Teams look to finish league on a high
The end is nigh – but there is still plenty to play for in the men’s Federation League.
With Massey University having finished fifth, North End and Red Sox still have games to play that could see them catch Massey and one of them qualify ahead of the students for a Chinese Cup challenge next season.
North End’s last game is at Napier Marist and they need to win by two clear goals to pip Massey on goal difference.
They beat Napier 3-1 when they first met this season – an outcome that would suit North End nicely again.
Coach Garry Hodge said with five players unavailable the side would look different to the one that turned out last weekend.
But he would have enough talent to cope with what he expected would be a ‘‘difficult’’ game against Napier on their home patch.
‘‘It will be great if we can play the kind of high-pressing game again that we did last week.’’
Napier put six goals past Levin recently, a warning to North End, who wasted plenty of chances against them last time, Hodge said.
‘‘That was the start of a trend for us,’’ he added – one he didn’t want to revisit on Sunday.
Red Sox will be looking for maximum points against Levin at Palmerston North’s Memorial Park on Saturday to stay in the cup challenge hunt.
If they win, and they should, their final game will decide who gets a cup challenge.
Coach Shane Rufer said he was ‘‘really down’’ on players for the game and would need to call on reserve team reinforcements. ‘‘I’m hoping we play something similar to last week, but just not concede two goals in the first five minutes like we did then.
‘‘You can’t start a game like that.’’ Red Sox beat Levin 3-0 in their first meeting this season.
Palmerston North Marist are at leaders Whanganui Athletic for their second-to-last game of the season on Saturday.
There’s not much in it for Marist, but Athletic will be chasing the win to keep their nose ahead of second-placed New Plymouth Rangers. Coach Kenny Santy said a Marist victory would avenge their 2-0 defeat by Athletic in their first meeting this season. ‘‘But they’ve got something to play for – we won’t be easy though.
‘‘They need to beat us to prove they’re the champions and we want to finish on a high note.’’