Football: Cavvy in control in title race

Caversham striker Tore Waechter (left) gets the jump on Dunedin Technical's Logan Mamanu during...
Caversham striker Tore Waechter (left) gets the jump on Dunedin Technical's Logan Mamanu during their FootballSouth Premier League match at the Caledonian on Saturday. Caversham won 2-1. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Caversham took control of the FootballSouth Premier League title race when it defeated Dunedin Technical 2-1 in an entertaining match in front of a large crowd at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday.

The league leader has opened a commanding 14-point lead over second-placed Technical and two victories over Mosgiel and Roslyn in its final two games will mean the trophy will move the short distance from Culling Park to the Tonga Park trophy cabinet.

Caversham coach Richard Murray was a happy man after the match.

''We played well across the park, and pressed high up the pitch forcing Tech to play longer-style balls out of defence. Our central defenders, Simon Ward and Michael Hogan, had great games and gave our keeper, Liam Little, a relatively quiet day,'' he said.

After an even opening stanza, Caversham was first to strike following some fluid passing down the left flank. Midfielder Sam Collier delivered a quality cross into the box at pace and Lewis Jackson converted with an accurate header to open the scoring in the 25th minute.

Technical was certainly in the match and quicksilver striker Taylor McCormick used his extreme pace to good effect as some incisive runs into the attacking third gave Caversham's defenders plenty to contemplate.

The midfield work of Caversham's holding players, Craig Ferguson and Andrew Ridden, was key to blunting Technical's attacking threats while Caversham captain Seamus Ryder was a constant threat displaying a full array of skills.

Caversham took its second opportunity in the 54th minute when a mistimed Tech defensive header left striker Tore Waechter with time and space to attack the Tech goal.

Keeper Tom Batty came out to narrow the angle but Waechter finished with composure, sliding the ball home from 15m into the left-hand corner of the net.

Technical was awarded a penalty for hand ball deep into injury time and player-coach Aaron Burgess slid the ball home on the second attempt after keeper Little palmed away his initial strike to score a late goal for the home team.

In other matches, University grabbed three points at Sunnyvale with Jeremy Fong scoring the winner and his hat-trick goal with a good strike just before fulltime to beat Green Island 3-2. Youngster Ben Kiore had a good game up front for Green Island netting a first-half brace.

At Memorial Park, Northern coach Murray Devereaux was left scratching his head wondering how a strong 90-minute performance from his visiting side left it empty-handed at fulltime in its 3-1 loss to Mosgiel. The home team scored three goals in the last 10 minutes in reply to Northern's first-half strike.

In the final match of the round, Queenstown Rovers continued a good run and moved into fifth position in the league when it scored a close fought 2 -1 victory over Roslyn Wakari at the Events Centre.

By Wilson James.

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