Match Week 15 of the ISPS Handa Premiership takes place this weekend, check out what’s in store with the official preview.

This week is also ‘Get In to Football Week’, which is aimed at attracting even more people to play football as clubs begin their registration process for the upcoming 2019 winter season. It will run from February 2 to 6 as New Zealand Football joins forces with the ISPS Handa Premiership clubs to promote the joys and benefits of the world’s most popular sport.

New Zealand Football will be celebrating the occasion with a range of content across its online platforms, including videos, graphics and stories. The clubs will also be doing likewise as the country’s premier men’s football competition continues.

Canterbury United Dragons vs Auckland City
English Park, Christchurch
Saturday 2 February, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #CUvAC

Referee: A Wilson
Assistant Referees: I Trevis, M Love
Fourth Official: B O’Connell

Squads

Canterbury United Dragons: 1. Edward Ashton (GK), 2. Dan Terris, 3. Aaron Spain, 5. Tom Schwarz, 6. Gary Ogilvie, 8. Luke Tongue, 9. Maksym Kowal, 10. Adam Thurston, 12. Daniel McHenery, 14. Sean Liddicoat, 15. Andreas Wilson, 16. Cory Mitchell, 17. Stephen Hoyle, 20. Jacob Richards, 21. Seth Clark, 22. Conor Tracey (GK)
Coach: Willy Gerdsen

Auckland City: 1. Enaut Zubikarai (GK), 3. Takuya Iwata, 4. Mario Bilen, 6. Brian Kaltak, 7. Cameron Howieson, 10. Micah Lea’alafa, 11. Fabrizio Tavano, 12. Dylan Manickum, 13. Patrick Lundemo, 14. Jordan Vale, 16. Yousif Ali, 18. Ruben Parker (GK), 19. David Browne, 21. Maro Bonsu-Maro, 22. Omar Guardiola, 23. Alfie Rogers
Coach: Ramon Tribulietx

Lowdown

After getting through a tricky assignment against second-placed Eastern Suburbs with a 3-2 win, Auckland City now have a realistic chance of going through the regular season undefeated. Barring any upsets, this trip to Canterbury and a visit to Team Wellington in mid-March appear to be the biggest threats to an achievement the club has pulled off only twice before – in 2011/12 and 2015/16. Canterbury’s six-game unbeaten run was rudely interrupted recently by a 5-1 loss to Suburbs but they bounced back immediately to defeat the Phoenix Reserves and have a striker in ominous form in Stephen Hoyle, who struck twice on the weekend and is in the golden boot running with nine goals. City’s new Swedish striker Patrick Lundemo is in line to make his debut while Darren White has re-joined the club on a short-term basis.

Quotes

Ramon Tribulietx (Auckland City coach): “We have to respect Canterbury and it’s a key part of our campaign so we need to make sure we do well. We know what they bring to the party and they have two in-form players in Stephen Hoyle and Maksym Kowal who are both scoring goals. They play on the counter attack and we know we have to be up for this challenge. We always take each game one at a time, focus on how we play and analyse what we need to do.”

Hawke’s Bay United vs Team Wellington
Bluewater Stadium, Napier
Sunday 3 February, 1pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #HBvTW

Referee: B O’Connell
Assistant Referees: M Whitehead, A Clarke
Fourth Official: M Rule

Squads

Hawke’s Bay United: 1. Mackenzie Waite (GK), 4. Cameron Lindsay, 5. James Marsh, 7. Cory Chettleburgh, 9. Sam Mason-Smith, 10. Sho Goto, 11. Maxime Oliveri, 12. Ben Lack, 14. Birhanu Taye, 16. Gavin Hoy, 18. Tai Barham, 19. Luis Toomey, 20. Josh Murphy, 22. Karan Mandair, 23. Jorge Akers, 26. Alexander Britton (GK)
Coach: Brett Angell

Team Wellington: 1. Scott Basalaj (GK), 3. Scott Hilliar, 4. Mario Ilich, 5. Liam Wood, 6. Taylor Schrijvers, 7. Eric Molloy, 8. Henry Cameron, 12. Andrew Bevin, 14. Jack-Henry Sinclair, 15. Joel Stevens, 16. Angus Kilkolly, 17. Alex Palezevic, 18. Aaron Clapham, 19. Ross Allen, 21. Hamish Watson, 22. Marcel Kampman (GK)
Coach: Jose Figueira

Lowdown

Both these sides recorded draws last weekend but in vastly contrasting style, Hawke’s Bay being involved in one of the most remarkable games in Premiership history with a 4-4 thriller against Hamilton while Wellington were disappointingly held to a scoreless stalemate by Southern. That has left both in need of the points this weekend as Wellington still have plenty of work to do to secure a play-off place while the Bay have a seven-point gap to close to get there themselves. Wellington’s hopes of a strong finish to the season suffered a blow this week though when captain Justin Gulley moved back into the professional game with the Phoenix but the return of former All White Joel Stevens is a massive boost. They found it tough in their previous outing against the Bay, being held to a 2-2 draw.

Quotes

Jose Figueira (Team Wellington coach): “The team have felt hard done by over the past couple of weeks where we have performed very well but failed to come away with maximum points. They are eager to put this right this weekend against a tough Hawke’s Bay United. We are expecting a very similar game to last time, against a team who are well known for their defensive organisation and aggression in transition moments. In our last meeting, we lacked focus in these moments and with the added fire power they have in their ranks this season we were punished.”

Southern United vs Waitakere United
Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Sunday 3 February, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #SUvWU

Referee: M Conger
Assistant Referees: A Verolino, C Marsh
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, 7. Hayato Wakino, 8. Tony Whitehead, 9. Garbhan Coughlan, 10. Abdulla Al-Kalisy, 11. Ben Deeley, 12. Adam Hewson, 13. Azariah Soromon, 14. Sam Pickering, 16. Stewart Catto (GK)
Coach: Paul O’Reilly

Waitakere United: 1. Silvio Rodic (GK), 3. Niko Steinmetz, 5. Kris Carpenter, 6. Hayden Aish, 7. Oscar Browne, 8. Sam Burfoot, 9. Alex Connor-McClean, 13. Dane Schnell, 15. Ignacio Machuca Maturena, 16. Reilly O’Meagher, 18. Lachlan McIsaac, 20. Oliver Bassett, 21. Andrew Abba, 22. Nick Draper (GK), 23. Jake Mechell
Coach: Chris Milicich

Lowdown

Southern were handed a tough assignment recently in facing the top three sides in consecutive weeks and they failed to pick up a point. Two of those losses were by narrow, one-goal margins but the defeat to Eastern Suburbs was potentially very damaging to their confidence levels as Southern were outclassed 6-1. But they showed their resolve by bouncing back from that tricky run to sweep aside Hamilton 3-1 and then held Wellington to a draw to lay the foundations for an unbeaten run. They will feel they are more than capable of extending that against a Waitakere side that has won only three matches and is now without talismanic skipper Jake Butler, who has returned to Werribee City in Melbourne. The inconsistent west Aucklanders are capable of beating any side on their day though, as they proved with a 2-1 win over Wellington last month.

Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Tasman United
Porirua Park, Wellington
Sunday 3 February, 3pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #WPvTU

Referee: A Riley
Assistant Referees: G Sheehan, A Davenport
Fourth Official: C Bennett

Squads

Wellington Phoenix Reserves: 1. Zac Jones (GK), 3. Kurtis Mogg, 7. Benjamin Waine, 8. Tacettin Kumsuz, 9. Gianni Stensness, 10. Willem Ebbinge, 11. Sam Sutton, 13. Noah Tipene-Clegg, 14. Oskar van Hattum, 15. Ronan Wynne, 16. Kieran Richards, 17. Callan Elliot, 18. Henry Hamilton, 21. Owen Smith, 25. Boyd Curry, 30. Zachary Dean (GK)
Coach: Paul Temple

Tasman United: 20. Nick Stanton (GK), 2. Sam Ayers, 4. Thomas Hickey, 5. Fox Slotemaker, 6. Bertie Fish, 7. Corey Larsen, 8. Matt Tod-Smith, 10. Kiernan Hughes-Mason, 11. Alex Ridsdale, 12. Ahmed Othman, 15. Max Winterton, 21. Jordan Yong, 23. Keegan Smith (GK), 24. Liam MacDevitt, 25. Jake Williams
Coach: Andy Hedge

Lowdown

Tasman’s recent revival continued last weekend with a 3-1 victory over Waitakere and they have now not lost for three games, winning two of those. They are still only three places off bottom spot though and, while a push for the play-offs appears beyond them, they will be keen to at least climb into mid-table by the end of the season. The Phoenix have fallen into a familiar pattern of being competitive and enjoying plenty of possession but struggling to convert that into results. They again gave a good account of themselves before falling 2-1 to Canterbury last weekend so it will not be easy for Tasman to continue their unbeaten run.

Eastern Suburbs vs Hamilton Wanderers
Riverhills Park, Auckland
Sunday 3 February, 4.35pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #ESvHW
Live on SKY Sport

Referee: N Waldron
Assistant Referees: M Batoor, C Tseng
Fourth Official: C Trent

Squads

Eastern Suburbs: 1. Andrew Withers (GK), 3. Kelvin Kalua, 6. Harry Moss-Edge, 7. Tim Payne, 8. Owen Parker-Price, 9. Callum McCowatt, 10. Andre de Jong, 14. Elijah Just, 15. Dalton Wilkins, 16. Dominic Wooldridge, 17. Michael Built, 18. Kingsley Sinclair, 21. Justin Biega (GK), 23. Campbell Strong, 24. Jack Duncan, 43. Hayden Johns
Coach: Danny Hay

Hamilton Wanderers: 1. Matt Oliver (GK), 2. James Hoyle, 3. Joe Nottage, 5. Stafford Dowling, 6. Agustin Contratti, 7. Martin Maybin, 9. Martin Bueno, 10. Rhys Ruka, 11. Jordan Shaw, 12. Will Stephen, 13. Tommy Semmy, 15. Joseph Terry, 17. Xavier Pratt, 20. Derek Tieku, 22. Adam Luque, 23. Jonathan Mannes (GK)
Coach: Ricki Herbert

Lowdown

Eastern Suburbs’ impressive run was derailed by Auckland City in a 3-2 loss but Danny Hay’s men are still well-placed in second and appear to remain the biggest threats to the leaders’ title chances. Suburbs actually fell three goals behind in that game but proved they are capable of putting the Navy Blues under serious pressure by launching a stirring second-half comeback and would likely have pinched something from the game if the final whistle hadn’t intervened. They will be heavy favourites here against a Hamilton outfit that has just come through one of games of the season, fighting out an astonishing 4-all draw against Hawke’s Bay. It will be interesting to see how the players react to the emotional rollercoaster of that encounter and there is a score to settle against Suburbs, who beat them 2-0 earlier in the season.

Quotes

Danny Hay (Eastern Suburbs coach): “At 3-0 down to Auckland, it would have been quite easy to give up but the fact that we showed some real resilience and character to come back and really make it quite tight towards the end says a lot about the players. When we played Hamilton in the first round it was a really tough game, they’ve got some real fire power with the likes of Tommy Semmy, Martin Bueno and Stafford Dowling – they’re particularly dangerous. They’re quick, very skilful and unpredictable so we’re going to have to be on top of our game to try and nullify those players. But, at the same time, we’re going to try and dominate possession and play our own game.”

Team Wellington vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
David Farrington Park, Wellington
Wednesday 6 February, 2pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #TWvWP

Referee: C Berg
Assistant Referees: C Bennett, T Pedley
Fourth Official: A Riley

Squads

Team Wellington: 1. Scott Basalaj (GK), 3. Scott Hilliar, 4. Mario Ilich, 5. Liam Wood, 6. Taylor Schrijvers, 7. Eric Molloy, 8. Henry Cameron, 12. Andrew Bevin, 14. Jack-Henry Sinclair, 15. Joel Stevens, 16. Angus Kilkolly, 17. Alex Palezevic, 18. Aaron Clapham, 19. Ross Allen, 21. Hamish Watson, 22. Marcel Kampman (GK)
Coach: Jose Figueira

Wellington Phoenix Reserves: 1. Zac Jones (GK), 2. Kurtis Mogg, 4. Boyd Curry, 5. Ronan Wynne, 7. Benjamin Waine, 8. Tacettin Kumsuz, 9. Gianni Stensness, 10. Willem Ebbinge, 11. Sam Sutton, 13. Noah Tipene-Clegg, 14. Oskar van Hattum, 15. Stephen Sprowson, 17. Callan Elliot, 18. Henry Hamilton, 21. Owen Smith, 30. Zachary Dean (GK)
Coach: Paul Temple

Lowdown

This game is a bit of a bonus for football fans in the capital as they will be treated to some local action on Waitangi Day. And it should be an entertaining affair with Team Wellington boasting no shortage of class and the Phoenix fielding some of the best young players in the country. Title-chasing Wellington will be aiming to go into this encounter on the back of having returned to winning ways and will take great confidence from their previous meeting with the Phoenix, which resulted in a comprehensive 4-1 win. That was way back in October though and the youngsters of the ‘WeeNix’ will have developed significantly since then as they become more accustomed to the rigours of senior football.

Quotes

Jose Figueira (Team Wellington coach): “Whilst the Wellington Phoenix Reserves have had early season troubles, the WeeNix have turned things around in the last few weeks. As ever, we are expecting an energetic, technical and skilful team that will never give up and show no fear. It will be down to us to play our game.”

Article added: Friday 01 February 2019