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Mosgiel 1, Spirit 0; May 7th
Spirit FC lost their
Footballsouth Premier League clash with Mosgiel 1-nil on Saturday but in
goalkeeper Oswaldo Rodriquez produced the outstanding Player-of-The-Day.
His performance following the conceding of a second minute penalty to the home
team, which was to remain the only goal of the game, and a yellow card for the
offence, was at times breathtaking.
And Ossie got close to the penalty shot to boot....
The game was played on a sodden ever-worsening pitch at Memorial Park in Mosgiel
and at times reached standards of skill that belied the conditions.
Murky it was, as Spirit's Kris Leatherby protects the ball
from Mosgiel scorer Jordan Swaney.
Notice former All-White Mike McGarry in the back ground tending to his
hammy....ouch
From the outset both teams played free flowing football as Mosgiel clung to its
slender lead and Spirit fought tooth and nail to reduce it.
Rodriquez supported a strong performance from the Spirit back-line trio of
Kieran van Loon, Stephen Black and Craig Ferguson with a series of brave saves
in the ever deteriorating conditions in his goal mouth area.
Kieran also got among the attackers as seen here when he
(5 maroon) tried to stir things up
among the Mosgiel defence at this Spirit corner.
A feature of the game, although Mosgiel players might think otherwise, was the
three second half goal-bound shots from their strikers that lost momentum in a
puddle two metres from the goal line and allowed the panther-like Rodriquez to
pounce on the ball and redistribute it to his colleagues.
This week's "Barry Pic" come courtesy of Otago journo Rab
Smith as he snapped the canny wee
Scotsman in traditional go-forward momentum.
Spirit’s low, 13 goals-against tally, which includes letting in 7 against
Technical, stands out among the teams in the lower reaches of the league,
however their goals-for tally of 6 highlights the striking problem they have.
Mark Pearson twice went close to
improving that issue when he hit the side netting with deft flick of the ball
from an almost impossible angle and then gave the Mosgiel players and supporters
a near heart-stopping moment when a fierce volley rebounded off the Mosgiel
upright late in the game with keeper Andrew James well beaten.
It's actually Matt Brooks's (20) header heading toward
Ossie as Mosgiel's Tall-Timber Tom Bekkers
leaps in support.
Both Brooks and Bekkers caused havoc at set piece time but Ossie had the wood on
them.
Both are 5 points behind leader Dunedin Technical.
AMP South Old Boys completed their preparation for next week’s Chatham Cup clash with Roslyn Wakari in Dunedin when they accounted for close rival Eyeview Queens Park 2-1 in the feature Premier men’s Donald Gray cup clash.
A late goal from Frank O’Boyle broke the 1-all deadlock created from goals by Elliott Dawson, Old Boys, and Domnik Katvick, Queens Park.
The win gives Old Boys a five point cushion on the points table from joint second placed Queens Park and EWL Southland Waihopai.
The Phil Williams coached Waihopai unit which is awaiting the outcome of the enquiry into the much publicised game last week outplayed Waikiwi Amcal Pharmacy Southend United at Bain Park by 4 goals to 1.
In-form striker Tim Maelstrom netted a hat trick while Danny Leung scored the remaining goal for Waihopai. Nic Barclay responded for Southend United.
At Gore, the home team Gore Wanderers grabbed their first competition point of the season with a well deserved 2-all draw in their clash with Computer Supplyline Thistle.
Greg Baker, Gore, and Richie Sutherland, Thistle, traded goals for the afternoon with 2 each.
Queenstown
Rovers are making no race of the Women’s premier competition as they accounted
for
Club Southland Western 17-nil in Queenstown yesterday.
It was the resort team’s fifth win from 5 games and their 86-4 goals for and
against tally highlights their domination.
Sinderellas Southend United are challenging in second place on the points table
with their
10-3 win yesterday over Southbuild ITM Winton featuring 6 goals from star
striker Tove Crosswell.
Malloch McClean Waihopai are the big improvers this season under the guidance of
coach Carl Lambert
and endorsed that with Theresa Rhein, 6 goals, leading the way in their 12-1 win
over Thistle, for whom
Hayley Munro replied.
