Round 4 of the Southern League (SL) saw late flights, which meant three games had delayed kick-offs, two matches had last-minute winners, and 4 of the 22 goals were classified as 'own goals.' Leader's, Christchurch United ended Nelson Suburbs winning run when winning 4 - 0. Coastal Spirit and Ferrymead Bays scored late in added time to defeat Green Island and Dunedin City Royals by the same 3 - 2 score-line. Cashmere Technical made it three wins on the bounce when edging Selwyn 2 - 1, with Mosgiel picking up their first win when rocking Nomads 5 - 0. United have 12 points, three clear of Technical with both Suburbs and Bays on 6. Coastal, the Royals and Green Island all have 4. Mosgiel and Nomads are on 3, with Selwyn on 1. Technical, Suburbs, Coastal and Selwyn all have a game in hand. 

United picked up their first clean sheet of the SL when they defeated Suburbs. The opening half was an even affair, with Lucas Hogg's headed shot being flicked over the bar by United keeper Scott Morris. Mika Rabuka then shot wide for United before putting his side ahead on the half-hour with Suburbs then creating several half-chances before the break. In the second half, great work and then a pinpoint cross from near the left-hand corner by Daniel MacLennan was met by Brake Weston to double the lead. Sanni Issa put United further in front, and Cory Wilson did well to deny McLennan. La Bu Pan then headed over for Suburbs before Eddie Wilkinson came off the bench to complete the scoring with 14 to play. 

Bays had the advantage of the strong wind at Logan Park with the Royals keeper, Alex Boomer, having a high workload with Bays dominating possession and forcing several corners. Still, the sides turned scoreless at the break. The Royals took the lead when Connor Neil scored from a penalty, the fourth time Bays have conceded from a spot-kick this season. From the restart, Bays pressed forward, but the ball was turned over, and Ben Stanley added Royal's second goal within a minute, and two minutes later, Will Pierce reduced the margin. As the clock started to run down, Bays again dominated and were rewarded when Monty Joseph levelled when heading home with three to play. A minute later, from a Bays set-piece, the Royals captain turned the ball into his own net to put Bays ahead for the first time in the game. 

Green Island took the lead thanks to an own goal from Coastal's Luke Pennington after 16 minutes, which turned out to be the only goal of the opening half. Tristan Nicol put Coastal back on level terms just after the break, and just when it looked like both teams would earn a share of the points, Cameron Rean scored in the final minute of normal time to put Coastal in front. In the third minute of added time, Green Island's pressure saw Jake Hodder concede another own goal to draw the side level again. Still, the drama was not over with Coastal regaining the lead when in the seventh minute of added time, a free-kick could only be half-cleared by a Green Island defender for Michael Hogan to slot home to give Coastal their first win of the season. 

Technical continued their dominance over Selwyn to maintain their winning start to the season. After creating the clearer of the chances, Technical took the lead after Garbhan Coughlan scored from the penalty spot in the 27th minute. Coughlan had been attempting to head the ball when Selwyn's keeper contacted the striker with play continuing for several seconds before play stopped for treatment for Coughlan, with the referee and assistant conferring before the penalty was awarded. Coughlan then finished well just after the break to put Technical in control. Selwyn got back into the game when Calum Murdoch took his chance well with 25 to play, but the Stallions could not create any clear opportunities to earn a share of the points. 

Mosgiel, who came into the round at the foot of the table, stunned Nomads when winning by a handful of goals. Rhys Quarrell, who was the joint top scorer in the Football South Premiership last season, made an impact in what was his game of the season when scoring a double before the break after Rory Findlay opened the scoring after just three minutes. The home side was up by three at the break. Quarrell had a hand in Mosgiel's fourth goal with his shot deflected into the goal by Nomads Yaquub Abdi after 73 minutes. Quarrell could not be denied his hat-trick when he completed the scoring late in the game. a

Round 5 commences on Friday evening with Bays hosting Coastal on Saturday, Selwyn facing Mosgiel, and Nomads taking on United. Sunday sees Suburbs entertaining the Royals, with Technical travelling south to take on Green Island. On ANZAC Day, Coastal play Selwyn in their catch-up game from Round 2.  

Results / Scorers - Round 4

Christchurch United 4 (Mika Rabuka, Blake Weston, Sanni Issa, Eddie Wilkinson) Nelson Suburbs 0 HT 1 - 0 

Cashmere Technical 2 (Garbhan Coughlan 2 incl pen) Selwyn 1 (Calum Murdoch) HT 1 - 0 

Coastal Spirit 3 (Tristan Nicol, Cameron Rean, Michael Horgan) Green Island 2 (own goal x 2) 

Dunedin City Royals 2 (Connor Neil - pen, Benjamin Stanley) Ferrymead Bays 3 (Will Pierce, Monty Joseph, own goal) HT 0 - 0 

Mosgiel 5 (Rhys Quarrell 3, Rory Findlay, own goal) Nomads 0 HT 3 - 0   

Burwood Go Top In CPL

Burwood moved to the top of the New World Canterbury Premier League when they defeated previous leaders, Western 4 - 2 after Western had led 2 - 1 at the break. Waimak and FC Twenty11 played out the first scoreless draw of the season. Halswell secured their first win when defeating Parkland 3 - 0, with Universities defeating Mid Canterbury by the same margin. 

Burwood top the table on goal difference, ahead of Western, with both on 9 points, unbeaten FC are on 8, with Waimak rounding out the top half of the table on 7. Universities move to 4, Halswell and Mid Canterbury are both on three, with Parkland yet to secure a point.  

Results / Scorers - Round 4 

Parklands 0 Halswell 2 (Isaac Williams, Lewis Black) HT 0 - 2 

Universities 3 (Josh Hall, Luke Whithill, own goal) Mid Canterbury 0 HT 1 - 0 

Waimak 0 FC Twenty11 0 

Western 2 (Rodrigo Balcazar, own goal) Burwood 4 (Kane Kilbride 2, Nik Prasad, Hugo Toye) HT 2 - 1

Written by Gavin Searle. 
Article added: Tuesday 19 April 2022