Canty Utd cement top four position
Hamilton Wanderers won for the first time in 24 national league matches on Sunday, beating Waita¯ kere United to double their points tally for the season, and end a record-equalling winless run that began more than a year ago.
Meanwhile, Auckland City and Team Wellington drew 0-0 in their top-of-the-table clash, a result which leaves the top three separated by two points.
Third-placed Eastern Suburbs and fourth-placed Canterbury United both won to cement themselves in the top four, while Tasman United thumped Hawke’s Bay United, a result that left them as the only team with a realistic chance of making a late run into the playoffs, but even then, it’s a faint one.
TOP TWO UNABLE TO BE SEPARATED
The first half at Kiwitea St was a cagey affair, with the two sides each only producing one chance of note. Team Wellington’s came first, when Eric Molloy had a goalbound shot cleared by Mario Bilen in the 20th minute, while Scott Basalaj did well to advance off his line and deny Auckland City forward Callum McCowatt in the 38th minute.
There weren’t that many more chances at the start of the second half, but the hosts did look more likely to break the deadlock.
City forward Micah Lea’alafa had the ball in the back of the net twice in the final quarter of an hour, but was ruled offside on both occasions, and so the two teams had to settle for a point.
WANDERERS WIN FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2016
You can’t say it hadn’t been coming. Hamilton Wanderers might not have won in this competition for a record-equalling 23 matches, but they have looked a chance for a while now, ever since Papua New Guinea forward Tommy Semmy arrived in the country in mid-November.
They picked up three points for the first time since December 2016, beating Waita¯kere United 2-1 at Trusts Arena thanks to goals from Semmy and Alex Frank, either side of one from Julyan Collett, starting up front rather than at centre back.
Waitakere had numerous chances to put the game to bed in the second half while it was still 1-1, and hit the crossbar twice, but couldn’t muster an equaliser once they fell behind in the 73rd minute. That goal came shortly after centre back Stewart MacKay was subbed, a move that prompted a loud disagreement between him and coach Chris Milicich. The five-time champions are now set to miss the playoffs for just the third time in their history.
CANTERBURY END SOUTHERN’S
CHALLENGE
For the second week in a row, Canterbury made hard work of a win over a mid-table team, edging Southern 2-1 thanks to an 85thminute penalty taken by captain Gary Ogilvie.
The hosts had taken an early lead at English Park in Christchurch, through Cory Mitchell in the 21st minute, but Southern struck back at the end of the first spell with a penalty taken by Danny Furlong. Southern are now eight points back from fourthplaced Canterbury, who also have a game in hand, so their faint top four hopes are over. Their chances of finishing in the top six, their stated goal for the season, however, are well and truly alive. Robert Shwartzman became the fourth different feature race winner in four weekends of the Castrol Toyota Racing Series, when he led from start to finish to win the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy race at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park in Taupo on Sunday.
‘‘It’s a really good feeling,’’ said the 18-year-old from St Petersburg, who has had a succession of seconds and thirds over the previous 11 races.
Last weekend, Richard Verschoor won the New Zealand Motor Cup at Hampton Downs, while Clement Novalak was the big winner at Teretonga and Marcus Armstrong took out the Lady Wigram Trophy at Ruapuna, Christchurch on his home track.
Victory has lifted Shwartzman to within 33 points of series leader Armstrong, who finished second, while third placed Verschoor is another 27 points back in third place.
Shwartzman had to overcome his first safety car restart after the race was stopped when London based teenager Novalak went off the track and ripped the rear suspension and gearbox off his car. He stepped from the wreckage un-injured.
‘‘I’ve never led a safety car restart before,’’ said Shwartzman.
He managed the situation without any mistakes and as the race progressed he gradually built a lead on Armstrong.
His success was built on a stunning qualifying lap for pole position on Saturday, under the lap record and half a second faster than anybody else, an almost unheard of margin in the Toyota Racing Series.
‘‘I think this track suited me better,’’ said Shwartzman. ‘‘There are more corners. It’s more like a European track."
In the last five laps Shwartzman said his car’s tyres had lost their best grip and he eased off, but the rest of the field was suffering the same problem, notably James Pull, who conceded sixth place to Cameron Das on the last corner of the last lap. Invercargill’s Brendan Leitch had won the morning’s preliminary reverse grid race, to have his best weekend of the series and has climbed to seventh on the points table.
In the same race, Christchurch’s Ryan Yardley had driven well defensively to fend off Verschoor for the whole race.