By Stu Piddington

Harlequins showed they are not a spent force in the Hamersley Cup with a hard fought 29-27 win over Pleasant Point in the last play of the game..

The win over the Mud Dogs keeps Harlequins firmly in semi-final contention, with six wins along with Temuka and Pleasant Point.

Pleasant Point were sitting second on the table behind runaway leaders Celtic but Temuka leap frogged them after a hard fought 25-21 win over Mackenzie at the Fairlie fortress.

11062016 John Bisset/ FairfaxNZ.   Celtic vs Old Boys Rugby at Celtic lower grounds, Pictured is Tyrone  Hill
John Bisset
11062016 John Bisset/ FairfaxNZ. Celtic vs Old Boys Rugby at Celtic lower grounds, Pictured is Tyrone Hill

Waimate took some time to subdue Geraldine before running out 46-25 winners.

To their credit Geraldine ran in five tries, easily their best effort of the season, with new Fijian No.8 John Dyer impressing with his ball running skills.

Defending champions Celtic did not have it all their own way against Old Boys but were comfortable victors in the end 40-3 at Rochdale Rd.

Unbeaten Celtic have 48 points but after that calculators could be needed to separate the sides with Temuka on 30, while Pleasant Point and Harlequins are tied on 29.

Waimate remain an outside chance of the semi-finals on 24 points but Mackenzie are out of contention on 21, but could still play spoilers.

It took Harlequins a last second try to first five Corey MacIntosh to snatch victory over Pleasant Point in what was a very good, hard fought game.

Harlequins best were lock Ben Dewsbury, openside Corin Miller and second five Ken Hellier.

Hellier was cool under pressure, slotting crucial kicks and if his form remains strong is a contender for Heartland duties.

For Pleasant Point second five Josh Morton played very well along with No.8 Brad Travers.

Veteran Aaron Geary also a superb game on the wing, using all his tricks to turn Harlequins around.

At the Celtic Sports Ground first five Hamish Strachan helped himself to a hat trick of tries while Old Boys also gave away a penalty try, after been under continual pressure, with a man in the bin.

Celtic crucified the Old Boys front row every time a scrum went down, which made life very difficult for the Blues.

Old Boys however competed well elsewhere and were unlucky not to score at least one try.

Celtic looked comfortable at 19-3 at halftime but couldn't break Old Boys down until midway through the second half when referee Steve Turnbull rightfully awarded a penalty try.

Old Boys leaked two other late tries to give Celtic an inflated scoreline.

For Celtic their front rowers were superb but they did not take enough advantage from it, bombing several attempted pushover tries against an urgent Old Boys defence.

Celtic got in front early when Hamish Strachan was pushed over the line and then grabbed a second when he sliced through Old Boys backline.

No.8 Tom Fleming went over from a 5m scrum, with five minutes left n the first half.

Old Boys held it together until lock Kris O'Sullivan was given a team yellow, for infringing one to many times, hard on defence.

Celtic were then awarded a penalty try, followed by late tries to blindisde Kali Latu and Strachan.

For Celtic front rowers Garrick Casey, Graison Dale and Viliame Logovatu had the edge from the very first scrum and Matt Fetu made an impact when he came on in the second half. Hamish Strachan also had an excellent game.

For Old Boys loose forwards Taione Ratu, Danny Wilson and Pangi Iketau got through an enormous amount of work, especially on defence, while Ratu and Iketau carried the ball well. Wing Iosefo Petero was dangerous in space but didn't get enough opportunities.

At Fairlie Temuka didn't help their cause when Semisi Paseka was given a red card for an apparent stomp just after half time but the Magpies showed enough composure to get home.

Temuka were very good around the fringes with hooker Junior Faave and halfback Tenari Saumani prominent. No.8 Paula Fonokalafi also had a strong game while Jose Mendez impressed at centre.

The Rams best were front rowers Charlie Aho, Johnny Andrews and Aaron McCall while 18-year-old Josh Sheehan shone in the lineouts.

Waimate won an open encounter with Geraldine running in seven tries to five.

Geraldine impressed with the first two tries and were only down 20-15 at the break.

Jarrad Matthews had a big game at second five for Waimate forwards while Henry Bryce and Nick Mercer go through plenty of hard work, with Don Lolo also finding some form.

Geraldine best were the strong running Dyer, lock Craig Moore and wing Dan Hall.

Scorers

Celtic 38 (Hamish Strachan 3, Tom Fleming, Kali Latu, penalty try, Willie Wright 4 con) Old Boys 3 (Tyrone Hill pen)

Harlequins 29 (Leone Nawalu, Cory MacIntosh, Nathan Tubb, Timaru Tafa try, Ken Hellier 3 con, 1 pen) Pleasant Point 27 

Waimate 46 (Colin Ryan 2, Matt Hayman, Mosese Aho, Conor Glynn, Don Lolo, Tokoma'ata
Falatava try,Shane Airey 4 con,1 pen) Geraldine 25 (John Dyer 2, Matt Kerse, Ryan Neutze, Aaron England try)

Temuka 25 (Junior Faave, Ricki Neame, Paula Fonokalafi try, Tarleni Tiai 2 pn, 2 con) Mackenzie 21 (Charlie Aho, Raitube Matanabua, Josh Morton try, George Williams 3 con)