Caversham showed its pedigree with a 5-0 thumping of Green Island in the Footballsouth Premier League clash on Saturday.
The young Island team had the worst possible start when, within the first minute, the defence failed to clear from a Tom Jackson throw-in and Will Smith claimed the last touch to open the scoring.
Just six minutes later, Caversham right back Mike Smith drove a long diagonal ball that Ant Hancock timed to perfection to beat the offside trap and bear down on goal, clinically finishing past keeper Josh Dijkstra.
The well-drilled Caversham side dominated possession, territory and chances and increased its lead in the 23rd minute. Jackson ran a good line and gained possession with acres of space and an easy one-on-one against the Green Island keeper when he found the corner of the goal.
After the horror start, Green Island fought for possession but Caversham's high defensive pressing gave Island playmaker Scott Gannon little time to construct good attacking options.
On too many occasions, delivery to main strike weapon Joel Stevens was in the midfield and not the attacking third, leaving Stevens too much to do against a well-organised defence.
A 43rd-minute penalty, converted by Seamus Ryder, and a second-half tap-in by Will Smith completed the scoring for Caversham and sent a warning to the other top five clubs as Caversham moved into second-equal on the league table.
League leader Roslyn-Wakari continued its recent good form when it travelled to Queenstown and banked three points with a 5-0 win over the Central Otago team.
An even spread of goals saw Josh Hay, Cam Attwood, Chris Fernando, Damien Foster and Tom Connor all score.
University dropped slightly off the pace when held to a 2-2 draw with an improving Northern side at the Caledonian Ground.
Northern took the lead when Angus Milne chipped the keeper from 25m, while Varsity netted replies from Tane Gent and a Harry Flood penalty.
Free-kick specialist Norbert Dreyer used superb technique to get the equaliser for Northern in the 53rd minute.
Dunedin Technical had a convincing 5-0 win over Old Boys, with in-form striker Alistair Rickerby scoring a first-half hat trick. Josh Howard and Justin Flaws also scored for Technical, which played for a full hour with 10 men after Andrew Dougal was red-carded in the 30th minute.
At Memorial Park, Mosgiel claimed some valuable points with a 3-1 win over bottom club Grants Braes. Veteran striker Phil Kelly netted a brace for the Plainsmen, Tim Dunn added the third goal and Patrick Ebanda replied for Braes.
By Wilson James.
