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Otago University may have ended the Dunedin Royals’ chances of winning the women’s South Island league.
The students scored two quick-fire goals to claim a 2-1 victory at Logan Park.
University nearly scored right on halftime. However the deadlock was broken by Royals defender Hannah McKay-Wright in the 52nd minute following a corner.
The equaliser came when Georgia Kennedy, with the ball at her feet, ran at the Royals back line from halfway, weaving past defenders to slot the equaliser on 61 minutes.
The students took advantage and found the winner four minutes later when Jemma McCormick, from a long way out, spotted goal keeper Tessa Simms off her line.
She scored what would be the winner, which was also her first goal of season.
The game got feisty as the Royals battled to get back into the match. However, the students held out to claim their first win in 10 years over the Royals in the league.
The win lifted University to 11 points in fourth place on the table, while the Royals remain in second, tied with Universities of Canterbury on 16 points.
Cashmere Technical leads on 25 points.
Yesterday Roslyn Wakari claimed a 2-0 win over NW United, Morgan MacCormick and Sienna Neill scoring for the hosts at Logan Park.
In the men’s Southern League, the Dunedin City Royals were undone 2-0 by two second-half goals to Nomads United in Christchurch.
After an even first half, Nomads took the lead in the 65th minute following a period of sustained possession.
They went down the right-hand wing and a ball over the top left Royals keeper Alex Boomer having to come out to claim possession. But it was flicked over him and from close range Flynn Holdem tapped home.
Nomads made sure of victory when they pounced on a defensive error five minutes before the end, regaining possession to square the ball into the penalty box for Angus McIntyre to side foot home.
Wānaka remain bottom of the table following their 4-0 defeat at home against Christchurch United.
The game was in the balance until late in the game when United scored three further goals in the last 14 minutes.
Wānaka’s home match against fellow cellar-dwellers Selwyn in a fortnight looks likely to be the relegation decider.
Northern were not able to stop the juggernaut that is Cashmere Tech, who are romping away at the top of the table.
Garbhan Coughlan scored a brace and claimed his 23rd goal of the season as Cashmere won 3-0.
In the ODT Southern Premiership Northern Hearts suffered their first loss of the season when Blake Fairbairn scored a late winner for University six minutes into time added on.
Mosgiel were unable to take advantage of Hearts’ slip-up as they, too, suffered a loss going down 1-0 to Northern.
Mosgiel’s Carter West had a shot that cannoned off the crossbar with the resultant rebound falling to Northern where they broke away and Fraser Anderson rolled in the winner on the 48th minute.
That enabled Queens Park to close the gap on the table, and are now on a seven-match unbeaten streak following a 3-2 victory against Old Boys in the Invercargill Derby.
Two goals inside the first 10 minutes to Rodrigo Schmidt de Camargo and Piers Van Miltenburg set Queens Park on the way. Will Fleming pulled one back on 17 minutes and added another with an 84th minute penalty. However Schmidt de Camargo had already scored Park’s third goal on the hour mark.
The celebrations would have gone deep into the night at Sunnyvale with Green Island claiming their first win of the season, beating the Royals 2-0 with goals in the first half to Callum Gillies and Phil Yeardley. — Neville Watson