There is some breathing room between OBM the rest of the table, where there is a logjam in the tussle for third and fourth spot.
Just eight points separate third-placed Waipu (40) and seventh-placed Mid Western (32).
The two sides clash at Caledonian Park today at 2.15pm.
Waipu will try to put some space between themselves and Western Sharks, who are in fourth, while Mid Western will be hoping for a good win to keep up with the pack.
Meanwhile, Otamatea and Wellsford will attempt to crack the top four this week in their mid-table clash.
Otamatea is on the brink of the top four, only sitting in fifth due to a poor -181 points differential.
Wellsford are just one point back in sixth, but could catapult themselves into fourth with a win.
Whether or not that could be a possibility depends on whether Western Sharks can break Mid Northern's winning streak.
They'll be hoping for a better performance than last time they played the leaders, where Mid Northern trounced them 47-12.
In the other fixture this week, Hora Hora will look to bounce back from last week's defeat when they host Kamo.
In other divisions, the Bay of Islands Premier competition nears playoff time with three teams jostling for fourth position.
Fourth-placed United Kawakawa take on fifth-placed Kaeo, with both looking to cement fourth position going forward.
However if Kaikohe avenge their 53-7 loss to Kerikeri this week, they could also be in the mix.
Other games in the round see Ohaeawai travel to bottom-placed Okaihau and Otiria hosting leaders Moerewa.
