Auckland City vs Hamilton Wanderers

Through a vintage performance and some luck with results elsewhere Auckland City got themselves back up into the familiar nest of first place in week seven. As wild as this season has been, some things are apparently untouchable. But as nice as it would be to polish off their final season in existence with another ACFC title run... one habit that has been broken is the ol’ Club World Cup thingamajig. That competition feels like it’s hanging by a thread most years anyway thanks to FIFA’s various whims but yeah no more nostalgic games against random UAE host clubs there because Aotearoa’s coronavirus regulations have made it unfeasible for Auckland City to partake in the CWC. A slight disappointment... but not really when you consider those regulations are also why ACFC get to have a full and unrestricted domestic campaign.

Auckland City hosted Hamilton Wanderers this week in game tahi. A fascinating matchup after HW beat them down in the Waikato earlier in the season, though both teams have seen their more recent form trending in opposite directions. City’s last two games have been brilliant, a 4-1 win over the WeeNix then 3-0 vs Waitakere. Thus for the third straight game Jose Figuiera named an unchanged team. Still no Emiliano Tade on the bench. The Tron Wands also named an unchanged team... which meant that Tommy Semmy remained out with Jordan Lamb getting another start. Otherwise it’s the same blokes that’ve been playing all season however opponents seem to have a better handle on containing Wanderers these days as they’ve drawn three and lost one of their last four.

As you’d expect, it was City who began the game with a lot of ball trying to find sneaky ways of getting in behind that defensive line but Wanderers were repelling them... while also trying to make sure this game was a little nigglier than their hosts would prefer. That led to hints rather than chances. A Logan Rogerson header wide at the far post. A couple sighters from Josh Signey including one that hit the outside of the post. Some trickiness from Awad and Al-Kalisy. Directness from Tieku.

Then 24 minutes in Tieku won a free kick in Joe Harris territory. The right back whipped in his shot from a decent distance and Cameron Brown got his hands to it easily enough but he couldn’t hold it and hearts were in mouths for a split-second as the ball landed on the top of the crossbar and rolled over for a corner. A corner which Mark Jones headed onto the post before City could clear. ACFC may have started in their flow but now Wanderers had hit the frame of the goal on three separate occasions.

So naturally City were in front five minutes later. Like many of their moves it began with Mario Ilich winning the ball in midfield. He fed it forward to Yousif Ali who quickly shifted it on to Dylan Manickum running through a gap in the defensive line. Tino Contratti slid in to stop him but Manickum evaded that challenge and then shot from a tight angle. Matt Oliver saved it but with Ali lurking Joe Harris had to rush across to clear the rebound... and he somehow hacked it into his own net. There was a bit of traffic as Harris and Messenger both got in each other’s way and Harris’ boot caught the dirt as he swung, maybe hesitating with the clearance, which is probably why he shanked it so horribly. What a shocker. Especially coming after Wanderers’ best spell.

Cam Howieson then hooned one past the post from distance with the keeper slightly out of position and moments later Logan Rogerson thought he shoulda had a spottie after Brock Messenger tried to shoulder him off the ball (overheard on the livestream in what I choose to believe was a Croatian accent: “That’s a rugby tackle!”). But the replay did suggest it was shoulder to shoulder, probably fair of the ref to err on the side of non-whistledom. Shaky stuff from the Tron Wands. Clearly rattled by the own goal. That frustration became visible with a free kick or two going against them and Derek Tieku was booked for going in late on Adam Mitchell.

Al-Kalisy put one just wide with the sidefooter after Logan Rogerson had made the overlapping cut-back on the counter. The same fella soon drew a nice save outta Oliver down low with Rogerson putting it in on the follow-up but he was miles offside, didn’t count. But with the game stretching out late in the half Mark Jones also had a shot deflected while Jordan Lamb put his dribbling boots on. Brian Kaltack dealt with most of that himself but still a wide open game, 1-0 to ACFC at the half.

Cool to see the youngsters getting out on the paddock for a crossbar challenge during the break... at least until the sprinklers fired up, lol.

Logan Rogerson got himself into some space on a couple instances early in the second half, with Harris and Messenger each making important tackles in the area for corners. Then from the second of those corners it was Adam Mitchell’s turn to hit the same post that Jones hit earlier. So close to 2-0 there. So close in terms of the shot, also so close in terms of time because right on 53 minutes a Howieson corner from the right side was met in the air by Brian Kaltack and the Vanuatu international thumped it in off his head. What a season that fella is having (that one red card aside).

Coming back from 2-0 down in less than a half at Kiwitea Street is no enviable task. Owen Comber was immediately subbed on but at no point did you really think they’d have it in them... until 63 minutes gone when Josh Signey slid in on a loose ball and Mario Ilich got there late and pretty much stomped on Signey’s leg. A straight red card as far as the referee was concerned. You’ve gotta have some sympathy for Ilich because it was all very bang-bang as Signey came diving in almost unexpectedly. No way he got him on purpose. But the screenshot isn’t the prettiest...

With the man advantage now Wanderers were better able to maintain possession in the midfield and they started dragging this game up around the ACFC penalty area. Joe Harris went close with another free kick, Cam Brown palming it away (after Howieson had been booked for dissent – Al-Kalisy was clearly already impeded by Mark Jones before Jonesy then drew the retaliation foul). A Xavier Pratt free kick chipped into a dangerous area caused worries too but the open play stuff... it seemed like they kept coming up one pass short but the more you try the more likely you are to get one that works and on 79 minutes Messenger squeezed a lovely ball through for Signey who chipped it across to the far post where Owen Comber headed it in. Lovely goal and it set up yet another Wanderers onslaught late in a game. It’s been a feature of their winless streak.

Contratti had a volley saved low by Brown, not an easy one to gather. Guts to Kale Herbert because no sooner had he made his last subs (a double change with Paul Clout and Dylan Morris coming on) than Brock Messenger had to be helped off the field with injury. First minutes he’s missed all season even if they technically never subbed him off. Cancel out that man advantage then and with that the momentum levelled out. A collision between Kaltack and Tieku required a long break just to take some more steam out of it. Contratti did have a header saved after a free kick but Auckland City held on for the 2-1 win, their third in a row, while Wanderers have now gone five games without a win.

City can once again thank Kaltack for an excellent performance. The goal was great - if he’s adding regular goals to his game then that’s the final frontier and it’s one he’s hugely capable of. But even without it he shone. Literally nobody has contained Derek Tieku as well as that this season. Starting to get those ominous vibrations that Auckland City are back to their best now... you wouldn’t even look at this game and say anyone else stood out because everybody was at least a 7/10 and when things are clicking that well across the board... that’s when it gets scary.

HW have definitely become more one dimensional without Tommy Semmy providing that second major threat. One guy like that isn’t too hard to shut down because you can target them. Two guys like that and you have no choice but to spread the wealth. Here are their last five scorelines: 1-1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-1, 1-2... they may have hit the post a few times in this game but when bad luck follows you week after week it stops being bad luck and starts being bad execution. To be fair, they did just play the other three teams in the top four all in a row so the fixtures will get easier in the next couple weeks.

Canterbury United vs Eastern Suburbs

Pin that location to English Park next. The Cantabs having seemingly overcome their early struggles with seven points from their last four games, while Suburbs were coming off a shock loss to Hawke’s Bay which snapped a five-game unbeaten streak. The Dragons made one change and that was George King in for Luke Tongue. Clearly not a straight swap there... King lining up on the left wing with Yuya Taguchi dropping deeper in midfield.

As for Suburbs, captain Adam Thomas was serving his last game of suspension while Adam Thurston, their best player, remained out with injury (Absent Adams) and we saw how they went without him last time. Also Robi Sabo replaced Kelvin Kalua at fullback while Josh Rogerson made his return from an injury which had kept him out since the first half of the first game of the season and he lined up, curiously, as the holding midfielder. Campbell Strong not playing this one. Oh and Stevie Hoyle was healthy enough to return to the walk-on eleven to face his old team... that heavyweight battle between him and Tom Schwarz was instantly tantalising.

Five minutes in and Sean Liddicoat was booked for going in heavy on Tyler Lissette. Both players took some damage in the tackle but it was Liddicoat who got the worst of it. Looked like a knee complaint and it was bad enough that he had to be stretchered off, with Luke Tonge coming on to replace him. Liddy’s had a quietly strong season for the Dragons and you never wanna see serious injuries of any kind although it sounds like bruising more than anything too serious, fingers crossed for the lad.

As to the football itself, Dan Edwards and Ryan Feutz were both heavily involved early on trying to spark things but it was all just a little disjointed from Suburbs in their wider attacking structures and that well-organised Cantabs defence knew how to handle it (although Andrew Storer did get an early yellow following through after a poor touch). Canterbury also did some nice things with the ball... but their crossing was pants. Like, straight up awful. No threat of a goal yet from either side.

At least Yuya Taguchi was looking very handy in that central midfield role – he’s a guy who’s won a lot of fans with his quick and technical abilities but there hasn’t been a lot of bang for his buck yet if we’re being totally honest. Case in point 37 minutes in when Lyle Matthysen put in a stunner of a leftie chip into the area which Taguchi ran onto only to kick it straight at the keeper when he absolutely should have scored. Huuuuge chance gone begging. But Taguchi was getting lots of touches, relishing being involved earlier in those attacking phases.

There were a couple moments where the Dragons were trying to play slower than Suburbs were letting them but otherwise an even contest as the whistle rang out for half-time. Taguchi’s chance the only real clear one for either team which meant that the Cantabs will have definitely been the happier of the two sides. Suburbs replaced Stafford Dowling with Kelvin Kalua (who was a surprising omission) at right back when the teams came back out... never a sign of a happy coach when that happens.

Suburbs stepped it up after that, coming out with a sharper tempo and pushing CU backwards again. Kingsley Sinclair had a crack after combining with Hoyle but Danny Knight made a simple enough save. Ryan Feutz wrapped his right boot around a much more challenging shot but again Knight was up to the task, a superb one-handed save. Then Garbhan Coughlan picked up a loose ball for the Dragons and with nobody closing him down he shaped up that backline and slipped the ball in for Ihaia Delaney whose shot crashed off the post. After which it was Danyon Drake’s turn to show off as he first parried a Matthysen snapshot and then got back up to beat away a George King shot at the opposite post (the second one might not have been going in but better safe than sorry). Okay yeah, now we were cooking with gas.

Kelvin Kalua didn’t last twenty minutes before he had step out of the game, the sub getting subbed thanks to injury. Jake Clissold replaced him. Jake Mechell also came on at the same time with Josh Rogerson exiting. The first of those subs was enforced but the second clearly a statement of attacking intent. Meanwhile the Dragons brought on Jake Richards and Eddie Wilkinson in the 72nd minute, also two attacking players. Which managerial roll of the dice would pay off? That’d be Lee Padmore’s, friends. There was only quarter of an hour left when Cory Mitchell surged forward, bumped the ball back to Richards, then JJR boosted it in for the lead.

And you know what? Eastern Suburbs never even really looked like equalising. Reid Drake had a shot that was blocked by Tom Schwarz’s back but with the lead to protect Cory Mitchell was right in his element winning tackle after tackle and his team walked away with a 1-0 win that might look like an upset on paper but the better, more effective team were the victors here. Taguchi was great in his new role, which in turn allowed Matthysen to play more centrally and he was great too. Can’t sleep on Garbhan Coughlan either who found himself having to drop deeper and do a lot of the dirtier work but was involved in heaps of quality moves, one of those under the radar crucial efforts. And of course the backline and the keeper barely strayed from the script all game. All of a sudden Canterbury United are back in the semi-final hunt with three wins from their last five – including back to back 1-0 home wins against Auckland City and now Eastern Suburbs. How did that happen!?

As for those Suburbs folks... what’s there to say other than repeating the tone from last week? A disappointing result where they struggled to break down a team that they put three past earlier in the season but chuck Adam Thurston in there and it coulda been a different story. Sean Bright is another key miss as he trials over in Denmark, Rogerson did alright in that role to be fair but Bright was outstanding and not having him there has unbalanced that midfield. It’s a tough spell they’re going through but just gotta ride it out ‘til the troops return. Or at least until Thurston does. The captain’s back next week too which is nice (remember Adam Thomas played the holding mid role last season, hmm).

Hawke’s Bay United vs Team Wellington

Something weird must be happening in 2021 because Premiership coaches seem to... trust their players? Dunno what it is but when Hawke’s Bay United lined up against Team Wellington they did so with an unchanged team from the one that beat Eastern Suburbs a week earlier. First time that Chris Greatholder/Bill Robertson have done that all season. It meant no James Hoyle again but that back three played so well last time they won’t mind that nearly as much as they would have at the start of the campaign. There did seem to be a minor tweak to their midfield shape with Karan Mandair and Hugo Delhomelle both playing in front of Sam Pickering to combat the two deeper midfielders that Team Welly always operate with. The HBU midfield triangle pointing down instead of up this time. Meanwhile Team Wellington... just the one change as Wan Gatkek replaced Sam Dewar in that very same midfield combo. Joao Moreira serving his last game of his suspension... that meant Sam Mason-Smith starting against his old team (quite a few connections between these two, to be fair).

HBU were the very picture of a team short on confidence at the start of things but a win either side of New Years has them buzzing now. Several nice moments for them early in this game came about from busy HBU fellas getting the jump in a challenge and winning the ball. No clear shots to show for it, although they did get a few useful crosses into the area, but a positive start all the same. Getting those TW defenders working early with a few headers and blocks.

You never like to see an extended injury break, especially when the injured party is forced to leave the game, but that’s what happened ten minutes into this one. Wait but it wasn’t a player that got hurt... it was the bloody corner flag. Fergus Neil ran through it in winning a corner kick and ol’ plastic fantastic snapped off near the base. The lino tried to rebuild it without the broken bit, making it six inches shorter, but then they eventually ran a replacement flag over instead and problem solved. It looked like they just took the one from halfway which is fair enough, dunno why they even need those.

Team Welly’s first best threat came as Wan Gatkek stepped up and fed Hamish Watson in on the left but his shot was blocked by Kaeden Atkins. Unfortunately for Hawke’s Bay though that was the blueprint. Not so long afterwards Sam Mason-Smith combined with Haris Zeb on the right edge and Zeb played a beautiful ball in behind which SMS then buried one on one with the keeper. There had been an appeal for handball as Mason-Smith held off Atkins to bring down the long ball from Scott Basalaj but there’s no VAR in this league, e hoa.

Mason-Smith had a second one before long but this time it was disallowed. Andy Bevin with a slick chip over to Watto, who fed Rory McKeown on the overlap with SMS in the middle to tap it in... albeit from an offside position. Those offside flags were getting a decent workout at both ends. Karan Mandair definitely wasn’t offside when he hit a sharp strike on the second phase after a corner but Ben Mata made a great block inside the six yard box. Set pieces were looking the best avenue for the home side but so far that formidable TeeDubs defence had things covered.

Team Wellington didn’t need set pieces. They were slicing and dicing from open play with both Mason-Smith and Watson heavily involved and just before the break they made that count as Andy Bevin cut inside two defenders with one move, laid if off to Mason-Smith. His shot was saved by Scott Morris but then Hamish Watson pounced on the rebound to score. And didn’t he finish it well! He only had the entire goal to aim for from three centimetres out and he did not miss!

Thanks to the corner flag dramas there was still enough stoppage time for Gavin Hoy to put a header onto the roof of the net but 2-0 to Team Wellington at the half. Things then got worse for HBU as the second stanza got underway with Karan Mandair having to be replaced after some extended attention from the physio and Manny Achol came on for his debut in Mandair’s place. Mandair has been superb for HBU in their two wins, that’s a huge blow if he’s out for extended time with only six more rounds left before the semis. Manny Achol’s a 21 year old midfielder who went to high school at St Pats and played once for the WeeNix a few years ago (also on the books of Eastern Suburbs more recently in the winter leagues) and who has two international caps for South Sudan. There ya go.

Team Welly continued to run the show with Gatkek and Midgley both unleashing ambitious efforts at goal. But Manny Achol made a genuine impact for The Bay. He cut one across to Hoy which looked a half-decent chance for them (albeit from a very tight angle), no dice there, yet in the 63rd minute of the match he got a foot in just outside the area (having had a through ball of his intercepted) and when the ball came back to him he slipped it wider to Jorge Akers and JA put it through Basalaj’s legs to make it 2-1. Game on.

Akers hit the post from a tricky angle after a free kick fell back to him. Not sure if there was room to get that on target from where he was but he did have room to slide the ball through for substitute Cam Emerson a couple mins afterwards and Emerson hesitated just a bit to draw the contact from Taylor Schrijvers and boom that’s a penalty. A little soft but so it goes. Hugo Delhomelle assumed the duties and with delightful French flair the big man panenka’d that sucker in to make it 2-2. Well now.

There were still fifteen minutes to play and those late minutes have been Team Wellington’s time to shine this season. Hamish Watson snaffled the ball back near the goal line and smashed a cross in that SMS put over the top from close range. A gentler cross and that would have been a sitter but when it’s walloped at you like that it’s hard to be too critical. Gotta be a bit more harsh on him when he blasted over following Watto’s flicked-on header a bit later. Then it looked like McKeown might do better after Ben Mata’s supreme first-time ball but Ahmed Othman made an even better recovering challenge (Othman’s really figuring out that wing-back role now). And on 89 minutes Gatkek fed McKeown in on the left only for the Northern Irishman to slice his shot wide from a wonderful position. Even deep into stoppage time Bill Robertson was throwing himself around trying to handle Hamish Watson. But the second half comeback did the trick, Hawke’s Bay United sneaking back for the 2-2 draw. Fun game of footy that one.

It does mean Team Welly lose ground at the top, now two points behind Auckland City - they may be undefeated through eight weeks but they’ve drawn five of those matches. Five draws in their last six games in fact. Not sure if that’s a sign of resilience or frailty or both. Ben Mata was superb for them once again, while Wan Gatkek has been a hell of a find in the midfield and the two strikers were more than a handful all afternoon. This was actually one of the stronger Team Welly performances all campaign but they simply let themselves down with their finishing at the end there, shoulda won it.

Not that you can take anything away from a dogged Hawke’s Bay team who have now scored multiple times in each of their last three games having only scored two goals in total in the five previous. The only other team that’s scored at least twice in the last three matchweeks is Auckland City. Goes to show what a bit of confidence can do. Very much a team effort for HBU... but Hugo Delhommelle has really added something to that midfield since he returned last week.

Wellington Phoenix vs Waitakere United

Last but not least it was a trip to Fraser Park in Wellington where the Wellington Phoenix hosted Waitakere United, which was where the trend of consistent team selection sorta fell away because Waitakere haven’t won since week one and in that time ever since they’ve been chopping and changing to try and find a solution. This match was no different (following consecutive losses in which they didn’t even score). Two new strikers as Nic Zambrano and Alex Connor-McClean both came in - second start for NZ, third for ACM. That meant that Alex Greive dropped deeper with Dane Schnell on the bench for the first time. Nathan Lobo returned to the starters at left wing-back with Zac Zoricich swapping back to the right and Sammy Khan got the start at CB as did brand new signing Rob Dymond. Who only joined the team this week. No Nic Milicich or Andy Cromb. Ooh and check this out...

That draft is on Friday NZT and there’s a WeeNix connection as well because old mate Calvin Harris is a very good bet to be picked in the first few selections based on the word around town. Huge raps on him during his college stint. Now he’s about to go big time. As for Greive, toss a coin as to whether he gets grabbed. He had a very impressive college career but he also isn’t getting too much buzz which maybe is why he was still playing this game. Gotta be in it to win it though. Only takes one team to fall in love with a player for dreams to come true and all that Disney movie cliche stuff.

For the home side it was Jaylen Rodwell in at right back while Adam Hillis dropped to the bench with Ollie van Rijssel starting in midfield. Same front four as drew with the Cantabs. And they were on the back foot early as Nathan Lobo threw in some jinks and jives before he squared to Greive whose shot was blocked. Fantastic work from Lobo but that same bloke was soon in the spotlight for the wrong reason when he hacked down Benjamin Old who appeared to be through on goal. No, not ‘appeared to be’: ‘was’. The foul was just outside the box so no penalty... but last man tackle, that’s gotta be a red right?

Nope, just a yellow. Enormous let off for Waitakere who then jumped on the attack again with Nic Zambrano shooting wide before Alex Connor-McClean took too long to get his own shot off and was blocked. Then the pair of them combined with Zambrano unable to get a touch on the ball. Alex Greive was involved in that one in a very busy start from the fella, trying to show off for any MLS scouts watching, and it was his clever dummy that led to a free kick on 22 minutes. A free kick which Sam Burfoot took but instead of shooting or crossing he slid it across to Gerard Garriga Gibert who curled it into the bottom corner from a little outside the area, catching everybody unawares. Brilliant little move that involved all three of their midfield heroes in some way. 1-0 to Waitakere United, baby. Looking to get that winning feeling back.

It was no less than they deserved given how they were rolling... although let’s be honest they also deserved to be down to ten men. Such is life. The WeeNix began to find their feet after that with a high ball misplayed by Leon van den Hoven at the back which Riley Bidois got onto and he rounded the keeper before trying to slot it home... only for LVDH to recover and clear it off the line. The Phoenix then began to win a few set pieces, with Luis Toomey taking those responsibilities, while Rodwell and Old were forming a quality combo down the right edge. Draper had to be quick to stop Bidois from getting onto a Toomey ball in behind. Meanwhile Burfoot crossed to Van den Hoven up the other end whose near post touch was well saved by Alex Paulsen. Getting to be a proper competitive game... still 1-0 at HT however.

The WeeNix had closed that half well but Waitakere quickly got back to what they’d been doing earlier as the second one kicked off. They absolutely should’ve been 2-0 up on 51 minutes. GGG sent Burfoot down the left and Burfoot did so well to patiently pick his pass and allow Zambrano time to make a wonderful move into space but then Zambrano missed the ball as it came across. He’d done everything perfectly except for the most important bit. Quick word for Zac Zorocich who was having a nice game, the best that he’s looked at this level. Also a louder word – so that it can still be heard – for that Wellington wind which was really picking up now. The corner flags got close to horizontal... none of them snapped though.

Both teams went to the bench with George Ott & Adam Hillis on for the WeeNix while Angus Kilkolly & Dane Schnell came on for Waitakere. Ott almost immediately chipped a ball in for Bidois six yards out but he tried to control the ball rather than putting a head on it first time. Gotta attack those ones, jerry. Never gonna have time to bring it down. Still, it was a sign that the WeeNix were getting it churning again. Ben Old had a crack which Sammy Khan blocked with an incredible bit of defending, then Old had another go after creating some space with the rebound but that one came back off the woodwork. Crazy scenes. The build up to those shots had been so gorgeous too, this WeeNix side has a tendency to overplay it but man when those passes hit it’s a thing of beauty. Luis Toomey then struck a free kick onto the roof of the net.

Waitakere went close when Greive set up Kilkolly with yet another smooth pass but Paulsen tipped it wide. Then from the corner LVDH volleyed onto the crossbar from an awkward position. Not one that looked like it was going in until it almost did. Pretty soon we were down the other end for Rodwell to shoot over as this game assumed some rapid tempo. Then... huge drama. Sammy Khan catching Old for a second yellow. Waitakere down to ten men for real this time. Poor old Sammy Khan... he’s a brilliant player to watch because he’s a player who lives on a tightrope. From that incredible sliding block to a red card within a few minutes... he’s made clearances off the line, he scored an own goal earlier in the season, he pulls off these desperate tackles, now he’s had a red card. You never know what you’re getting.

Toomey’s shot from the resulting free kick was pushed over the top... Tooms was having an outstanding game involved in so many of the Phoenix’s better moments. Then all of a sudden a penalty was awarded. Rob Dymond had handballed as he crouched trying to control the ball from a corner delivery. Apparently. To be honest the camera angles were rank average... was hoping to see the goal-cam vision but nah this was as good as we got...

As i say: rank average. Safe to say that the Waitakere defenders were furious about the decision. Kurtis Mogg missed the spottie, saved by Draper, but then he scored the follow-up so there ya go. WeeNix draw level. Still ten to play.

Oscar Hough came on for the Nix for what pretty sure was his debut and by now it was all yellow and black. Ott fired wide after some fine work from Rodwell. Van Hattum dragged a shot off target. But right towards the end with the game so stretched Waitakere were the team that came closest to winning it as they launched forward on the break. Alex Greive with a header from a Jack Duncan cross that he didn’t get enough power on. Then Dane Schnell was surely on his way to a dramatic late winner when out of nowhere Finn Surman slid in to deny him. Surman did that with a raging cramp in his leg too, what a champ. Speaking of... the WeeNix are undefeated in the four games that Finn Surman has started. They’ve lost three outta four of those that he hasn’t. That includes this game which ended 1-1.

Rightio then, Waitakere fail to win another one. Must be getting agonising by now although this was as well as they’ve played for a long time. Weird reffing giveth and weird reffing taketh away... WU probably have to lean more on a few of the missed chances they had. Dunno how they’re supposed to fix things when it’s wholesale changes every week though, those strikers are on constant rotation and the defence is almost as volatile. Compare that to teams like Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury who stuck with their guys through the dull times and now are finding form. There’s no way that this Waitakere squad deserves to be equal last but that’s where they are.

The good news is that this league table is wild. A couple wins on the trot and it’s instant daylight... just look at Auckland City. Even the WeeNix are only a win off third. Of course the WeeNix aren’t allowed to play in a semi-final for no logical reason but usually that’s irrelevant. This year maybe not. That’s probably their best defensive unit and with Toomey and Old both playing so well they’re keeping everyone on notice. One of the more enjoyable teams to watch too.

Next week Waitakere Utd host Canterbury United in one of the longest away trips out. The Waitaks won the reverse fixture 4-0 in game one and it’s still their only victory... the Cantabs are in a much better place now so that could be a real barometer game. That’s 3.30pm on Saturday. Then the three Sunday games begin with Hamilton Wanderers vs Hawke’s Bay United as the Tron Wands try to steal the secret stuff that HBU are using to rip off all these results. That’s at 2pm and at 4pm we’ve got a couple derby bangers with Eastern Suburbs vs Auckland City in a City of Sails clash (don’t get stuck in traffic) and Team Wellington hosting the Wellington Phoenix in the capital... a city where all of TW’s three wins have come. Get amongst it.

Help us wee indie battlers make a buck by supporting TNC on Patreon if you’re of a generous spirit

Also whack an ad whenever you read a good’un and sign up to our lovely email thing (which includes a Premiership Team of the Week every Monday)

Keep cool but care