All three Wainui men's teams won their games by handsome margins in Eastern League football at the weekend.
In Division 1, 1st Class Decorators Wainui Sharks beat Heavy Equipment Services Wainui Firsts 6-1.
The Sharks are second on the league table, two points behind HES United Premiers but having played two games more. They play each other at Wainui at 2.30pm on Saturday.
United Prems have had two games postponed, one against their clubmates the Firsts and the other against the Sharks. After this weekend, those postponed games will be the only outstanding fixtures for Division 1.
If United Prems beat the Sharks on Saturday, it would be impossible for anyone to catch the Prems so the postponed games could be abandoned with no effect on the competition.
But if the Sharks beat the Prems this Saturday, they would go to the top of the table and the postponed games would assume much greater importance.
United Prems have a Federation Cup semifinal against Taranaki side Peringa coming up at Park Island, Napier, on August 27. They could have the final after that, and the Bailey Cup knockout competition also lies ahead.
The closing weeks of the season could become congested for the Prems if they don't settle the league this weekend.
Sharks goalscorers on Saturday were Thiago Carlos de Melo (2), Mariano Ariel Beniot (2), Jack Tobin and Jaiden Ibbetson.
In Division 2, Sunshine Brewing Wainui Salty Dogs beat Draggnett Thistle Vintage 8-1 and Coates Associates Wainui Demons beat Gisborne Pro Roofing Bohemians 5-1.
The Demons have been in the second division for the whole season and are on top of the league table.
The Salty Dogs are two points back in second spot. They spent the first part of the season in Division 1 before the midseason split took them and Tatapouri Bohemians down a level.
This Saturday, the Demons and the Salty Dogs play each other at Wainui at 12.30pm. If the Demons win, they will have won the Division 2 competition — they'd be ahead by five points with one game to play.
If the Salty Dogs win, they'd go to the top of the table but it would be far from over. They'd be favourites to take the title, though.
The following week the two Wainui teams are drawn to play the two Bohemians teams.
On the face of it, the Demons would have the tougher assignment. They'd face Tatapouri Bohemians, third on the table and with some useful results behind them.
The Salty Dogs would be favoured to beat Gisborne Pro Roofing Bohemians, who are fifth of six teams in the division.
So the Demons would not want their title chances depending on a Bohemians win against the Salty Dogs. They'd want to decide the issue themselves on Saturday.
A key player for them is likely to be striker Ben Inder. He scored the Demons' first four goals against the Bohs on Saturday.
Bohemians midfielder Hayden Donnelly made it 4-1 before Max Harris rounded off the scoring for the Demons with five minutes to go.
Demons coach and captain Yannis Kokkosis said Inder was the fox terrier of the team — a livewire who never let his opponents settle.
Others to shine on Saturday were goalkeeper Jacob Moorcroft, rightback Mitch Brouwer and right-winger Ollie Suttor.
“And we had Matt Tong playing consecutive games for the first time this season,” Kokkosis said.
“It was great to have him there.”
' United Premiers got a reminder from player-coach Josh Adams that they had an important game coming up and couldn't let standards slip.
He was talking about the Central Federation Cup semifinal against Taranaki side Peringa at Park Island, Napier, on Saturday week (August 27) but unfortunately for Thistle Youth they were the next team to face the Prems.
United dominated play and were 2-0 up at halftime. For the second half, Adams juggled the player positions.
Centreback Mal Scammell went up front and showed that his training-ground finishing skills transferred easily to matchday conditions.
“He got on to a through ball on the left-hand side of the goal, got it on to his right foot and curled it inside the far post,” Adams said.
“He does well in the shooting drills at training, so now we know he can do it in a match, too.”
Adams said it was Scammell's first goal in a league competition in his five years with the club.
Another player to break a league competition duck was Kieran Higham, who usually plays alongside Scammell at the heart of the defence.
While Higham had probably scored during a previous spell with United, he had not scored a league goal in the past five years, Adams said.
Higham changed that with a far-post header from a Malcolm Marfell left-wing corner.
Others to score were right-side striker Baxter Mackay, central striker Adams, leftback Jonny Curle and left-side flank player Marfell.