The Dunedin City Royals picked up their first Southern League away points of the season with a 2-1 win over FC Twenty11 at Avonhead Park in Christchurch on Saturday.
A slippery surface meant it was a cagey start with neither men’s side able to control possession.
The Royals, who had not played for three weeks and also had to wait three hours at the airport waiting for the fog to clear in Christchurch, were struggling to make passes stick, while FC Twenty11 were sticking to their game plan of being hard to break down, and countering at speed.
The home side created a couple of early chances through set pieces that were blocked or cleared off the Royals line.
It was the Royals, though, who opened the scoring in the ninth minute. Connor Neil rose the highest to meet Hugh Jack’s corner and his bullet header gave keeper Harrison Rowe no chance.
This settled the Royals, and they began to dominate possession, while FC Twenty11 were sat back and limited the damage.
It took until the 30th minute before the Royals doubled their advantage. They were constantly looking dangerous down the right hand through Jack Julian and En Watanabe, and were rewarded with a composed finish by Watanabe after being played in by a combination of Caleb Osborne and Julian.
The Royals continued to look dangerous, and should have gone into the break 3-0 ahead. A great save by Rowe thwarted them after Nico Zambrano hit his effort goal-bound from another dangerous Julian cross.
The pattern continued in the second half with the Royals dominating and readily creating chances, but unable to beat the resilient opponents.
Jack had an effort cleared off the line, Zambrano’s header went narrowly wide, and Osborne hit the side netting after a lung-busting run.
FC Twenty11 sent a warning to the Royals for not taking those chances when they scored off a free kick, only to be denied for offside.
They did get one back in the 70th minute. Substitute Zac Johnson found himself alone when the ball popped to him from a Royals error in the midfield, and he comfortably finished past Royals keeper Alex Boomer, who up to this point had not had much to do.
This gave the Christchurch club some hope of picking up their first point of the season, as they pushed for the final 20 minutes. The Royals looked to be running out of legs after their recent lack of football but held on to claim the three points.
League leaders Cashmere Technical thumped Canterbury University 6-1, Ferrymead Bays beat Selwyn United 4-2, Christchurch United pipped Coastal Spirit 1-0, and Nelson and Nomads drew 2-2.
— Neville Watson
