Green Island took a large step towards the title when overcoming fellow contenders Otago University 3.0  at Sunnyvale.

University started brightly with lots of ball possession however Green Island soon adjusted and closed down the students playmakers of Tom Stewart and Oban Hawkins . Green Island  went ahead on 10 minutes when Tom Milton was fouled in the box  after  a clumsy challenge and Milton himself scored from the spot.

Green Islands duo of Matt Brazier and Eddie Wilkinson were combining well and causing the students defence problems and Brazier made it 2.0 on 35 minutes when under pressure he  held off his marker to score past Stewart Catto. It was Wilkinsons turn to run at the defence and as he drew players toward him a square ball  lay off to Brazier allowed him to slot home in the 53rd minute.

Varsity were denied 6 minutes later when Christian Firth made a quality save, Varsity were also  twice denied by the woodwork. The points were save with 14minutes to go when University were reduced to 10men following a red card for a very high studs up challenge on Wilkinson. Despite the loss University are safely into the top 4.Green Island coach Mark Foster said after the game his team are concentrating one match at a time and their focus now heads to a difficult last round match away to Queenstown- who after beung thumped by Caversham had a remarkable turn around with a 9.0 hammering of Dunedin Technical.

Nicholas Smith started the scoring in the 9th minute ,however it  Willem Ebbinge who was the star of the show with 5 goals including a first half hat trick with goals on 16 ,27 & 36 minutes and 2 more in the second half in 59 and 78 minutes.

Queenstown had three  16 year old players  and one of them - Finley Husheer scored with a neat side foot finish 4 minutes after coming on in the 75th minute. Jan Kumar & Carlos Herrmann also scored. Queenstown coach Jamie  Whitmarsh stated that  in possession they played with a purpose and going forward and in front of goal we were ruthless and Ebbinge was almost unplayable.

He knows they are still in the race for the last top 4 spot and a victory over Green Island combined with Wanaka dropping points next week against University will give Queenstown the final spot- however Wanaka have had a great season and with a 5.1 win over Northern they know their destiny is in their own hands.

Wanaka had  vastly changed sqaud form the previous rounds as no fewer than 7 players were unavailable and making their  Southern Premier League debuts were Aaron Molloy in goal, and midfielders Jacob Land 19 and Xion Lippe 15.

At Forrester Park the game started fairly evenly - both sides going at each other with lots of chances early on. Wanaka struggled for fluency in possession and couldnt apply enough pressure when defending  but opened the scoring in the 14th minute with their first meaningful attack, Fletcher Cavanagh found himself competing for possession in front of goal and looped a delicate volley over the stranded Alex Van Hessing the Northern keeper  although Northerns Mark James may have got the last touch.

It was 1-1 on 21 minutes when Seamus Gray equalised for Northern with  a good left footed half volley strike  into the roof of the net mid way through the half. Wanakas Adam Hewson scored 3 minutes later to take a 2.1 lead into half time. Northerns coach Arran Wilkinson says it was a poor goal to  concede.

Wanaka then  played better football and were well patterned and dominating possession and territory and were rewarded with a further 3 goals.

Steve Pleskun scored in the 51st minute when Hewson released the striker with a well placed through ball- Hewson then scored 13 minutes s later as he earned a penalty and then  cooly placed it past  the flat footed Van Hessing and Pleskun scored again on 68 minutes after again being put through   from Wanaka Captain Thomas Van Hees.

Northern then reshaped and kept Wanaka from scoring again.

Wanakas coach Ian Bell had praise for hisDebutants - Aaron  Molly in goal who produced a finger tip save and a well timed dive at the Northern strikers feet, Xion  Lippe who showed  maturity and confidence  beyond his tender years and Jacob  Lang who like Lippe was confident

Caversham v Mosgiel

At Hancock Park, Mosgiel took on Caversham in a game with plenty at stake . Caversham needed to win to keep their top four aspirations alive, and Mosgiel were aiming to keep the pressure on the league leaders Green Island.

Mosgiel started the better of the two teams  with the benefit of the strong breeze in the first half and within five minutes some sharp build-up play sent Cam Anderson free through the middle of the Caversham defence. Anderson played the ball ahead for Aidan Barbour-Ryan, who calmly finished past Caversham's Sean van Dyk.  Van Dyk was having a great game  and he produced a couple of good saves  in quick succession. Mosgiel showed a lot more sharpness in the attacking third early on, forcing Caversham  into a lot of scrambling, and requiring Van Dyk to stay alert. The Plainsmen had a run of corners but could find a way through.

From there on , the first half was a fairly even affair with both sides creating some half chances. Mosgiel looked good in possession but couldn't break down Caversham's well-organised defence in the final third. Caversham sat deep and looked to counter, playing balls over the top for the lightning quick Ben Kiore to get in behind the Mosgiel backline. Mosgiel's Charlie Gruppelaar and Javier Langley in particular worked hard to nullify this threat and preserve Mosgiel's one goal advantage going into halftime and limited Caversham to a Raven August header that flew wide, and a  Connor Neil opportunity five minutes before the break.

The second half was a different story, with Caversham coming out firing, desperate to keep their season alive.

Caversham had a shout for a penalty turned down in the opening minute of the restart then Campbell Thompson drifted in a nice shot in the 48th minute, and a couple of  corners looked promising.

The home side really started to exert some dominance when Ben Wade came on in the 59th minute with Mosgiel sitting deep with their defence stretched.

The pressure that Caversham mounted in Mosgiel's half eventually produced a deserved equaliser in the 73rd minute, and Wade was heavily involved when his shot hit the crossbar and bounced back out to the edge of the area to Olivier Cassidy who placed a superb side footed effort into the top left hand corner of the goal past the outstretched Liam Whittaker.

With their tails up, Caversham pressed for a winner, pushing more and more bodies forward. A Ben Kiore effort was rifled over  the bar.  The game opened up, and it was Mosgiel who had the better of the last 10 minutes, with Aidan-Barbour Ryan drawing out two more cracking saves from Van Dyk, hitting the post and Alex Cox unable to find the back of the net from close range. caversham had another shout for a penalty turned down and the match ended 1 - 1, a fair result, but one that neither team was happy with as  it sees Caversham consigned to the bottom 5 and Mosgiel placed 2nd on the table, but now 5 points adrift of Green Island in the race for the title.

- Neville Wilson ODT