By Luke Austin
With the champions, National League qualifiers and relegated clubs all confirmed, little rides on the final round of Central League fixtures.
Wellington Olympic, Western Suburbs and Napier City Rovers will all want to keep the momentum going as they look ahead to the National League campaign which starts in late September. North Wellington host the opening game of the round at Alex Moore Park, where they take on the champions Olympic.
North Wellington look set to finish 9th for the second season in a row unless they can pull off an unlikely upset against a dominant Olympic side.
The Greeks, playing their 1000th game, ensured they added the O’Brien Shield to their league title this season by beating Petone at Wakefield Park last weekend.
Club captain and central defender Ben Mata scored a hat-trick, taking his overall goal tally to 61 for the club, meaning he is now 9th on the club’s goalscoring charts.
Miramar Rangers face Sop Out in a meeting between two clubs who will be extremely disappointed with their performances last weekend.
Miramar were unable to beat Waterside Karori, a result which ended their hopes of qualifying for the National League and Stop Out’s relegation was confirmed with a home loss to Island Bay United.
Petone take on Karori with both sides keen to end inconsistent seasons on a positive note.
Seventh-placed Petone have failed to reach the lofty heights of last season, whereas Karori were in with an outside chance of pushing for the top three before a poor second half of the season saw them drop out of contention.
A win or draw on Saturday for the Wharfies would see them leapfrog the Phoenix Reserves and finish the season in 5th place.
Game of the week
With Olympic in unstoppable form this season, Western Suburbs and Napier City Rovers have been the best of the rest in the Central League.
Wests sit in second and remain the only team to have beaten Olympic in any competition this season.
They hold a three-point lead over Napier and will look forward to featuring in the National League after missing out in recent seasons.
Napier suffered a slight wobble after losing goalscorer Oscar Faulds — he’s headed to Denmark in pursuit of a pro’ contract — but rediscovered their form to comfortably beat North Wellington and secure their spot in the National League with a game to spare.
A win by three or more goals would be enough for Napier to finish the season as runners-up.
Player to watch
Ben Stanley (24) had big shoes to fill when he was named to lead the line for Napier City Rovers in their all-important clash with North Wellington, but he rose to the challenge with two goals in a man-of-the-match performance.
The English forward has barely featured in the Central League this season due to his classification as a foreign player but with Faulds’ departure from the side, Stanley may find himself as one of the four overseas players to be included in matchday squads as the Central League season finishes and the National League begins.
Napier fans will hope Stanley can continue to step up and lead their side from the front.
Golden Boot
21 — Oscar Faulds (Napier City Rovers)
15 — Lucas Meek (Western Suburbs)
14 — Hamish Watson (Wellington Olympic)
13 — Sam Mason-Smith (Miramar Rangers)
11 — Jack O’Connor (Petone)
10 — Tomas Alvarado (Waterside Karori)
9 — Martin Bueno (Miramar Rangers)
8 — Connor Gaul (Stop Out), Connor Wilson (Western Suburbs), Ben Mata (Wellington Olympic)
7 — Jesse Randall (Wellington Olympic), Isa Prins (Wellington Olympic),
6 — Tor Davenport Petersen (Wellington Olympic), Nicolas Bobadilla (Miramar Rangers),
5 — Miles Green (Western Suburbs), Luke Supyk (Wellington Phoenix), Stefan Ashby (Island Bay United, now Wellington Olympic), Josh Tollervey (Miramar Rangers), Henry Sinclair (North Wellington), Sam Lack (Napier City Rovers), Daniel Mackowem (Wellington Phoenix), Xavier Coleman (Stop Out), Tsar Mitchener (Island Bay United), Sam Staunton (North Wellington), Eddie Wilkinson (Wellington Olympic)
Fixtures
Games to be played on Saturday August 31, 2024
North Wellington v Wellington Olympic
Alex Moore Park, Johnsonville, 2pm
Miramar Rangers v Stop Out
David Farrington Park, Miramar, 2.30pm
Western Suburbs v Napier City Rovers
Endeavour Park, Whitby, 2.30pm
Petone v Waterside Karori
Petone Memorial Park, Petone, 3pm
Luke Austin
Luke Austin is a football fan and volunteer, who has played for Island Bay, and follows the Central League.
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