Happy
New Year!
The biggest football news over the Christmas break was the
appointment of a solicitors firm, Buckingham & Greenacre, as
coaches of the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League.
But
never mind that, the #SSPremiership is back! I'm excited, and so is
Tasman United's Paul Ifill – he was so keen to get back to training
that he turned up at Wellington airport for his flight to Nelson a
day early!
This week's preview is slightly different with a brief look back at how each teams
season has gone so far as well
==========================================================
SOUTHERN
UNITED v HAMILTON WANDERERS
Saturday
7th January, Peter Johnstone Park, Mosgiel, Dunedin, 2pm
Southern
United (10th, 4pts) C+, improving but could do better
In
their 12 years in the league, Southern United (previously Otago United), have only finished
outside the bottom 2 on 3 occasions and they quickly assumed their
traditional position at the foot of the table. However Irish coach
Paul O'Reilly has called on 6 of his countrymen and reports have been
of improved performances. They even managed their first win in 374
days when they beat Tasman United 3-1 in Invercargill in the last
round before the break.
Best
Game : The 3-1 win over Tasman United
The
Big Question : Why are they still in the league?
Prediction
for rest of season : Might manage a couple of draws and maybe
another win but that's about it
Hamilton
Wanderers (8th, 12pts) B-, need more consistency
One
of the league newbie's, made up of mainly Northern League players
from Wanderers & Chatham Cup winners Birkenhead United. Have had a
couple of big wins, including 4-0 over Eastern Suburbs, but have
struggled for consistency. Bright spot was their youth side winning
the National Youth League at the first time of asking.
Best
Game : The epic 6-4 victory over Hawke's Bay United
The
Big Question : Will they manage
to get 2 wins in a row
Prediction
for rest of season : Will get a
couple more surprise results but their inconsistency will see them
finish around 8th
Match
Pick : Southern United 1 Hamilton Wanderers 3
==========================================================
TEAM WELLINGTON v AUCKLAND CITY
Sunday
8th January, Dave Farrington Park, Wellington, 2pm
 |
| The "grandstand" at Dave Farrington Park The JourneyFan |
Team
Wellington (1st, 17pts) A, title defence going to plan
With
no pre season games, the defending champions were slow out of the
starting gate and found themselves last after 2 rounds, but since then
they have been unbeaten and are the league's top scorers with 21
goals.
Best
Game : The 5-2 demolition of Wanderers at Newtown Park, Wanderers
were lucky they stopped at 5!
The
Big Question : Will Ben Harris
manage to get through the season without picking up a red card?
Prediction
for rest of season : Will
definitely be in a top 4 spot and in the finals come the end of the
season
Auckland
City (2nd, 16pts) B, need to concentrate more
For
most teams being 2nd at the halfway point of the league, 1
point behind the leader, with 1 game in hand and having only conceded
2 goals would be an A+ performance. But Auckland City aren't most
teams, distracted by the Club World Cup in Japan (where they lost 2-1
to Japanese Champions and eventual runners up Kashima Antlers) they
slipped up and lost 2 games for the first time since the 2014-15
season.
Best
Game : The 4-0 thrashing of
Team Wellington in the re-match of last season's grand final
The
Big Question : Had I written
this last week it would have been how long will Ramon be staying as he had been linked with the Bignix job, but
now that's sorted the question is -
Will they get their trophy back?
Prediction
for rest of season : Without
the distraction of the Club World Cup they will hit form and again be
the team to beat
Match
Fact : Auckland City haven't
won at Team Wellington
since November 2014
Match
Pick : Team Wellington 1 Auckland City 4
==========================================================
EASTERN
SUBURBS v WELLINGTON PHOENIX U20
Sunday
8th January, Bill McKinlay Park, Auckland, 2pm
 |
| Eastern Suburbs Sam Burfoot makes a yellow card challenge The JourneyFan |
Eastern
Suburbs (3rd, 16pts) A-, room for improvement
The
big spending newcomers, although this is their 2nd spell
in the National League and they did win it in 1971, have had a solid
if unspectacular 1st half of the season. They haven't been
outside the top 4 all season, which in such a close league is
impressive, especially when there is a feeling that they haven't
quite hit their peak potential yet.
Best
Game : Still to come
The
Big Question : Will coach
Malcolm McPherson be able to keep his big players ego's in check long
enough to secure the title?
Prediction
for rest of season : Will
not drop outside the top 4, but will come up short in the finals
Wellington
Phoenix U20 (4th,
14pts) A+, excellent
The
kids are alright!!!
At last, the Weenix are actually competitive, the kids are a year older, have all bulked up a bit, don't get pushed of the ball like they used to, the sports science work the Phoenix are doing seems to be paying off.
They have notched
up wins over both of last seasons grand finalists and showed great
character to snatch a 2-2 draw with Waitakere United, when they were
2-0 down in the 88th
minute.
Best
Game : The 2-1 derby win over
Team Wellington
The
Big Question : Can they
maintain their progress?
Prediction
for rest of season : Top
4 finish, although they can't qualify for the finals as they are the
reserve team of A-League Wellington Phoenix
Match
Pick : Eastern
Suburbs 2 Wellington Phoenix 2
==========================================================
WAITAKERE
UNITED v HAWKE'S BAY UNITED
Sunday
8th January, Trusts Arena, Auckland, 2pm
Waitakere
United (5th, 14pts) B, on the right track
The
5 times champions were not really rated at the beginning of the
season, but after a mixed start, Chris Millich's team seem to be coming
right. Could be a dark horse to make the finals.
Best
Game : Their 1-0 win over
Auckland City in the Super City Derby, their 1st
win in the last 10 meetings of the clubs
The
Big Question : Will the
sleeping giant finally awake?
Prediction
for rest of season : The
results will still be mixed but potentially a 5th
place finish, with the Weenix above them allowing them into the
finals
Hawke's
Bay United (7th,
13pts) C, disappointing so far
They
have the 2nd
most prolific strike force in the league with 18 goals but have
struggled with consistency and a leaky defence. They have made the
finals in the previous 2 season's but on this season's form will
struggle to do so again this time
Best
Game : From a neutral point of
view it was the 6-4 loss to Wanderers, but for Hawke's Bay United it
is probably their 3-1 win over Waitakere United
The
Big Question : Will the
forwards be able to score more goals than their defence will concede?
Prediction
for rest of season : More
of the same, high scoring games where they end up on the losing side
and finish about where they are now
Match
Fact :
In their 15 previous visits to Waitakere, Hawke's Bay
have recorded just the solitary win, 2-1 in 2010-11
Match
Pick :Waitakere United 3 Hawke's Bay United 2
TASMAN
UNITED v CANTERBURY UNITED
Sunday
8th January, Trafalgar Park, Nelson, 4.35pm on SKY TV
Tasman
United (9th, 5pts) C, shows potential but failing to
deliver
Tasman
have played some nice football and apart from a 4-0 loss to Auckland,
their losses have only been by 1 or 2 goals, although their 24 goals conceded are the most of any in the league. Paul Ifill has been
moved to center back to try and stop this.
Best
Game : 3-2 away to Wanderers.
The only win they have recorded
so far
The
Big Question : Can they avoid
the wooden spoon?
Prediction
for rest of season : Could
possibly pick up 1 or 2 wins but will be battling with Southern
United to avoid the wooden spoon
Canterbury
United (6th,13pts)
B- not setting the world on fire
They were the last team to be beaten in the league, but despite this they only have 3
wins and lack consistency and that ability to kill games off.
Best
Game : 3-3 draw at Team
Wellington, coming back to grab a draw with a late goal after being
down to 10 men for the second half.
The
Big Question : Will Aaron
Clapham score more than 1 goal from open play?
The leagues joint
top scorer has 8 goals, 6 from the penalty spot and 1 from a free
kick!
Prediction
for rest of season : More
of the same, hard to beat but won't threaten a top 4 finish
Match
Pick : Tasman
United 2 Canterbury United 1
==========================================================
Comments
Post a Comment