Match week 10 of the ISPS Handa Premiership takes place this weekend, check out what’s in store with the official preview.

Hawke’s Bay United vs Eastern Suburbs
Bluewater Stadium, Napier
Sunday 16 December, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #HBvES

Referee: C Mills
Assistant Referees: E Cook, T Pedley
Fourth Official: G Sheehan

Squads

Hawke’s Bay United: 1. Mackenzie Waite (GK), 2. Anders Eriksson, 3. Liam Schofield, 4. Cameron Lindsay, 5. Dilan Nanayakkara, 7. Cory Chettleburgh, 9. Sam Mason-Smith, 10. Sho Goto, 11. Maxime Oliveri, 12. Ben Lack, 14. Birhanu Taye, 17. Jordan Lamb, 21. Bjorn Christensen, 22. Karan Mandair, 23. Jorge Akers, 26. Alexander Britton (GK)
Coach: Brett Angell

Eastern Suburbs: 1. Andrew Withers (GK), 3. Kelvin Kalua, 4. Nando Pijnaker, 6. Harrison Edge, 7. Tim Payne, 8. Owen Parker-Price, 9. Callum McCowatt, 10. Andre de Jong, 12. Kingsley Sinclair, 14. Elijah Just, 15. Dalton Wilkins, 16. Dominic Wooldridge, 17. Michael Built, 21. Justin Biega (GK), 23. Campbell Strong, 24. Jack Duncan
Coach: Danny Hay

Lowdown

Hawke’s Bay United’s recent upturn in fortunes has now turned into a fully-fledged run of form with last weekend’s win over Southern United their third in a row and a fourth game without defeat. Promisingly for Brett Angell, they have been ruthless in front of goal during that period, scoring 13 times. But they have also kept only one clean sheet, conceding two goals in each of the other three games. So they will need to tighten up defensively this weekend as Eastern Suburbs have only been beaten twice and swept aside the Bay with ease in the previous meeting between the sides, running out 5-0 winners on the opening day.

Quotes

Danny Hay (Eastern Suburbs coach): “We’re disappointed after dropping points last week against Tasman so it’s a big game for us, we want to finish on a really high note heading into the break. But we know it’s going to be very difficult down there, Brett Angell has assembled a really strong squad and they’ve been on a great run of results recently. Brett’s got them really well organised and they’re scoring goals at the moment so we’re going to have to be at the top of our game.”

Southern United vs Canterbury United Dragons
Tahuna Park, Dunedin (please note this differs from the venue originally scheduled)
Sunday 16 December, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #SUvCU

Referee: A Riley
Assistant Referees: A Verolino, D Waugh
Fourth Official: C Berg

Squads

Southern United: 1. Liam Little (GK), 2. Conor O’Keeffe, 3. Jared Grove, 4. Stephen Last, 5. Erik Panzer, 6. Danny Ledwith, 8. Tony Whitehead, 9. Garbhan Coughlan, 10. Abdulla Al-Kalisy, 11. Benjamin Wade, 12. Ben Deeley, 13. Rory Findlay, 14. Sam Pickering, 15. Blake Weston, 16. Stewart Catto (GK), 18. Markus Fjortoft
Coach: Paul O’Reilly

Canterbury United Dragons: 1. Edward Ashton (GK), 2. Dan Terris, 3. Aaron Spain, 5. Tom Schwarz, 6. Gary Ogilvie, 7. George King, 8. Luke Tongue, 9. Maksym Kowal, 10. Adam Thurston, 11. James Pendrigh, 14. Sean Liddicoat, 15. Andreas Wilson, 16. Cory Mitchell, 17. Stephen Hoyle, 21. Seth Clark, 22. Conor Tracey (GK)
Coach: Willy Gerdsen

Lowdown

This South Island derby is always fiercely contested and will be particularly so on this occasion as both sides are in real need of the points. They will each view a failure to reach the play-offs as a major disappointment and, with Auckland City, Team Wellington and Eastern Suburbs all appearing odds on to claim one of the four spots, there is not a lot of leeway for the chasing pack to work with. Canterbury are only a point off that all-important fourth place but will be leap-frogged by Southern if they fail to win so a repeat of their 1-0 win earlier in the season would do nicely. Southern have struggled for consistency so far and their mini undefeated run of three games came to an end last week at Hawke’s Bay. The hosts will also have to contend with new surroundings after the match was switched to Tahuna Park due to an unplayable pitch at the Caledonian Ground.

Quotes

Tom Schwarz (Canterbury United): "The southern derby is always a big game, they will want to make amends for the first game but we will be looking to get the same sort of result. We've done our research and we know what they're about. We know their strengths and weaknesses and hopefully we can use what we know to our advantage."

Tasman United vs Auckland City
Trafalgar Park, Nelson
Sunday 16 December, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #TUvAC

Referee: CK Kawana-Waugh
Assistant Referees: M Love, C Gruschow
Fourth Official: R Malcolm

Squads

Tasman United: 1. Nick Stanton (GK), 2. Sam Ayers, 3. Edward Sillars, 5. Fox Slotemaker, 7. Corey Larsen, 8. Matt Tod-Smith, 9. Cristian Benitez Cuero, 10. Kiernan Hughes-Mason, 12. Ahmed Othman, 13. James McClay, 14. Ryan Worrall, 15. Max Winterton, 18. Ben Kiore, 19. Chester Gaskin, 21. Jordan Yong, 23. Keegan Smith (GK)
Coach: Andy Hedge

Auckland City: 1. Enaut Zubikarai (GK), 2. Hayden McHenery, 4. Mario Bilen, 5. Angel Berlanga, 6. Brian Kaltak, 7. Cameron Howieson, 9. Javier Lopez, 10. Micah Lea’alafa, 14. Jordan Vale, 15. Daniel Morgan, 16. Yousif Ali, 17. Reid Drake, 18. Ruben Parker (GK), 19. David Browne. 20. Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi, 23. Alfie Rogers
Coach: Ramon Tribulietx

Lowdown

Tasman finally earned a positive result against a side above them last weekend by taking a point from the home of third-placed Eastern Suburbs. But they are still well off mid-table and are at risk of being cut adrift, along with fellow strugglers the Wellington Phoenix. A visit by the defending champions is therefore the last thing they need and does not shape as the ideal fixture to send Tasman off into the Christmas break with high spirits. The scoreless stalemate against Suburbs proved they can compete against the top sides in the competition but they were rarely an attacking threat in that game and are likely to need a more positive approach against an Auckland City side with a proud defensive record. David Browne is in line to make his long-awaited comeback for Auckland.

Quotes

Ramon Tribulietx (Auckland City coach): “We can learn a lot of lessons from the Eastern Suburbs and Tasman United game. Tasman were very similar in approach at Kiwitea Street but perhaps their block wasn’t set as deep as it was last week. We’ve played these sort of games many times before and if don’t create chances you can get into a spiral of frustration. They’re at home, playing the league leaders and they have nothing to lose which makes them a difficult opponent.”

Waitakere United vs Hamilton Wanderers
The Trusts Arena, Auckland
Sunday 16 December, 4.35pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #WUvHW
Live on SKY Sport

Referee: N Waldron
Assistant Referees: L Agnew, R Al Rabea
Fourth Official: A Wilson

Squads

Waitakere United: 1. Danyon Drake (GK), 2. Luke Jorgensen, 4. Ben Gordon, 7. Oscar Browne, 8. Sam Burfoot, 9. Alex Connor-McClean, 10. Eder Franchini Pasten, 11. Sanni Issa, 12. Matthew Conroy, 14. David Parkinson, 15. Ignacio Machuca Maturena, 17. Jake Butler, 18. Lachlan McIsaac, 19. Bill Robertson, 20. Oliver Bassett, 22. Silvio Rodic (GK)
Coach: Chris Milicich

Hamilton Wanderers: 1. Matt Oliver (GK), 2. James Hoyle, 4. David Samson, 5. Stafford Dowling, 8. Brad Whitworth, 9. Martin Bueno, 10. Rhys Ruka, 11. Jordan Shaw, 12. Paul Clout, 13. Tommy Semmy, 15. Joseph Terry, 18. Steffano Riley, 20. Derek Tieku, 22. Adam Luque, 23. Jonathan Mannes (GK)
Coach: Ricki Herbert

Lowdown

Both these sides were among the lower placings last season and were out for much better when the new campaign kicked off in mid-October. Hamilton have so far managed to pull that off, going from the wooden spoon last time out to a current placing of fourth. But Waitakere’s previous inconsistencies appear to have carried over and they find themselves in the exact spot they finished last season at the moment – third from bottom. If they have any hopes of launching a push for the play-offs then they will need to embark on an impressive run of form and another loss here would give them a lot of ground to make up as Wanderers would then be nine points ahead.

Article added: Saturday 15 December 2018