Rugby: Kamo's win over Western Sharks makes it their fifth on the trot in Bayleys Premier contest

Centre Shelford Murray had a blinder as Kamo picked up their fifth consecutive Bayleys Premier win. Photo/John Stone

Kamo put away a spirited Western Sharks unit to pick up a vital 25-12 victory in the Bayleys Premier competition.

Sharks looked the better of the sides in the early stages, managing to string together a series of short side offloads resulting in a try to winger Bradley Beattie.

But Kamo maintained their composure and, on the back of an irrepressible scrum and the prodigious right boot of first five Tom Herman, struck back immediately through lock Reuben Wright to give them a 7-5 lead.

Both sides showed the tendency to kick the ball, offering both back threes opportunities to counter-attack, which Kamo winger Matt Burns did with interest.

He danced around two defenders to put Kamo firmly in Sharks territory before Herman sent a perfect cut out ball to their other winger Kalib McDonald for a brilliant try.

Outside of those three early tries, scoring opportunities were few and far between as both sides' defensive lines forcing errors and turnovers.

Kamo's scrum meanwhile, anchored by former NZ Under 20 prop Tau Koloamatangi, was showing supreme dominance as he combined with Jordan Autonovich and Alex Gale.

Kamo extended their lead almost immediately in the second spell through a Herman penalty goal before both sides once again were unable to capitalise on scoring chances.

The Sharks first five/second five combination of Kimi Varo and Jone Mateiwai then started to break the line for the visitors, eventually setting up a try to reduce the lead to three.

But Kamo fought their way back into Sharks territory with sniping runs from captain and halfback Mac Sykes and centre Shelford Murray.

Herman hit another penalty goal before Murray ended the resistance with a superb try. He took the ball 40m out before avoiding the cover defence and crossing over in the corner for a well deserved try.

Herman put the icing on the cake with a sideline conversion as Kamo celebrated an important victory.

Kamo coach Cam Goodhue said the camaraderie of his charges played a big part in their fifth straight win.

"I think the boys are just playing for each other. We've had a lot of improvements on defence and shutting the play down," he said.

"Tom has been putting the boys in the right area of the park from first five. Guys have just been taking their opportunities like Shelford, who's been taking the line on well with ball in hand.

"Lot of hard work has gone into that. Tau has lot of experience with NZ U20 and Waikato ITM Cup. Alex has also been brilliant so we're definitely starting to use it as a weapon.

"They're starting to believe in themselves, they're putting in the work. We've got a lot of good players and it's beginning to show."

Kamo's win was made even more important in the standings after Hora Hora fell to leaders OBM 28-19.

The loss means Kamo are now within three points of a top four spot, while OBM continues to maintain distance from the chasing pack.

Meanwhile Mid Northern pulled away from Sharks with a 51-17 win over Otamatea.

Mid Northern were wanting to bounce back quickly from last week's loss to OBM and did so in clinical fashion.

The other results saw Waipu grab a vital bonus point 38-17 win over Mid Western, keeping them in the playoff hunt, while Wellsford dominated Hikurangi for a 62-10 victory.

Results:

Premier:
Kamo 25 Western Sharks 12
Waipu 38 Mid Western 17
OBM 28 Hora Hora 17
Mid Northern 51 Otamatea 17
Wellsford 62 Hikurangi 10

Premier Reserve:
Kamo 67 Western Sharks 15
Waipu 50 Mid Western 8
Hora Hora 27 OBM 22
Mid Northern 41 Otamatea 23
Wellsford 40 v Hikurangi 10

Championship:
Kerikeri A 36 Tomarata 7
Moerewa/UK 31 Ohaeawai/Okaihau 13
Whangaruru 22 Kaikohe 15
Awanui 38 Kaihu 17