Football: Top-two clash will be tight affair

Saul Halpin has scored six goals in the golden boot race of the Central League. PHOTO/Duncan Brown

IT'S a top-of-the-table clash tomorrow but no one knows better than Napier City Rovers that a five-point buffer on the table is not a given.

"It's a big game ... but if we slip up again we won't be on the top," says Saul Halpin, a midfielder with the TSB Bank-sponsored side who host second-placed Western Suburbs in Napier in a 2pm kick-off.

Only two points separate the sides after the Bill Robertson-coached Blues stumbled in a 1-0 loss to mid-table Petone at Park Island a fortnight ago to lose their unblemished seven-win streak.

Wily coach Declan Edge is no stranger to Bluewater Stadium, so Blues captain Danny Wilson will be mindful the former All Whites striker will be plotting their downfall.

Suffice it to say it cannot be stressed enough times the hosts have learnt a timely lesson from the Petone defeat.

"Every time it was seven out of seven [wins] but now we've forgotten about it and do what we can game after game because we know we can be beaten if we're not at our best," says the 23-year-old English import who played for Hawke's Bay United in summer.

Halpin says the Blues are aware Western Suburbs are predominantly a young outfit so leaning on them will be on the agenda. "Western Suburbs get the ball down and like to play it from the back so we'll stop them from doing that by pressing quickly."

The Wellingtonians, like the Rovers, have lost only one game but have drawn another.

What catches the eye on the Lotto Central league table is that they have conceded only 10 goals, compared with the Blues' nine, and have scored seven fewer goals.

"There's probably one goal in it but we'll take our chances because they are light at the back," says Halpin, who used to play for the Ian McGrath-coached Team Taranaki, who just missed out regaining their berth in the league after Cru Bar Maycenvale United plotted their demise several years ago.

The former Torquay United centre-mid says he decided to play for the Blues "because I have a girlfriend, Jess, in Hawke's Bay now".

"That was really it," he says, revealing he was going to return to Naki before Robertson contacted him.

He enjoyed the smooth transition from the national summer league to the winter and notices the difference in standards.

LEAGUE DETAILS

WHO: Napier City Rovers v Western Suburbs.

WHEN: Tomorrow, 2pm

WHERE: Park Island, Napier.

REFEREE: Peter Linney.

AR1/AR2: Gareth Sheehan/Brad Brunton.

ROVERS: Ruben Parker Hanks (GK), 4 Harry Morton, 5 Finlay Milne, 6 Miles John, 7 Stephen Hoyle, 8 Ryan Tinsley, 9 Angus Kilkolly, 10 Saul Halpin, 11 Tom Biss, 14 Josh Stevenson, 15 James Hoyle, 16 Danny Wilson (c), 17 Fergus Neil, 18 Chris Greatholder, 19 Bill Robertson, 23 Kyle Baxter (RGK).

Coach: Bill Robertson.

WESTERN SUBURBS: Fabian Otte (GK), 2 Sasha Sneyd, 3 Bryce McMillan, 4 Jamie O'Connor, 5 Harry Edge, 6 Liam Jones, 7 Ben Sippola, 8 Callam McCowatt, 9 Noah Billingsley, 10 Juan Chang, 11 Billy Scott, 12 Ahmad Mohammadi, 14 Joash Sutherland, 15 Tinashe Marowa, 16 Owen Parker-Price, 17 Xavier Green, 18 Stefan Krystman, 19 Mikey Faber, 20 Elliott Collier, Mitchell Stewart-Hill (RGK).

Coach: Declan Edge.

Other games

2.30pm, today: Stop Out v Miramar Rangers at Hutt Park No 1; Palmerston North Marist v Tawa AFC at Memorial Park, PN.

3pm: Petone FC v Lower Hutt City at Petone Memorial Park No 1.

5.30pm: Wairarapa United v Wellington Olympic at Masterton Memorial Turf.

Standings

P W D L F A GD Pts

Rovers 8 7 0 1 33 9 24 21

Suburbs 8 6 1 1 26 10 16 19

Wairarapa 8 6 0 2 24 16 8 18

Olympic 8 4 0 4 16 16 0 12

PNMarist 8 4 0 4 15 26 -11 12

Petone 8 3 2 3 14 11 3 11

StopOut 8 3 0 5 13 13 0 9

Miramar 8 2 1 5 9 13 -4 7

LHCity 8 2 0 6 9 22 -13 6

Tawa 8 1 0 7 6 29 -23 3