Records Trumble

Christchurch United, who knew that the Southern League (SL) title was theirs after Cashmere Technical were held to a 2 - 2 draw with Ferrymead Bays, set a league record when over running Green Island 15 - 3 in their catch-up game from Round 10. The result was also a club record for the champions, in all competitions, with Sam Philips bagging eight of the goals to set another league record. Coastal Spirit ensured third place overall when accounting for Selwyn 3 - 1 with Nomads defeating Nelson Suburbs 4 - 0. United will now back-up on Tuesday evening against FC Twenty11, in their game from Round 17. 

United now have 46 points, with Technical on 39 and Coastal on 31. The Royals and Bays are on 26, Suburbs have 22, two ahead of Nomads with Green Island in 16, Selwyn 10 and FC  6. 

United's record-breaking game started with Sam Philip opening the scoring after just four minutes and his second in the 11th. Eoghan Stokes then scored twice in the space of 1 minute to double the lead. Captain Matt-Todd-Smith and defender Aaron O'Driscoll both bagging a double before the break. Green Island pulled a goal back early in the second half, one of two goals from Stefan Milidrag, the second from the penalty spot, before Stokes completed his hat-trick. The remaining United goals were all scored by Philip to see him move to equal top of the SL Golden Boot ladder with 28 goals - the same at Technical's Garbhan Coughlan. Green Islands other goal scored by Weston Bell.  

Coughlan scored both of Technical's goals against Bays and also had a penalty saved in the opening minutes by Bay's keeper, Reuben Harrison. Bays took the lead in the 36th minute when Daniel Thoms finished well before Coughlan levelled on the stoke of half-time. Bays were back in front just after the break when Kenshin Hayashi broke the offside trap. Technical then wasted several clear chances to level and Tech keeper, Matt Foord, also did well to block a shot from Chris Murphy was five to play. With normal time up, Coughlan headed home from a free-kick to lock the scoreboard up with Murphy then finding the crossbar in added time with the rebound falling to Kenshin who shot went straight to Foord. 

Coastal collected their tenth win in the league when overcoming Selwyn, who were out to secure points to avoid relegation. The win securing them the Hurley Shield for the off-season. Coastal took the lead, in what was the only goal of the opening half, when Roque Fuentes Salinas scored in the 11th minute. Liam Cotter doubled the lead after 52 minutes with Omar Cameron joining Cotter as their sides top scorers when finding the back of the net on the hour. Selwyn had the final say when Darius Van Wyk reduced the margin with twenty minutes remaining. 

Nomads ended their home program when shutting out Suburbs in their first home win in five games. Flynn Holdem finally broke the deadlock when scoring after 20th minutes and Seth Simpson then doubled the margin late in the opening half but there was still time for Suburbs to concede an own goal just before the break. The second half was more even with Niraj Basnet completing the scoring with twenty minutes to play.  

In the final round which will all kick-off at 1:30pm on Sunday see's United hosting Technical, the Royals entertain Coastal, Bays face Green Island, Selwyn take on Nomads with FC traveling north to face Suburbs.  

Results / Scorer - Round 17 of 18

Cashmere Technical 2 (Garbhan Coughlan 2)
Ferrymead Bays 2 (Daniel Thoms, Kenshin Hayashi)
HT 1 - 1 

Coastal Spirit 3 (Roque Fuentes Salinas, Liam Cotter, Omar Cameron)
Selwyn 1 (Darius Van Wyk)
HT 1 - 0 

Nomads 4 (Flynn Holdem, Seth Simpson, Niraj Basnet, own goal)
Nelson Suburbs 1 (Lennon Whewell)
HT 3 - 1 

Universities of Canterbury 0
Dunedin City Royals 4 (Shontelle Smith 2, Hannah MacKay-Wright, Tabitha Seaton)
HT 0 - 3 

Round 10 catch - up game 

Green Island 3 (Stefan Milidrag 2 - incl pen, Weston Bell)
Christchurch United 15 (Sam Philip 8, Eoghan Stokes 3, Matt Todd-Smith 2, Aaron O'Driscoll 2)
HT 0 - 8      

Technical Claim Women's SIL Title

Cashmere Technical have claimed the Women's South Island League title after they come out on top of a seven-goal thriller against Coastal Spirit SAS 4 - 3 in what was a title decider. Dunedin City Royals moved into second place when defeating Universities of Canterbury (UC) 4 - 0 and Nelson Suburbs ending their campaign with a 4 - 2 win over Otago University (OU).

Technical finished the league undefeated on 28 points, Royals are now on 19, Coastal remain on 16. OU have 10, UC and Suburbs on 4. There are two catch-up games remaining, both involving Coastal, at home to the Royals and OU.  

Technical started the game the better and scored twice in the opening nine minutes. The first goal going to Jonelle Arthur and then two minutes later to Nicola Dominikovich. Britney-Lee Nicholson then pulled goal back from the penalty spot, awarded for hand ball, in the 20th minute. Seven minutes later Mel Cameron set up Nicholson to bring Coastal back on level terms. Both teams then had chances before Technical regained control when scoring twice in closing minutes of the opening first, with Dominikovich bagging a double before Charlotte Mortlock doubled the lead. Early in the second half Alyssa Whinham combined well with Cameron with her cross millimetres away from the boot of Nicholson. With thirty-minutes remaining Nicholson completed her hattrick with a stunning 30 metre strike. Ten minutes later Coastal had to clear a shot from Dominikovich off the line with the clock then becoming the emeny of Coastal as the Technical defence held solid to deny further goals. Technical now head into the Reta Fitzpatrick Cup Final against FC Nomads next Sunday.  

Suburbs scored early against OU, with Katie Pugh scoring in the opening minute with Amy Hislop, then replying minutes later for the students. Suburbs went to the break in front when Khara Bouterey found the back of the net in the 44th minute. The lead was extended just after the break when Pugh grabbed a brace with Hislop then reducing the lead two minutes later. With five minutes remaining Bouterey ensured Suburbs would claim the three points when completing her own double. 

Hannah MacKay-Wright gave Royals an early lead which was doubled when Tabitha Seaton scored in the 15th minute. Shontelle Smith then made it 3 - 0 six minutes later. The second half was more even with Smith bagging her second midway into the half.    

Results / Scorers - Round 10 of 10

Cashmere Technical 4 (Nicola Dominikovich 2, Jonelle Arthur, Charlotte Mortlake)
Coastal Spirit 3 (Britney-lee Nicholson 3 - incl pen)
HT 1 - 2 

Otago Universities 2 (Amy Hislop 2)
Nelson Suburbs 4 (Katie Pugh 2, Khara Bouterey 2)
HT 1 - 2 

Universities of Canterbury 0
Dunedin City Royals 4 (Shontelle Smith 2, Hannah MacKay-Wright, Tabitha Seaton)
HT 0 - 3 

FC Nomads Take Out Women's CPL

FC Nomads took out the New World Women's Premiership when they defeated Cashmere Technical Reserves 1 - 0, with Brook Teear scoring the decisive goal in the opening half, in their catch-up game from Round 7.  Teear also scored on Monday evening, along with Sarah Summerlee, in FC Nomads other catch-up game from Round 6 against Selwyn, with both goals coming after the break. The remaining catch-up game, also from Round 6 between Halswell Green and Halswell Christchurch United was scheduled to played on Saturday but was not played.

Nomads finish on 25 points, four ahead of Halswell ChCh United, Universities Maroon finish third overall on 14, Halswell Green are on 10, Technical have 8 and Selwyn 6.  

Results / Scorers

Round 6 catch - up game 

Selwyn 0
FC Nomads 2 (Sarah Summerlee, Brooke Teear)
HT 0 - 0 

Round 7 catch - up game 

Cashmere Technical 0
FC Nomads 1 (Brooke Teear)  
HT 0 - 1

Unbeaten Run To Eighteen 

Universities extended their unbeaten run to eighteen games in the New World Men's Premiership with the champions defeating Parklands 4 - 1 after leading 2 - 0 at the break. The run is still on for second place after Nomads defeated Waimak 5 - 0, with Jackson Bond claiming a hat-trick. Third placed Cashmere Technical Reserves overcame Burwood 5 - 2. The final game of the penultimate round saw Halswell score a goal in each half to account for Western.  The final round see's Universities play Nomads, Technical are away to Halswell, Burwood host Parklands with Waimak having the home advantage over Western. 

Universities now move to 49 points, Nomads have 36 and Technical 35, Halswell 33 and Waimak 30. Parklands have 23, Burwood 20 and Western still pointless, with Technical and Waimak having a catch-up game from Round 15 to play.     

Result / Scorers - Round 20 of 21

Cashmere Technical Reserves 5 (Gabriel Gallaway 2 - incl pen, James Hoole, Yusuf Van Dam, Declan Allen)
Burwood 2 (Joe Davies - pen, Isaac Malpass)
HT 5 - 0 

Nomads 5 (Jackson Bond 3 - incl pen, Davi De Carvalho Stemler Veiga, own goal)
Waimak 0
HT 4 - 0 

Parklands 1 (Jesse Ruwhiu - pen)
Universities 4 (Saul Preshner, Pero Foreman, Nicholas Smith, Luke Whitwell)
HT 0 - 2  

Western 0
Halswell 2 Joshua Dempster, Pat Cameron - pen)
HT 0 - 1 

A Win Away from Perfect Season

The Christchurch United Under 20 side are a win away from going through the New World Men's Championship after they collected their seventeenth straight win after the Coastal Spirit U20's defaulted their fixture. In the highest scoring game of the season, second placed Selwyn defeated Halswell 8 - 5. Third placed Ferrymead Bays Reserves edged Universities 2nd XI 1 - 0, with Universities 3rd XI defeating FC Twenty11 Reserves 2 - 1. The final game of the round saw the Bays Keen Lads defeating Waimak 3 - 0. 

United have 51 points, Bays and Selwyn 34, UC 2nd XI 30 and Keen Lads 30, Coastal 23, FC 19, UC 3rd XI 18, Waimak 5, Halswell 1. 

Results

Coastal Spirit U20's 0
Christchurch United U20's 3
-United win by default 

FC Twenty11 Res. 1
Universities 3rd XI 2 

Ferrymead Bays Keen Lads 3
Waimak 0  

Halswell 5
Selwyn 8 

Universities 2nd XI 0
Ferrymead Bays Res. 1 

Article added: Monday 28 August 2023