Mosgiel v South City Royals 

With the home side desperate to get points on the board and the Royals out to maintain their top spot, the opening 10 minutes were a cagey affair and just as Mosgiel were starting to get in behind the Royals defence with the hard running Rhys Quarrell, the Royals went ahead on 20 minutes when Jared Groves’ floated corner was nodded home by Kaleb De-Groot Green at the far post. From the restart, Royals keeper Liam Whittaker was immediately in the action with an outstretched leg to deny Taylor Donaldson and moments later he then flew through the air to keep out Lewis Wall’s angled drive. Another Royals set piece on 25 minutes saw them extend their lead when a well-placed free kick saw Liam Lockhart power in a header which deflected off Wall for an own goal past the unfortunate Dan Robinson who was making his debut in goal. Ryan Fleming had an opportunity to make the game safe for the Royals with a simple tap in right on half time but the usually deadly striker lofted his shot high over the crossbar.  

Mosgiel came out attacking in the second half with Kasim Ali prominent and it was his accurate raking pass that found Donaldson in acres of space and he made no mistake with a low driven shot into the left corner with an hour played. Whittaker reacted quickly 6 minutes later to close down Quarrell as he darted through on goal. The Royals were sitting back defending their lead and Whittaker was certainly the busier of the two keepers as he had to be alert to keep out Ali's 35 yard effort then to rush out to deny Quarrell time as his effort narrowly went wide of the post. The Royals broke quickly on the counter and Ollie Cassidy’s run down the right wing saw his low driven cross give Ollie Petersen a simple tap in to make it 3-1 in the 89th minute. Mosgiel immediately replied and Rhys Quarrell wasn't to be denied when his dipping shot from the edge of the box gave Whittaker no chance however the Royals claimed all the points and retain top spot on goal difference from University.  

University v Roslyn Wakari  

En Watanabe opened the scoring for the homeside on 10minutes when he turned his marker in the six-yard box following a slick Varsity attack down the right. Watanabe nearly doubled his tally after a poor clearance went straight to him however Brandon Sumter recovered well to tip the ball wide. Roslyn  looked dangerous on the counter through Nathan Wilkie and Sam Cosgrove however Tim O'Farrell swept confidently at the back, nullifying any clear-cut opportunities. University went 2-0 up after another attack down the right and Watanabe tapped home at the far post. In a similar goal, Roslyn pulled one back just before halftime as Scott Casey-Woolridge came off his right wing and struck a nice volley. University scored two quick goals just after the break,firstly through Watanabe, completing his hat-trick and then Ben Stanley after a Connor Evans shot deflected off Stanley, deceiving Sumpter. Roslyn stalwart Josh Lucas pegged one back with a trademark header from a Luke Clissold corner. The goal gave Roslyn some momentum however they struggled to finish their chances. Sam Cosgrove went on a mazey run from halfway skipping past multiple defenders although his cross alluded the white shirts in the box. Nathan Wilkie put one just wide and then soon after hit the crossbar.  

Green Island v Queenstown  

Green Island had an emphatic 9-1  victory  over a weakened Queenstown side at Sunnyvale. Adam Hewson opened the scoring on 18 minutes. Queenstown then conceded an own goal and a minute later were reduced to 10 men in the 22nd minute with a red card shown for dissent. Hewson was the star of the match and he went on to score a hat trick including a shot from 30 yards that flew into the net. Matt Milton also scored a classy goal to give the home side a commanding 4-1 lead at the break.  The second half goals saw Hewson claim his third and Byron Heath, Tom Milton, Connor Spear and Aaron Allan all getting on the scoresheet. 

Wanaka v Northern  

Wanaka dominated the opening 20 minutes and were content to knock the ball across their back four and wait for the right opportunity to play forward and with Northern playing a compact shape chances were few in the opening 30 minutes. Wanaka went close to taking the lead when Thomas Tinka’s inswinging corner was flicked on by Steve Pleskun and his header was cleared off the  goal line and the follow up shot from Ethan Arratia was blocked. Wanaka finished the half strongly as Toa Roode jinked and turned his defender and delivered dangerous balls into Northern’s penalty area but Northern’s experienced keeper Liam Little claimed the shots and crosses.  3 minutes after the restart and Wanaka’s Tinka was brought down by Little in the box and a penalty was awarded.    Adam Harms stepped up confidently, his shot went down the middle and as Little dived to his right it was a trailing leg that saved Harms’ penalty keeping the score at 0-0. Wanaka’s opening goal was a real team goal, Thomas Van Hees switched play to Jack Lanigan who then slipped a ball to Levi Fletcher who drove inside and beat two defenders before linking up with Pleskun who fed a cute ball through to Arratia who drove into Northern’s penalty area and held off a defender and hit a low shot that Little got a strong hand to but Little couldn’t prevent it from crossing the goal line .  Wanaka doubled their lead ten minutes later when Roode wriggled out of the attention of two defenders and drove across field and found Tinka who hit a first time pass forward into space for Arratia to run on to. Arratia was one on one with Little, and shot past the advancing keeper to make the score 2-0. 

Article added: Monday 03 May 2021