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It is not over yet, but Wainui Sharks have football's Eastern League Division 1 title in their sights.
They are four points clear of second-placed Thistle Massive with three games to play, but two of those are against Eastern League powerhouse teams Massive and Gisborne United.
Sunshine Brewing Wainui Sharks are the flagship team of a club in rude good health. Wainui have three teams in the top two men's divisions and two in the women's competition.
Progress on the field has been matched by a progressive approach off it, and the Wainui committee chaired by Diego Pedrioli has overseen membership growth that has endowed the club with an air of stability and confidence.
The addition of the Riverina women's team to the fold was a welcome boost, and now Wainui have two women's teams where not so long ago they had none.
But the prize that club stalwarts would love Wainui to lift is that Eastern League Division 1 title. United and Thistle have hogged it for the past decade, and Wainui would love to be the team to break the sequence.
They showed their prowess with a comfortable 6-1 win against Gisborne Vehicle Testing Thistle Reserves at Childers Road Reserve on Saturday.
Wainui were without midfielder Shane Hooks (hamstring), striker Jake Theron (quad), centreback Daniel Willock (groin strain) and midfielder Max Logan (out of town), and player-coach Michael Smith played with a dodgy calf.
But the player depth at Wainui is the best it's been for years. The Sharks had capable reinforcements from 1st Class Decorators Wainui Salty Dogs in Rick Kitto, who did well in the holding midfield role usually filled by Hooks, and Jono Andrew, who played 45 minutes for Salty Dogs and in the halftime break drove into town to help out the Sharks for the second half of their game . . . and scored their sixth goal.
Caleb Baldacchino, pushed forward from his usual fullback position to the right wing, had opened the scoring after 10 minutes when he cut in and from just inside the penalty area let fly with a shot that went in at the far post.
Thistle goalkeeper Tom Talbot then made two excellent saves, one of which was a tip over the top from a Michael Smith effort that looked goal-bound.
Striker Thiago Carlos de Melo made it 2-0 before halftime, Smith scored with a penalty after the break, Carlos de Melo made it 4-0, Jaiden Ibbetson made it five and Andrew made it six.
Wainui man of the match was midfielder Martin Brusco, while Kitto, centreback Mal Furlan and keeper Patrick Pierard all did well. Pierard pulled off one brilliant save, reacting sharply when Thistle Reserves' Cory Thomson tried to dink the ball over him from eight metres out when the game was still scoreless.
Thistle striker Matt Feisst scored the last goal of the game. Sam Patterson broke down the left and crossed to Feisst, whose header hit the post. The ball came back to him and he bundled it over the line from close range.
Feisst and Reece Brew had already played in an early game for Draggnett Thistle Vintage. Feisst played 70 minutes for the Reserves and Brew, who was unwell, managed 60. Player-coach Davie Ure also played the second half for the Reserves after playing the first half for Thistle Massive in the earlier match against United.
Youngsters Ethan Thompson-Sheridan and Thomson, on the left and right wings respectively, rightback Tommy Peterson, leftback Brad Hill and centreback Oli Gillies were outstanding, while first-team squad members Jarom Brouwer, coming off a night shift, and Patterson added a little extra class.
Ure said that of all his side's performances this season, Saturday's was among those with which he was happiest.
Carpet Court Thistle Massive ended the title challenge of Heavy Equipment Services Gisborne United by beating them 3-2 at Nelson Park.
United cannot catch Wainui Sharks, who are 10 points ahead with only nine available to United. But they could sabotage the Wainui run-in by beating them on July 17, depending on the result of the Wainui game against Massive the week before.
Ure put Massive 1-0 up after 10 minutes with a powerful header from a pinpoint right-wing cross from Ernesto Sanchez.
United centreback Jonathan Purcell equalised in the 20th minute, winning a contested header from a free-kick and lobbing the ball over the keeper from around the penalty spot.
Massive rightback Emerson Araya put his side 2-1 up 10 minutes before the break, advancing up the right wing and breaking into the penalty area, where he shot with the outside of his right foot, curling the ball in at the far post.
Midway through the second half, Massive player-coach Craig Stirton intercepted a pass about the halfway line and played a through ball to Juan Celano, who collected the pass on a diagonal run from the left and placed it into the right-hand corner of the goal.
Ten minutes from time, Matt Adams — brought on early in the second half to play just behind striker Stu Cranswick — met a low right-wing cross from Cranswick and scored with a first-time shot from 12 metres. That was the signal for the start of a thrilling 10-minute closing spell during which both sides had chances to score.
For Massive, Ure in the first half, Celano, Stefan Faber in midfield and at the back, and central defenders Santiago Roanelli and Michael Rogers played well.
United were without defender Lucian Nickerson and striker Aubrey Yates, but were well served by midfielders Aaron Graham, Chris Cockburn and Damon Husband, and defenders Matt McFatter and Purcell.