A pivotal moment in the opening Footballsouth Premier League match between Caversham and Invercargill Old Boys was the red-carding of Old Boys captain and goalkeeper Chris Marsh at Tonga Park on Saturday.
While many spectators thought a yellow card might have sufficed, referee Jeff Clamp flashed a red, and for the first time in his life, Marsh trudged off, and left his side to continue against Caversham with 10 men.
In its first match back at senior level, the Invercargill side had done well to hold Caversham to 0-0 at halftime, but under new player-coach Tim Horner, the defending champion went on to win convincingly, 3-0.
A trademark swivel turn and shot by striker Ant Hancock opened the scoring after 54 minutes, before captain Seamus Ryder buried a 60th minute penalty.
Predictably, Invercargill threw caution to the wind and pushed forward to play its best football of the match.
Uruguayan striker William Silva showed bursts of power, and there was good supporting pace on the wings, but Old Boys missed the experience of Scotsman Barry Gardiner and Barra Toubat.
Horner said three goals and a clean sheet was ''pleasing, but after missing good chances in the first half, a 0-0 score at the break was not acceptable.
''There were many sub-par performances out there today, and while we were never in trouble, the squad has plenty of work ahead to reach the standards we expect.''
At Tahuna Park, Roslyn-Wakari impressed with a 4-1 win over Mosgiel, despite injuries which precluded striker James Govan and creative midfielder Aajay Cunningham from playing.
Fraser Cameron put in a good shift as an improvised striker and scored a good goal, an exuberant Damian Foster got two, and the opener from new signing Cam Atwood was a classic chest and volley that drew applause in the 25th minute.
The Roslyn defence was steady, apart from being exposed on the break, when Steve Cromb scored just before halftime for Mosgiel.
Atwood impressed in central midfield, and Guilherme Melo and Mike Sannum showed abilities to open up the opposition. Tom Connor also helped drive Roslyn with aggressive pace.
Kris Wheeler and Regan Coldicott were the pick of the Mosgiel players.
University opened with a 5-2 demolition of Queenstown at the Caledonian Ground. Rupert Mark (two), Jeremy Fong, Josh Jones and the reliable Peter Rae scored for the students, while star futsal striker Carlos Herrman and Tobias Alcacer scored for Queenstown.
Dunedin Technical eventually overcame Grants Braes 2-0. With Matt Joy anchoring the defence, and an experienced core of Richard Smith, Justin Flaws, Alistair Rickerby and Victor da Costa in the squad, coach Mike Fridge's team will be a contender.
