Rugby League
The quest to join the Linwood Keas and Northern Bulldogs in the Massetti Cup finals series is almost set in stone ahead of the final round of the round robin format this weekend with the Eastern Eagles needing to upset the four-time defending champions to crack the top four.
Eastern must beat Linwood, who won their opening round clash 38-12, to have a chance of knocking out the third-placed Hornby Panthers or fourth-ranked Riccarton Knights who cannot not afford to treat their contest lightly.
Rugby
Lincoln University and Christchurch are guaranteed places in rugby’s Metro Premier top four while Sydenham and Marist are odds on to join the duo as they play the cellar-dwelling Sumner and Belfast in the final round of the regular season fixtures on Saturday.
Hockey
Normal service appears to be resuming in Canterbury Hockey’s men’s premier grade competition with established performers Carlton Redcliffs rebounding after missing the playoffs in 2019.
They are tracking to the end the regular season on top by beating second-placed Marist, the reigning champion, 3-2 last Saturday to stretch their advantage to seven points.
“They’ve got a pretty similar team to last year but they’ve got a new coach (Keryn Ambler) so maybe things are just clicking better,” said Canterbury Hockey competitions and umpires manager Sam Grimshaw.
While Carlton Redcliffs are back in form, last year’s beaten finalists Southern United sit second last with three rounds to play before the semifinals and final, which is set for September 26.
Harewood again rule the women’s competition with nine wins from 10 rounds and a positive goal differential of 33 to hold an eight-point buffer over a resurgent Avon.
“Avon are having a really good season. They’ve recruited a few players, they’re an older team in a way,” Grimshaw said.
“They don’t have many young players, they might have one schoolkid and that’s about it. Some of the other teams have three or four.”
Netball
Christchurch Netball Centre’s finals across all grades will be staged next month, although the loss of one week to Covid-19 and a rearranged competition structure means no silverware will be awarded.
“We probably delivered more netball than we expected. There will be finals but the winner will not be recognised with a trophy,” said CNC communications manager Dee Atkinson.
Due to the fragmented competition, promotion/relegation will also not apply in a year where Technical A, Lincoln University A, Saints A and Kereru A are bound for the post-season.
Football
Mainland Football’s premier players are also heading to the end of an elongated season with record-setting Cashmere Technical setting the standard in the eight-team men’s competition.
With the third and final round robin stage set to get underway they hold a massive 13-point lead over Nomads, who they beat 2-1 last weekend to stretch their unbeaten record to 27 games spanning two seasons.
Coastal Spirit, who are also unbeaten this season, wrapped up the five-side women’s competition for the fourth successive year with three weeks remaining when they thrashed Halswell United 12-0 last weekend.
