The Dunedin City Royals’ trend of leaking early goals has hurt them again.
The Royals were thumped 5-0 by a classy Christchurch United team at the Christchurch Football Centre on Saturday.
To be fair to the Royals, United are the ones to beat again this season and sit clear on the table as the only unbeaten side after four rounds.
But the Dunedin club have been guilty of letting teams score in the opening five minutes of the game, and Saturday was no different.
Matt Hornsby squeaked through for his first of the day in the fourth minute and left the visitors on the back foot immediately.
United captain Joel Stevens scored his first of his hat-trick onslaught in the 21st minute, and Hornsby picked up his second just before halftime to give Christchurch a 3-0 lead.
Caleb Osbourne was yellow-carded for the Royals and Stevens punished them with another goal.
United found themselves in card trouble, too, as both Dan Meyn and Nico Bruce were booked.
But Stevens scored another lovely goal in the 78th minute to finish the win.
It was a tough trip for the Royals but they will be targeting their clash back home against the University of Canterbury at Tahuna Park this weekend.
University of Canterbury, in their first year in the league, sit one place below the Royals in ninth and have yet to win a game.
While the Royals have also yet to pick up a win, they have snagged one point through their 4-4 draw against Ferrymead Bays.
In the other Southern League games, Nelson Suburbs beat University of Canterbury 1-0, Cashmere Technical beat Selwyn United 4-2, Coastal Spirit thumped Nomads United 4-0, and Ferrymead Bays beat FC Twenty11 3-0.
