Marist take on Marist in Federation League

The two Marists will clash in the men’s Federation League competition today at the Arena.

Palmerston North Marist are coming off victory in a Chatham Cup preliminary round fixture in New Plymouth, when they notched three unanswered goals.

Napier Marist in contrast have only played once so far this season because of Covid-19 disruption, losing by a goal at home against Massey University.

There will also be plenty of interest in the outcome of North End’s clash atWhanganui Athletic at the weekend. North End too have been disrupted by Covid-19 and have only played once so far this season, a scoreless drawwith Palmerston NorthMarist.

Unbeaten Athletic have been among the goals – nine from their first two outings – and are leading.

Palmerston North Marist will be without defenders Cam Wallace and Josh Cremen plus winger Jono Steele for their game with Napier.

But coach Juliano Schmeling says he has high hopes of collecting maximum points to keepMarist in touchwith the top of the league ladder, leading into their key home game against Athletic next Saturday. ‘‘Three points is our priority,’’ he said.

Noteworthy aspects of their cup win over New Plymouth Taranaki Premiership titleholders FC Western included winger Melvin Rumere’s two goals – ‘‘He’s very important for us,’’ said Schmeling – and standout performances from veteran midfielder Adam Cowan and stopper Nick Hayward.

WithMassey’s home game against Gisborne Thistle put off because of Covid-19, opportunity beckons for North End to move up the ladder at Whanganui Athletic.

But Athletic have struck a rich scoring vein, so North End’s task will be a formidable one.

Theywill be missing midfielder Josh Sansom and goalie Dom Semmens, but coach Scott Robson says he has cover for them. He predicted Athletic would be hard to beat, especially on their home turf. ‘‘We’ll have to take our chances.’’

Robson said not much could be read into North End’s pre-season win over Athletic because their squad now was different, ‘‘but it could be pretty even’’.

‘‘We’ll just have tomake sure we compete for those 50:50 balls and move it around. We can’t give them a sniff. Both teams respect each other and we’ll have to be solid against them.’’

Athletic have plenty of players showing up in the early Golden Boot statistics, including Jordon Joblin-Hall and Ryan Holden.

In the Horizons Premiership, titleholders Feilding United now lead the competition after their 1-0 Anzac Day victory over Palmerston North Boys’ High. They meet lowly Marist reserves this weekend.

The other unbeaten side, North End reserves, are at Wanganui City, currently in sixth spot.

Fourth-placed Boys’ High play Massey reserves, who are a place behind them.

In the other game, there is a meeting between bottom sides Linton and Whanganui Athletic reserves, neither of which have registered a point yet. Third-placed Takaro have the bye.