The Hikurangi Stags pulled clear of Bay Slayers after a comprehensive 46-18 win, in the top of the table clash at Otaika Sports Park.
Whangarei City and Districts Rugby League's round 11 match up finally eased the bottleneck at the top of the ladder, with last year's runners-up Hikurangi moving two
points in front of the Slayers, who are in second place. They are now just two points ahead of Portland, who won due to Otaua defaulting the game, along with Kaikohe, who defeated City at Otangarei, 26-46.
Bay Slayers manager Justin Webster said the loss - only their second of the season - needed to happen.
"It was better to happen now then later, closer to semis ... every game is a big game from here on in, there's only five left and everyone will be wanting to move up the table - she's all on," Webster said.
While the Slayers had a few players out, the manager said it came down to Hikurangi playing better football on the day.
Hikurangi fired from the outset, piling on the points in the first half, running over a halfhearted defensive effort by the Stags.
Late in the second half, Bay Slayers ran in a couple of tries as the Stags started to relax their attack once they had created a big gap, but it was too little too late.
'We knew this was going to be a difficult game, plus having two weeks off in a row [Queens Birthday holiday and Marist's default to the Bay last weekend] didn't help - we were a bit lethargic and the guys didn't want to win enough. Hopefully they'll get hungry for it next week," he said.
This year's competition is proving to be a close one, with the table pretty congested, Webster said.
"Usually there's three or four teams that stand out above the rest, but this year there's a lot more teams playing at the same level," he said.
Meanwhile, Takahiwai in fifth spot, defeated Hokianga 42-20, while Moerewa also had a convincing 42-18 win over Marist.
