With winter sport in full swing, reporter Jaime Cunningham looks at the match-ups taking place across Christchurch this weekend.
Rugby (Saturday)
Burnside go into their clash against Marist Albion after a confidence-boosting 35-13 win over last season’s semi-finalists High School Old Boys.
It was Burnside’s first win in almost two years after the team was plagued by large defeats in the last Metro Premier season. Their last victory was over Sydenham 20-18 in the 2021 semi-final.
High School Old Boys host Linwood at Bob Deans (Hagley Park) after their 22-17 home defeat to Burnside.
Burnside head coach Willie Brown said the win was important for the players, the club, the old boys and their supporters.
“Some boys hadn’t won a game since 2021,” he said.
“We had 10 players make their debut in the game. So our biggest focus has been working on our connections not just within the team but in the whole club.”
Now Burnside take on Marist Albion at Edgar Macintosh Park. Marist Albion will be confident following their strong 35-13 win over title-holders Sydenham.
Said Brown: “Now that we’ve got the pressure of winning off our backs we can just play some good rugby.”
Sydenham take on Sumner who go into round 2 on the back of a last minute loss to Linwood in the DCL Shield match.
Sumner head coach Gareth D’Almeida said the loss was tough but he was confident Sumner can start their season better than last year’s nine straight losses.
“You shouldn’t really lose a game in the last 10 minutes,” he said. “But Linwood were semi-finalists last year, so to go down in the last play of the game shows we’re a better team than we were.”
Lincoln University and Shirley also suffered tight losses in round 1. Both will play on their home grounds this weekend for the first time this season.
Belfast travel to Lincoln to take on the Rams after a 24-20 loss to Shirley. A strong Lincoln University side went down to New Brighton by a point (27-26) in their opening game.
Christchurch take on Shirley at Burwood Park after suffering the largest loss of the first round, going down 59-29 to University of Canterbury. University will take on New Brighton at home.
In a rematch of the women’s premiership final, Christchurch host University of Canterbury at Christchurch Park.
Both teams go into round 2 after convincing wins. University pulled away from Lincoln University last weekend to claim a 41-14 victory.
Christchurch had a tougher game against Linwood, but still came away with a 27-16 win.
High School Old Boys take on Lincoln University following their 111-0 thrashing of a young Prebbleton side in the first round.
Prebbleton host Linwood at home and are hoping to get their first points on the board.
Football
Christchurch United are the team to beat in the early stages of the Southern League.
They face Nomads tomorrow night following their 2-0 victory over Selwyn United which put them two points clear at the top of the table.
Their battle with Selwyn United game looked to be heading towards a scoreless draw until Christchurch United’s Daniel Maclennan and Abdulbaset Khalifa both scored within two minutes of each other.
Although Selwyn United did not come away with any points, the Foster Park-based side were the first team this season to stop Christchurch United scoring a third.
Cashmere Technical are now two points behind leader Christchurch United who have a perfect 12 points from four games.
Nomads are at the bottom of the ladder after they were unable to pick up their first win against FC Twenty 11.
It will be a challenge for Nomads tomorrow night against Christchurch United. Nomads went down 8-0 to the current league leaders last season and then narrowly lost to them again 1-0 three months later.
Coastal Spirit will aim to maintain the form they showed in their draw against Cashmere Technical when they take on FC Twenty 11 on Saturday.
FC Twenty 11 got their first win against Nomads. The tight game saw an Adrian Paez penalty in the 69th-minute and a second goal in the second minute of added time seal the win for the Avonhead Park-based team.
Ferrymead Bays take on Selwyn United on Saturday with both teams coming off close losses in round 4.
The two sides currently sit in the top five of the league. But both will want to get closer to the prized top two spots to qualify for this year’s National League.
There are no women’s South Island qualifying league games this weekend.
Rugby league
The unbeaten Linwood Keas and Hornby Panthers will face off in a premiership grand-final rematch on Saturday.
Both sides are coming off convincing round 3 wins and one of them are set to lose their first match of the season. Defending champs Linwood will host Hornby at Linwood Park.
Linwood go into round 4 on the back of a dominant second half against Halswell Hornets, where they turned a 24-12 lead into a 54-22 victory at Nga Puna Wai.
The Keas dotted down 11 tries throughout the game, with Penetito Ilalio and Kyle Amer both scoring two each.
Hornby had a comfortable 36-18 win over the struggling Riccarton Knights, with Vaione Siaki scoring two of the Panthers seven tries.
Riccarton will be searching for their first win of the season when they play the Eastern Eagles at Wainoni Park on Saturday.
The Eagles will be looking to continue their momentum into round 4 after their first win of the season over the Northern Bulldogs, 18-10.
The Eagles scored three tries to the host’s one in the first half, but the sides could only manage a try apiece in the second half.
The Bulldogs host the Hornets at Kaiapoi’s Murphy Park on Saturday, with both looking for their second win of the season.
Eastern centre Peneli Peneli, Hornby winger Seamus Stack and Linwood fullback Jerome Taefu are the top try scorers after three rounds with four each.
Hockey (Saturday)
The second round of the Canterbury Premier League is likely to feature plenty of tight games and some large losses in both competitions.
Marist’s women’s side go into their match against HSOB-Burnside with their pre-season form still intact and a first round win over Southern, which they completely dominated 13-0.
Anna Wilcocks scored an impressive four goals for Marist, with Cara Morrison grabbing three, Emilia Surridge (2), Kate Davies (2), Maddie Wotton (1) and Scarlett O’Halloran (1).
HSOB-Burnside are yet to play a game after a bye in the last round.
Southern will have to be at their best to beat last year’s Hinemoa Cup winners Carlton Redcliffs who took out a convincing 7-1 win against Avon last weekend.
After going down in a close 3-2 loss to Harewood in the opening round, Hornby play Avon while Harewood have a bye.
In the first round of the men’s competition, HSOB-Burnside will play Marist after dominating University of Canterbury at Nga Puna Wai 10-1 last weekend.
It was a welcome return to club hockey for Black Sticks player David Brydon, while young HSOB-Burnside recruit Tim Seeto scored two goals, Moss Jackson (2), Campbell Mortimer (2), and one each for Jack Gilbert, George Roberts-Hubers, Charlie Swan and Stephen Aitkinson.
Harewood, Marist and Carlton Redcliffs all came away with wins last week.
The FIH Pro League starts in Christchurch this weekend, so all Canterbury Premier League fixtures have been moved to the morning.
Weekend match-ups
- Rugby (all games 2.45pm Saturday)
Premier men: High School Old Boys’ v Linwood, Bob Deans; Sydenham v Sumner, Sydenham Park; University of Canterbury v New Brighton, Ilam Fields; Marist Albion v Burnside, Edgar Macintosh Park; Shirley v Christchurch, Burwood Park; Lincoln University v Belfast, Lincoln University.
Premier women: Lincoln University v High School Old Boys’, Lincoln University (1pm); Christchurch v University of Canterbury, Christchurch Park; Prebbleton v Linwood, Prebbleton Domain.
- Football
Southern League: Christchurch United v Nomads, Friday 7pm, United Sports Centre; Cashmere Technical v Green Island, Saturday 1.30pm, Garrick Memorial Park; Ferrymead Bays v Selwyn United, Saturday 2.45pm, Ferrymead Park; FC Twenty 11 v Coastal Spirit, Saturday 2.45pm, Avonhead Park; Nelson Suburbs v Dunedin City Royals, Sunday noon, Saxton Fields.
- Rugby league (all games 2.45pm Saturday)
Eastern Eagles v Riccarton Knights, Wainoni Park; Northern Bulldogs v Halswell Hornets, Murphy Park (Kaiapoi); Linwood Keas v Hornby Panthers, Linwood Park.
- Hockey (all games Saturday)
Men: Marist v HSOB-Burnside, Marist Park 10am; Harewood v University, Nunweek Park 1 10am; Avon v Hornby, Nunweek Park 2 10am; Southern v Carlton Redcliffs, Nga Puna Wai 2 11.30am.
Women: Southern v Carlton Redcliffs, Nga Puna Wai 2 10am; Marist v HSOB-Burnside, Marist Park 11.30am; Avon v Hornby, Nunweek Park 2 11.30am. Bye: Harewood.
