Exciting matches in the third round of ISPS Handa Premiership

The New Zealand football top-tier third matchweek will have some very exciting matches as the Wel Classico – Team Wellington vs Wellington Phoenix Reservers – and a very interesting clash between Hamilton Wanderers and Auckland City at John Kerkhof Park, in Cambrigde.

After a very hard match in the last weekend between the two rivals Team Wellington and Auckland City, both sides are hoping to recover from the draw they had and keep running into the top places in the table. Coach Jose Figueira said to New Zealand Football it is really really early to make predictions in the season and the team need to focus on each challenge they will be having.

Hamilton Wanderers bounced back from their harsh defeat in the season opener against Team Wellington with a convincing 3-0 win against the current title holders Eastern Suburbs. Jake Butler, Tommy Semmy and Derek Tieku scored the goals of the team in their victory. Auckland City fought hard to find an equalizer against Team Wellington through the new signing Logan Rogerson and will really need to grab a good result to keep well in the run when they travel to Cambridge.

The current leader of the league, the young and surprising Waitakere United, will go back to Seddon Fields to face Canterbury United. Both sides won their matches last week and are expecting a good result. Waitakere expects another good performance from Alex Connor-McLean that scored a brace in their win against Tasman United. Canterbury won Southern United in Chirstchurch with a late goal from their number 10 Reece Dalton that will not be playing this match. The Dragons deposit their hopes on their captain Tom Scharwz and the veteran midfielder Aaron Clapham to get all points in their trip to Auckland.

Hawke’s Bay United conceded three goals in five minutes in the final moments of their last match against Wellington Phoenix Reservers – but it was not enough to complete the stun since Dylan Sacramento scored a hat-trick and Ahinga Selemani netted once for their side to win by 4-3. Despite their first win the season, there is a red alert for HBU for suffering a lot in the final minutes of the clash. Tasman United is still to score in the competition and already suffered six goals – the side from Nelson is at the bottom of the standings and they really need a good result to recover in the table. Tasman recently signed the defender Cory Brown that has experience in US College system and hope he can be decisive for the team based in Nelson. The strikers Jama Boss and Jean-Philippe Saiko can also be instrumental to Tasman recovery.

After winning by 4-0 in their first match of the season, Southern United could not hold their 1-0 lead against Canterbury United and suffered a comeback – losing by 2-1. Getting back to Dunedin, Southern will look to their key players Joel Stevens and Garbhan Coughlan to face Eastern Suburbs. The Lilywhites suffered a harsh defeat against Hamilton Wanderers after winning in the first round and will see their key striker Martin Bueno looking for his first goal of the season in Dunedin.

The Wel Classico has certainly Team Wellington as the favourites for the derby. The young side of Wellington Phoenix is still to secure a point after losing to Waitakere United and Hawkes’s Bay. Team Wellington playing at home stadium David Farrington Park will be counting with the prolific goalscorer Hamish Watson that already scored three times in the league including one well taken penalty kick in the previous match against rivals Auckland City.

The Wellington clash will be the telecasted match of the week – SkySport will be the telecaster of the match in the Sunday at 2pm NZT.