United and Suburbs Chasing Chatham Cup Record

Both Christchurch United and Eastern Suburbs go into their 2pm Chatham Cup semifinal at the United Sports Centre on Saturday, with a chance join University Mt Wellington with seven wins in the historic knockout trophy. 

Both sides put their season long unbeaten run on the line. United top the Southern League with 14 wins and 1 draw) and Eastern Springs currently sitting in second place in the Northern League with 15 wins and 4 draws. Both sides having qualified for the upcoming National League Championship, so there does not appear much to split the two sides. 

The sides have met twice before in the cup with United winning on both occasions. The first meeting was the semifinal in 1972, 5 - 3, with United going on to lift the trophy for the first time after two epic replays with Mt Wellington, and then again in the Final in 1976, 4 - 0.   

Suburbs, known as the Lilywhites, are coached by Kane Wintergill and include two former Canterbury United players in their squad, Stephen Hoyle and Francis de Vries. The Auckland side were runner's up in the Cup last season, also runner's up in 2006 with their sixth win coming in 2015. 

The second semifinal is between Hamilton's Melville United and Wellington's Waterside Karori and will be played on Saturday evening.   

Path to Semi-Finals:

Christchurch United

Round 1: bye 

Round 2: Parklands (H) 9 - 0  

Round 3: Universities of Canterbury (H) 3 - 1 

Round 4: Ferrymead Bays (A) 1 - 0 

Round 5: Cashmere Technical (A) 3 - 0 

Quarter Final: Hamilton Wanderers (A) 3 - 0 

Eastern Suburbs

Round 1: bye 

Round 2: bye 

Round 3: Manurewa (A)1 - 0 

Round 4: Tauranga City (A) 2 - 0 

Round 5: Birkenhead United (A) 2 - 1 

Quarter Final: Wellington Olympic (A) 3 - 2 - after extra time 

Two Games In Southern League

There will be two games played in the Southern League (SL) on Saturday - both at 2:45pm. Nomads face Cashmere Technical at Tulett Park in the catch-up from Round 14. Green Island hosting Dunedin City at Sunnyvale, with this game brought forward a week which will allow for the catch-up game from Round 10, between Green Island and Christchurch United to be played next weekend.  

Both Nomads and Technical will be hoping for better weather after the first attempt to play this game was abandoned to due to the wintery conditions after 63 minutes with the scoreboard locked up. Nomads are safe from the drop which will take the pressure off. Technical took out the opening encounter between the two sides 7 - 3.

Form:
Nomads W L W D W L
Technical W W W L W W              

Previous Result This Season:
Technical 7 Nomads 3 

League head-to-head:
Technical 3 Wins  

After a ten-man Green Island side came from behind against Selwyn in the previous round, they have put an end to relegation worries and will now be out to secure their first ever SL point from Royals. The Royals know that a win will see them leapfrog Coastal Spirit on the table to take third place on goal difference, which would then put them in a 'shootout' with Coastal who they host in the final round of the season. 

Form:
Green Island W L W L L W
Royals D L L D W L                            

Previous Result This Season:
Royals 4 Green Island 2 

League Head-to-Head:
Royals 3 Wins 

Penultimate Full Round In Women's South Island League

Saturday see's the penultimate full round of the Women's South Island League (SIL). Leaders Cashmere Technical host Universities of Canterbury (UC) at Garrick Memorial Park at 2:45pm. At 11:30am Coastal Spirit SAS face Nelson Suburbs at English Park and in Dunedin the Dunedin City Royals face Otago University (OU) at Tahuna Park at 12:30pm. 

Technical will be chasing another three points in their quest to claim the inaugural SIL, when they met UC. Eighteen points separate the two sides, but Technical will be aware thr UC have been on the wrong side of several narrow losses in recent rounds and they will want to maintain their unbeaten run. 

Form:
Technical D W W W W
UC D L L W L L  

Previous Result:
UC 0 Technical 2        

Coastal will be looking for a good result over Suburbs after the disappointment of being knocked out in the semi final of the Kate Sheppard Cup after extra time last weekend at the hands of Western Springs, with Coastal winning the first encounter with Suburbs 5 - 0.  

Form:
Coastal L W D W W W
Suburbs L L L L L L                                     

Previous Result:
Suburbs 0 Coastal 5     

OU have shown good form in recent rounds including sharing the points in the earlier match-up with the Royals. After leading 2 - 0 at the break before Royals put in a strong second half to collect a share of the points. The Royals are currently in third place and know they need the win if they wish to push for second spot.   

Form:
Royals W W W L W D
OU L W L L D W                                           

Previous Result:
OU 2 Royals 2                                    

Top Two Meet In A Possible Title Decider  

The top two sides square off in Round 19 of the New World Premiership with leaders Universities hosting second placed Cashmere Technical Reserves at English Park. The students need a point to wrap at the title. Third placed, Nomads Reserves, are away to Parklands at Parklands Reserve with Halswell Domain the venue when Halswell taking on Waimak. The final game of game of the round sees Burwood taking on Western at Clare Park. All four games kicking off at 2:45pm.

Article added: Friday 18 August 2023