Big club match-ups: Sydenham confident of beating competition leaders in play-offs

Sydenham has no qualms about facing champions Lincoln University in the first phase of the Christchurch Metro Cup play-offs, and not just because their season will continue regardless.

Assistant coach Chris Prebble was bullish about Saturday’s qualifying final, noting Sydenham had already beaten the competition leaders 31-24 in round three back in April.

“We’re actually quite happy to play them,” the Sydenham assistant said.

“They play a similar style to us, which helps. We’re actually quietly confident against them.”

Sydenham were among the big winners from the last round of the regular season, with a 33-21 victory over Sumner elevating them from sixth.

Burnside jumped into the top four by pushing Marist Albion down to sixth with a 28-19 win; Linwood also find themselves in sudden-death mode after being replaced in the standings by Christchurch.

The concession of a late try to Matt Etheredge, in his 100th game for Christchurch, also wiped out Linwood’s bonus point as they succumbed 27-19, sealing Sydenham’s berth.

“It was awfully tight, we knew there were a lot of permutations, we were lucky to scrape in and get a ‘life’,” Prebble said.

Linwood play Sumner and Marist Albion face HSOB with the winners drawn against the losing qualifying finalists next weekend.

Prebble thought Sydenham’s tough route to the top four might also be beneficial.

“We’ve had a couple of tight games leading into it, it’s good to have those battles. I know Lincoln had a massive win (89-0 over Belfast). I sort of see that as almost a good thing as they weren’t tested last week,” he said.

Halswell’s resurgence has a Canterbury Rugby League premiership semi-final berth in reach with three rounds remaining in the regular season.

The third-placed Hornets hold a four-point, or two-win, advantage over the Celebration Lions and Northern Bulldogs while the Eastern Eagles, narrow losers to champions Linwood on Saturday, are an outside chance of contesting the play-offs.

Hornby and Linwood combine to provide the match of the round on Saturday at Nga Puna Wai, although their play-off places are secure.

The Panthers extended their unbeaten record with a strong second half performance producing a 32-14 victory over the Bulldogs with electric fullback Sincere Harraway notching his eighth try in six games.

Linwood were stretched by a gallant Eagles side before prevailing 24-20 to remain two points behind Hornby.

Halswell all but ended Riccarton’s faint semi-finals hopes with a 34-28 victory after they trailed by 12 at the break. The Knights must win their remaining games and hope other results work in their favour.

The Celebration Lions inflicted winless Papanui’s latest defeat with a 50-6 drubbing edging them ahead of the Bulldogs on points differential.

Jordan Wawatai posted 22 points from two tries and seven goals.

With the Mainland Football premiership wrapped up, Cashmere Technical completing a second successive league campaign unbeaten and the ‘winners’ of the two remaining places for the Southern League are the focus of the last round of the one-sided competition.

Nelson Suburbs have the final opportunity to inflict Cashmere Technical’s first premiership defeat since 2019 in a contest where the visitors need a draw to join the champions, Coastal Spirit and Christchurch United in the new eight-club tournament, which starts on July 17.

Suburbs dashed Ferrymead Bays qualification hopes last weekend when they jagged an equaliser in added time to square the ledger at 3-3.

Veteran Ben Wright was the saviour in his season debut through his 77th premiership goal. 

The clash between Selwyn United and Nomads, who lost 3-0 to Cashmere Technical as Garbhan Couglan zeroed in on the Golden Boot with a brace, also influences the South League’s composition.

Nomads have a three-point buffer over Selwyn so a draw is sufficient, if the latter do win it must be by a handsome margin as they are three goals shy of Nomads on goal differential and six adrift of Suburbs.

Selwyn approach the task in form after thrashing second-placed Coastal Spirit 4-1 to extend their unbeaten streak to five matches, the scorers included a hat-trick for Dan Ede in his 150th game for the club. 

Christchurch United, 3-1 winners over a distant last Halswell, can finish runner-up to Cashmere Technical if they beat Spirit at the Christchurch Football Centre. 

Leaders Lincoln University got back on track after their first loss off the season against University with a tight 44-42 victory over second-placed Kereru A in the latest round of the Christchurch Netball Centre premier grade.

Marist suffered their first loss of the Canterbury Hockey premier men’s competition when they were upset 2-1 by Southern United though they still hold a four point lead over Harewood after eight rounds.

In the women’s competition Harewood edges Marist on goal difference atop the table after they recorded comfortable 5-1 and 4-1 wins over Hornby and Southern respectively.