Queenstown 1 Coastal Spirit 11 (HT 1-5)

Goal scorers: Q Tom Mills  CS Haris Zeb (2), Liam Hare (2), Ash Wellbourn (4), Claudio Lagos, Anthony Jones, Dom McGarr

Coastal Spirit belted in eleven goals to hammer Queenstown AFC 11-1 in Queenstown on Saturday.

The visitors got off to the perfect start when striker Haris Zeb latched onto a long ball to score inside the opening three minutes, and that goal only set the tone for a whirlwind opening quarter of an hour which saw Coastal race to a four goal lead.

Liam Hare and forward Ash Wellbourn joined Zeb on the scoresheet, before midfielder Claudio Inzunza Lago's curled freekick made it four.

Queenstown managed to compose themselves and stop the rot, dominating spells of possession for spells before getting a goal back themselves in the 38th minute, when Coastal were unable to clear a free kick before it was finally bundled in.

But any hope of a comeback was quickly put to bed when Coastal were awarded a penalty for handball a couple of minutes later, which captain Anthony Jones squeezed under Queenstown keeper Daniel Bocatios to give the visitors an impressive 5-1 lead at the halftime break.

The second half was scoreless until the 60-minute mark, when Haris Zeb latched onto a long throw to score his second goal and make it a five-goal lead.

Coastal continued to go for the jugular, and managed another five goals before the final whistle; Ash Wellbourne scored a second-half hat-trick to finish with four for the match, Liam Hare added his second, and Dom McGarr scored with a good header.

The result is comfortably the biggest win of the Southern Football League so far, and sees Coastal Spirit jump into third spot, with the big scoreline also giving them the best goal difference in the league.

Ferrymead Bays 1 Nelson Suburbs 1 (HT 0–1)

Goal scorers: FB Sho Mathieson NS Matt Tod-Smith

Ferrymead Bays maintained their unbeaten run in the Southern Football League with a 1-1 draw with Nelson Suburbs at English Park. 

After chances went begging at either end, Matt Tod-Smith put Suburbs ahead in the 18^thminute, his strike beating the Ferrymead keeper with the help of a deflection. 

The game followed a similar pattern after the break with Alex Ridsdale somehow missing an open goal which would have doubled Suburbs lead on the hour. 

Minutes later Johnny Gough was on hand to clear a Bays shot that was on target and then saw a shot headed wide from a corner. 

With eight minutes to play Sho Mathieson was left with a free header and this time he ensured Bays earnt a share of the points and mark Chris Murphy’s 300th game for the club with a well-earned point. 

Nomads 6  Southland United 1  (HT 1-1)

Goal scorers: NU Byron Heath (2), Stephen Hoyle (2), Matt jones, Mason Stearn  SU Xavier Meurier

Nomads maintained their top spot on the Southern Football League with a convincing win over Southland United as wintery conditions hit all three games in Christchurch on Sunday. 

Southland, playing with the strong wind, took the lead through Xavier Meurier in the opening ten minutes. 

Matt Jones levelled the scores for Nomads midway through the half after cutting past a couple of defenders to score from just inside the area. 

Byron Heath gave Nomads the lead minutes later and their lead was doubled and then tripled in quick succession by Stephen Hoyle and Mason Stearn. 

Nomad’s lead blew out even further late in the game as Heath and Boyle both doubled their tallies. 

Heath joins Coastal’s Ash Wellbourn as the league leading scorer with 7 goals.

Cashmere Technical 2  Dunedin Technical 0 (HT 1–0)

Goal scorers: Lyle Matthysen, Aaron Clapham

Cashmere Technical maintained second place on the Southern Football League ladder with a 2-0 win over Dunedin Technical on Saturday. 

Lyle Matthysen opened the scoring for the home side when driving in a cross from Danny Boys in the third minute. 

Cashmere doubled their lead early in the second half through Aaron Clapham who chipped home a delightful through ball. Both keepers were kept busy throughout the game. 

Dunedin’s Ben Dubyk pulled off three outstanding one-on-one saves while Cashmere keeper Danny Knight produced some equally impressive saves to maintain a clean sheet. 

Article added: Monday 30 July 2018