Royals now equal-top in women’s league

Hayley Julian.  PHOTOS: PETER MCINTOSH
Hayley Julian. PHOTOS: PETER MCINTOSH
Georgia Kennedy.
Georgia Kennedy.
The Dunedin City Royals have joined Christchurch powerhouse Cashmere Technical at the top of the Women’s South Island League table.

The Royals beat Otago University 4-0 at Tahuna Park on Saturday, while Cashmere overcame Roslyn Wakari 10-0.

The Royals started strongly against University, who were missing key players due to the semester break, and tried to break down their defence.

Despite having numerous chances, the Royals were unable to finish due to tenacious defending and good goalkeeping from Hayley Julian.

It took 37 minutes before Royals defender Toni Power headed it in from a corner.

Five minutes later, Georgia Kennedy finished a nice cross from Bee Park to make it 2-0.

Hannah Mackay-Wright made it 3-0 with a powerful header from a corner on 51 minutes and Raegen Potter followed when her shot floated into the top left corner.

In the men’s ODT Southern premiership, Queens Park made the long trip to Timaru and settled for a 2-2 draw against Northern Hearts.

Queens Park took an early lead when a break down the right wing allowed Zac Owen-Gear to run on to the ball and score.

Hearts responded with an equaliser when they won the ball high up the pitch and Kev McLaughlin played in Bailey Chambers to slot home.

Queens Park were awarded a free kick in the 57th minute, Anton Fitzgerald stricking the ball with venom, giving Hearts goalkeeper Hamish Fikken no chance.

It looked as if Queens Park would claim all three points until the final minute, when Hearts won a free kick in a prime position and Chambers curled it past keeper Jaden Castle for the equaliser.

Despite the point, Hearts drop one place, as Green Island beat Roslyn Wakari at Sunnyvale 3-2.

Roslyn led after four minutes through Giovanni Pribaz.

But the home side led at the break thanks to goals from Philip Yeardley and Connor Evans.

Roslyn equalised soon after the restart through Cameron McFarlane, but Green Island secured their second win of the season when Sam Mitchell scored the winner on 69 minutes.

Northern had a 2-0 victory over Queenstown with goals in either half from Roy Hibbert and Al Julanda Al Mawali.

Mosgiel were made to work very hard to overcome a resilient Royals for a 4-1 win.

Rhys Quarrell darted through to open the scoring for the Plainsmen in the third minute.

The Royals came back and deserved their 31st-minute equaliser through Lucas Townsend.

Mosgiel imposed themselves in the second half and Quarrell restored the lead with 13 minutes to go.

Mosgiel’s Luke Clissold curled an exquisite effort past keeper Shaun Barclay in injury time and Quarrell claimed his hat-trick with virtually the last kick of the game in the 95th minute.

Wanaka waited for the return fixture against Otago University to exact its revenge when they reclaimed the Blair Davidson Trophy. Wanaka made sure they re-gained the trophy thanks to devastating spells either side of halftime.

Daniel Brum’s opener on 34 minutes was followed by Ethan Arratia’s goal just before halftime.

Ben Sippola and Brum got the second half goals before the hour mark.

— Neville Watson