Otago Daily Times Men’s Premiership 

Mosgiel v South City Royals 

Top of the table Royals travel to Memorial Park this weekend. Mosgiel coach Cam McPhail expects the match will be tough for his team and they are hampered by the absence of midfielder Rahan Ali who is away at a Futsal Whites camp. McPhail is optimistic ahead of Saturday, “The lads have put in some great work at training over the last couple of weeks, hopefully it all clicks on Saturday!” 

Richard Murray’s Royals sit happily at the top of the table, “I’ve no complaints, we’ve earnt that right. We haven’t played our best football but we’ve got the wins when we’ve been up against it.” Murray’s side were bolstered by their win against last season’s champions Green Island, “It was a tight result last week, we were good for it and dominated most of game, if we can carry that to this weekend we should be good for three points.” He reflects that Mosgiel will be feeling fresh after not playing a full match last weekend, “They’ll be looking for their first win. Memorial is tough place to go to, it’s parochial, but the pitch suits us as it’s quite big.” 

Wanaka v Northern 

Currently sat in 7th and 8th spot respectively, this is a huge game for both sides with both teams looking for their first win of the season. Wanaka’s Ian Bell is hoping to bounce back after last week’s loss to Roslyn Wakari, “It was disappointing to lose in injury time when we were ahead for the majority of the game, but we’ve identified we need to improve our game management.” He expects Northern to be difficult opponents, “Northern have vastly improved this season so we expect a tough game from them. It’s a must win for both teams.” 

Arran Wilkinson’s side travel to Wanaka this weekend, “We’re not going to have a full squad with injuries, suspension, Ramadan and new dad duties!” He has been impressed with his players so far, “The boys have been really good all season, they had a real intense session on Tuesday that Jim our physio devised for us.” Wilkinson believes Wanaka are a young, well-organised side that are expected to play good football, “They'll be tough, they’re struggling too, if either one of us wins we’re close to the next group.” 

Green Island v Queenstown 

Queenstown’s Jamie Whitmarsh is excited ahead of his side’s trip to Sunnyvale, “I’m looking forward to the challenge of coping with their attacking block, Cox, Hewson, Heath, Brazier, where does it end?” Whitmarsh is looking forward to catching up with GI’s man at the helm Shane Carvell and hopes his side can stop shooting themselves in the foot, “If we show the same attitude and commitment and can try and remove some of the things that have cost us, that would be great.” Whitmarsh will have a depleted side for the trip to Dunedin, “We’ll leave one or two injured players at home that have played the last few games, if we don’t do it now, they’ll be buggered for the rest of the season!” 

Green Island have only their second fixture at home this season and coach Shane Carvell is ecstatic ahead of his side’s return to Sunnyvale. “We had the euphoria of Tuesday then a flat performance on Saturday, we need to bounce back and being at home will give us that momentum. Carvell is expecting the match with Queenstown to be a good battle, “They’re very well coached by Jamie, he always gets the best out of his players and he’ll have a game plan. They’ll come with an intention in mind, we have to negate that, if the boys perform like I know they can, they’ll be up for it.” Carvell reflects that the Blair Davidson trophy is also up for grabs, “We’d like to keep it in the trophy cabinet for a while longer.” 

University v Roslyn Wakari 

University's Darren Hart is expecting Roslyn to be a tricky side to beat, "They're strong, physical and score lots of late goals so you can't relax." Hart hopes to have a larger squad available than the 12 he took to Queenstown last weekend, "We've got a bit of a rolling list of injuries, there'll be a few late fitness checks but we're 4 or 5 down. Ben O'Farrell is out due to an ankle injury, as is Yun Sung Chang with knee issues." Varsity will also be without midfielder Oban Hawkins who is away at a Futsal Whites training camp, "It's the perfect storm really, we've got a good starting 11 but are pretty bare beyond that point. It's an opportunity for others to step up and play, all got to prove their case as to why they should be starting." 

Roslyn’s coach Terry Boylan was delighted with last weekend’s win which left them sitting third in the table, “The boys fought really hard and deserved the result.” They face Varsity on Saturday, “They have Boylan reflects he has a few players out, “We’ve still got a couple of niggling injuries and a few suspensions, that’s the nature of the beast.” He hopes his players will go well and reflets that the league is incredibly close, “There’s nothing in it, if we get a result, we go ahead of them, we do a job this weekend and then worry about Green Island next weekend.”

Otago Daily Times Women’s Premiership 

Dunedin Tech v Mosgiel 

Tech’s coach Craig Johnston is looking forward to another Friday night under the lights at the Turf. He will be missing several players due to injuries, holidays and NZF camps, “Georgia Kennedy is away with the U17’s and Ruby Anderson could be out for a while, she potentially has ligament damage or chipped bone in her knee.” He is looking to spice things up against Mosgiel and hopes to try a new formation against Malcolm Roberts’ side. He was impressed by their performance last weekend against Premiers, “They did fantastically well in that first half against Uni, they’re improving heaps, I just don’t want them to go for 90 minutes against us!” 

Head coach Malcolm Roberts is looking forward to Friday night’s challenge against table toppers Tech, “They’re clearly the best in the league, just a fantastic team, lots of stars and some exciting young talent too. They’re the benchmark that other teams reach to.” Roberts’ side have been bolstered by the return of Reagan Potter and Branwen Jones, “We’re at 100% full strength now, the players had to adapt whilst Reagan and Branwen were away and made that spot theirs.” Roberts feels his team are heading in the right direction, “The lesser considered teams are showing they’re competing, we just need to keep up the intensity for 90 minutes.” 

Queenstown v Seconds 

University Seconds travel to Queenstown to face the sole Central Otago side at the Events Centre on Saturday. Coach Mark Ford’s side are raring to get back to action after their bye week, “We’re ready to get back to it and looking forward to it. We’ll have a good squad out, there’ll be a couple missing as normal”. Ford thinks that Seconds will provide a good challenge to his side, “They’ve had some good performances, put Tech under pressure in that first half a few weeks back. Coming off the back of 3 really strong performances and the bye week, I’d like to think we’d take the three points.” 

Seconds coach Arnon Tapp is relishing the trip to Central Otago, “It’ll be an interesting game, they’ve had some pretty good results. I haven’t caught them this season, but know they came close with Uni Premiers and Tech.” Tapp will have a depleted squad this week with 3 players out with a chem test and believes the travel could be a factor, “Away trips are always a challenge, early start and an early getaway can make things hard."

Roslyn Wakari v Green Island  

Head Coach Hamish Philip is looking forward to the Island’s visit to Ellis Park, “They’ve shown good form and been unlucky with some results. Tessa Nicol is phenomenal in goal, Gracie Vaafusuaga in their backline is very underrated, they’ve got great players in midfield too. They’re an exceptional team, they just need to put it all together.”  

Philip reflect that his squad will be diminished for the fixture, “We're going to be a bit short, via injuries and suspensions. With Division 1 starting, we don’t have the leisure for taking from them to have a full bench!” He’s hoping his younger players can step up to the challenge, “It’s good to be at home, have a bit of a crowd to get down to support, it’s the little things!” 

Green Island’s Matthew Holdridge is hoping his side can lift their performance following last weekend’s loss to Tech. Holdridge believes Roslyn will be a difficult side to topple, “They are a good side with some quality young players and will be put up a challenge for our team.” He hopes his players can step up a gear to get a result at Ellis Park.  

Article added: Wednesday 28 April 2021