Coastal Spirit did all the damage in the opening 45 minutes to run away with a 5-1 win against the Royals in the opening Southern League clash in Christchurch yesterday.
Liam Cotter had the first real opportunity for Coastal in the 19th minute when his chip went over the crossbar. But when he had the chance one minute later he made no mistake.
Riku Ichimura crossed the ball into the box from the left and Joe Hoole’s header bounced off the Royals defence.
Cotter collected it and buried it in the top left corner for the home side to lead 1-0.
They doubled their lead five minutes later.
Weston Bell took a free kick on the right side, well outside of the box.
Looking to find his targets inside the box, Bell curled his kick in to the left, but it just kept going and slotted into the same spot as Cotter’s.
Five minutes later, Bell buried another and suddenly Coastal Spirit led 3-0. Coastal almost tucked away another, but they were pinged for off side.
Jack Julian had a great strike for the Royals. He moved it into the box, caught his defender on the back foot, changed his angle, and the shot just went begging down the side of the goal.
Young Sam Drake swatted away another Coastal attempt as Royals started to tighten up.
But Coastal found a way just before the 45th minute.
Hoole put Cotter into space in the inside channel on a fast break who just clipped it up and over to extend Coastal to a 4-0 lead.
They pushed out to a 5-0 lead at halftime when Alex Meaclem finished off his free kick.
The Royals looked better in the second half. They tightened up, stayed in the fight and restricted Coastal’s opportunities.
The Royals finally put one away in the 90th minute.
Brady Jacobs curled the ball straight into the back of the net from his corner.
Wanaka created history when they notched a win in their first Southern League appearance at home on Saturday.
Captain Jake Thompson scored in the 55th minute to secure a 1-0 victory over University of Canterbury.
Powerhouses Cashmere Technical had a 5-1 win against Selwyn, Christchurch United banked a 4-2 win against Nomads United and Nelson had a 4-1 victory against Ferrymead Bays.
In the women’s South Island League, the Royals women had a 5-0 victory over Halswell United.
Otago University had a brilliant 2-1 win over defending champions Cashmere Technical, while Roslyn-Wakari had a 4-1 loss to Coastal.
Southern League
The scores
Coastal Spirit 5
Liam Cotter 20’, 44’, Weston Bell 25’, 30’, Alex Meaclem 44’
Dunedin City Royals 1
Brady Jacobs 90’
Halftime: Coastal Spirit 5-0.
