By a quirk of fate, Waitakere United and Hamilton Wanderers played each other home and away in consecutive weeks. Down in Hamilton it was late drama for Kale Herbert’s boys as Xavier Pratt and George Ott both scored late and the Tron Wands won it 4-3. Up in... well, nobody would consider Seddon Fields in Western Springs to be a part of Waitakere, not exactly in the shade of the ranges, but they’ve got a deal going with Western Springs AFC so it’s way cheaper to play their home games there instead and up at Seddon the Waitaks had the chance to overturn that first leg deficit in the knowledge that they’d give their top four hopes a huge boost with the three points while Hamilton Wanderers also knew they’d end the week in the top four with a win. Everything to play for, friends.

Interesting times for Paul Hobson’s side, they were without import keeper Nick Draper with the injury he sustained last week. Drapes has been one of the best keepers in the league so far (although the volume of goals he’s conceded doesn’t really reflect that), up there with the likes of Scott Basalaj from TW and gotta throw some love the way of Conor Tracey too for how well he’s competed in Enaut Zubikarai’s absence for ACFC – arguably doing enough to claim the numero uno status but we’ll see how that pans out after City’s Champions League programme. With Draper missing, that meant a first start for Elliott Munford between the sticks. Waitakere were also without Bobby Tipelu again though he was on the bench, Shuiab Khan starting his fifth of the campaign while Regont Murati got his sixth start at wingback and after missing three weeks there was a return for Nic Zambrano up topskees, partnering Alex Connor-McLean. No tinkerings with their excellent midfield trio of Triple G Gibert, Sam Burfoot, and Dane Schnell.

As for Wanderers, they were hobbled kinda awfully with both Brock Messenger and Tino Contratti missing with injuries which meant changes at the back. Joe Nottage slipped into CB alongside Joe Harris, while Kohei Matsumoto remained at fullback (but on the right this week) and young fella Adam Davidson got a seventh start of the campaign on the left. With Nottage in the backline that also meant Jordan Lamb got a run at the top of the midfield triangle, fifth start for the 20 year old who spent the last couple seasons at Hawke’s Bay. Plus George Ott got promoted to start up front for just the second time this term having scored that late late late winner a week ago and having been a regular off the bench for most of the campaign (10 appearances off the bench, damn). Midseason acquisition Jama Boss made way for him.

This was a strange game of karmic balance. It was a late goal that defined the first time these two teams met, it was an early goal that did the trick here. And where Waitakere lost a goalkeeper to injury last week, this time it was Hamilton’s turn. Dane Schnell clattered Matt Oliver going for a loose ball that Matsumoto had chested back in the first minute of the game and although it was purely accidental it seemed that Olly wore a shoulder to the chin. He stayed down, looking a bit dazed... and the end product of that was that Cory Townsend, coming straight outta the NYL, was subbed on in place of a keeper who had until that moment been ever present.

Then about the first thing that Townsend had to do, he lingered too long on the ball and then rushed a clearance straight to Connor-McClean who took it wide and chipped it to the back post where Dane Schnell headed in a sitter for his eighth goal of the season. Townsend’s next clearance got charged down too, albeit for a goal kick. Call it a baptism of fire for the young fella.

Wanderers settled into the game after that horror start by building a few nice moves with no real end product. George Ott was getting involved and a couple times Tommy Semmy saw some space. Then Lachie McIsaac smacked the post with one at the other end and within minutes the Tron Wands had seen Ott head over from a corner and Semmy have a shot deflected wide off Luke Searle’s back. Frantic stuff, especially with both teams employing inexperienced goalies. Sam Burfoot chipped Townsend in the 33rd min but put it wide. Wanderers continued to play direct as they usually do, the fullbacks feeding the ball forwards for the runs of Semmy and Tieku and everybody looking to put the ball on Ott’s head... but then all that injury time added up and Waitakere struck a critical blow just before the whistle. Second minute of stoppage time and Waitakere flooded forward on the break from an HW corner. HW handled the counter well enough, it’s just that Nottage and Townsend got in each other’s way off Khan’s cross and Connor-McClean bundled it in for his sixth of 2019-20.

Then as if conceding at the very start and very end of a half where they otherwise had the better of the territory and possession as well as losing their goalie in the process... the first quarter of an hour of the second half saw George Ott put his shoulder out and need replacing, Jordan Lamb miss a couple useful opportunities, and then Dane Schnell bang in his second of the afternoon as Townsend simply never picked up the shot, his vision obstructed by the traffic in front of him but one he should have saved. Tell you what though, this has been a pretty remarkable season for Dane Schnell – from playing as a holding midfielder for the NZ U23s prior to the Premiership to sliding into an attacking midfield role for Waitakere and supplying enough goals already to have him tied for third on the golden boot race with nine strikes... and the other three are all out and out strikers. Hell of a contribution from Schnelly. He’s been excellent.

From there on it was a foregone conclusion. HWs have had some magical comeback wins but from 3-0 down with half an hour to go away from home down a couple important players... it was too much. Wanderers may no longer have won every game that Brock Messenger has played but they’ve still lost every one that he hasn’t, conceding at least three goals in each of them. Tieku and Lamb both had a couple shiny moments but credit to Elliott Munford who mad some sharp stops. Solid display from him in his maiden start. 3-0 was the final score and this result does some fascinating things to the table.

A win would have had Wanderers in a beautiful position but they’re not out of it even with defeat. It’ll be tough work with only three games remaining but those three games are against Tasman, Hawke’s Bay, and Canterbury... all teams that they beat the first time around so nine points from nine and they’re a good bet to slip into fourth. Waitakere meanwhile now have a five point buffer in third... yet their three remaining games are against Hawke’s Bay, Team Wellington, and Auckland City. Which makes that HBU game next up absolutely massive. Win that and they’re in prime position. Lose and they’ll probably need to take something off the top two to make it. It’s all delicately poised.

Even more delicately posed thanks to what we had earlier on Saturday with a right old thriller between Hawke’s Bay United and Southern United. Earlier because it kicked off at 1pm which was bloody awkward for the Southerners who had to get up at 4am on gameday to catch a 6am flight up to Napier. No excuses and all that but along with watching yet another televised National League game being played on artificial turf (yuck) it wasn’t the best week for positive reflections of the organisation of the Premiership. At least Southern did have two weeks off to prepare for it, while HBU were likewise coming off a bye.

A little while back Southern got popped 6-0 by Eastern Suburbs in what was probably the nadir of their season. If it wasn’t, then it was two weeks earlier when they got whupped 5-0 by Tasman on telly. Their long time manager Paul O’Reilly left in that time too... but don’t look now, Southern have actually strung together a few nice results lately. A 1-1 draw with the Wanderers followed by a 2-1 win over Waitakere and there was no reason, with plenty of time to rest up in between, not to name the same XI for a third game running... with one exception. Ben Wade got his first start of the season as a more natural wide forward in place of Jordan Spain who’d done that job the last couple times. Little/O’Keeffe, Last, Cromb, O’Farrell/Ledwith, McKenzie/Wade, Lawless, Brook/Coughlan.

For Hawke’s Bay, they welcomed back starting keeper Ruben Parker to the lineup in place of School Principal Richard Gillespie who’d been an emergency fill-in, while Angus Kilkolly came in for Gavin Hoy and otherwise they were as per usual. Including therefore the twin strikers of Ahinga Selemani and Ihaia Delaney who’ve been so good for them... and what do ya know Delaney had them in front after just four minutes. Selemani had gone close and Delaney finished off after the ball bounced off keeper Liam Little and into his path. Fifth of the season for the 21 year old from out of the Ole Academy. Neither side were holding back in a challenge here with a few yellow cards flying early but after Sho Goto tapped in following some scrappy goalmouth footy the Southerners found themselves not only short on sleep but also 2-0 down away from home. Yikes.

But, mate, that was when things got funky. Whatever Terry Boylan said at the half, it worked. Cody Brook scored straight afterwards with a nice volley to close the gap and even after Goto responded with his second of the afternoon to stretch the lead back to two, Garbhan Coughlan was on hand to make it 3-2. Told ya this was a wild one. Coughlan has started every game for Southern and has looked isolated at times with a very inexperienced crew there to create for him but if they can get him going then that’s Southern’s avenue back into contention. Coughlan then tied us all up at three apiece with quarter of an hour left following a sweet assist from Cam McKenzie. Then one minute later substitute Adam Hewson, who began the season with the WeeNix, scored the winner to cap a crazy comeback. Yup, that really happened.

That’s a devastating defeat for HBU. To be 2-0 up at HT at home and then to lose it conceding four times in the second half is absolutely brutal at a time when they’re fast running out of chances to make the semis. These three points raise Southern up into a four-way tie for fourth spot whereas HBU are lingering four points back. They’ve got an extra game up their sleeves on a couple of those teams above them which helps but that’s a lot of ground to make up in March and the fixtures don’t do them any favours with away games vs Eastern Suburbs and Waitakere next up. Hey, win ‘em both and we’re talking. Fail to win ‘em both and that might be that.

Big ups to Southern though. We’ve already established what they were up against with the scheduling and to win under all those circumstances shows some rather significant Cojones Factor. They face Team Wellington (H) and Auckland City (A) in their next two games after another week off next round so maybe pump the brakes on the semi-final talk unless they get an upset win in one of those games but they’ve still got it all to play for after taking seven points from their last possible nine.

Here’s the fixture list for the teams in the semi-final hunt...

• Waitakere United (24 PTS) – Hawke’s Bay United (H), Team Wellington (A), Auckland City (A)

• Eastern Suburbs (19 PTS) – Hawke’s Bay United (H), Auckland City (H), Wellington Phoenix (A), Tasman United (H)

• Tasman United (19 PTS) – Wellington Phoenix (A), Hamilton Wanderers (A), Canterbury United (H), Eastern Suburbs (A)

• Southern United (19 PTS) – Team Wellington (H), Auckland City (A), Wellington Phoenix (H)

• Hamilton Wanderers (19 PTS) – Tasman United (H), Hawke’s Bay United (A), Canterbury United (H)

• Hawke’s Bay United (15 PTS) – Eastern Suburbs (A), Waitakere United (A), Hamilton Wanderers (H), Team Wellington (H)

Remember that if there’s a tiebreaker needed for fourth place then head to head results count ahead of goal difference. Looking at that you really would prefer to be a team like Waitakere with the points on the board even if they have a ruthless remaining schedule because nothing has been simple this season and these jokers are all gonna be taking points off each other. If any team could roll on and win out the rest of way then it’s all theirs for the taking but what are the chances of that? I’m gonna chuck forward 26 points as the benchmark, get to that number and you should make it.

One team that’s already made it, no doubt about it, is Auckland City. And they’ve now been joined by Team Wellington as guaranteed semi-finalists after they dispatched with a weary Eastern Suburbs team only just returned from OCL duties. Absolutely no sympathy coming from the TeeDubs direction. They actually fell 1-0 down inside quarter of an hour thanks to Kingsley Sinclair’s first of the season but a stunning last ten minutes (plus injury time) of the first half saw Team Welly soon run away with it after outlasting the early spasms from Suburbs.

Team Welly made a couple changes to the side that nudged past the Cantabs last time. Joao Moreira came in for Aaron Spain and Ollie Whyte replaced an injured Nati Hailemariam... obviously meaning a bit of a shift in positions too. Scott Hales’ team is a bit short on depth with some of their mid-season departures so a lot of the team picks itself but Moreira coming in for his first start was a big deal, he scored off the bench last week, while massive shout out to Andy Bevin who made his 100th appearance for the club. Not sure how many other active players will have reached this landmark with a single team... Aaron Clapham and Angel Berlanga spring immediately to mind but I shan’t be crawling through stat sheets all week to find out more, sorry, things to do. What’s great about Andy Bevin is that he’s legit been one of the best players in his position from game 1 to game 100. Such an underrated talent, such an influential force.

Tony Readings didn’t make too many changes here despite the hefty calendar. Kelvin Kalua was out suspended from his red card in the previous domestic outing while Michael Built had missed the third OCL game anyway after being subbed off early in the second (presumably performance based at the time but could have been injury). Christian Gray and Alec Solomons started at the back again with Tyler Lissette not involved. Josh Margetts got a first appearance in one of the fullback spots. Kingsley Sinclair obviously played because he scored the early goal. Jake Mechell got the start as well, his first since the second gameweek having been a bench option ever since.

Team Welly got back on level terms in the 35th minute and of course it was Andy Bevin with the goal. Justin Gulley set it up for him and Bevvo did the rest with the cutback. Not completely dissimilar to how they then scored the second in the 43rd minute, this time it was Jack-Henry Sinclair squaring the ball across to Joao Moreira for his second goal in two games since signing with TW. Both moves from out wide leading to low crosses... about perfect for how you wanna target a team missing its regular fullbacks. Then Rory McKeown continued his recent surge of goals when he whipped in a free kick in stoppage time and suddenly Team Welly were well in control of this game.

That allowed them to ease off in the second half and minimise the risks, with both coaches using their subs for consolidatory purposes. That saw debutants on both sides by the way, Stafford Dowling getting a run for Suburbs – you may recall him as a bit of a breakout player for Hamilton Wanderers last season, a wide player with skillz for dayz – and Team Welly threw on Tor Davenport-Peterson right at the end, TDP breaking through having been shortlisted for Central League Player of the Season last winter semester with Waterside Karori (Sam Sutton and Josh Rogerson the other noms – Rogerson getting the gong). Anyway, Suburbs were probably exhausted from playing three games in seven days over in Papua New Guinea and Rory McKeown struck again right at the end... that’s four goals in his last three games for the Northern Irishman. A 4-1 win for Team Welly who now cannot be caught for a semi-final spot thanks to a 12 point buffer and head to head supremacy over Suburbs and Tasman, while they’ll book a home semi-final if they beat Southern next time out.

Meanwhile over in Tahiti where Auckland City are attempting to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Oceania Champions League...

Right, so a little wet then. The Navy Blues were up against Ba (Fiji) in their first game, kicking off at 4pm on Monday. Taking charge of Ba was a fella they were very familiar with too... Ricki Herbert. Old mate himself. As they say in the States: keep on cashing them cheques.

Jose Figueira’s been here and done this all before several times with Team Wellington and he wasn’t taking Ba at all lightly with the team he named for City. Other than resting Adam Mitchell and Clayton Lewis it was pretty much a top strength team. Conor Tracey got the nod in goal. Brian Kaltack, Angel Berlanga and Tom Doyle in the backline. Mario Ilich and Cam Howieson in midfield with Alfie Rogers and Jordan Vale at wingback. Then Emiliano Tade backing up Logan Rogerson and Myer Bevan. Heaps of goals in that team and... yeah, that’s about the way it panned out.

This game was level for half an hour and then Jordan Vale put ACFC into the lead. They’d already begun to threaten largely through their pace up front as Bevan, Rogerson, and Tade all had chances. When Vale finally put one away, played through beautifully with a disguised ball from Cam Howieson, it was no more than they deserved. That lead became two as Rogerson and Tade combined excellently with a couple one-twos on the edge of the area to give Tade a tap in, 39 minutes played, and then just before the break Tade had himself a second... again after some great work from Rogerson. Interesting to see those two combining so well because this is only the third time they’ve started together in an ACFC jersey – the last three league games it’s been Tade picked at the expense of Rogerson with either Lewis or Manickum (both of whom featured off the bench here for these two later on). Both are quick thinkers, fast movers, and sharp dribblers though so it makes sense they’d link up nicely.

So it was 3-0 at the half and eventually Logan Rogerson would get a goal of his own to show, running onto a forward ball from Mario Ilich and throwing a couple stepovers at his marker before beating the keeper. It wouldn’t be Auckland City without Myer Bevan getting in on the action too, naturally he broke the offside trap in the 71st min to score after Tade had played him through. Then near the end Brian Kaltack got one after Ba were slow to step up after a corner kick. Six goals was more than enough for City, who look like they ought to have a much cruisier road to the knockouts than Suburbs had. A good old emphatic 6-0 win to get things started. They’re next involved on Thursday evening against group hosts AS Venus (Tahiti) at 7pm before facing Lupe o le Soaga (Samoa) on Sunday at 4pm.

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