Unbeaten Run Goes In The Line

Both Christchurch United and Roslyn Wakari head into their respective Quarter-Final ties in the Chatham Cup. Southern League leader's, United head north to play Hamilton Wanderers on Saturday at 2pm at John Kerkhof Park and at the same time, Roslyn, the only non-National League side remaining in the historical cup face Waterside Kaori at Ellis Park.  

United, who have won the cup six times (the last in 1991 - which was also the last time The Rams had progressed beyond the Quarter Final stages), need to get up over Wanderers. They are currently sitting in sixth placed in the highly competitive 12 team Northern League, still in the hunt for a top four final and a place in the National League. Their striker, Derek Tieku, is the joint leader of the Golden Boot race on 15 goals from 16 games. Former Canterbury United player, Brock Messenger, is also in the side coached by David Douglas that reached the semi-finals of the cup for the first-time last season. United will be looking to send their keeper, Scott Morris off on a high note, with this expected to be his final game before heading to the England to sign a professional contract. 

Path To Quarter-Finals

Christchurch United
Round 1: bye 
Round 2: Parklands (H) 9 - 0 
Round 3. Canty. Universities (H) 3 - 1 
Round 4. Ferrymead Bays (A) 1 - 0 
Round 5. Cashmere Technical (A) 3 - 0    

Hamilton Wanderers 
Round 1: bye 
Round 2: bye 
Round 3. Ellerslie (H) 4 - 1 
Round 4. West Coast Rangers (A) 4 - 0 
Round 5. Ngaruawhia United (H) 2 - 2 Wanderers 7 - 6 in pens 

Roslyn currently sit in second place in the Southern Premier League, four points behind Mosgiel, with a 9 win and 4 draw record and are looking to be the giant killers when the face Karori. They are in sixth place in the Central League and look like they will miss qualification for the National League. Roslyn is coached by Terry Boylan who was a player for the side in 1995 when they won the Southern Superclub Championship and reached the semi-final round of the Chatham Cup going down to Waitakere City 2 - 1, with City going on to win the Cup. Roslyn, have former Christchurch player Callum Smith in their team with Nathan Wilkie the league's top scorer. Karori, who have won the Cup four times way back in the 1930's and 40's have Jorge Akers as their top scorer. A familiar name to the Roslyn camp is on the coaching staff for Waterside, former Dunedin player Patrick Fleming. 

Path To Quarter-Finals

Roslyn Wakari 
Round 1: bye 
Round 2: Northern (A) 2 - 1 
Round 3. Invercargill Thistle (A) 5 - 0 
Round 4. Otago University (H) 1 - 0 
Round 5. Wanaka (H) 4 - 3   

Waterside Karori 
Round 1: bye 
Round 2: bye 
Round 3. Tawa (A) 2 - 0 
Round 4. Western Suburbs (H) 1 - 0 
Round 5. Napier City Rovers (A) 3 - 0 

Nomads and Royals Play Catch-up Game

In the only Southern League action over the weekend Nomads will host Dunedin City Royals, in a catch-up game from Round 10 at Tulett Park on Sunday at 1:30pm The original staging of the game not going ahead due to Dunedin Airport being closed. 

The Royals were untroubled to win 3-0 in the first encounter against Nomads on the opening day of the season but in recent rounds Nomads have been one of the form sides. They have won three out of four to move off the bottom of the table, up to 7th, seven points clear of the drop zone and another win would put ease any lingering relegation worries. The Royals have only to two draws to show over the same period, seeing them slip from third to fifth, so will be keen to return to winning form in the run in to the closing round. 

The two sides had mixed 'results' in the previous round with Nomads coming back from a goal down to level against Cashmere Technical before the games was 'called' due to the weather conditions. The National League Competitions Working Group ruled earlier this week that the result was a considered a null result and the match will be replayed. The Royals went down 3 - 1 to Christchurch United but the final scoreline did not reflect how close the game was.  

Form:
Nomads W p/p W L W p/p
Royals L p/p D D L L 

Previous Result This Season:
Royals 3 Nomads 0  

League head-to-head:
Royals 3 wins       

Women's South Island League Moves Into Final Half Of Season

The inaugural Women's South Island League see's Round 6 being played on Saturday with the Dunedin City Royals hosting Nelson Suburbs at Logan Park at midday. At Garrick Memorial Park, Cashmere Technical face Otago University at 12:30pm and at 2:45pm, Coastal Spirit SAS meet Universities of Canterbury.  

The wintery conditions that hit Christchurch last weekend did not help the Royals cause when they went down to Technical 3 - 1 but they still remain in second place. Luck seems to have deserted Suburbs in recent rounds, on the wrong end of two narrow 1 - 0 defeats while dominating play at times. In their earlier encounter the Royals won 3 - 1 with all the goals coming after the break.  

Form:
Royals L W W W L
Suburbs D L L L L     

Previous Result This Season:
Suburbs 1 Royals 3   

League leaders Technical will be out to make it five-wins from six and maintain their unbeaten start against Otago University. Technical had to dig deep to overcome the Royals last weekend and they will be out to complete the 'double' over University after winning six-nil in Dunedin.  

Form:
Technical W W W D W
Otago Univ. p/p W L W L                                                                         

Previous Result This Season:
Otago Univ. 0 Technical 6 

Coastal come into their clash with UC sitting in third place on the table after their big 10 - 0 over Otago Univ. in the previous round. When the two sides met in the 1st round Coastal won 4 - 2 but need two late goals in the final few minutes after UC the levelled after going down 2 - 0.  

Form:
Coastal p/p L W D W 
UC D L L L W                                                   

Previous Result This Season:
UC 2 Coastal 4  

Table Toppers Meet In CPL

Round 16 of the New World Men's Premiership has the top two sides meeting with second placed Halswell facing Universities at the United Sports Centre. All the pressure will be on Halswell for the win to cut into Universities 5 point lead. Cashmere Technical Reserves, currently in third place, are away to bottomed placed Western at Walter Park and Kendall Park is the venue when Waimak host Parklands. The previous three games all have 2:45pm kick-offs the with the final game between Nomads Reserves and Burwood commencing at 12:30pm.

Article added: Friday 28 July 2023