Round three of the New World Premiership, played over the Easter Weekend, saw a number of firsts for the season, the first draw, the first-come from behind wins, the first own goals and the first red cards. The round opened on Friday afternoon before a crowd of several hundred when the early leaders, Christchurch United and Cashmere Technical, played out a 1 – all result. On Saturday, Nomads scored a dramatic, 3 – 2 come from behind win after trailing Nelson Suburbs by two goals at the break, with the game also seeing each side receiving a red card. Coastal Spirit also came back to defeat Halswell 4 – 2. Ferrymead Bays and Selwyn United completed the round on Monday evening, with Bays winning 1 – 0 after Selwyn went down to ten men after a straight red on half time.

United and Technical both have 7 points, with United topping the table with the better goal difference. Coastal and Bays are on six, with Suburbs and Nomads on 3. Selwyn and Halswell are yet to secure points.

In the end, a draw between the table-toppers - United and Technical was probably a fair result, but equally, both camps would have been disappointed that they failed to make the most of the chances they created. Technical had the better of early chances, and United's Eddie Wilkinson missed a long-range shot in the 27th minute just wide of the post. Late in the half, both keepers produced saves which saw the sides go to the break scoreless. Danny Knight was at full stretch to palm the ball away from several United attackers from a corner. Then at the other end, Eddie Ashton got a fingertip on to a Danny Boys free-kick to turn the ball on to the post, with Tech then having a shot cleared off the line, right on half time. On the hour, Wilkinson broke clear but hit a soft shot straight at Knight. Three minutes later, United failed to attack the ball from a corner which allowed a glancing free header by Garbhan Coughlan from close range to break the deadlock. United's reply was almost immediate when a Tech defender headed the ball down to Michael White, who was untroubled to open his account for the Rams. Both side then had chances to grab the three points in the closing 10 minutes but failed to convert. 

In a drama-filled match between Suburbs and Nomads, Nomads secured their first win in Nelson since 2007. Nishan Biswa was shown a straight red card after 33 minutes to reduce Nomads to 10 men, with Lucas Hogg then heading Suburbs into the lead and Josh Creswell then doubling in first-half added time. Nomads, who came into the game in bottom place and without a goal this season, broke their draught when Daniel Thoms found the back of the net in the 53rd minute, and a minute later, Suburbs were down to ten when Corey Larsen received his second yellow card, one of eight cards issued during the game. With 17 minutes remaining, Thoms then bagged a double to lock up the scoreboard with Nathan Dix, who had come on at the start of the second half, then completed the turn-around for the Nomads win scoring in the second minute of added time.

Coastal's come from behind win was not as dramatic. After Mika Rabuka pushed a shot wide, his teammate, Blake Weston, maybe was fortunate just to receive a yellow card when pulling back Halswell's Ryan Bellamy, with a good handful of shirt, as the Hawks speedsters were about to break clear having a clear path on goal. Two minutes later, Mark Withers showed his finishing skills to put Halswell ahead. Rabuka then made up for his early miss to level minutes later with Mark Zimmerman then put Coastal ahead after 26 minutes before Jack Mitchell increased the lead on the stroke of half time. Midway into the second half, a Halswell defender was unlucky to turn the ball into his own net, with the Hawks having several half chances before Albert Aitkens then pulled one back for the Hawks against his former club.

It was a good crowd that watched the Bays / Selwyn clash on Easter Monday evening at Ferrymead Park. Selwyn went close to opening the scoring after eight minutes, but the shot was a fraction wide. Bays then took the lead from a corner in the 26th minutes, with Ryan Stanley scoring his season's opening goal. The opening half ended with the Stalion's Lewis Cox receiving a red card for a dangerous foul. Selwyn keeper Pieter-Taco Bierema then produced several outstanding saves in quick succession to keep his side in the game, midway into the half, the first to deny Stanley and then turning a Jimmy Deehan free-kick away for a corner. Selwyn finished the game strongly with Dorian Gault testing Adam Highfield and then a free-kick whipped across the face of the Bays goal. In added time, another free-kick saw even Bierema up in the Bays goal with the ball coming back out to Dan Ede, who hit the ball into the crossbar from the edge of the 18-metre box.

Once played, Round 4 will see over 25% of the league completed, so the pressure will start to mount on those clubs setting outside the top 5 and a place in the Southern League. United host Bays on Friday at 7:30 pm. On Saturday at 11.30 am, Selwyn meets Suburbs at Rolleston, and at 2:45 pm, Technical and Coastal clash with Nomads entertaining Halswell.

New World Men's Premiership – Results / Scorers

Christchurch United 1 (Michael White) Cashmere Technical 1 (Garbhan Coughlan) HT 0 - 0  

Ferrymead Bays 1 (Ryan Stanley) Selwyn 0 HT 1- 0

Halswell 2 (Mark Withers, Albert Aitkens) Coastal Spirit 4 (Mika Rabuka, Mark Zimmerman, Jack Mitchell, own goal) HT 0 - 3

Nelson Suburbs 2 (Lucas Hogg, Josh Creswell) Nomads 3 (Daniel Thoms 2, Nathan Dix) HT 2 - 0

Tough Start For Nomads Opening Round Of Women's Premiership

Nomads had a tough start to their first season in the New World Women's Premiership when they met defending champions, and the league's powerhouse, Coastal Spirit, going down 16 – 1. On Wednesday evening, the league kicked off with Waimak and Universities sharing the points after drawing 2 – all. In the first game of the doubled header at Ferrymead Park on Easter Monday, Cashmere Technical defeated the other newcomers to the Premiership, Ferrymead Bays, 4 – 0. 

Nomads lost the toss and found themselves playing into a strong wind. A hat-trick from Jayda Stewart (at Waimak in recent times) in the opening 13 minutes was not the start that Nomads were looking for. A double from Mel Cameron and then strikes from Ellena Firth and Whitney Hepburn completed the first-half scoring. Playing with the wind saw Nomads creating more chances after the back, but Coastal's vast experience showed with Cameron going on to score four more times. Hepburn then completed her hat-trick, and Sara Mann added her name to the scoring stats. With three minutes to play, Nomads Brook Tear was pulled back, and from the resulting free-kick, Ella Jackson scored with her right after hitting the ball over the wall to the delight of her teammates. Britney-lee Nicholson added the final Coastal goal in added time.

After an even start, Universities took the lead from the penalty spot after 19 minutes which their captain, Ekaterina Lieshout, slotted home. Waimak levelled just before the break when Universities failed to clear the ball, and Waimak captain, Emily Cooper, was on hand to score. Waimak had the better of the game early in the second half but found themselves behind in the 67th minutes when a cross from Erin Roxburgh was turned into the net by a Universities play. Deep in added time, Waimak secured a point from a corner, with Lily Gerrard scoring.  

Emma Kench opened the scoring for Technical against Bays early in the game with Sammie Senior, then doubling the lead in the 26th minute, and Bays going close on several occasions. After the break, Nicola Dominikovich scored from wide out on the right with a great cross-shot. The final goal came from a corner taken by former Football Fern, Kate Loye, which Mikayla Hunt met.

Round 2 matchups, at 12:30 on Saturday, see's Bays hosting Nomads, Coastal entertain Universities and Technical having the home advantage over Waimak. 

New World Women's Premiership – Results / Scorers

Ferrymead Bays 0 Cashmere Technical 4 (Emma Kench, Sammie Senior, Nicola Dominikovich, Mikayla Hunt) HT 0 - 2 

Nomads 1 (Ella Jackson) Coastal Spirit 16 (Mel Cameron 6, Jayda Stewart 3, Whitney Hepburn 3, Ellena Firth, Sara Mann, Alyssa Whinham, Britney-lee Nicholson) HT 0 - 7

Waimak 2 (Emily Cooper, Lily Gerrard) Universities 2 (Ekaterina Lieshout, own goal) HT 1 - 1

Trio Maintain Perfect Start In #NWChamp21

Three teams, Western, Waimak and Parklands, all maintained their perfect start after Round 3 of the New World Championship, with Western coming back from conceding an early goal to FC Twenty11 to rack up an impressive 7 – 2 win. Waimak were too strong for Mid Canterbury, winning 4 – 0, with the goals shared evenly in each half. A goal in each half saw Parklands overcome Universities, and Burwood picked their first win of the season when accounting for St Albans Shirley 4 – 1. Western top the table, having scored one more goal than Waimak, with Parklands sitting in third place. Burwood, Universities and FC all are on 3 points, with Mid Canterbury and SAS still pointless.     

In Round 4, FC host Parklands, Mid Canterbury have the home advantage over SAS, Universities entertain Waimak and Western meet neighbours Burwood. All games kick-off at 2:45 pm on Saturday. 

New World Championship - Results

FC Twenty11 2 Western 7 HT 2 – 5 

Parklands 2 Universities 0 HT 1 - 0

St Albans Shirley 1 Burwood 4 HT 0 - 2

Waimak 4 Mid Canterbury 0 HT 2 - 0

Written by Gavin Searle. 
Article added: Tuesday 06 April 2021