Leaders clear in national league
With five rounds remaining in the national men’s football league, a clear top four has emerged.
Auckland City, Team Wellington, Eastern Suburbs and Canterbury United have separated themselves from the pack in the ISPS Handa Premiership, with a sixpoint gap between third and fifth, and a three-point gap between fourth and fifth, which isn’t as small as it seems when you consider that fourth-placed Canterbury have a game in hand.
City, Team Wellington and Canterbury all won, while Suburbs slipped up against Hawke’s Bay United, who have stayed with the chasing pack of four as a result – Tasman United, Waitakere United and Southern United are the others in that group, though they are all only barely hanging on, and will need an implosion to happen above them.
CANTERBURY UNITED COME FROM BEHIND
Canterbury went close to slipping back to the pack, but instead came from behind to beat the Wellington Phoenix reserves at English Park in Christchurch on Sunday.
Stalwart defender Dan Terris got the winner with 10 minutes to play, following fellow centre back Tom Schwarz’s equaliser in the
73rd minute. Japanese striker Futa Nakamura had opened the scoring
13 minutes in, and keeper Coey Turipa was forced to make a save in stoppage time to seal the win.
Sarpreet Singh backed up for the Phoenix reserves after appearing for the first team in Saturday night’s loss to Adelaide United, and scored a goal in each half to give them a shot at a second win in a row, but it wasn’t to be.
SOUTHERN UNITED STRIKE LATE
The biggest result of the round came in Dunedin on Sunday, where a last-gasp penalty handed Southern United their second win over Waita¯ kere United this season and kept their faint playoff hopes alive.
Danny Furlong scored from the spot in the 85th minute, after being brought down by Waita¯kere keeper Josh Dijkstra, who was starting in place of regular stopper Liam Anderson.
Southern now have a chance to close the gap on Canterbury next weekend, when they travel north to Christchurch. Win at English Park, and they might allow themselves to start dreaming. Waita¯ kere were missing three of their usual back four, and have now picked up just three points from their last five games.
HAWKE’S BAY UPSET WEAKENED SUBURBS
Having surged to a share of the lead on the back of a five-match unbeaten run, Eastern Suburbs have now lost two in a row, after going down 2-0 to Hawke’s Bay United in Napier on Sunday.
Former Tasman United winger Tinashe Marowa scored on debut for Hawke’s Bay early in the second half, after cutting his intended break from football short when Brett Angell came calling, and Hayato Wakino then sealed the result late on.
Suburbs were without defenders Tim Payne and Tristan Prattley - the latter away at a wedding, the former suspended - and will be eager to bounce back when they face the Phoenix reserves next week. Hawke’s Bay still need to go on quite the winning run to force their way into the playoff mix, and are away to Tasman next up.
AUCKLAND CITY GET THE JOB DONE
At the end of a week where they had already faced two top-four rivals, Auckland City were going to be happy with three points from last-placed Hamilton Wanderers no matter what way they came. They won 1-0 in the end, but were well below their best at Links Avenue in Tauranga on Sunday.
Micah Lea’alafa scored 22 minutes in, after Cam Howieson pounced on a mistake by Liam Hayes near his own box and played him in, but there was no further scoring action. City nearly doubled their lead early in the second half, but Callum McCowatt could only hit the post with an audacious lob, and Wanderers came close to equalising in the final 10 minutes, when Jordan Shaw poked an attempt just wide.
With three wins in a row – including one over Suburbs midweek – City have quickly righted a season that appeared to be on the verge of stalling, while Wanderers have now equalled the competition record of 23 games without a win, and will need to beat Waita¯kere next Sunday to avoid setting a new one.
TEAM WELLINGTON EASE TO WIN
Team Wellington have stayed right behind City at the top of the table, by thumping Tasman 4-1 at Saxton Field in Nelson on Saturday, setting up a tasty toptwo clash next Sunday at Kiwitea St.
New signing Ross Allen scored his second goal in as many games, while Jack-Henry Sinclair had a brace and Daniel Mulholland got on the scoresheet on debut.
Long-time Nelson stalwart Ben Wright scored on debut for Tasman, after being drafted in following a raft of departures, but it would have been little consolation.