Football around the world may be taking a bit of a break for the foreseeable future but in our relative isolation the Premiership gets to continue and we had here, for the first time in a month, a full weekend of fixtures to chew upon and digest (don’t forget to wash your hands). Beginning with Waitakere United vs Hawke’s Bay United. The Waitaks will have been chuffed to have keeper Nick Draper back, although considering how Elliot Munford played last week perhaps it didn’t matter. But Drapes was back and otherwise it was the same crew that beat Hamilton Wanderers 3-0. On the other side Adam Cowan was suspended after his red card and Bill Robertson wasn’t in the lineup either so Fergus Neil and Kaeden Atkins returned to the back three. Josh Signey and Ihaia Delaney also popped back into the starters.

This was a crucial game for the Waitaks with games away to Team Wellington and Auckland City to follow. Three points here and they were away laughing... a defeat and that semi-final spot could be in big doubt. Good thing for them then that they never looked like taking anything other than a victory from this contest. No, actually, that’s a lie. Ahinga Selemani got things rocking from the start and he scored a quality goal in the 15th minute to give HBU the lead. But almost immediately the home side hit back. Lachie McIsaac with a dangerous ball across goal and James Hoyle turned it into his own net. That fired Waitakere up and after Alex Connor-McClean went close with a shot over the top, Dane Schnell did what he’s been doing all season and curled one in for yet another goal to his tally. Selemani did have one decent chance to level things but Waitakere were starting to really turn the screws now, 2-1 at half-time.

The third goal came in the 53rd minute. Luke Searle had gone down injured a little earlier but recovered and soon found himself delivering a beauty of a low cross into the box. HBU dealt with it but they couldn’t deal with his next one, setting up Nic Zambrano for the banger. Again Selemani kept Nick Draper’s palms warm with his work up top but then with twenty to go Luke Searle was there to thump in a fourth after Shuaib Khan’s initial header had been saved.

Angus Kilkolly gave HBU a chance at the kind of miracle comeback which is never quite off the table in the Premiership when he scored from Jorge Akers’ cross but then Schnell was knocked over in the box in stoppage time and he stepped up to score it himself, an 11th of the season and this dude isn’t even a striker. Superb from him. Guys like Schnelly and McIsaac and Searle and Zambrano are major reasons why a young and rebuilt Waitakere United side won this game 5-2 and why they’re back in the semi-finals.

Yeah mate. With results elsewhere going the way they did, Waitakere cannot finish lower than fourth now. Pretty remarkable work from Paul Hobson and the lads – who have sneakily won six of their last eight games. As for Hawke’s Bay, they were already out of it by all logic and now they’re out of it mathematically as well. Conceding 13 goals in three straight must-win games will do that for ya – in fact they’ve leaked multiple goals in all but two games this season, the defensive dramas of last campaign not exactly fixed. Expect to see a few more of the young fellas given bigger roles over the next two weeks – Sam Wall and Kenny Willox both featured off the bench here.

We had ourselves a right old arm-wrestle in Dunedin as Southern United hosted Team Wellington and they did so in the echoing halls of Forsyth Barr Stadium, the first time they’ve gotten to use the big stands this season. Sweet as. Just the one change for Southern as two wins in a row had gotten them back in the semi-finals hunt, that was Chris Wingate coming in for Danny Ledwith in midfield. One import DM for another. It’s actually only the third time that the Norwegian Wingate’s been able to start as injuries have kinda wrecked his season. Injuries have also been a factor in Cody Brook’s career but he scored the winner last time out against HBU and started his fourth in a row here. Andrew Cromb is pretty much a lock at CB these days too. Tim O’Farrell, he of the flowing orange locks, has only missed two starts all season having come up through the NYL pipeline.

Team Welly are at the bare bones these days. They haven’t used the full quantity of subs for four games now... but those bare bones are pretty sturdy ones. They made a lone change to the team that beat Eastern Suburbs 4-1 at the previous attempt, that being Mario Barcia dropping out with an accumulation suspension and Aaron Spain coming in in his place, causing Jack-Henry Sinclair to slide into the front three. Ollie Whyte played deeper to accommodate that.

To be honest, this wasn’t the most memorable game you’ll ever see (though at least you could see it, shout out to livestreams). Team Wellington were the team in the ascendancy for the majority of the game but they came up against a staunch Southern defence which refused to wilt. Only to get the numbers back required to do that, it also meant it was one of those days where Garbhan Coughlan was too isolated to do much no matter how hard he worked and they only rarely looked like they had a hint of goals in them. They made Team Welly work extremely hard for it though and will have been pretty gutted to concede just before the half as Sinclair nodded in a fine header from a Rory McKeown corner kick. Continuing on brilliant seasons for the both of those dudes.

Southern were always in with a puncher’s chance with the game at 1-0. Ben Wade and Adam Hewson both had chances to strike back but couldn’t score, while Team Welly were frustrated at the lack of openings they were finding. But that stalemate was fine for the TeeDubs as long as they didn’t leak a silly one, which they didn’t. A 1-0 victory for them makes it five wins on the trot and don’t say it too loud but they’ve only let in four goals in their last eight games. You know what happened eight games ago? Taylor Schrijvers came back. Just gonna tell you right now that’s not a coincidence. This was another superb defensive showing from them, just as it was from Southern (hence the minimal goals). Also shout out to Ollie Whyte who had a really good game at the base of midfield there. The last time these two played Team Welly won it 6-1 so a decent turnaround from that perspective... albeit it probably ends Southern’s top four hopes considering they’re away to Auckland City next match.

This was a unique week of footy for a few reasons but one of them was that the games all had different kickoff times. Doesn’t tend to happen usually – if only they’d all been televised then you coulda watched every single one of them live... maybe they should be televised, you know. Not a bad idea, put those Sky Sport facilities to use with no pesky rugby to worry about. But anyway at midday on Sunday we had Hamilton Wanderers hosting Tasman United. Both teams still on the fringes of the playoff hunt but really needing the points with time running out, looking in from the outside.

Wanderers welcomed Brock Messenger back into the starters in place of Brad Whitworth with Joe Nottage therefore able to move back into midfield, and into the forward line in place of young breakout target man George Ott was their flashy new signing Henry Fa’arodo. Yeah boy. Otherwise a pretty stable team for the Tron Wands with attacking midfielder Jordan Lamb getting another crack, same with fullbacks Adam Davidson and Kohei Matsumoto. As for Tasman, they rolled out an incredibly young team with nine of their 15 players in the matchday squad aged under 19. They were without the suspended Jean-Philippe Saiko and Matt Tod-Smith after their red cards last week, two guys who had started all but one previous game each. English enforcer Cory Vickers wasn’t there either... which led to a funky little twist in the tale...

An all Aotearoa XI. You love to see it. How many other times has that happened this season? That would be a grand total of zero times, chieftain. Even the WeeNix haven’t done so thanks to the fine contributions of Ahmed Othman on the wing and guys like the odd Aussie pro like Liam McGing. Obviously you don’t get points for naming a completely kiwi eleven, this is a league that allows imports and often those imports are hugely influential in winning games and having a couple imports doesn’t mean you’re blocking the paths of the up and comers (if anything it’s the older local battlers who do that). But still a cool quirk for Tassie, who this season have managed to create a bit more of an identity in this way under Jess Ibrom’s management.

Specifically there we’ve got Jesse Randall (17yo), Lucas Hogg (19yo), Jonty Roubos (17yo), Lachie Brooks (18yo), and Jackson Manuel (17yo) all in the starting eleven with all bar Randle having been in their 2019 NYL squad. Then on the bench were Josh Rudland, Alex Ward, Scott Morris also from that NYL team. Presumably Marco Lorenz, also on the bench, was the ninth member of that 19 and under crew (finding accurate DOB data, you could imagine, is rather hard for the Premiership). And that doesn’t include fellas like Fox Slotemaker, Nick Stanton, and Max Winterton who are all in their early 20s too. Randall’s been a star player for Tassie starting 15 games in a row now while Hogg has played the last three. This was Manuel’s second start of the campaign having also come off the bench five times and the first for Roubos (5 apps as a sub) and Brooks (5 apps and a goal as a sub). Further 2019 NYL squadie Josh Creswell also came off the bench earlier in the season while their 2018 NYL captain Ricky Muir’s had a few starts himself.

So how did this fresh young Tasman side compete without a couple of their most valuable players? Pretty well, as it happens. They were 1-0 down after 18 minutes when Xavier Pratt finished off on the break for the home side but then two goals in five minutes from Jesse Randall and Fox Slotemaker meant they were up 2-1 at the break. Third goal of the season for each of them.

Hamilton Wands really needed the points here, they’ve got ground to make up and were already relying on other results as it was... but they were their own worst enemies in front of goal, missing several chances that they really could not afford to miss. Been a bit of the story of their season at times, sadly. They never really replaced Marty Bueno and his finishing abilities up front, chuck a top notch striker in this team and they would have been top four for sure. Having said that, they picked things up after a half-time chat from Kale Herbert and within fifteen minutes they were back in front. This game was swinging like a rusty gate, Xavier Pratt got his second of the arvo and Derek Tieku his first goal since week ten.

Which gave us half an hour of remaining carnage. Great saves by both keepers, a Wanderers goal disallowed, free kicks in dangerous areas... and at the end of it Lachie Brooks scored an injury time equaliser for Tasman. Keeps the heartbeat of their season ticking along and deals a crucial blow to Wanderers at the same time, who would have gone level with Eastern Suburbs in fourth if they’d won. Still, Wanderers are only two points back and have winnable games against Hawke’s Bay (A) and Canterbury (H) to follow, while Tasman face Canterbury (H) and Eastern Suburbs (A) and are likewise just two points back on fourth which could make that Suburbs game a playoff for the playoffs. Plenty more water to go under the bridge yet.

At 2pm that same Sunday arvo we had Canterbury United hosting the Wellington Phoenix. The Cantabs trying not to finish last. The WeeNix still technically in with a shot of finishing fourth even if they’re ineligible for the playoffs. The Dragons were unchanged from the team that game Team Welly a close run last time out, with starts once again for Haris Zeb and Abdul Khalifa as well as midseason booster Ben Stroud... all as you’d expect. Even if they were leaning on a seven game losing streak.

The WeeNix mixed it up despite having won back to back games for the first time all season, but then they didn’t have the choice with hatty hero Ben Waine called up to the senior side. However they did get Sam Sutton back as fair compensation. Liam McGing and Callan Elliot were repping the pro contracts. Harry Bark got another start. And Ahmed Othman came back in to replace Ben Waine... and 26 minutes into this one he did his best Ben Waine impersonation when he put the WeeNix 1-0 up. Count that as six for the season for that guy.

It was still 1-0 going into the half although both teams were creating decent chances. Cory Mitchell managed to push forward in good areas a few times for the Cantabs, particularly with attacking set pieces, while Sean Liddicoat was winning absolutely everything there was to win in defence. Meanwhile a few nice saves from Zac Jones complimented with some smooth counter attacking WeeNix footy meant this one had plenty in it. Haris Zeb then went close early in the second a couple times, denied by Jones and denied by the linesman’s flag respectively. Chuck in a few Sam Sutton and still the scrappiness prevailed.

But just like in the previous game there was late drama. Just like in so many Premiership games this season. With both sides having toiled away and cancelled each other out with committed defending (and perhaps a little lack of cutting edge) it was a WeeNix fella who had the final say. An ex-WeeNix fella, that is. Almost had ya tricked, right? Luke Tongue was the bloke and in stoppage time he did a little bit of this...

Right on, son. Luke Tongue has been a steady contributor for the Dragons the entire way, playing every single game and starting all but one of them. This was his first goal this season and it may not have meant a win but it did end that embarrassing losing streak. Canterbury have scored a single goal in each of the last eight games but here they finally conceded less than two in response. They’ve had a different goal scorer for each of the last seven goals too, gotta admire the commitment to sharing it around. Also note Max Chretien getting just his second game off the bench here, while the WeeNix handed a debut to 16 year old Finn Surman.

Finally, after all that, we had the two Champions League reps getting at it at Madills Farm, Eastern Suburbs vs Auckland City, with the Charity Shield/Challenge Cup on the line which... is the same thing as they usually play for in the first game of the season but this time it was held at whatever point the appropriate fixture happened to land and that was now. The defending champions hosting the reigning minor premiers.

Eastern Suburbs threw in a curveball from the start as they lined up in a back three which is something we haven’t really seen from them this season. Tony Readings opting to try and match the formation that Jose Figuiera is famous for. That meant Tyler Lissette, Alec Solomons, and Christian Gray in that defensive trio, with Kelvin Kalua and Stafford Dowling nudging into wingback roles. Easy to figure out, they normally have one role in the front three for a Kingsley Sinclair/Leon van den Hoven/Jake Mechell type so they just dropped that dude, Adam Thurston playing off Martin Bueno and the usual trio of Campbell Strong, Adam Thomas, and Reid Drake in the middle. Auckland City lost their last Premiership game but that was a few weeks back now. They were something close to top strength in their first game back from the OCL, just with Mario Ilich on the bench and Clayton Lewis playing deeper in midfield. For only the third time the Tade/Rogerson/Bevan combo started in attack.

It was a picture of a day at the ol’ Farm, the ice cream truck and a bouncy castle for the kids making a real event of it, although the wind was absolutely tearing down the pitch. Reid Drake used that wind to his advantage with a wonderful ball over the top to Bueno who uncharacteristically didn’t make the most of it. The tactical tweak was working well though, disrupting City in the midfield a bit whilst still giving them that extra man in defence to cover. Plus with the passing range and accuracy of Reid Drake and Adam Thurston in the midfield they were picking off some excellent chances. Thurston really shoulda given them the lead after twenty mins but he scuffed his volley from Drake’s feed.

City’s response to the tactical battle was to give extra freedom to their CBs to step up into midfield but other than a few Emiliano Tade threats they took half an hour before they created a decent chance and even then it looked accidental, Lissette clearing a Lewis lob off the line. Frisky stuff, particularly at a time when the game was threatening to collapse into a foul-a-thon. In fairness the fouls never stopped... but at least there was a good game around them. Adam Thurston went close a couple times from range for Suburbs who had every reason to feel that they’d had the better of a goalless first half.

But City are the frontrunners for a reason and they tend to find a way in these sorts of games. Reid Drake was the first to throw a tester out there in the second spell, his shot drawing a good save from Conor Tracey (note that Conor Tracey starts ahead of Enaut Zubikarai pretty much every week now and it’s no longer a thing). Then from the resulting corner Tracey had to be even better to deny an Alec Solomons header at close range, head in hands from Solly. Yet City had a strong spell after that, Howieson sliding one narrowly wide, Tade having an effort saved, Bevan copping a deflection... then from a Tade corner kick the barricades finally fell thanks to a remarkable header from Brian Kaltack. Like, how he managed to contort himself like that... bro. Including OCL that’s his fourth goal in his last five games, how about that?

The first goal was always gonna be crucial here, especially if Auckland City scored it, and Figuiera then immediately subbed on Mario Ilich for some extra steel. City were well and truly on top now. Bevan struck one wide and then Tade forgot to shoot after Tom Doyle picked him out, seemingly only a matter of time until they sealed it. Then something incredible happened. What? No, not a second goal. Not yet anyway. Nah, this was even better, something so uniquely ISPS Handa Premiership in the best possible way... a dog snuck onto the pitch and took a shit. Not even joking, it truly happened.

Make that dog the mascot for the league from now on, please. Outstanding. And also huge props to Adam Mitchell for dashing off to the side and getting a doggie bag to clean the mess up and dispose of it outside the playing field. Heroic work from the man.

Honestly, after that canine pitch invasion the rest of the game was never gonna live up to that standard. Suburbs didn’t create a whole lot in that second half after that initial double save from Tracey. 1-0 is never a safe lead but it was always ACFC who felt more likely to score next... and they did, Myer Bevan getting one to add to his golden boot case against his closest rival in Marty Bueno, polishing off the game in the 89th minute with a gorgeous goal after a give and go with Tade, so nice. There was still time for one last bit of craziness as Tom Doyle picked up a late red card after two yellows for the same incident. ACFC were wasting time and winding down the clock and Doyle didn’t like a little clip from Reid Drake so next chance he got he got himself all tangled up with him, some push and shove, and a pair of cheese slices were his reward.

2-0 to Auckland City then and they regained their three-point lead at the top after Team Welly had won the day prior. No dramas there, however Eastern Suburbs losing keeps that race for fourth spot nice and open. Waitakere are guaranteed in the top four as none of Suburbs, Hamilton, Tasman or Southern managed to pick up maximum points this round... which has all three of them scrapping it out over the final two weeks to get that one remaining available spot. Mate, she’s all on now.

• Eastern Suburbs (22pts) – Wellington Phoenix (A) & Tasman United (H)

• Tasman United (20pts) – Canterbury United (H) & Eastern Suburbs (A)

• Hamilton Wanderers (19pts) – Hawke’s Bay United (A) & Canterbury United (H)

• Southern United (19pts) – Auckland City (A) & Wellington Phoenix (H)

You’d still back Suburbs from there but then they only took one point from the corresponding fixtures of those two games. It’s business time.

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