The regular season of the ISPS Handa Premiership wraps up this weekend with the final round of fixtures, find out what’s in store with the official preview of Round 18.

Eastern Suburbs vs Canterbury United
Bill McKinlay Park, Auckland
Saturday 17 March, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #ESvCU

Referee: C Mills
Assistant Referees: E Cook, B Norman
Fourth Official: A Wilson

Squads

Eastern Suburbs: 1. Lewis Caunter (GK), 6. Jordan Vale, 8. Moses Dyer, 9. Max Mata, 12. Hayden Johns, 13. Kingsley Sinclair, 14. Leon van den Hoven, 17. Michael Built, 18. Tristan Prattley, 20. Derek Tieku, 24. Charles Spragg, 29. Matt Palmer, 31. Thomas McCloy, 33. James Dunn (GK), 36. Kelvin Kalua
Coach: Danny Hay

Canterbury United Dragons: 1. Coey Turipa (GK), 2. Dan Terris, 3. Aaron Spain, 4. Harrison Bowman, 5. Tom Schwarz, 6. Gary Ogilvie, 9. James Pendrigh, 10. Futa Nakamura, 11. Juan Chang Urrea, 13. Lewis Gordon, 15. Andreas Wilson, 19. Francis de Vries, 23. Sebastian Schacht, 24. Liam Gerathy, 30. Seth Clark, 31. Jacob Richards
Coach: Willy Gerdsen

Lowdown

This is undoubtedly the highlight of the round as three points could earn the victor a home semi-final and maybe even qualification for the OFC Champions League. One of New Zealand’s spots in the Pacific’s leading club competition goes to the ISPS Handa Premiership minor premiers – all but confirmed as being Auckland City – but, if that same team goes on to win the grand final, the other spot will go to the side that finished second in the league. Aside from the benefit of home advantage in the semi-finals, securing a berth in the top two could therefore be of huge significance so there is plenty riding on the outcome at Bill McKinlay Park on Saturday. Canterbury United and Eastern Suburbs have almost identical records with their goal difference the same and Canterbury just one point ahead. Suburbs have a score to settle with Canterbury as the Dragons are one of only three sides to have beaten them all season. Neither team will be at full strength as both are missing talismanic characters, Tim Payne for Suburbs and Stephen Hoyle for Canterbury.

Quotes

Dan Terris (Canterbury United defender): “If we want to finish second then it’s a must-win game but we don’t want to put that pressure on ourselves, we’ll just go out and try to get the three points. If the other result falls for us and we win the game then that’s great. It would be lovely to get a home semi-final and that’s still something we can do but it’s not totally in our hands so we just have to focus on winning the game.”

Hawke’s Bay United vs Southern United
Bluewater Stadium, Napier
Saturday 17 March, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #HBvSU

Referee: H McCabe
Assistant Referees: G Sheehan, T Pedley
Fourth Official: A Riley

Squads

Hawke’s Bay United: 1. Ruben Parker (GK), 5. Bill Robertson, 6. Alex Palezevic, 7. Wesley Cain, 8. Sam St De Croix, 12. Ben Lack, 14. Gavin Hoy, 15. Jim Hoyle, 16. Tinashe Marowa, 17. Jordan Lamb, 19. Birhanu Taye, 20. Danny Wilson, 21. Bjorn Christensen, 22. Jorge Akers, 24. Karanjit Mandair, 26. Mackenzie Waite (GK)
Coach: Brett Angell

Southern United: 1. Liam Little (GK), 2. Conor O’Keeffe, 3. Tom Connor, 4. Kristian Gibson, 5. Stephen Last, 6. Danny Ledwith, 7. Omar Guardiola, 8. Jared Grove, 9. Garbhan Coughlan, 11. Tim McLennan, 14. Andy Ridden, 16. Tom Stevens (GK), 18. Nick Treadwell, 20. Alex Ridsdale, 23. Ben Wade, 24. Alex Cox
Coach: Paul O’Reilly

Lowdown

These sides have had contrasting seasons with Hawke’s Bay hugely disappointed to miss out on the play-offs for the first time in six years while Southern have improved dramatically, rising from a last-place finish in the previous campaign to a top-six berth this time. A win here could even see them sign off in fifth, which would be their highest placing since 2010 (when they played under the banner of Otago United). Given the impressive progress, you would think coach Paul O’Reilly would be delighted but his post-match comments have suggested he feels his side are capable of even more and he will certainly be targeting a play-off berth next season. With the top four having opened up a sizeable gap on the rest of the competition, the bottom half has almost been a league within a league this season and Southern’s aim will be to finish at the top of the also-rans. Hawke’s Bay earned their first win in four rounds with a 2-1 success over Waitakere United last weekend and will look to finish with back-to-back triumphs. Youngster Alex Cox could make his national league debut for Southern.

Quotes

Brett Angell (Hawke’s Bay United coach): “If we manage to pick up all three points, then we can move above them in the table and obviously we want to finish as best as we possibly can. For me, Southern are probably one of the most aggressive teams in the league – they certainly don’t leave any stone unturned and will give you everything they’ve got. They’ve won more games than they’ve previously done and achieved more than they have for a number of years. We need to get the ball down and impose our style of play on them.”

Conor O’Keeffe (Southern United midfielder): “The target was definitely to finish in the top six and Paul [O’Reilly] was drilling that into us at the start of the season. We’re going into it with all to play for because we can even finish fifth. But Hawke’s Bay are a good side so it’s not done and dusted – we’ll have to be right at it to get a result and finish in the top five. I think the squad this year is very resilient. There were situations last year where we might have gone a goal or two down and all of a sudden it was game over whereas this year the games have been a lot closer and our performances have been a lot better.”

Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Auckland City
QBE Stadium, Auckland
Saturday 17 March, 4.45pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #WPvAC

Referee: A Maharaj
Assistant Referees: M Batoor, A Lamberth
Fourth Official: A-M Keighley

Squads

Wellington Phoenix Reserves: 1. Keegan Smith (GK), 3. Jacob Williams, 4. Liam Moore, 8. Ollie Whyte, 11. Sam Sutton, 15. James McGarry, 17. Monty Patterson, 19. Sam Philip, 21. Owen Smith, 23. Ben Waine, 40. Oliver Sail (GK), 41. Zac Jones (GK), 46. Logan Rogerson, 50. Kurtis Mogg, 51. Noah Tipene-Clegg, 77. Oscar Spragg
Interim Coach: Steve Coleman

Auckland City: 1. Enaut Zubikarai (GK), 3. Takuya Iwata, 5. Angel Berlanga, 6. Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, 7. Cameron Howieson, 8. Albert Riera, 9. Darren White, 11. Fabrizio Tavano, 14. Cole Peverley, 15. Daniel Morgan, 17. Reid Drake, 19. Micah Lea’alafa, 20. Emiliano Tade, 24. Conor Tracey (GK), 26. Callum McCowatt, 27. Dalton Wilkins
Coach: Ramon Tribulietx

Lowdown

Auckland City are set to write another notable chapter in their highly-successful history with a positive result here. If they can secure at least a point, the Navy Blues would wrap up the minor premiership title and secure qualification for next season’s OFC Champions League. It would be their fifth consecutive minor title and a ninth overall, underlining their status as by far the most consistently well-performed team since the competition’s formation in 2004. Standing in the way of that are a ‘Wee Nix’ team under the fresh tutelage of interim coach Steve Coleman, who watched his side push Tasman all the way last weekend in a 3-2 loss. The most difficult aspect of their assignment against City will be somehow finding a way to breach a defence that has remarkably kept 10 consecutive clean sheets in all competitions, last conceding a goal in mid-January. The Phoenix will draw confidence from the fact they have risen to the occasion against Auckland in the past though, beating them twice since joining the league in 2014. But they have not being enjoying a good run of results, picking up just one win in their last five outings.

Quotes

Ramon Tribulietx (Auckland City coach): “The Phoenix bring that youth and energy so it will be a difficult game, they’ll want to impress. We have to understand they’ll be a handful and respect the fact that these guys are talented. They can catch you off guard on one of those days and create a big problem for us, so we need to make sure we are switched on and we compete as we have competed so far.”

Steve Coleman (Wellington Phoenix coach): “We’re expecting a really tough game obviously. The amount of possession they have and the threat they have going forward are going to cause problems and I read this week that they haven’t conceded a goal in over 900 minutes as well. So there will be issues at both ends for us and we’re just going to try to finish the season on a high.”

Waitakere United vs Tasman United
Trusts Arena, Auckland
Sunday 18 March, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #WUvTU

Referee: A-M Keighley
Assistant Referees: S Merriman, L Agnew
Fourth Official: N Waldron

Squads

Waitakere United: 28. Liam Anderson (GK), 5. Julyan Collett, 6. Jordan Hearn, 7. Yuki Ohtsuka, 8. Andre Estay, 9. Ryan Cain, 10. Eder Franchini Pasten, 14. David Parkinson, 15. Rory Turner, 17. Jake Butler, 20. Rossi Nkoy, 23. Dylan Manickum, 24. Nicolas Zambrano, 26. Josh Dijkstra (GK), 32. Charlie Thomas, 36. Christian Gray
Coach: Chris Milicich

Tasman United: 20. Alex Britton (GK), 2. Luca Perico, 4. Cameron Lindsay, 8. Paul Ifill, 9. Maksym Kowal, 10. Ben Stanley, 11. Jordan Yong, 12. Rick Muir, 16. Daniel Allan, 17. Callan Elliot, 18. Mat Todd-Smith, 21. Yousif Ali, 23. Sam Ayers, 30. Tullamore MacFadyen, 80. Lyle Matthysen
Coach: Davor Tavich

Lowdown

Waitakere’s season of woe slumped to another level in the previous round with a 2-1 loss at home to Hawke’s Bay and they will be desperate to prove they haven’t lost their touch completely by finishing on a victorious note. Despite not winning a match since a 4-2 success over Hamilton Wanderers in mid-December, coach Chris Milicich has not been disappointed with the effort put in by his charges, instead bemoaning their failure to turn solid performances into results. He feels the main reason for that is their lack of a killer instinct in front of goal and the statistics back that up as they have scored more than one goal in a match only twice since the turn of the year. Tasman United have shown themselves to be the best team outside of the play-off spots and they will be disappointed if they don’t make that official by holding off the challenge of Southern for fifth place. Much of their success has been built on the evergreen talents of Paul Ifill, who has provided over a third of their 31 goals and could even claim the competition’s golden boot with a hat-trick on Sunday. It could well be Ifill’s last match at this level as the 38-year-old has indicated he is unlikely to feature again next season.

Quotes

Paul Ifill (Tasman United forward): “I think it’s probably time for me to go back to being a family man, they’ve had to follow me around with football for a number of years. I’ve actually had quite a good season on a personal note and I’ve been quite pleased with how it’s gone. But you don’t want to go on too long, so maybe it is time.”

Team Wellington vs Hamilton Wanderers
David Farrington Park, Wellington
Sunday 18 March, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #TWvHW

Referee: P Linney
Assistant Referees: H Tutbury, A Davenport
Fourth Official: J Rowbury

Squads

Team Wellington: 1.Scott Basalaj (GK), 2. Justin Gulley, 3. Scott Hilliar, 4. Mario Ilich, 5. Liam Wood, 6. Taylor Schrijvers, 7. Eric Molloy, 10. Nati Hailemariam, 11. Mario Barcia, 12. Andy Bevin, 13. Roy Kayara, 14. Jack-Henry Sinclair, 16. Angus Kilkolly, 18. Sekou Diane, 20. Daniel Mulholland, 22. Marcel Kampman (GK)
Coach: Jose Figueira

Hamilton Wanderers: 1. David Masters (GK), 2. Kazuhiro Obata, 3. Joe Nottage, 4. David Samson, 5. Sam O’Regan, 8. Steffano Riley, 10. Armin Pasagic, 11. Jordan Shaw, 12. Raheem Hunter, 13. Tommy Semmy, 15. Alex Frank, 16. Hamish Smylie, 17. Xavier Pratt, 18. Alexis Varela, 21. Liam Hayes, 22. Will Stephen
Coach: Ricki Herbert

Lowdown

Team Wellington have looked likely to claim a top-two placing all season but could still fall at the final hurdle as Canterbury and Eastern Suburbs, who are playing each other this weekend, are both snapping at their heels. If they do get leap-frogged by one of those two, the defending champions would then be denied the chance to play their semi-final at home, meaning motivation won’t be a problem as Hamilton Wanderers come to town. Aside from the importance of collecting the points, a loss for Wellington would be a real confidence-sapper ahead of the play-offs as Hamilton are rooted to the bottom of the table and have picked up only one win all season. The foremost priority of the visitors will be to make themselves hard to break down as they have leaked far too many goals throughout the campaign and are coming up against one of the competition’s highest scorers. Interestingly, Wellington’s goals have been shared around with none of their players in golden boot contention and Jack-Henry Sinclair top scoring with just six.

Quotes

Jose Figueira (Team Wellington coach): “I’m pretty pleased but as a coach you’re always wanting to find that perfection. I think when you get to the play-offs the top four teams are there on merit so they’re going to be tough games. You want that home semi-final to have that advantage of playing in familiar surroundings. Whoever it is we come up against, we’ll know we have to be right at the top of our game. We’re injury-free and everyone is feeling fresh – we’re at a point where we just want to play.”