Football: Caversham, Roslyn battle to draw

There were tackles that might have registered on the Richter scale at Ellis Park on Saturday, when Roslyn-Wakari and Caversham met head on in a Footballsouth Premier League match.

The final score was a 1-1 draw and so committed were both sides that one wag commented that the ball had to be stretchered off at fulltime.

There was plenty of skilful play by both sides, and never more so than when Darren Overton laced a spectacular 30m goal in the fifth minute.

One of three Christchurch national league players fielded by Caversham, Overton was a thorn in Roslyn's side with his pace and shooting ability.

However, coach Colin Thom's young Roslyn side was not intimidated, and earned its share of attacking possession to pressurise Caversham into errors, especially in the second half.

Caversham's Callum Flaws was the busier of the two keepers as Roslyn produced more shots on target than the visitors.

James Govan led the Roslyn attack with Peter Rae in support and target man Govan made the breakthrough to equalise in the 70th minute, turning in a cross from Sam Green.

Midfield was the battleground that had to be won. Both sides had their share of pulsating possession, as Sam Mepham and Mike Cunningham matched Caversham's Overton and Hamish Chan.

Both sides had pace on the flanks. Caversham's Jeremy Wild alternated aggressive running with booming crossfield passes, well supported by Ant Hancock, Harley Rodeka and the explosive Anton Ross.

In Contrast, Roslyn central defender Tim Mather and Cunningham delivered measured passes forward, that utilised the pace of Tom Connor, Brad Johnstone, Green, and Cameron.

Possibly the busiest man in the even encounter was referee Jeff Clamp, whose role as adjudicator was in constant demand as boots flew and headed challenges sounded like teak on teak.

But if Clamp was busy, at Tahuna Park referee Kenny Evans needed a calculator to record goals as Aaron Burgess hit all six in Dunedin Technical's 6-2 win over Mosgiel.

The win hoists Technical top of the FPL by two points, and Burgess now has nine goals in the Golden Boot race, three ahead of Caversham's Overton.

Technical's win loads pressure on to Caversham for next week's Easter derby match, when coach Mike Fridge's side could possibly achieve a runaway five-point margin at the top of the FPL.

Queenstown continued its recovery with goals by Darren Mills and Matt Small (2) in a 3-1 win over Green Island, to join University in mid-table after the students squeezed out a 1-0 win over Spirit FC at the Caledonian Ground.

A brace of goals by Darren Hart set up Steve Brooks' Northern for its 3-0 win over a depleted Grants Braes side. Cam Dunn scored Northern's other goal.