Northern continued their unbeaten start to the ODT men’s southern premiership with a 4-2 win against Wanaka on Saturday.
Wanaka started the stronger team and opened the scoring after nine minutes when Daniel Brum scored with a long-range effort.
Northern hit back three minutes later, when Janic Gorman received the ball wide on the left wing and finished powerfully into the bottom corner. They then went ahead in the 33rd minute when Sam Cosgrove and Rory Hibbert combined to release Tyler Muir into space and his lofted shot beat the onrushing Wanaka goalkeeper Josh Shackleton.
Northern conceded almost immediately when a collision on the edge of the box between Brum and Northern goalkeeper Eli Urwin resulted in the ball ricocheting off Brum into the goal to make it 2-2 at the break.
Northern controlled possession and took the lead after 52min when Cosgrove squared the ball across the box for Hibbert to finish.
Hibbert scored again on 65 minutes finishing from the edge of the box low into the bottom left corner of the goal.
Mosgiel had a strong second half to dispatch Roslyn 4-1.
Mosgiel led after 13 minutes when Reece Burtenshaw cut in from the right and curled his shot past keeper Tom Stevens.
Stevens had a strong first half pulling off some stunning saves, and when Mosgiel were caught in possession, Nathan Wilkie pounced to equalise.
Mosgiel regained the lead when Rhys Quarrell applied the finishing touch at close range to a well-worked team goal.
Mosgiel scored again when Rory Findlay powered a header from a corner home.
Wilkie had a close-range effort cannon off the crossbar in the 78th minute and Roslyn were reduced to 10 when Stevens was given a second yellow and Quarrell dispatched the penalty.
Green Island and Northern Hearts settled for a 1-1 draw. Green Island’s Jack Kelly scored in the 14 minute, only for Hearts’ player Baily Chambers to level deep into stoppage time.
Queenstown lost 4-2 to University.
The students were 2-0 ahead after 13 minutes thanks to Hugo Davidson and Ben Campbell.
Queenstown’s Rayn Walden reduced the deficit as halftime approached. Campbell restored University’s buffer with a 67th-minute goal.
Walden got his second of the match late and set up a tense finish.
However, Queenstown keeper Danniel Bocatios was shown a red card when he took out an attacker in the 91st minute and Campbell claimed a hat-trick.
Dunedin City Royals are also unbeaten following a 1-1 draw with Queens Park. A Lucas Townend goal two minutes before the break put them in the ascendancy but Townend undid the good work by getting himself sent off four minutes after the restart and the advantage allowed Queens Park to equalise through Rodrigo DeCarmargo on the hour mark.
— In the women’s South Island qualifying league, the Royals and Roslyn had an epic top-of-the-table tussle which ended in a late 1-0 win to the Royals.
The Royals had to dig deep to overcome a tenacious Roslyn team and put the Royals under intense pressure.
The Royals Hannah McKay-Wright earned an early yellow card and she then turned saviour when she slotted a late penalty to secure a 1-0 win.
The win means the Royals hit a milestone of 100 women’s premier league games without defeat, having last lost in the first game of the 2016 season. Standout players were Royals captain Rose Morton and Roslyn’s Emma Black.
Green Island secured their first win beating Northern 4-1.
All goals came in an exciting first half.
Steph Lee opened the scoring on five minutes, before Kiera Bourgeois equalised after 10 minutes. Lee scored her second on 33rd, and own goal on 40 minutes, with Amelia Caltaux rounding out the scoring right on halftime.
— Neville Watson
