Mixed start for agegrade teams from South
FOOTBALL South teams have recorded mixed starts to the Federation Talent Centre tournament in Wellington.
Five teams from Football South are represented at the national age group tournament, which kicked off late on Wednesday and will run until Sunday.
Teams from the seven federations from around the country will play in the boys under14, under15 and under16 grades, as well as in the girls under14 and under16 over the next few days.
Players all attend federations in their own areas to get extra coaching and reach the holy grail of 10,000 ball touches.
Results from all five grades are put together to determine the overall standings at the tournament.
The Football South team includes players from Otago, Southland, Central Otago, Waitaki and South Canterbury.
The sides had a tough start to the tournament, having to take on the powerful Auckland federation.
Both of the girls teams lost, the under16 going down 40 and the under14 girls losing 60.
The under16 boys lost 51 while the under15 boys side lost 40.
The only positive result was a scoreless draw for the under14 boys team.
The sides then faced teams from the WaikatoBay of Plenty region and had more success.
The under14 girls won 20 while the under16 girls lost 40.
The under15 boys recorded a 42 win while the under16 boys lost 21. The under14 boys had another scoreless draw.
The Football South teams were set to play teams from the Mainland Federation last night.
LONDON: Manchester City maintained its irresistible English Premier League charge with a record 15th successive league win as it outclassed struggling Swansea City 40 yesterday.
David Silva scored twice as unbeaten City eclipsed the mark set for most consecutive wins by Arsenal during the 200102 and 200203 seasons.
‘‘Considering we have a lot of games in our legs, a demanding game at Old Trafford three days ago, we were solid, we were serious and we made a good performance,’’ manager Pep Guardiola told the BBC.
‘‘Winning 15 games in a row gives us a lot of confidence.’’
Swansea remains bottom of the table.
Manchester United remains 11 points behind in second after beating Bournemouth 10 and Tottenham moved up to fourth with a 20 win over Brighton among the night’s six other games.
Silva set City on the way with a 27thminute opener and Kevin de Bruyne made it 20 before halftime.
Silva’s second came just after the restart and Sergio Aguero added a late fourth.
Manchester United bounced back from its weekend loss to City by beating Bournemouth with Romelu Lukaku’s goal.
‘‘I am pleased with the three points. It was difficult match,’’ manager Jose Mourinho said.
‘‘They had one more day’s rest than us, they were fresher than us, and mentally fresher because a big match takes more from our players.’’
Tottenham is back into the top four following its home win over Brighton.
Serge Aurier and Son Heung Min scored as Spurs jumped over Liverpool, Burnley and Arsenal into the final Champions League place.
Liverpool and Arsenal were both held to 00 draws.
Liverpool’s Dominic Solanke had a goal disallowed for a hand ball and also had a shot cleared off the line on a frustrating night against West Brom.
‘‘That was not our best game tonight but I think we had enough chances to win,’’ Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
The point allowed West Brom to climb out of the relegation places on goal difference over Crystal Palace.
Arsenal’s away woes continued with a draw at West Ham that left it with just two wins from nine on the road.
Despite being outplayed, the Hammers could have won it late but Javier Hernandez hit the crossbar in the final minute.
‘‘We had so much of the ball, but it was very frustrating because we could even have lost it at the end,’’ Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said.
Shinji Okazaki’s brace helped Leicester beat Southampton 41 for its fourth straight win, while Wayne Rooney scored the only goal as Everton won at Newcastle. — DPA