Minor Placings Still Up For Grabs

The Mainland Premier League (MPL) title may have already been decided, but this Saturday’s penultimate round still has some key match-ups with sixth to eighth placing still to be determined. 

The round kicks off at midday on Saturday with second placed Coastal Spirit heading north to face fourth placed Nelson Suburbs at Saxton Fields. At 2:45pm fifth placed Nomads host newly crowned champions Cashmere Technical at Tulett Park. Bottom of the table Selwyn host Universities at Foster Park and the final game of the round sees FC Twenty11 face off against Ferrymead Bays at Avonhead Park.   

Expect a close game between Suburbs and Spirit as both sides look to finish in the top three. Suburbs will be looking to continue their unbeaten home run this season despite injuries to some key players and will be aiming to overturn the 3 - 1 loss to their rivals earlier in the season. Coastal have conceded the least amount of goals this season and will be out to keep their three-game winning streak alive.   

Form: Suburbs L D W W L W L                     Coastal W L W L W W W         
Previous Result This Season: Coastal 3 Suburbs 1 
Head to Head: Played 22 - Suburbs 11 wins, Draws 3, Coastal 8 wins

Nomads and Technical meet for the second time this week after Technical’s 5-2 win in their Blackwell’s Holden English Cup clash midweek. The two sides also met recently in the Chatham Cup with Tech coming out on top 5 – 3. The sides first clash in the MPL this season ended in a 4 - 3 win to Technical. Nomads lead 3 - 2 with ten minutes to play only to be pipped by two late Technical goals, so Nomads will be looking to exact some revenge and record their first win of the season over the newly crowned champions.  

Form: Nomads L W L W W W W             Technical W W W W W W W
Previous Result This Season: Technical 4 Nomads 3 
Head to Head: Played 10 - Technical 10 wins

FC Twenty11 come into this game knowing that a top five place and a spot in the South Island League has gone but they will be looking to find some form as they head into the relegation play-off rounds with Selwyn and Universities. Ferrymead Bays will be up for this one though, as they look to secure the runners up spot. Bays came out comfortable 3 - 0 winners in this seasons earlier encounter and will be looking for a good performance heading into their Chatham Cup tie on Queens Birthday Monday.

Form: FC L W L L D L L                        Bays W D W W L L W 
Previous Result This Season: Bays 3 FC 0 
Head to Head: Played 13 - Bays 13 wins

Only goal difference separates Selwyn and Universities at the foot of the table with both sides going into this one looking to avoid relegation. Selwyn are still without a win this season and Universities only points this season came when they defeated the Stallions 3 - 1 in April.    

Form: Selwyn L L L L D L L       Universities L L L L L L                           
Previous Result This Season: Universities 3 Selwyn 1 
Head to Head: Played 1 - Universities 1 win

Coastal Out To Close Gap

Defending Women's Premier League (WPL) champions Coastal Spirit will be out to close the gap on competition leaders Cashmere Technical when they host Halswell at Cuthberts Green. Technical have the bye this week. Universities face Waimakariri at Ilam Field. Both games kick-off at 12:30pm.

Coastal are unbeaten so far this season and came away with a 9 – 3 win when the sides last met with Arna Roberts, Cody Taylor and Mel Cameron all recording hat-tricks.

Form: Coastal W W W D bye                        Halswell L L bye L L.
Previous Result This Season: Halswell 3 Coastal 9
Head to Head: Played 18 – Coastal 10, Draws 3, Halswell 5 wins

Universities and Waimakariri played out a 2 - 2 draw last time they met. Waimakariri have pushed both the leading sides in recent weeks and a win would give them breathing space in third position. 

Form: Universities L D L W bye L                   Waimakariri D L bye D W           
Previous Result This Season: Waimakariri 2 Universities 2 
Head to Head: Played 10 – Universities 3 wins, Draws 2, Waimakariri 4 wins 

Queen’s Birthday Chatham Cup

The next round of the ISPS Handa Chatham Cup takes place this Queens Birthday Monday with eight teams from across the Mainland Federation looking to advance into the next round in June.

At midday in Blenheim, Rangers take on Western at the A & P Showgrounds. Rangers are on top of the Nelsons Bays Division 1 league with seven wins and just won loss to date. Western are currently second in the Canterbury Championship League, with five wins, 3 draws and just one loss.

The other three ties see match-ups from the Mainland Premier League, with FC Twenty11 facing Nelson Suburbs at Avonhead Park at midday. At 2pm, Cashmere Technical entertain Ferrymead Bays at Garrick Memorial Park and Selwyn host Coastal Spirit at Foster Park.

Suburbs have been untroubled by FC Twenty11 in the MPL this season, but they’ve struggled on the road in recent weeks so FC will be looking to cause an upset. Technical have won both their league encounters against Bays this season but they have had some epic battles in the cup over recent years so a close encounter is expected. Selwyn have yet to taste success over Coastal this season and they’ll be looking to 'Pack the Park' at Rolleston with a big home crowd expected to help them get over the line. 

'Big Two' Clash In Kate Sheppard Cup

Fate sees the top two Women's Premier League sides, Cashmere Technical and Coastal Spirit, face off in the NZ Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup at 10:30am at Garrick Memorial Park. In the other local tie, Halswell face Universities at the Christchurch Football Academy at 7:30pm.

Both league encounters between Tech and Coastal have ended in draws this season. Coastal only just came out on top after extra time in the sides Reta Fitzpatrick Cup clash, so expect another close one here. 

Honours are well and truly even between Halswell and Universities as they head into this one. Universities got one over Halswell at the start of the season, but Halswell turned the tables on them earlier this month, so this one should be another epic battle.