LEAGUE - Panthers hunted down as Slayers get back on target

The Bay Slayers lived up to their name on Saturday by thrashing the league leaders, Portland Panthers, 62-14.
The result sent shock waves around the rest of the Whangarei and Districts Rugby League, with the Slayers' Justin Webster saying all the squad's hard work was beginning to pay off.
"It was beautiful to watch, the odds have always been against us as a new club and we struggled through the first round. But it's really starting to come right now and hopefully we can carry on that way for the rest of the competition," he said.
Weeks of frustration for club officials, feeling that borderline refereeing decisions were going against them and counting the cost of ill discipline by the club's players on the field, turned into gold for coach Phil Gordon as the Slayers dominated Portland all over the park.
The addition of a few new players over recent weeks has taken some of the pressure off the normal Slayers mainstays and added depth to the team - something that obviously took Portland by surprise.
"They may be top of the table but they were lacking ammunition yesterday," Webster said.
"Instead of relying on the experience of players like Verne Wilson, Maare Katane and Harley Mei we've got a bit more backbone now and things are starting to look very promising now."
Portland may have still been feeling the effects of their previous week's victory over Takahiwai and took an under-strength squad of 15 to Ohaewai. But the fact that their playmaker Jackson Katene was well marked by several of his former Hokianga Pioneer teammates didn't help the visitors' attacking options.
Ill-discipline still cost the Slayers. They were a man down for half of the match when Simon Latu was sinbinned in the first spell and then sent off in the second by referee Davis Akuhata.
Webster still gives his team an outside chance of making the playoffs if they can produce the same kind of form in the remaining six rounds of the competition.
Moerewa Tigers gave their coach Bill Mackie good reason to be proud after they took the bare 13 players to Dargaville to play the Northern Wairoa Bulls and still finished 34-14 ahead.
The match finished in the dark after a delayed kick-off but Moerewa hung tough under all sorts of pressure to be on level terms at 8-all at the break. Captain Tawio Davis led from the front and scored a great 70m solo effort from dummy half to relieve pressure on the Tigers' line.
The visitors took the game away from the Bulls in the second spell, earning the applause of some of the local supporters who realised what an effort the victory had been.
Takahiwai Warriors survived a second half comeback by the Hikurangi Stags to win 30-24 after leading 28-10 at halftime. The win sees them close the gap on Portland to just one point at the top of the table with Ngawha Saints and Kaikohe Lions rounding out the top four.
There was little to separate the Saints and Kaikohe as they battled out an exciting 24-all draw on a waterlogged prison pitch at Ngawha.
Despite not playing for four weeks, the Saints were quickly out of the blocks, forcing mistakes out of the Lions' players and they capitalised on them clinically.
They led 16-4 at the break but the Lions tightened up their game in the second spell to score four tries and get back on level terms in a comeback that could be vital.