Caversham 5, Spirit 0; July 17th

Its Oswaldo Rodriquez tribute pic day today.
While there's no doubt he's often been the master of his own destiny the guy has kept what have been some
embarrassing scores even less so with a series of great reflex saves at a time when Southland footy is not
graced with a bevy of talented keepers. Saturday was no exception.
For all you budding keepers notice in each pic he has his eye firmly focussed on the ball...Go Ossie


Spirit FC remains in sixth position on the Footballsouth Premier League table following their 5-nil loss to Caversham at the Cale ground in Dunedin on Saturday.

Spirit’s afternoon did not start well when injured player coach Barry Gardiner who was in doubt for the game finally withdrew from the playing squad.

The ten team competition is being dominated by Caversham and Dunedin Technical with Spirit’s conquerors on Saturday favoured to take out their tenth title in a stellar eleven season run.

Such is Caversham’s form at the moment that a common response when relaying the 5-nil score line to people has been “that’s not too bad; your lads must have played well”.

And for forty-five minutes Spirit did play well on Saturday going to the half time break trailing by 1-nil and having shared the possession stakes with its illustrious opponent.

The goal Spirit conceded came when an aimless-cross from Caversham’s left flank took the slightest deflection from the head of Harley Rodeka to take it away from Spirit keeper Oswaldo Rodriquez who seemed to have the ball well in his sights.

However the real Caversham came out of the dressing room for the second half and from the five minute mark when Robbie Deeley hammered home a penalty kick to score the first of his 2 goals the contest was over.

Your on your own in goal when there's a penalty taken and this pic endorses that.
Ossie is well beaten by Robbie Deeley's effort.

The Spirit players ran and contested their hearts out but between giving possession away and simply having it wrenched from them by the live wire Caversham unit they were in defensive mode for the remainder of the game which was played almost entirely in their half of the field.

The home team blitzed Spirit in a seven minute spell in the half with goals by Deeley again at the 23 minute mark, from a shot that found its way untouched through a sea of legs, Rodeka then grabbed his second when he wrestled away from the attentions of the Spirit defence to beat Rodriquez from close range and Seamus Ryder who chimed in when he completed a swift 2-on-1 interplay with a colleague that took the score to 5-nil and completed the afternoon’s scoring.

Spirit was reduced to ten players late in the game when Morgan McCarrison somewhat harshly received a straight red card for a heat-of-the-moment comment directed at a Referees decision more than at the ref himself.

Caversham gets its biggest test of the season next Saturday when it plays Ferrymead Bays in Christchurch in what is the South Island zone final of the Chatham Cup.

Caversham's Terry (El-Tel) Boylan (red) and Spirit's Mark Caldow
had time for some bonding  during Cavy's 5-zip win over Spirit in
their Footballsouth Premier game at the Cale in Dunedin.
Believe me on this one, 30 seconds earlier it was anything but bonding.

In a somewhat bizarre encounter in Gore the home team Gore Wanderers held a deserved 1-nil lead over Southend United against the odds in their Southland Men’s Premier game before finally succumbing to a 5-3 loss.

Andrew Ridden was the hero of the day for Southend as he scored a hat trick of goals all from the penalty spot for his team while Nic Barclay netted Southend’s other 2 goals.

(Here's one from my memory bank...it's been done before)
I once reffed a Queens Park-Waihopai Donald Gray game on the old Surrey Park 4 ground where I
awarded Park 3 penalties, much to the disgust of Waihopai, and
Park's Gavin Goudie netted all three....

The home team’s plight was not helped when it was reduced to ten players with a sending off in the second half.
Greg Baker, Euan McLeod and Norris Chand netted the goals for the home team.

Eyeview Queens Park kept their title challenge alive when they convincingly beat Invercargill Brewery Waihopai 3-nil on the turf at Turnbull Thompson Park.

Goals from Ashley Hughes (Penalty), Pavel Floroiu and Stu Kent ensured the Park unit kept pace with leader Old Boys who sat out the bye-day.

Queenstown Rovers snatched the Ottley weekly challenge trophy away from Malloch McClean Riverton
in the penultimate game of the senior women’s Premier League when they staved off a second half
come back by the Riverton visitors to take out the game 3-2 in Queenstown yesterday.

It was Riverton’s first loss of the season.

The host team built up a 3-nil lead through goals from Sahara MacDonald, Susan Hogue and Zoë Albon
before having to withstand the visitors second half fight back in which Jessica Mallon netted both
Riverton’s goals.

Riverton retains the Premier competition lead from Southend 2nd and Queenstown 3rd.

Goals from Trish Harris and Megan Colling for Thistle gave their team its first point of the season
when they drew their game with EWL Southland Waihopai 2-2.
Vanessa Hamlin scored a brace for Waihopai. 

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