Selwyn United claimed second place in the Southern League (SL) to earn a place in the upcoming National League in a real 'Roy of the Rovers' storyline. In what turned out to be a roller coaster ride of twists and turns, and highs then lows, for the players and fans for three of the sides as four different clubs held second place over the weekend, with Round 7 seeing three sides coming from behind to take claim three points. 

Coming into Saturday games, Otago University, off the back of their 6 - 0 win over Green Island in their catch-up game on Thursday evening, held second by two points. Christchurch United then took hold of second place when leading South City Royals 2 - 1, only for the Royals to win 3 - 2 and move into second spot, level on points and goal difference, with University, but Royals had scored one more goal. At the same time, with thirty minutes to play in the Nelson Suburbs / Selwyn clash, with Selwyn needing the win, they were down 1 - nil. In the 89th, Selwyn levelled and then scored the 'biggest' ever goal since Selwyn was formed in 2013, in the final few seconds of the fourth and final minute of added time to win 2 - 1 and move from fifth to second on the table. The Stallions win also snuffed out any hopes that Coastal Spirit had of finishing in the runner-up position when they travelled south to play Green Island on Sunday, leading 2 - nil after just five minutes, before Green Island came back after the break to win 3 - 2. 

Cashmere Technical topped the table on 18 points, five clear of Selwyn, with the Royals and University on 12. United finished on 10, Coastal 9, with both Suburbs and Green Island on 4. Technical and Selwyn will now join Auckland City, Auckland United, Eastern Suburbs and Birkenhead United from the Northern League. Wellington Olympic, Miramar Rangers and Western Suburbs from the Central League, and the Wellington Phoenix Reserve to contest the National League, which is due to commence in November. 

Selwyn has shown plenty of fighting spirit in the latter part of the season, grabbing a spot in the SL when going unbeaten for the last six rounds of the Mainland League. After defeating United in the opening round of the SL, with an extra-time winner, the Stallions then lost their next two games to University and Technical. In the final four rounds, they secured ten points, only Tech was better with twelve, to wrap up a place in the National League. Ross McPhie put Suburbs ahead when scoring in the opening minute. Suburbs then had chances to add to their scoreline, with Selwyn denied by some sharp work by keeper Cory Wilson. The game followed a similar pattern in the second half as the clock ran down to the 90 minutes mark. Selwyn then levelled with a somewhat scrappy goal to Luke Blackie with Ollie Sims, who came into the game off the bench, on hand to turn the ball into the net from close range after the ball had been bouncing around in the area after being crossed in with seconds to play and the Selwyn players were then made aware of the final United / Royals result. Selwyn and United are now back up on Tuesday evening in their Blackwells English Cup semi-final, with the winner joining Technical in the Final on Sunday. 

United took the lead from a quickly taken free-kick which saw James McClay chip Royals keeper Alex Boomer from outside the area after seven minutes. A short corner was taken by Eddie Wilkinson to McClay and then back to Wilkinson, who doubled the lead from a narrow angled shot from just on the edge of the goal area. In the 45th minute, off a Royals free-kick taken by Ryan Fleming, United keeper Frewen Watts did well to block the shot, but it fell to Will Turner, who fired home to make it 2 - 1 going to the break. Early in the second half, Fleming did well to control and slip the ball to Turner, who skipped past Jyrel Bojang to score from the right of the goal. Boomer then denied United several half chances. From a second United corner in quick secession, Luke White forced the ball home to put the Rams back in front. The Royals then drew level from a long throw-in by Callan Rothnets, which slipped through Watts' hands with Kaleb de Groot-Green on hand to score from close range. Minutes later, a free-kick by Fleming smashed onto the post and back across the open goal month. United then had a good period of play but could not retake the lead. With five minutes to play, Royals captain Jared Grove found de Groot-Green, who was allowed a free header to score what turned out to be the winner in a dramatic game.    

In what turned out to be a 'dead game', Coastal took the lead in the opening minutes via an own goal after two Green Island players came together when trying to clear the ball. In the seventh minute, Coastal doubled their lead when Kenshin Hayashi scored his fifth goal of the league, with no further addition before the break. Green Island turned the game around with two Allan Hewson goals in the space of five minutes, with Cam Anderson then scoring Green Island's third in the 90th minute to give his side their first win of the league and ensure the club's 125th season ended on a positive note. 

Results / Scorers

Christchurch United 3 (James McClay, Eddie Wilkinson, Luke White) South City Royals 4 (Will Turner 2, Kaleb de Groot-Green 2) HT 2 - 1

Nelson Suburbs 1 (Ross McPhie) Selwyn 2 (Luke Blackie, Ollie Sims) HT 1 - 0

Green Island 3 (Adam Hewson 2, Cam Anderson) Coastal Spirit 2 (own goal, Kenshin Hayashi) HT 0 - 2

Written by Gavin Searle.
Article added: Monday 04 October 2021