Decisive weekend of football in ISPS Handa Premiership

The most important football league of New Zealand is going to have a very important matchweek. Just three matches are remaining for each of the teams in contention – just one out of the ten sides has no chances to qualify for the semifinals: the bottom ranked Canterbury United.

The 3rd placed side Waitakere United will have a hard clash against the Napier-based side Hawke’s Bay United in Auckland. Waitakere wants to confirm their spot at the semifinals and a win is instrumental for the team captained by Sam Burfoot in the process.

The remaing two clashes of Waitakere are against Auckland City and Team Wellington – the top-two teams in the table so far -, so their best chance to seal their spot is winning Hawke’s Bay United at home. Even a win can not guarantee the team in the decisive stage of the league, but it will them really close.

Hawke’s Bay, if they want to keep their chances alive in the process, they will need to beat Waitakere away from home, hoping Ahinga Selemani and his teammates can have another very good day.

Team Wellington will travel to Dunedin to take on Southern United; Team Welly is already qualified for the semifinals, but they will come certaintly hungry for an away win over a good side of Southern.

The Dunedin-based side is in another very different situation than their opponents: they will desperate for a home-win to maintan their chances of top-four alive in the process. Southern team know they will need to look after of players as João Moreira and Jack-Henry Sinclair if they want to get a much needed win. The likes of Garbhan Coughlan and Cody Brook will need to be in very good form to help their side in a very hard challenge.

Hamilton Wanderers will have another chance to get closer Eastern Suburbs in the process as they take on Tasman United at Porritt Stadium. Tasman is the same situation of the Wanderers – both sides have 19 points in the process, three behind the fourth-placed Eastern Suburbs – and the two teams will be playing for a win this Sunday.

Derek Tieku and Tommy Semmy will need to be back to their goalscoring form after losing their previous match in the run. Wanderers does know they really need a win against Tasman, but their opponents are ready to make the home crowd advatange not enough for the Hamilton-based side.

Tasman will expect another important win, despite their bad performance against Phoenix Reserves in their last match in the league. The likes of Jean-Philippe Saïko and Jesse Randall can be instrumental for the team coached by Jess Ibrom to record a much needed over Hamilton.

Canterbury United is already out of contention for a top-four spot, but the last placed team in the process know they need to make something to let their fans proud. They will be taking on Phoenix Reserves at English Park – a good chance to improve their bad records in the season so far.

Phoenix Reserves recorded an important win over Tasman United thanks a hattrick of Ben Waine. Phoenix can not qualify for the semifinals as they are a reserve squad of Wellington Phoenix, but they will certainly want to upset the big teams in the process. They still have 17 points in the league, a away-win over a shaken Canterbury can keep their chances alive to be placed inside the top-four.

Auckland City is already there in the semifinals, but they are still to confirm their spot as premiers of the league – the best ranked team during the regular season -, the Navy Blues are just three points upfront the second-placed Team Wellington.

After a succesful campaign in Tahiti at OFC Champions League, the team coached by José Figueira is ready for the Gridlock derby against the current champions Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm Reserve. Despite the good moment, Auckland recorded their first defeat since 2017 in the national league in their previous match in the season against Tasman United – when they were defeated by 2-1.

Eastern Suburbs will hope the top goalscorers of the season so far, Martin Bueno, can score more goals in this decisive clash as their team is just three points away the 5th placed side in the process – having their semifinal spot in danger in case they can not avoid a defeat for the powerful side of Auckland City.

You can check the full results, standings and the top scorers of the 19/20 season of ISPS Handa Premiership by visiting the league session in our website.