Queenstown Rovers produced one of the upsets of the season when the seventh-placed side picked off FootballSouth Premier League leader Caversham with a solid 2-0 home victory on Saturday.
Rovers coach Jamie Whitmarch was jubilant after the win.
''We had intelligent players lifting their game today. If they play with the same smarts in the future we can give ourselves the chance to beat any team.''
Queenstown got off to a dream start when it opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
Defending its own penalty area, the home side gained possession and initiated a length-of-the-field counterattack.
In-form midfielder Daniel McLafferty was on hand to seal the attacking movement from 10m when he finished with slide-rule accuracy into the corner of the net, leaving Caversham keeper Liam Little no chance.
Ten minutes from halftime, Queenstown sealed a remarkable win with some individual brilliance. Rovers striker Harry Trethowan showed old-fashioned flair with a jinking, dribbling run which beatthree Caversham defenders, and finished with an audacious chip over Caversham keeper Little.
Second-placed Dunedin Technical took full advantage of Caversham's slip when it claimed a clear-cut 3-0 win over Mosgiel at Memorial Park.
Technical's defenders treated their team-mates to a master class of finishing. Big central defender Andrew Douglas slammed in the first goal with a strong header from a corner in the 40th minute.
Fellow defender David Hayman finished with laser-beam accuracy in the 70th minute with another accurate header, while Douglas got his brace with his second headed goal 10 minutes before fulltime.
Northern and University shared the points with a 1-1 draw on an extremely wet and slippery playing surface at Forrester Park.
Northern took the lead in the 62nd minute when Taylor Quirk received a defence-splitting through ball, outpaced the defence and finished with confidence as he slid the ball past advancing University keeper Jef Potrich.
Throwing caution to the wind, University attacked with gusto in the last 20 minutes and was rewarded for its endeavour when Bryn Hickson-Rowden received the ball from the right flank and drove an accurate shot into the right-hand corner from 13m.
In the final match of the round at Ellis Park, Roslyn-Wakari and Green Island also shared the points, with neither team managing to score.
By Wilson James.
