The top three sides in the Central League are likely to enhance their prospects of qualifying for the Men’s National League in this weekend’s round 14.
Defending champions Wellington Olympic and nearest rivals Western Suburbs and Naper City Rovers all play sides well adrift of them in terms of league points.
Olympic meet winless Stop Out in a repeat of last weekend’s Chatham Cup fixture which resulted in an 8-0 walkover for the Greeks.
Western Suburbs travel to Waterside Karori, while Napier City Rovers will host a Wellington Phoenix reserves side that’s already played 16 games in a bid to alleviate pressure when the club’s players are tied up on national age group duty.
The team under pressure to perform this weekend is Miramar Rangers who travel to Petone.
Though fourth on the table, Rangers need to find a way into the top three if they want to qualify for the Men’s National League because the Phoenix reserves are guaranteed a place in the national competition under current rules.
Game to watch
Friday night’s match between North Wellington and Island Bay United has plenty at stake.
The team that loses will wake up on Saturday, second bottom on the table.
North Wellington go into the match at Alex Moore Park with the better recent form, having picked up a 3-1 win against Stop Out and a 3-3 draw with Waterside Karori in the past month.
Their losses have been by relatively small margins, and they’ve been managing to find the net, with 11 of their 18 league goals coming in their last five outings.
Promoted club Island Bay have lost their last four league games, scoring only twice and conceding 16 goals. Their last win was a 4-3 win against Stop Out on May 18.
But form can count for little when the teams know there’s more to play for than a single result.
Player to watch
Gianni Bouzoukis has hit the ground running since re-joining Wellington Olympic in mid-June.
In four games, he’s hit the net five times, including a second-half hat-trick in Olympic’s 8-0 rout of Stop Out in last weekend’s Chatham Cup.
He’s now scored 109 goals for Olympic in 134 first team appearances.
Bouzouki, the co-winner of New Zealand’s Men’s National League Golden Boot for the past two seasons, moved to Sydney National Premier League side NWS Spirit late last year. He returned to Wellington ahead of the June 30 transfer deadline, and looks likely to keep scoring.
This weekend, Olympic host winless Stop Out in the league, giving Bouzoukis ample opportunity to add to his goal tally.
Golden Boot
18 — Oscar Faulds (Napier City Rovers)
15 — Lucas Meek (Western Suburbs)
10 — Hamish Watson (Wellington Olympic)
9 — Jack O’Connor (Petone)
7— Tomas Alvarado (Waterside Karori), Jesse Randall (Wellington Olympic), Sam Mason-Smith (Miramar Rangers)
6 — Tor Davenport Petersen (Wellington Olympic)
5 — Miles Green (Western Suburbs), Nicolas Bobadilla (Miramar Rangers), Luke Supyk (Wellington Phoenix), Martin Bueno (Miramar Rangers)
Fixtures
Games to be played on Friday July 12, 2024
North Wellington v Island Bay United
Alex Moore Park, Johnsonville, 7.15pm
Games to be played on Saturday July 13, 2024
Waterside Karori v Western Suburbs
Karori Park, Karori, 12.30pm
Petone v Miramar Rangers
Petone Memorial Park, Petone, 3pm
Wellington Olympic v Stop Out
Wakefield Park, Island Bay, 3.45pm
Games to be played on Sunday July 14, 2024
Napier City Rovers v Wellington Phoenix Reserves
Bluewater Stadium, Napier, 2pm
Luke Austin
Luke Austin is a Wellington-based football fan and volunteer, who plays for Island Bay, and follows the Central League.
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