Bay Draw Hands Central The Championship
Story by Jeremy Ruane / Photos by Graham Hughes

.Central United have clinched their maiden Northern Premier League crown without having to kick a ball this weekend, a result of Bay Olympic’s inability to down outgoing champions Glenfield Rovers at Olympic Park.

In truth, Central had taken a giant stride towards taking the title when thumping Glenfield 4-0 in midweek, a setback from which relegation-threatened Rovers came out fighting in Saturday’s match, scoring three goals in the first half-hour through John Lahav, James Stewart and Graham Green.

But an Elliott Dye hat-trick brought Bay level, the home team unable to crown their comeback with a winning goal, thus having to settle for a 3-3 draw. The result leaves them four points behind Central with one game remaining, and has taken some of the gloss off the new champions’ visit to third-placed North Shore United, at North Harbour Stadium’s outer oval, on Sunday afternoon.

University-Mt. Wellington took a great stride towards securing a second consecutive fourth-placed finish by downing Waitakere City 3-2 at Fred Taylor Park, Joe Waugh scoring twice to close to within one of suspended Golden Boot leader, Brad Scott.

Mike de Vetter also found the mark for the outgoing Bluebird Chatham Cup holders, with Chris Gage and Malcolm Wakefield scoring for the team who will be looking to keep the cup in Auckland over the coming summer.

First half goals from Jonathan Perry and Andrew Webber helped Eastern Suburbs score a 2-1 win over Tauranga City United at Madills Farm, where Brent Mayhew struck in the second spell for the beaten team.

There was plenty of attention on matches involving relegation-threatened teams, with East Coast Bays doing their prospects a power of good when winning 1-0 at Metro through an Adam Crump goal.

Along with Mangere United, who downed Waitakere 1-0 in midweek, they look to have done enough to secure their Premier League status for 2005, although the South Auckland side can make absolutely certain of that with a win at Michaels Avenue against Ellerslie this afternoon.

George Ritchie’s side warmed up for that match with a 3-2 win over Eastern Suburbs in midweek, while Metro’s 4-1 loss at Uni-Mount has left them just above the relegation play-off places, which are currently occupied by Ellerslie and Onehunga Sports, who sent Glenfield into the automatic relegation spots by trouncing bottom-of-the-table Melville United 4-1 at Waikaraka Park.

Sports secured the services of Ben Sigmund and Japanese U-19 international Hiroaki Tanaka during the week, and both played significant roles in “The Green Machine”’s triumph. The Japanese player opened the scoring in the tenth minute, and sent Jeremy Christie through to double Sports’ advantage four minutes later.

Melville barely fired a shot in anger in this match, with Daniel Field’s twice-taken penalty being scored in stoppage time. By then, they were well and truly beaten, Reginaldo Richard having netted a third goal for the home team on the hour mark, and Christie stroking home his second goal of the game from the penalty spot two minutes before the end of a match which Sports could have won by a much bigger margin.

Three midweek fixtures are scheduled, with Eastern Suburbs and Metro clashing at Albie Turner Field on Tuesday evening, while on the same pitch twenty-four hours later, Ellerslie and Waitakere do battle. At the same time on Wednesday, Uni-Mount and Central draw swords at Bill McKinlay Park, a match which invariably produces plenty of enterprising football. All three games start at 7pm.

Northern Premier League, round twenty-five details:
Bay Olympic 3 (E. Dye (3)), Glenfield Rovers 3 (J. Lahav, J. Stewart, G. Green) HT 1-3

Eastern Suburbs 2 (J. Perry, A. Webber), Tauranga City United 1 (B. Mayhew) HT 2-0

Metro 0, East Coast Bays 1 (A. Crump (63)) HT 0-0

Onehunga Sports 4 (H. Tanaka (10), J. Christie (14, 88 pen), R. Richard (59)), Melville United 1 (D. Field (90 pen)) HT 2-0

Waitakere City 2 (C. Gage, M. Wakefield), University-Mt. Wellington 3 (J. Waugh (2), M. de Vetter) HT 1-2

FIRST DIVISION

The race for second place in the Northern League First Division saw one of the contenders eliminated on Saturday, but Papakura will have to wait a week longer before they can be certain of winning the Thompson Shield.

That’s due to the league leaders copping a 3-1 hiding from Fencibles United, for whom Phil Chadwick, Mark Harrison and Nik Viljoen found the target, the last-mentioned doing so upon converting the rebound from his own penalty, which had been saved by ‘Kura’s ‘keeper, Greg Brand. Brian Hawke scored a consolation goal for the South Aucklanders, who remain the title favourites.

Birkenhead United, meanwhile, consigned Mt. Albert-Ponsonby to another season of First Division football by downing the Central Auckland side 3-1. Andrew Campbell’s goal for MAP wasn’t enough to counter Robin Wang’s double-strike, with Jamie McKenna also on target for the North Harbour club.

Albany United maintained their pursuit of the leaders with a 2-1 win at Lynn-Avon United, a result which all but relegates the Ken Maunder Park club. Todd Danks scored twice for the victors, then undid all his good work by being sent off for violent conduct, while James Hodgson replied from the penalty spot for Lynn-Avon.

The only comfort for the bottom-placed side was that the two teams they can still catch on the table, Onehunga-Mangere United and Oratia United, both lost also. The West Aucklanders slumped to a 5-2 loss at Hamilton Wanderers, who scored four of their goals in the first half.

Player-coach Mark Cossey scored twice in the first ten minutes to send them on their way, with Stu Watene and Matt Sigurdsson also finding the net before the interval. Shane King made it five before Willie Kgosana and Andres Sandor dragged Oratia to within three goals of their conquerors.

“The Mountain Men”, meanwhile, were downed 2-1 by Three Kings United, with Yan Yi and Simon Kenny finding the mark for the promotion-chasing side, and putting through their own net to help OMU’s cause.

Takapuna greatly aided their own fight for First Division survival by thumping West Auckland 3-1 at Brains Park. Chris Limmer struck yet another goal for Wests, but two goals from Yoji Tanabe and a Jeremy Williams strike sealed the points for “Taka”, who play a catch-up fixture against Albany on North Harbour Stadium’s outer oval on Wednesday evening.

Next Saturday’s fixtures offer tantalising contests aplenty, with Papakura hosting Birkenhead, while Albany entertain Fencibles. Three Kings entertain Hamilton in another clash between teams in play-off contention, while the remaining fixtures see West Auckland heading to MAP, and the bottom four teams involved in match-ups - Takapuna enjoy home advantage against OMU, while Lynn-Avon journey to Oratia.

SECOND DIVISION

There are seven games remaining in the Northern League Second Division this season, and even at this late stage of the campaign, the destiny of the Pascoe Shield remains undetermined.

Three teams are still in the hunt, and two of them clashed at Kamo today, with Papatoetoe mauling North Force 5-1 to give themselves a huge boost of clinching at least a top-two finish and a shot at the promotion play-offs.

Samoan international Tama Fa’asavalu smacked home a timely hat-trick to send ‘Toe home happy, his three goals supplemented by strikes from Ricky Espinoza and Jason Verweymeren, with Sammy Oso replying for North Force.

The Northlanders can still win the league by beating Manukau City home and away in their last two matches. Papatoetoe are right in the frame, and can go top next weekend with a home win over current table-toppers Ngaruawahia United, not that Jeff Coulshed’s lads will allow that to happen without an almighty battle.

“Narra” can actually clinch their second consecutive championship with a win next Saturday, and gave themselves a big boost by downing Claudelands Rovers 5-0 today, led by a double-strike from Phil Stables. Matt Williams, Nikolai Helwig and David Lisignoli also found the net for United, for whom a point next week will guarantee a play-off place.

Elsewhere, two goals from Brian Davey and a Graham Honey strike helped Cambridge to a 3-1 win over Otahuhu United, for whom Ben Ruskin found the mark. Meanwhile, Manurewa and South Auckland Rangers drew 1-1, Simione Mendoza’s goal for the home team countering their generous gesture in putting through their own net!

Danny Notley scored Hibiscus Coast’s goal in their 1-0 win over Manukau City, a result which confirms the relegation of the South Auckland outfit. Meanwhile, Waitemata upset Western Springs 3-1, Luke Wade leading the way with two goals. Kyle Stewart also scored for the visitors, Heath Rainey the lone goalscorer for the home team.

Next week’s action will focus on the Papatoetoe - Ngaruawahia clash at Murdoch Park, while North Force head to Manukau. Elsewhere, Western Springs head to Claudelands, Manurewa visit Otahuhu, Waitemata entertain Cambridge, and South Auckland host Hibiscus Coast.

First Division:
Birkenhead United 3-1 Mt. Albert-Ponsonby
Fencibles United 3-1 Papakura
Hamilton Wanderers 5-2 Oratia United
Lynn-Avon United 1-2 Albany United
Onehunga-Mangere 1-2 Three Kings United
West Auckland 1-3 Takapuna

Second Division:
Cambridge 3-1 Otahuhu United
Hibiscus Coast 1-0 Manukau City
Manurewa 1-1 South Auckland Rangers
Ngaruawahia United 5-0 Claudelands Rovers
North Force 1-5 Papatoetoe
Western Springs 1-3 Waitemata