Drama-filled round

Shock results punctuated round 10 of the national men’s football league, starting on Saturday in Blenheim.

Tasman United had only scored five onfield goals prior to Christmas, but have now added seven in the last two weeks, thumping Southern United 5-0 on the back of last weekend’s 2-0 win over Eastern Suburbs.

Southern had to make an arduous trip from Dunedin to Blenheim, flying first to Christchurch, then to Nelson, before taking a bus over the Whangamoa Saddle to their final destination, Lansdowne Park.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, they arrived at the venue just half an hour before the scheduled kickoff at 4pm, and the start was delayed by half an hour as a result.

Once they did get underway, it was oneway traffic, with Jean-Phillipe Saiko, Fox Slotemaker, Benjamin Watson, Jesse Randall and Cory Vickers all scoring.

Tasman moved up to third overnight

ISPS Handa Premiership, round 10 Tasman United 5 (Jean-Phillipe Saiko, Fox Slotemaker, Benjamin Watson, Jesse Randall, Cory Vickers) Southern United 0. HT: 2-0; Hamilton Wanderers 1 (Derek Tieku) Team Wellington 0. HT: 1-0; Eastern Suburbs 6 (Adam Thurston 2, Christian Gray, Martin Bueno 2, Reid Drake) Canterbury United 1 (Calum Ferguson); HT: 4-1; Waitakere United 4 (Jake Porter, Dane Schnell, Nic Zambrano, Alex ConnorMcClean) Wellington Phoenix reserves 3 (Byron Heath 2, Riley Bidois). HT: 2-1; Auckland City 4 (Myer Bevan 1 pen + 1, Angel Berlanga, Cam Howieson) Hawke’s Bay United 2 (Bill Robertson, Angus Kilkolly). HT: 2-1.

with the win, but finished the weekend in fourth, passed by Hamilton Wanderers who pulled of an upset of their own on Sunday, beating second-placed Team Wellington 1-0. Defending champions Suburbs had their most impressive outing of the season, beating Canterbury United 6-1.