Programme Round 21 CONTENTS
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Programme Round 21 CONTENTS Lotto NRFL 2015 3 Lotto NRFL Premier Preview 4 Lotto NRFL Women’s Premier Preview 5 Lotto NRFL Division 1 Preview 6 Lotto NRFL Division 2 Preview 7 Lotto NRFL Premier Squad Lists 6 Lotto NRFL Women’s Premier Squad Lists 8 Lotto NRFL Division 1 Squad Lists 10 Lotto NRFL Division 2 Squad Lists 12 Lotto NRFL Premier Tables 14 Lotto NRFL Division Tables 15 Lotto NRFL Premier Golden Boot 16 Lotto NRFL Division Golden Boot 17 Lotto NRFL Premier Team Progress 18 Lotto NRFL Division Team Progress 19 Lotto NRFL 2015 Welcome This weekend marks the end of the road for some sides but for others there is still all to play for as the Lotto NRFL enters a crucial period. Two sides in the Women’s Premier, Glenfield Rovers and Three Kings United, are wrapping up their campaigns on Sunday and will be looking to end on a high while Claudelands Rovers can take another step towards the title with a win over Eastern Suburbs. With no ASB Chatham Cup matches to steal anyone’s thunder, the sole focus of local football followers returns to the men’s NRFL action on Saturday and there are a host of vital fixtures in store. The meeting between Hamilton Wanderers and Three Kings is the highlight of the Premier League round as there is so much riding on the outcome for both sides. Wanderers must win to keep the pressure on leaders Eastern Suburbs while Three Kings – plunged deep into relegation trouble after losing points due to a player eligibility ruling this week – are just as desperate for a victory. It’s a similar story in Division One where title-chasing North Shore United meet struggling Takapuna on Sunday while the visit of promotion hopefuls Fencibles United to title favourites Papakura City is the most eye-catching encounter of Division Two. In the programme this week, we preview these games and all others, as well as featuring photos from Phototek of a pair of recent matches. In focus were Eastern Suburbs’ 10-0 win over Fencibles in the Women’s Premier and Papakura’s 2-1 triumph against Papatoetoe in Division Two. As always, we also have all the up-to-date tables, team progress graphs, golden boot charts and squads so there is a wealth of info at your fingertips! Our Lotto NRFL social media platforms continue to be the place to go for all score updates, results, goal details and other news – be sure to tag us @LottoNRFL with your updates from the sideline! Good luck for your game! All photos by Phototek Lotto NRFL Gallery available at: www.phototek.co.nz/aff_picture_gallery.html Social @LottoNRFL Lotto NRFL Governing Federations Lotto NRFL Premier Preview Round 21 East Coast Bays vs Birkenhead United Bay City Park | Saturday 15 August | Kick-off: 2.45pm | Referee: Chris Kerr Assistant Referees: Dmitriy Sabitov, Martin Huang By the standards Birkenhead have set in recent seasons, this has been a disappointing campaign and they have vs plenty of work to do to secure a third successive runners-up placing. East Coast Bays’ fall from grace has been even steeper with the 2013 champions finishing mid-table last season and spending most of this year in the lower half. Both sides therefore have plenty to prove in the final weeks and a victory in this northern derby would be a good place to start. Central United vs Melville United Kiwitea Street | Saturday 15 August | Kick-off: 2.45pm | Referee: Martin Neale Assistant Referees: Hayden Tutbury, Jeremy Ferguson Central suffered a major blow in being knocked out of the ASB Chatham Cup last weekend by Birkenhead but vs the flipside is that Jose Figueira and his charges are now free to concentrate fully on coming home strongly in the league. They will be heavily favoured to win here but Melville’s chances of staying up have been done a world of good by the amendment of Three Kings’ earlier results so they will be desperate to take advantage of that by claiming at least a point. Glenfield Rovers vs Waitakere City McFetridge Park | Saturday 15 August | Kick-off: 2.45pm | Referee: Mark Owens Assistant Referees: Tony Wall, James Ashford Alarmingly for the McFetridge Park faithful, defending champions Glenfield are now sixth on the table and have vs played at least one game more than all the sides above them. Given the current situation, coach Danny Donegan will be pleased to be at home against the league’s strugglers and will be seeking a dominant performance to spark a late surge back up the ladder. Waitakere appear to be playing only for pride now and motivating his troops will be player-coach Jake Butler’s major task. Bay Olympic vs Eastern Suburbs Olympic Park | Saturday 15 August | Kick-off: 2.45pm | Referee: Mark Fisher Assistant Referees: Simon Lount, Michael Dickason Suburbs joined Melville in being the main beneficiaries of the Three Kings player ineligibility ruling and are now nine vs points clear at the top with a game in hand. They have also booked a place in the Chatham Cup semi-finals so, if they can finish the job in both competitions, this would be a very memorable campaign. Bay Olympic were on the receiving end of a shock result in the previous round – somehow losing 11-1 at Springs – and need to prove their character by bouncing back here. Hamilton Wanderers vs Three Kings United Porritt Stadium | Saturday 15 August | Kick-off: 2.45pm | Referee: Campbell-Kirk Waugh Assistant Referees: Nadia Browning, Paul Shakes Wanderers found themselves further behind in the title race this week without taking the field when Eastern vs Suburbs’ earlier loss to Three Kings was overturned and they now have a mountain to climb to lift the trophy. All they can do is win their remaining matches and hope title favourites Suburbs slip up so three points are a must here. Three Kings have just gone through some of the worst few days in their history and will look to turn some of that frustration into a positive performance. Western Springs vs Onehunga Sports Seddon Fields | Saturday 15 August | Kick-off: 5.00pm | Referee: Calvin Berg Assistant Referees: Carl Watkins, Steven Black Sports are far better off than Springs on the ladder but have reason to approach this match with trepidation after vs hearing of how their opponent tore apart Bay Olympic. Lightning as rare as that 11-goal rampage can surely not strike twice but the prospect of suffering the same fate as the Bay will be at the back of the Onehunga players’ minds nonetheless. Sports showed what they are capable of by beating title-chasing Wanderers away last weekend and are now just a point off second spot. 4 | Programme 2015 50 Years of Local Pride Lotto NRFL Women’s Premier Preview Round 18 Fencibles United vs Lynn-Avon United William Green Domain | Friday 14 August | Kick-off: 7:00pm | Referee: Aiden Moffatt Assistant Referees: Brandon Day, Caleb Moffatt Another confidence-draining chapter was written in Fencibles’ nightmare season last Friday with a 10-0 loss to vs Eastern Suburbs and they have now somehow conceded nearly 80 goals in just 16 matches. With their relegation virtually confirmed – they can still catch Papatoetoe but have a vastly inferior goal difference – the main aim will be to restore some pride. There is certainly a chance of doing that against Lynn-Avon, who have won just three times themselves. Forrest Hill-Milford United vs Norwest United Becroft Park | Sunday 16 August | Kick-off: 1:00pm | Referee: Wendy McNeely Assistant Referees: Matthew Trent, Robin van Niekerk After losing what basically amounted to a title decider against Claudelands last weekend, Forrest Hill’s chances vs of successfully defending their crown are now slim. They will be praying Eastern Suburbs can do them a favour against the champions-in-waiting but must be sure to secure the right result themselves – otherwise Claudelands could be lifting the trophy with a round to spare. Forrest Hill swatted aside Norwest 7-0 last time though so an upset appears unlikely. Eastern Suburbs vs Claudelands Rovers Madills Farm | Sunday 16 August | Kick-off: 1:00pm | Referee: Johanna O’Connor Assistant Referees: Neil Tobin, Alan Tobin With Claudelands almost guaranteed to pick up maximum points in the final round against Fencibles, this clash vs with Suburbs is the one the likes of Forrest Hill and Western Springs will be hoping the title favourites slip up in. Paul Marshall’s side is clearly the most talented of those in the bottom half and they do have some recent history of making life difficult for Claudelands, who could only manage a narrow 2-1 win last time around. Glenfield Rovers vs Papatoetoe McFetridge Park | Sunday 16 August | Kick-off: 1:00pm | Referee: Aiden Moffatt Assistant Referees: Fernando Karam, Thomas Lee Glenfield’s title hopes now appear dead and buried but a win here would at least give them a mathematical vs chance if results elsewhere go their way. It seems likely they will also miss out on the top two, which will come as a disappointment to coach Andrew Clay. The new man in charge would have hoped to build on last season’s runners-up placing so dropping further down the table will not be seen as a pleasing outcome. Papatoetoe could do with at least a point to pull further clear of bottom spot. Western Springs vs Three Kings United Seddon Fields | Sunday 16 August | Kick-off: 1:00pm | Referee: Morgan Archer Assistant Referees: Hilary Osborne, Rhys Kimber Springs are dark horses for the title but the only way they will even have a chance of claiming their first vs championship since 2008 is to win both remaining matches.