Queenstown AFC 0Nomads United 6 (Byron Heath 3, Stephen Hoyle 2, own goal)

HT 0-2

Nomads United signed off their Southern Football League season with an impressive 6-0 victory over Queenstown AFC at the Queenstown Events Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Byron Heath and Stephen Hoyle continued their impressive goal scoring combination for Nomads, scoring a hat-trick and a brace respectively. Heath now has 10 goals in the competition, three clear of teammate Hoyle and Coastal Spirit's Ashley Wellbourn in the golden boot race.

Queenstown coach Jamie Whitmarsh was able to name a team that featured only one change from the side that beat Dunedin Technical impressively last weekend, with striker Jan Kumar coming in for Carlos Herrmann.

Although both teams created a raft of goal scoring opportunities, it was the visitors who regularly capitalised to punish Queenstown. After leading 2-0 at the break, the home side's goalkeeper Danniel Bocatios was beaten a further four times in the second half.

The victory sees Nomads finish up on 14 points, currently in second spot two points behind Cashmere Technical who were crowned champions this weekend with a match to spare.

Queenstown has their final match next Saturday, travelling to Ferrymead Bays. A win for Bays would see them leapfrog Nomads into second spot on the table.

Southland United 0 Ferrymead Bays 4 (own goal, Jordan Halligan, Juan Chang, Mark Peers)

HT 0-0

Ferrymead Bays kicked into gear with an impressive second-half onslaught to defeat Southland United 4-0 in Invercargill on Sunday, to remain in the hunt for the runners-up spot in the Southern Football League.

After a goalless first half at the ILT Football Turf, an unfortunate own goal from Southland's Sean Angus straight after the break set the ball rolling for the visitors.

Barely three minutes later, midfielder Jordan Halligan doubled the lead for Bays to put them in the box seat.

Juan Chang added the side's third with half an hour remaining, before Mark Peers sealed the win with a late goal.

Although they can't catch Cashmere Technical, who were crowned champions with a round remaining after winning on Saturday, a win for Bays in their final match hosting Queenstown next Saturday will see them climb above Nomads United into second spot on the table.

The result sees Southland United finish the league in last spot, with their only points coming from their 2-1 win at Coastal Spirit.

Cashmere Technical 2 (Lyle Matthysen, Dan Schwarz) Coastal Spirit 0 HT 0 - 0

Cashmere Technical continued their stellar season as they secured the Southern Football league title with a game to spare, beating Coastal Spirit 2-0. 

"It’s great to get it done, we did not want to leave it to the final game and have to go up to Nelson and get a win to take the title,” said Deane Hutchinson, the Technical coach after the game.

"We have had some great battles this season with Coastal and we knew they would not give up too many chances so we had to make the most that came our way,” added Hutchinson.

There were few chances in the opening half with the best falling to Coastal's Ash Wellbourn in the 32nd minute. The strikers first shot was blocked by Technical keeper Danny Knight and the ball rebounded back to Wellbourn whose second shot was somehow smothered again by knight.

Late in the half Coastal keeper Matt Thomas made a smart save to deny an Aaron Chapham free-kick from 20 metres out.

Technical started to gain some dominance in the second half and took the lead from a corner after 67 minutes. As the ball came in it was missed by Thomas before finally falling to Lyle Matthysen who scored from close range. 

Minutes later Technical doubled their lead when Dan Schwarz found the back of the net, condemning Coastal to their third loss in a row and the first time they had failed to score in the competition.

Nelson Suburbs 5 (Eddie Sillars 2, Ben Wright, James Deehan, Matt Tod-Smith) Dunedin Technical 1 (Alistair Rickerby) HT 1 - 1

Nelson Suburbs extended their unbeaten run to four games coming from a goal down to defeat Dunedin Technical 5-1 at Saxton Fields.

A mistake by Suburbs keeper Corey Wilson allowed the Dunedin side to take the lead on the half hour with Alistair Rickerby scoring his second goal in as many rounds. 

Eddie Sillars then bagged a double, scoring either side of the break to put Suburbs ahead.

Suburbs dominated the final ten minutes scoring three goals in a space of six minutes with goals to Ben Wright, James Deehan and Matt Tod-Smith. 

The win lifts Suburbs into the top half of the table for the first time, at the expense of Coastal.

Article added: Monday 20 August 2018