There are no prizes for guessing who the Canterbury United Dragons defence must shut down if they are to have any hope of upsetting Eastern Suburbs and making their first ISPS Handa Premiership final in nearly a decade.

Suburbs are the highest-scoring team in the league and two players in particular have done much of the damage – league Golden Boot winner Callum McCowatt and All White Andre de Jong. The prolific pair have notched 34 of their team’s 53 goals to fire Suburbs to a second-place finish on the regular season standings and will be aiming to continue their sharp-shooting at Trusts Arena on Saturday in the first semi-final.

Worryingly for the Dragons, they have the poorest defensive record out of the four semi-finalists and will need to be at their best to negate the threat of McCowatt and de Jong, as well as other members of Suburbs’ potent attack such as Elijah Just and Mohamed Awad.

Both sides will be desperate to earn a place in the final as Eastern Suburbs have not appeared in the showpiece occasion of men’s domestic football since returning to national league level three seasons ago while Canterbury’s last appearance was back in 2010, when they were beaten 3-1 by Waitakere United.

But Canterbury have added motivation after the sad events of last Friday, when three valued members of their football and futsal community – Futsal Whites goalkeeper Atta Elayyan, 33, Tariq Omar, 24, and Sayyad Milne, 14 – tragically lost their lives in the Christchurch terror attack. The Canterbury players will be keen to honour their fallen comrades with a fitting performance.

Suburbs meanwhile will turn to the history books for their inspiration as they are looking to follow in the footsteps of the successful sides that went before them some time ago. The East Auckland outfit were once among the powerhouses, claiming five Chatham Cups in the 1950s and 1960s before winning the then Rothman’s National League in 1971.

They be full of confidence after being kept off top spot only by the remarkable form of minor premiers Auckland City, who went through the season unbeaten and posted the league’s highest-ever points tally in the process. Despite City’s record-breaking exploits, Suburbs actually possess both the best offensive and defensive showings across the campaign, conceding just 16 goals in their 18 matches.

Their main concern defensively on Saturday will be containing Canterbury hit man Stephen Hoyle, who has plundered 10 goals for the Dragons while strike partner Maksym Kowal and skipper Gary Ogilvie have six each. But they will feel they have enough quality to overcome the visitors after beating them 3-1 and 5-1 in their two regular-season meetings.

“Canterbury are a physically strong team and they’re super organised,” Suburbs coach Danny Hay says.

“They’re very dangerous from set pieces and the likes of Stephen Hoyle up front pose some real threats. So we’re going to have to be at the top of our game. The two games we played against them in the regular season count for nothing now and we know they’re going to be really up for this.”

Originally an English import, Hoyle is now very much an adopted Cantabrian and says focus won’t be an issue tomorrow.

“To lift that trophy would mean everything to me, especially in a red-and-black shirt,” he says. “I’ve been here for three seasons now and Canterbury means a lot to me so I’d love to get a chance to win the final.”

For those who can’t make it to Trusts Arena, the match will be broadcast live on SKY Sport. The other semi-final takes place on Sunday, Auckland City playing host to Team Wellington in a repeat of last year’s final at Kiwitea Street.

A minute’s silence will be observed prior to each match to honour all victims of the Christchurch terror attack while those in attendance can help provide support to the victims’ families by donating to collection buckets on the day.

ISPS Handa Premiership Semi-Final

Eastern Suburbs vs Canterbury United Dragons
Trusts Arena, Auckland
Saturday 23 March, 2.35pm
#ISPSHandaPrem #ESvCU
Live on SKY Sport

Referee: CK Kawana-Waugh
Assistant Referees: M Rule, S Merriman
Fourth Official: AM Keighley

Eastern Suburbs: 1. Andrew Withers (GK), 3. Kelvin Kalua, 4. Nando Pijnaker, 6. Harry Moss-Edge, 7. Tim Payne (c), 8. Owen Parker-Price, 9. Callum McCowatt, 10. Andre de Jong, 11. Mohamed Awad, 12. Kingsley Sinclair, 14. Elijah Just, 15. Dalton Wilkins, 16. Dominic Wooldridge, 17. Michael Built, 21. Justin Biega (GK), 23. Campbell Strong
Coach: Danny Hay

Canterbury United Dragons: 1. Edward Ashton (GK), 2. Dan Terris, 3. Aaron Spain, 5. Tom Schwarz, 6. Gary Ogilvie (c), 8. Luke Tongue, 9. Maksym Kowal, 10. Adam Thurston, 11. James Pendrigh, 12. Daniel McHenery, 14. Sean Liddicoat, 15. Andreas Wilson, 17. Stephen Hoyle, 19. Haris Zeb, 21. Seth Clark, 22. Conor Tracey (GK)
Coach: Willy Gerdsen

Article added: Friday 22 March 2019