Tauranga Sports have handed nemesis Te Puke Sports a shellacking and they've brushed talk that last Saturday's top-of-the-table clash was a preview of next month's final as premature.
Unbeaten since midway through last season, Te Puke Sports jumped to a 21-9 lead early in the second half at Tauranga Domain but were completely outclassed for the remaining 35 minutes and were eventually lucky to emerge with a bonus point as Tauranga's bristling pack and depth off the bench took its toll.
Despite their first loss of the season, the reigning Baywide champions still lead the chasing pack on 47 points, with Tauranga clear in second on 42 with seven weeks of round-robins left before the playoffs.
Steamers prop Josh Hohneck, who popped up off the back of the scrum for Tauranga for the second game in a row after making a good fist of No8 in the previous week's win over Whakarewarewa, said it was too soon to be talking up Tauranga Sports or Te Puke as dead cert finals combatants.
"That final's a long way off still and games between Te Puke and Tauranga Sports are always finals anyway. We take the same mentality into any game against them no matter what stage in the competition we're at.
"Any team can tip anyone up on their day but today was a good win for us against our arch-enemy in the Baywide comp."
It was a quality 80 minutes of footie in front of a big crowd, with expected niggle bubbling just under the surface for much of it as Te Puke grabbed the initiative playing into the first half breeze.
Tauranga first-five Nic Evemy nudged over three successful penalties in the opening 40 but it was Te Puke No8 Ryan Lambert who had the GPS co-ordinates locked on the try line, with the hard-grafting loosie twice going over as ball was recycled expertly and spread across the park.
First-five Nick McCashin converted both tries and landed a third kick from the sideline after fullback Sipa Moimoi scored after the break, although that was Te Puke's last sniff at the opposition 22 as Tauranga dictated the outcome with ease.
First prop Pingi Talaapitaga went over, five phases after Evemy's close-range penalty attempt hit the upright, and then, with Te Puke flanker Luke Perrott sin-binned, lock Keepa Mewett was mauled over, cutting the margin to 21-19.
Hohneck set up the match-winner with a quarter of an hour left, brushing past several tacklers as he revelled in the freedom he once enjoyed as a loosie before switching to the front row five years ago.
His pass found Jeremy Cave, who made light work of Gideon Uelese down the right.
Tauranga's pack never stopped working, although both sides' kick-off reception was an embarrassment throughout, with only two clean takes the whole game.
Te Puke's issues, however, run deeper than just their wobbly set piece. Their forward pack was all over the place in the last quarter and they copped a 13-6 caning in the penalty count.
The backs also need to conjure a better trick than using second-five Simon Rolleston on the crash every second or third phase.
Tauranga, on the other hand, now have momentum after a less than convincing start to their campaign, although their slow start to games needs attention, says Hohneck.
"The start was a disappointment again. We didn't panic though and slowly built a foundation to open up in the second half. In some ways that's a good thing, coming back after giving the opposition a reasonable head-start, but we need to start stepping up that first 40 a bit."
Hohneck is spending most of his week in Hamilton as part of the Chiefs' wider training group and doesn't foresee a profitable future at No8, although with props Talaapitaga and Kane Hames doing the business, he could be there for a few weeks yet.
"I'm getting heaps of scrummaging in training with the Chiefs and it'd be a shame for that to go to waste. I'm looking forward to getting back into the front row and even had my eight-sprig boots floating around on the sideline just in case there were any blowouts up front."
Elsewhere, Whakarewarewa broke a five-week drought with a 31-10 win over Greerton Marist at Puarenga Park, keeping Greerton scoreless in the second spell after being down 6-10 at halftime.
It appears Rotoiti have used up one of their get out of jail free cards with a narrow 8-7 win over Rangataua, requiring a Jope Gotz try on full time to get home.
Te Puna were too strong for Mount Maunganui at Maramatanga Park, winning 36-22, while Opotiki showed they are still hard to beat at home with a 52-5 win over Waikite.
In division one, Rangiuru showed their class with a 26-12 win over Te Teko.