Tasman’s finals hopes fade after a flogging

Tasman United’s top four hopes are fading after losing to Team Wellington for the fourth successive time.

Tasman are now in danger of drifting away from the leading pack after going down 4-1 to the defending ISPS Handa Premiership champions at Saxton Field in Nelson on Saturday.

Jack-Henry Sinclair scored a double in the rout, taking his individual tally to four in six games, with new signing Ross Allen and debutant Daniel Mulholland contributing the team’s other goals.

Tasman’s sole effort was scored by a debutant of their own, 37-yearold Ben Wright who famously scored against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as a professional footballer.

The result lifts Wellington to the top of the table on 26 points, although their stay in number one spot could be brief as Auckland City (24) and Eastern Suburbs (23) have an opportunity to leapfrog them again on Sunday, when they take on Hamilton Wanderers and Hawke’s Bay United respectively.

After suffering their fourth loss of the campaign, Tasman remain stuck on 17 points with just games left to play.

‘‘There’s always that pressure playing first but if we can get the result and top performance then it flips the pressure over to everyone else tomorrow,’’ Wellington coach Jose Figueria said.

‘‘It was a good game. They’re an awkward team to play against. Davor [Tavich] is really an attackminded coach and they’ve got some individual players that can really open up the game. But we did a really top job of keeping those players quiet and especially in the conditions and the heat it was a really controlled, quality performance from us today.’’

Tavich named an unchanged starting 11 for the third week in a row, while Wellington handed a debut to National Youth League shotstopper Marcel Kampman as they were without first choice goalkeeper Scott Basalaj.