PREVIEW: Northern League strugglers in last day battle to avoid relegation

By David Larkin

Manurewa have given themselves hope of Northern League survival after their upset win against champions Auckland City ended their 13-game winless run under new head coach Dylan Burns.

Rewa beat the Oceania club champions 2-1 to give them a shot at clambering to safety when the final round of games goes ahead on Saturday.

Simply put, Manurewa need a better result than East Coast Bays and Melville United in the last round to ensure they return for the 2025 Northern League season.

The relegation process is out-of-the-ordinary this year because of the need to make room to include A-League club Auckland FC’s reserve team next year.

That means:

The bottom team (Hamilton Wanderers) is automatically relegated to the Lotto NRFL Men’s Championship.
The second bottom team (which could be Manurewa, East Coast Bays or Melville United) will drop down too.
The third bottom team (which could be West Coast Rangers, Manurewa, East Coast Bays or Melville United) will go into a two-legged play-off with Manukau United, runners-up in this year’s Championship.

Melville United survived another week as they recorded a third consecutive victory, a 2-0 win over Bays, who are now only one point above them on the table.

Bays are now in the relegation play-off position as Rewa and Rangers leapfrogged them after both sides claimed victories last weekend.

They’ll need to pick up some points in their final fixture at home against third-placed Birkenhead on Saturday if they are to secure their survival.

Rangers have all but mathematically secured their safety in the division after taking a crucial point at home against Western Springs.

The draw takes them three points above the relegation play-off position, and they’ll remain safe if both Rewa and Bays fail to win their matches this weekend, or if they come up with points from their home fixture against Tauranga City.

*Manurewa’s Eber Ramirez has scored 13 goals this season. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.*

While the title and four national league qualification spots are confirmed, second place through to fourth place is all yet to be locked in and will be hotly contested in the last round of league action.

Suburbs have a one-point lead in this battle for placings and can wrap up second place with a win over Auckland United this weekend.

Birkenhead and Springs are both one point away and have matches against lowly-ranked teams on Saturday.

Springs host Wanderers at Seddon Fields while Birkenhead play away against a Bays side desperate to survive in the league.

Auckland United claimed a narrow victory over Bay Olympic last weekend in what was somewhat of a dead rubber with nothing at stake for either club.

The Mount Roskill-based club’s match against Suburbs this weekend provides them with an opportunity to get their first win over a top-four side this season, having failed to do so on their previous seven attempts.

Olympic host Rewa on Saturday and could need a win in that match to defend their current position of sixth on the table, as Tauranga trail by a point.

They’ll also be looking for revenge as Rewa beat them in the away fixture earlier in the season 4-3, a late comeback proving not enough for Olympic on that occasion.

Tauranga have made sure of a second season in the league, as well as a mid-table finish, after an upset victory at home over Birkenhead last time out.

The win will come as a relief to many of their fans as a slump in form during the second half of the season, combined with a late resurgence from some lower-ranked teams, saw them slide down the table.

Their final fixture is an away trip to Rangers in a match that will likely decide seventh place on the table.

*Melville United head coach Jarrod Young (left) and assistant coach Aaron Folan. Their side plays for survival on Saturday. Photo: Regan Dewar / Phototek.*

Game of the week

Melville United are in the precarious position of holding the second relegation spot heading into the final round.

While only a point behind their two nearest rivals, they have a vastly inferior goal difference, and they have to play league champions Auckland City.

Almost certainly, it means Melville will need to take all three points against City.

The Hamilton side have enjoyed a recent winning streak, with three wins and 11 goals in their last three fixtures.

The late resurgence hasn’t been enough to see them escape the relegation zone, though, with teams around them also hitting some late-season form to keep above them.

Melville can hope City don’t name a full-strength starting line-up for Saturday’s do-or-die match, and want to rest a few players ahead of the National League which starts in late September.

The title holders lost last week, handing Manurewa their first win in almost four months.

Can Melville repeat the dose?

Player to watch

Melville United’s Jama Boss has made a big difference to his side’s recent success, being the only player in the league to score in each of the last three rounds, and driving his team to three consecutive victories while doubling their points tally for the season in the process.

The Somalian-born player is somewhat of a journeyman as he doesn’t often stay too long at any one club.

He’s represented Somalia at full international level.

What’s impressive is that he’s spent three different stints at both Hamilton clubs in the league, Wanderers and Melville.

Boss (30) recently played for Australian club St Albans but decided to come home for family reasons and returned to Melville midway through the season after another period at Wanderers.

The left winger could prove to be a huge factor in Saturday’s crunch match as he will try to spur on his side to clinch victory, and, potentially, survival in the league .

Bold prediction

I’m going to make a particularly bold prediction and say Melville can continue their good form and the league champions in Hamilton on Saturday to retain their spot in the league.

And I’ll also predict Eastern Suburbs will beat Auckland United to wrap up second place.

In the last round, I predicted Auckland United would bag a win, and Wanderers would get at least a draw against Suburbs. United beat Bat Olympic 3-2, and Wanderers managed a 0-0 draw with Suburbs.

Golden Boot

18 — Jake Mechell (Eastern Suburbs)
14 — Emiliano Tade (Western Springs), Monty Patterson (Birkenhead United)
13 — Eber Ramirez (Manurewa)
12 — Jonty Bidois (Tauranga City)
10 — Sam Philip (Birkenhead United), Dawson Straffon (West Coast Rangers, now Western Springs)
9 — Allan Pearce (West Coast Rangers), Liam Gillion (Auckland City), Sean Leadley (Manurewa, now Melville United), Ronaldo Munoz (Bay Olympic, now Hamilton Wanderers), Liam Molloy (Tauranga City)
8 — Ryan de Vries (Auckland City), Malcolm Young (East Coast Bays)
7 — Corban Piper (Birkenhead United), Josh Tollervey (Auckland United, now Miramar Rangers), Reid Drake (Western Springs), Derek Tieku (Hamilton Wanderers, now Auckland City), Jerson Lagos Giraldo (Manurewa, now Auckland City), Aston Hurd (Hamilton Wanderers)
6 — Ibrahim Nadir (Bay Olympic), Kofi Dwamena (West Coast Rangers), Daniel Atkinson (Auckland United), Oliver Fay (Auckland United)
5 — Jama Boss (Melville United), Regont Murati (Auckland City), Hideto Takahashi (Auckland United)