Otago Daily Times Men’s Premiership

Queenstown v Mosgiel  

Queenstown will be hoping to add another three points to their tally following their first win of the season against Northern last weekend. Coach Jamie Whitmarsh believes the league will be tightly contested this season, “Everybody is showing that they’re decent, Northern looked like a much-improved side, Saturday wasn’t easy, they deserve a lot of credit.” He expects a battle at home to Mosgiel, “I’m expecting it to be a difficut game, they’re tough and won the league two seasons ago.” 

Mosgiel Coach Cam McPhail is looking forward to a challenging match away in Central Otago. He is wary of Queenstown, "They're a very well coached and hard working team and are always tough to beat on their home pitch." He hopes his side can replicate the performance they displayed in the first half of last weekend's match with GI, "It's important now that we start picking up some wins to keep in touch with the top 3. McPhail reflected that some of his squad is unavailable due to the University's mid-semester break.

Roslyn Wakari v Northern  

Roslyn Wakari have their third home match of the season where they’ll face Northern. Roslyn will miss several key players with their skipper out and Nathan Wilkie and Joshua Lucas suspended. Roslyn’s coach Terry Boylan is mindful of the weekend’s opposition, “We’re not expecting it to be easy, to be fair to Arran we are quite fearful, you don’t know how they’re going to turn up!”. Boylan reflects that Northern have significantly bolstered their squad with the likes of Mateo Savou and Liam Little and that his own side will sorely miss their captain, Wilkie and Lucas, “There’s some shoes to fill but it’s all on the day, I respect Arran and think he’s done wonders at Northern.” 

Coach Arran Wilkinson is hoping for a good result away at Ellis Park, "We're feeling good, if we can keep 11 players on the pitch we’ve got a chance!". He is relishing the prospect of a local derby with the Stumpy up for grabs. "The boys went well at training. Every week we've got a chance of beating people, the sooner we win the more chance we’ve got of going on a roll!"

Green Island v Wanaka

Green Island's coach Shane Carvell is relishing his side's first chance to play in front of a home crowd, "To be able to be at home is a big positive, the boys are pretty in tune with that as 3 weeks away has been quite a stretch." Carvell reflects that it will be a tight league this season, "Wanaka will be coming with their tails up wanting to come away with a good result and we want to do the same, it should be an intriguing match."

Wanaka are hoping to replicate their efforts against University despite the match ending with each team taking home a point. Wanaka coach Ian Bell expects Green Island to be amped for their first match at home. “We’re expecting a very tough game on their home turf, there’s a few injury clouds, few players missing, whoever we take will be ready.” He is bolstered by the availability of the likes of midfielder Fletcher Cavanagh who he describes as a class act.

Royals v University 

Top of the table South City Royals take on second place Otago University in what should be a thriller at the Caledonian. Royals coach Richard Murray is hoping for a big crowd for the side's first game at the Caledonian. He appreciates that the game has resonance, "Both teams are going reasonably well, and the winner breaks away at the top,it would be good to just get a jump-start." He will rely on his wider squad for the weekend's fixture due to a couple of injuries and players that will be away, "Those players that come in have an oppurtuntity, they can step up."

University will again miss several players due to the mid-semester break but coach Darren Hart is hopeful his team will be stronger than the side that faced Wanaka. He thinks the players familiarity with the Caledonian will be a bonus and hopes to see his side perform better than in last week's encounter, "We were not at our best against Wanaka so we'll be looking to push up the gears again."

Otago Daily Times Women’s Premiership

Green Island v Mosgiel

Green Island have their first home fixture of the season this weekend as they take on Mosgiel at Sunnyvale. The Island are relishing their first home appearance of the campaign. They expect Mosgiel to bring a challenge to Sunnyvale, with coach Matthew Holdridge remarking that “Mosgiel will be keen to follow up their first win and get a result against us. Our focus will be on carrying on the good first win of the season by maintaining a good intensity and pressure on the opposition when defending, and then making intelligent use of the football when in possession.”  

Holdridge has a full-strength squad for the game against Mosgiel and his squad has extensive depth, “We've got 20 or so players in the prem team when the squad is fully fit and I'm really happy with the commitment shown by all players to being part of an extended squad.” 

Mosgiel will be looking to build upon their performance and coach Malcolm Roberts is looking forward to the challenge of the Island, “GI will be very strong, but we have 3 cracks at them this year and we are determined to get our first win against them.” He holds Mosgiel’s opposition in high regards, “They're a good strong team and play to their strengths, we’ll be looking to nullify those strengths and hoping to put our influence on the game.” He is hoping to be bolstered by the return of Jo Flamank to his matchday squad.  

Queenstown v Dunedin Tech

Queenstown have their second home fixture of the year with top of the table Dunedin Tech visiting the Queenstown Events Centre. Coach Mark Ford is expecting a tough challenge, “We always look forward to playing them, we’re looking to play and compete against the best.” Rovers are always pleased to see former players doing well, “We’re not sure if we’re looking forward to revisit of Nieve, we loved having her at the club, but we know what she brings to a team!” It’s a special weekend for a long-standing Rovers player, with Rose McGarty playing her final home match for the club after many years as an integral part of the Queenstown team. Ford rued that Rose will be missed by all at the club, “She’s been an exceptional servant to Queenstown and we’re going to really miss her both on and off the field.” 

Tech’s man at the helm, Craig Johnston, states that his team always look forward to the trip to Queenstown and remarks there is extra significance this season, “Nieve Collin makes a return home and you always want to beat your old team!” He is hoping for a stronger performance than his side have displayed away to Queenstown in previous seasons and will be bolstered by a full-strength side for the first time this season which will give Johnston a few selection headaches. He hopes to his side utilitise the players out wide more effectively, “We’ve got great attacking strength and need to make our wide players’ jobs easy.” 

The clash between the two University sides has been rescheduled for Wednesday 21st March at 7:00pm on the Football Turf and Roslyn Wakari have the bye. Catch this week’s episode of Footy Chat featuring Roslyn youngster Zara Pratley here. 

Article added: Thursday 08 April 2021