The second stalemate of their unbeaten campaign wasn’t the only surprise, with Cashmere Technical’s players shocked by Nomads United’s 4-1 win over Coastal Spirit, a result that sealed a fourth successive title.
“We didn’t expect to win the league (last Saturday), we didn’t expect Coastal to fall over,” said Cashmere Technical head coach Dan Schwarz.
“It was very subdued to be honest when he found out after the game.”
Completing another league campaign unbeaten, constructing a deep Chatham Cup run and carrying over their imperious form into the new Southern League ensures the squad will not be resting on their laurels.
Cashmere Technical opened the scoring through Garbhan Coughlan from the penalty spot and then provided the equaliser with Tom Schwarz conceding an own goal in the 32nd-minute of a tight tussle.
The champions lead Coastal Spirit by 10 points, with the seasiders only able to bank a maximum of nine with a catch-up game with Halswell still to be scheduled.
Nomads United are also poised to join the Southern League after beating Coastal Spirit.
The eight-team competition also features three qualifiers from the Football South Premier League. The top two clubs then advance to the National League.
Coastal Spirit are now tasked with bouncing back in a tricky third round clash Chatham Cup clash with Christchurch United tomorrow night.
Cashmere Technical are also in action on Saturday with a third-round fixture with Nelson Suburbs at Garrick Park.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult afternoon against them. They’ve got some very good players going forward. They’re always capable of scoring three or four against you,” Schwarz said.
The remainder of the premiership clubs have this weekend off.
In Christchurch Metro Cup club rugby action Lincoln University, Marist Albion and Linwood continued to maintain a gap on the chasing pack with relatively comfortable wins at the weekend.
Champions Lincoln beat fourth-placed Christchurch 29-18, Marist Albion claimed a high-scoring encounter with Sumner 36-28 and Linwood was too strong for Shirley, taking a free-flowing contest 46-27.
At the other end of the spectrum, Burnside bounced back from conceding a half-century against Lincoln with a tight 8-6 win over University.
The status quo at the top of the standings should remain this weekend with Lincoln, Marist Albion and Linwood drawn favourably.
The Eastern Eagles resurgence continued with a 26-22 victory over last year’s beaten finalists, the Northern Bulldogs their fourth win in five games to stay in range of a play-off berth with five rounds of the Canterbury Rugby League premiership’s regular season remaining.
After losing their first four games of the campaign, the Eagles chalked up a third successive nail-biting triumph after leading 20-16 at the break. Lock Uale Peneli notched a double for the Eagles.
They now face a tough clash with the Halswell Hornets at Wainoni Park on Saturday.
Predictably there was no change at the top of the table with unbeaten Hornby thumping winless Papanui 78-16, second-placed Linwood beat Riccarton 42-12 while the Celebration Lions climbed into the top-four by shading Halswell 28-22.
There is a new leader in Canterbury Hockey’s women’s premiership with Marist replacing Harewood after they drubbed Avon 6-0.
Carlton Redcliffs also shunted Harewood back to third with a 6-2 win over Hornby, the defending champions ceded ground with 3-3 stalemate with HSOB/Burnside.
Harewood have a chance to overhaul the inactive Carlton Redcliffs on Saturday when they play Avon; Marist should preserve top spot when they take on Hornby.
There was no change in the men’s division, where unbeaten Marist maintained a five-point advantage over Harewood through a 3-2 victory over Avon.
HSOB/Burnside and Avon make up the top-four.
Champions Lincoln University continued to dominant the Christchurch Netball Centre premier grade with a 73-43 victory over Christchurch Girls’ High School in ninth round action.
Kereru A also maintained their unbeaten record with a tougher 52-43 win against fourth-placed Technical A on Tuesday night.
Third-ranked University of Canterbury swamped Villa Maria 83-19.
