Teachers 19 Police 39 A spate of basic mistakes by Teachers were severely punished by Police in this Beck's League match on Saturday, even though the Reds had enough of their own chances to win the game.

Police crossed for seven tries, demonstrating the consistency and control that has kept them at the top of the First Division. They were 12 points up within 15 minutes after a series of unforced handling errors and poor tackling by Teachers' makeshift back line.

After five minutes, a run of dropped passes resulted in some desperate defending from Teachers and a Reds lineout near their own try line saw Greg Lunn take a loose tap and crash over the line with Alan Oliver converting.

More pressure from Police saw Oliver increase the lead to 12-0 with a try in the corner after poor tackling again by the Reds.

Teachers failed to take advantage in the first half of several penalties awarded against Police for offside at rucks and mauls by opting for positional kicking even though this didn't guarantee possession at the lineout.

But the Reds' forwards showed more aggression and won more set piece possession especially in the lineout where Ashley Redmond caught cleanly from Cooke's accurate throw-ins.

During a rare foray into Police territory a Redmond lineout win saw the ever-present Anthony Cupidor take the Police defence on at pace. From the ensuing ruck, the ball was spun out to Craig McIntyre for Teachers' first try.

Police pushed the score at half-time to 19-5 when flanker Sean Field-Lament cleverly charged down a scrum clearance kick from Henry Adderley and the fleet-footed Gareth Lewis ran 30 yards to score.

Teachers stormed back into the game at the start of the second half when Alvin Harvey, showing some of his old magic, dummied and looped around the Police centres before chipping ahead for McIntyre to cross in the corner, Brian Bailey converting.

Midway through the second half, Police started to take control and Shane Richmond ran 40 yards, beating four defenders, for a brilliant try. Police forwards were now on the rampage, Dave Bird and Field-Lament stamping their authority and controlling the rucks and mauls that resulted in three more tries. Teachers replied with a late try.

Renegades 30 Mariners 26 A vastly improved Mariners team almost caused an upset with their best effort of the season even though Renegades had taken a half-time lead of 22-5.

Renegades gave their usual clinical performance but Mariners displayed heart and determination and scored the best tries.

Gades are good at turning pressure into points and this was admirably displayed by Rod Stewart who is arguably the most dangerous playmaker near the opposition try line.

Stewart had a hand in the first score with a superb break that resulted in Colin Targett's try and scored his own try five minutes later after bursting through a gap that was created by fellow Scotsman Phil Heaney. Charnie Purewal scored Gades third try following a Mariners fumble at a scrum.

The Gades forwards were always in control and Stewart, acting as scrum half on one occasion, fed the ball blind to Nigel Elliot who made it 22-0 near the end of the first half.

At that point it looked like being another cricket score. But everything changed in the last minute of the first half when prop Deveray Noel-Simmons went over for a brilliant individual try that will rival any scored this season at Nationals.

Catching the ball near the half-way line, he beat three defenders near the touch line with sheer pace and took three more would-be tacklers over the try line on his back with an aggressive lunge.

This inspired Mariners and they answered the call with two more tries. The first was a beauty from Danny McGavern who ran the length of the field, dodging and weaving and collecting his own chip kick to score under the posts.

Mariners were now on a roll and Steve Robb's try resulted from a strong run from Roger Marshman who had a marvellous game. Keith Hodgkins' conversions took Mariners within three points of an upset at 22-19 with ten minutes remaining.

But Renegades remained calm, kept the game tight and used their experienced forwards to control the ball, resulting in another Stewart try from a pushover scrum. With five minutes left and at least two scores to make, Mariners were given two penalties within 15 metres of the Gades try line and strangely opted to take two shots at goal instead of going for glory by running at their opposition.

A crucial late Heaney penalty pushed the gap to 11 points but the gutsy Josh McGavern responded with a great converted try on the final whistle.

In Second Division action, Mariners edged Teachers 19-17 in a thrilling encounter that included three tries each with the lead changing hands four times. In the second game, Renegades got on top of Police early and kept the lead to win 24-10.