The Plainsmen wrapped up the ODT Southern Premiership on Saturday with a round to go as their 3-2 win over the Royals was followed by closest challenger Roslyn-Wakari being held to a 1-1 draw with Northern.
Mosgiel made a storming start to their clash at Logan Park and opened the scoring after 21 minutes when Morgan Day scored at the far post from a well-flighted Harvey Stephens corner kick.
The Royals had a much better second half but Mosgiel looked to their bench with 15 minutes to go and the introduction of Geordie McCully by coach Rory Crow was a masterstroke.
McCully, just a minute after coming on, provided the assist for Luke Clissold to make it 2-0 after 76 minutes.
Three minutes later, McCully made it 3-0 when he scored a screamer from the edge of the box, giving keeper Jonathan Tucker no chance.
Royals target man Raven August pulled one back in the 90th minute, and his well-directed header three minutes into time added on reduced the deficit further, but there was no more time for the Royals to score again.
At the Caledonian, Roslyn found early space in attack and it paid dividends when Josh Lucas won the initial header from a corner and Nick Treadwell finished off after 25 minutes.
The pace of Northern’s Al Julanda Al Mawali was causing the Roslyn defence problems, and that was compounded after 40 minutes when the counter-attacking Al Mawali was bundled over by Lucas, and as he was already on a yellow card, the Roslyn man was given his marching orders.
Northern took advantage of playing against 10 men by winning a penalty five minutes into the second half, Rory Hibbert placing his spot kick straight down the middle to equalise.
Roslyn needed to score to stay in the hunt for the championship but being a man down reduced their attacking intent.
The Blair Davidson Challenge Trophy, after being held by Wanaka for nearly two seasons, is on the move again.
It went from Wanaka to University then to Timaru, and it will now reside at Sunnyvale for the summer after Green Island beat Northern Hearts 3-1 in Timaru.
First-half goals to Aiden Waddell and Josh Kotkamp gave Green Island a buffer which was needed when Ryan Bagrie pulled one back early in the second half, but Kotkamp’s second goal after 65 minutes sealed three points and the trophy for Green Island.
Queens Park continued their impressive second round with another three points when Michael Larsen scored the only goal of the game after 22 minutes against Wanaka.
The win means the Invercargill side could finish the season in third place depending on results in the final round.
University beat Queenstown 1-0 on the road thanks to Flynn Crocker’s 12th-minute goal.
— Green Island took part in a rare 18-goal thriller yesterday.
The Dunedin club became the first team in the Southern League to score three goals against champions Christchurch United at Sunnyvale.
Stefan Milidrag (two) and Weston Bell scored for Green Island in the second half.
Christchurch United, who are also in the Chatham Cup final, flexed their muscles and romped to a 15-3 win.
Sam Philip claimed no fewer than eight goals, and in doing so joined Cashmere marksman Garbhan Coughlan at the top of the Golden Boot race with 28 goals for the season so far.
— The Dunedin City Royals moved into second place in the South Island women’s league with a 4-0 win over Canterbury University.
First-half goals to Hannah Mckay-Wright, Tabitha Seaton and Shontelle Smith set the Royals up for a comfortable 4-0 victory, and Smith added another in the second half.
Victory in the final round against Coastal Spirit will ensure the Royals finish second.
Otago University were beaten 4-2 by Nelson Suburbs in their final game of the season.
Amy Hislop scored both goals for the students, who finished fourth in the league.
— Neville Watson
