Perth Spirit's finals hopes have taken a hit © Johan Schmidt Photography

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Perth Spirit 29-32 Country Eagles

Perth Spirit's finals hopes have taken a hit after they fell three points short of the Country Eagles in Perth. Falling to sixth place on the competition ladder, the Spirit's chances of making the finals, while still mathematical possible, will leave the team relying on other sides results due to a Round nine bye.

The Eagles started quickly as they applied pressure on the Spirit early on to crash over twice within minutes with David Horowitz and Andrew Kellaway crossing the line. Spirit hit back with one of their own soon after with Junior Rasolea bursting through the Eagles defence to score. But Rasolea's red card in the 38th minute didn't help the Spirit's matters, with the Eagles making the most of the advantage to push ahead 24-8 at half-time.

Despite being a man down, however, Spirit remained in the game as they equaled the scores after Oli Hoskin's burst through the defence for a score and Heath Tessmann made a break for the line, and then took the lead with Richard Hardwick scoring a third in the second half. However, Country came back firing in the final minutes with Ed Stubbs scoring a try before Jonno Lance added the extras to give Eagles a three-point win.

Defence was a highlight during the Rams win © Getty Images

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UC Vikings 42-16 Melbourne Rising

The UC Vikings have continued their unbeaten run as they ran in six tries to two, with Francis Fainifo scoring a double.

Both sides started strong in defence, with neither willing to give away points, but it was the Vikings who crossed first after sustained pressure on the Rising line. The Rising responded quickly with Jack Debreczeni levelling the score, but a yellow card to Rising lock Steve Cummins gave the hosts the advantage - and the Vikings opened the game up with a penalty try and a length-of-the-field score from Aidan Toua to go into the break 21-8 ahead.

Rising were quick to get on the board in the second half with Dom Shipperly crashing over the whitewash almost untouched, but the Vikings restored their two-try buffer with Ita Vaea crossing before Fainifo went over for his double to put the game out of reach of Rising.

Sydney Stars 0-58 Brisbane City

Brisbane City set up a tantalising clash with the UC Vikings, continuing their devastating run as they ran in eight tries to none against Sydney Stars and retained the Horan-Little Shield for their seventh straight week.

A brace of tries to winger Junior Laloifi and almost perfect kicking from Jake McIntyre were the highlights of the night, while the Stars struggled with poor execution and handling as they had almost no possession or territory.

Laloifi was over inside 10 minutes for his first of his four tries, with Chris Kuridrani adding the second of the night minutes later. Laloifi posted his second in the 14th minute and his third before the 20th minute after Karmichael Hunt had already pushed City's lead to 29 points. Scott Higginbotham crashed over from the back of the scrum to put City up 45-0 heading into the sheds.

Laloifi was fast out the gates again in the second half as he crashed over for his fourth of the night before the Stars got their defence in order. City crashed over one last time with 10 minutes left on the clock, Waitu Setu securing the 58-point verdict.

Greater Sydney Rams 23-21 North Harbour Rays

The Greater Sydney Rams held off a fast finishing North Harbour Rays side to secure their first win of the 2015 season. In the lowest score of the season so far, defence was the highlight in the tight match with the sides held to four tries and three tries respectively.

Searching for their second win of the season, the Rays started strongly and Reece Hodge finished a good team play to score out wide before the Rams returned serve through Cohen Masson. The Rays failed to capitalise fully when Dewet Roos was sent to the sideline, and a quick double from Larry Hermens put the Rams back ahead as they went into the sheds.

The Rams came out firing in the second half, but the Rays defence held strong and soon forced a loose ball that Tom Hill booted down field before getting the better of the bounce and charging to the line completely against the run of play. But that would be the last of the Rays points as the Rams took control of possession and ran in a final try to Jono Hayes.