The Dunedin City Royals fought for a significant result as they beat Wānaka 2-1 in a Southern League clash at Logan Park on Saturday. It meant the Royals moved nine points clear of the bottom places. Wānaka started on the front foot, having most of the initial possession with good forward movement from Dillian Kahale, Samuel Motley and Ethan Arratia. The Royals, however, thought they had taken the lead in the 14th minute when a ball over the top was followed by a lob over Wānaka keeper Kwame Nketia, but the flag went up for offside. A minute later, the Royals broke the length of the field and Nketia did well to foil a Cato Williams goal-bound effort with his feet. He could not deny Williams’ opening goal on 31 minutes as Williams first controlled it then volleyed in a wonderful goal. In first-half stoppage time, Eden Brummitt beat Nketia to the ball and swept in the second Royals goal. Wānaka reduced the deficit on 62 minutes when Samba Will dispossessed a Royals defender and ran forward, squaring the ball to Ethan Arratia to find the net. The Royals then controlled most of the game with scoring opportunities kept to a minimum. The loss left Wānaka and Selwyn adrift at the bottom of the table on seven points each, meaning next week’s clash — Selwyn travel to Wānaka — may decide the wooden spoon. Cashmere Technical are one win away from securing the title following a 5-0 thrashing of Christchurch United. Ferrymead Bays remained second after beating Selwyn 2-0, and Nomads overcame Nelson Suburbs 2-1. On Sunday, Northern suffered a 5-0 loss to Coastal Spirit in Christchurch. • Northern Hearts showed they have no intention of relinquishing their lead at the top of the Southern Men’s Premiership table. Hearts came from behind to beat Queens Park 2-1 in Timaru. Justin Byringiro opened the scoring for Queens Park after 13 minutes. Hearts equalised on 32 minutes when Kowin Hancock scored a first-time goal following a cross from the right, and Hancock turned provider when he crossed for Harrison Brokenshire to head home the winner on 50 minutes. The win put Hearts seven points clear with five games remaining. After last week’s morale-boosting draw with Mosgiel, Green Island took a much-changed side to Invercargill and lost 2-0 to Old Boys. Oliver Milne-Wahren and Florence Ederson scored second-half goals to give Old Boys the double over Green Island and move them to 15 points on the table. Green Island stay on five points with four games left in their season. They will still hope to erase the five-point gap to the second-bottom Dunedin City Royals, who suffered a 4-1 loss to Roslyn-Wakari. Hamish Keats gave the Royals the lead in the fourth minute but Roslyn held the advantage at halftime following a Ben William-Davies equaliser and a Nathan Wilkie goal right on the break. Any chance of a Royals comeback was quashed two minutes after the restart when Archie Potter made it 3-1, and the win was sealed with Hunter Hathaway’s 88th-minute goal. Northern leapfrogged University to fourth on the table after a comprehensive 6-2 victory at Logan Park. The students took a 16th minute lead through Luke Salisbury but by the time Hudson Smith scored University’s second goal in the 89th minute, Northern had scored five unanswered goals. Levi Julies, Fraser Anderson, Chawanuit Laothepphitak and Jaspar Schoenlebens (two) set up the victory, and Torsten Wilkinson added a sixth goal in added time. • The Dunedin City Royals’ chances of retaining their South Island Women’s League title are hanging by a thread following a 4-0 loss to Cashmere Technical. The loss means the Royals slip 12 points behind Cashmere, and with only four games remaining, it would take a collapse of Devon Loch magnitude for the Royals to claim the title. Otago University moved to within two points of the Royals following a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Roslyn with Keeley Osborne’s 16th-minute goal the difference.
