Capturing the coveted goal award
Who finishes third in this year’s Federation League competition and who takes home the Golden Boot medal will be decided this weekend.
The feature derby game is at Memorial Park, where fourth- and fifth-placed Hokowhitu and
Massey University clash, but which one, if either, end the season in third will be decided somewhere else.
That ‘‘somewhere else’’ is Skoglund Park, where secondplaced finishers North End have a return bout against third-placed
Wanganui Athletic.
If Athletic win, they will finish third for the season, but anything less could let Hokowhitu or Massey through the door.
Athletic and Hokowhitu are both on 19 points and the students on 18, but Athletic have the much superior goal difference, so the two local sides to overtake Athletic need Athletic to lose.
A Massey-hokowhitu draw would then be enough for Hokowhitu to pip Athletic for third. A Massey victory would see the students leapfrog both of them.
In the Golden Boot, North End eagle-eye, the experienced Nathan Cooksley, sits atop the field by three from Hokowhitu’s Nick Carrick, who is out injured, and Athletic’s Josh Smith, who scored both the Whanganui side’s goals in their 3-2 defeat by North End last weekend.
So Cooksley goes into the final weekend well favoured to win the Boot this season unless Smith goes mad and scores four and Cooksley doesn’t score any.
A hat-trick would see Smith join Cooksley and the two become joint holders of the title.
North End coach Garry Hodge said he expected Athletic to come out with all guns firing, knowing what they have to do to finish third.
‘‘It should be a really good game, like the one we had against them last weekend.’’
Massey coach Donald Piper said the students ‘‘know what we are up against’’ after their 1-0 loss to Hokowhitu last Saturday and what they had to improve on.
They also knew they could finish anywhere between third to fifth on the ladder,
He said the side’s leading goalscorer, Fraser Eddowes, would be back for the game.
For his part, Hokowhitu coach Craig Smither said they would be adjusting their game plan to take advantage of the wide-open spaces of Memorial Park.
He said whatever the result, it had been a great first season in the Federation League for the club.