The Dunedin City Royals recovered from a disastrous start to pip Mosgiel 4-3 in an entertaining Southern Premiership game. The Chatham Cup semifinals gave the Royals had an opportunity to give some of their top squad players game time at a cold and wet Logan Park. Despite playing five players who took part in the first team’s game the previous week, the Royals conceded inside 15 seconds when Matt Adye pounced on a defensive error. The Royals pulled level when Jonty Hill equalised on 10 minutes, and went ahead two minutes later. They were awarded a fortuitous free kick after Ashton Hodson completely mistimed his kick and caught a Mosgiel player in the head. While Mosgiel were setting up the wall, Hamish Keats struck a low shot past keeper Dan Robinson. Harvey Stephens’ quick feet helped him weave through the Royals defence to equalise for Mosgiel on 25 minutes. The Royals regained the lead when Hill rifled in a penalty, and Mosgiel failed to capitalise on their own subsequent penalty, Royals keeper Will Laws diving to his right to keep it out. Mosgiel did equalise late in the first half when Stephens beat the offside trap to level it at 3-3. The second half did not create as many chances, though Jaxon Maze came close to nudging Mosgiel in front when his angled drive cannoned off the crossbar. The Royals claimed the win in the last minute when Hodson reacted first to the loose ball following another free kick. Northern Hearts and Northern played out a 3-3 thriller. Hearts came out firing and were 2-0 up inside the opening 18 minutes, Kowin Hancock and Caleb Rollo both scoring from outside the box. Northern regathered and responded immediately with two goals in five minutes to Aiden Kelly and Fraser Anderson to level it at 2-2 after 26 minutes. Northern took the lead in the second half through Chawanwit Laothepphitak, and they maintained their advantage for over 30 minutes. However, with two minutes left, Bailey Chambers cut the ball back to Hancock, who headed it through to Harrison Brokenshire, and he struck the ball on the half-volley into the bottom right to seal the draw. The point helped Hearts move nine points clear atop the table, and they now require only one more point from their remaining three games to be crowned champions. Green Island claimed their second win of the season, beating Queens Park 1-0. A rejuvenated Ryan Walker slotted his third goal in four games in the 78th minute. Despite the win, Green Island remain five points behind the Royals at the foot of the table. Old Boys remain in sixth place, one point ahead of Roslyn-Wakari, following their 0-0 draw at Ellis Park. • The Dunedin City Royals thumped Nelson Suburbs 6-1 in the South Island women’s league game at Logan Park on Saturday. Sylvie Haig claimed a hat-trick for the Royals. Georgia Keen opened the scoring in the ninth minute while Ruby Burgess also scored in injury time in the first half. An 80th-minute own goal rounded out the scoring to keep the Royals in second spot with two games remaining. Nelson Suburbs faced an unusual weekend doubleheader and stayed in Dunedin to play a catch-up game against University on Sunday. Jemma McCormick (two) and Madison Kay scored the goals to lead University to a 3-0 win.
