were prominent throughout.

Temuka outclassed a gutsy Mackenzie side with a 37-10 win at the Temuka Oval.

"It was a step up from last week and pleasing that we managed to get the win because I feel it's going to be quite tight for the semifinals spots."

Temuka scored four tries in the win with Rupeni Cokanasiga, Tarleni Tiai, Paula Fonokalafi and CJ Millar all dotting down.

Next week sees Pleasant Point host Temuka, Waimate travel to Celtic, Old Boys head to Mackenzie and Geraldine and Harlequins face off.

Scores
Pleasant Point 31 Harlequins 23, Celtic 29 Old Boys 5, Waimate 69 Geraldine 10, Temuka 37 Mackenzie 10.

Points
Celtic 14, Temuka 10, Waimate 10, Harlequins 9, Pleasant Point 6, Mackenzie 5, Old Boys 4, Geraldine 0.