League leader Caversham and second-placed Dunedin Technical will continue their battle for FootballSouth Premier League supremacy today, when they take on Green Island and Northern respectively.
Caversham's last outing was not a vintage performance, and it needs more clinical accuracy in front of goal.
It dominated possession and territory against University, but scored only a single goal to collect three points.
Caversham created plenty of good chances and always aimed to get players into the penalty area to support attacking phases of play.
The Tonga Park team will be without Tim Cook, who is unavailable today, while stand-in Caversham coach Richard Murray will give late fitness tests to attacking midfielder Sam Collier, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, and left back Craig Ferguson, who has general soreness after a long injury layoff.
Green Island has shown glimpses of its potential throughout the season but has struggled to finish of teams to claim the spoils.
Green Island will be without its Milk Cup contingent of keeper Josh Dijkstra and promising defender Blake Porteous.
Also benefiting from Milk Cup experience are attacking players Nathan McDonnell and Connor Neil, who would have learned a lot playing against their northern hemisphere counterparts.
Dunedin Technical will be smarting after a flat performance in its Chatham Cup match and will be looking to bounce back today.
The Culling Park club was beaten 3-0 by a polished Cashmere Technical team last weekend, failing to fire a shot in the defeat.
Dunedin Technical, the 2013 league champion, will be focused on getting back to winning ways against Northern at Forrester Park as the club prepares for an intensive month of football.
A potentially season-defining clash against Caversham is only a week away and there are two midweek catch-up matches, against Northern on August 12 and Otago University on August 26, to assist in clearing a backlog of fixtures.
Technical will be without striker Tom McBride, who has university commitments. Northern will miss Emmet MacLaurin, out with a foot injury, and James O'Callaghan will replace Jason Anson, who has suffered a head injury.
Northern will also be without Taylor Quirk, and Bob Cox will start up front in his place.
A full-strength Queenstown team will play University at the Caledonian Ground.
The students have a doubtful starter in Logan Wrightwebb, but will otherwise field a strong line-up against Rovers.
At Memorial Park, Mosgiel will entertain Roslyn-Wakari in the final match of the round.
- Wilson James
