Football: Athletic chasing leaders

Wanganui City's man of the match Carl Bond, right, against Inglewood's Shaun Bracegridle during Citys's 6-0 win on Queens Birthday Monday. Photo/Stuart Munro

It's all action this weekend back at Wembley Park as Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic host Palmerston North Boys High School in today's Federation League fixture, Wanganui City entertain the PN Marist 3rds in the Western Premiership, while Sunday sees the Wanganui Athletic Women take on Wellington United in Central League.

Coming off the back of a crucial 1-0 victory over Havelock North, Athletic will be hoping to continue banking points in their match against PNBHS at 2.30pm.

With the top of the Federation table within grasp, the Reds need to ensure they don't drop points in the coming weeks if they're to leapfrog Team Taranaki.

The last outing against the Manawatu schoolboys saw the Reds walk away with a 1-0 win, after being shifted to play on a narrow and short pitch at the PNBHS grounds.

The bigger pitch at Wembley Park should be favourable to the possession-based game Athletic plays, allowing them to send attacks down the wings and put pressure on PNBHS's defensive line.

Look for Kyle Graham-Luke to feature and use his pace down the flanks to give Athletic plenty of ball in behind the defence for the attacking players to latch onto.

Josh Smith will also likely play a critical function at the pointy end of the team and this weekend should make the opposition goalie earn his keep.

This could well be a one-sided affair, but the Reds will need to be careful not to push too high, as PNBHS have managed to score 20 goals this season, three more than the second-placed Reds have so far. Therefore the home team could be easily caught on the break, testing Athletic keeper Nick Hayward.

In my opinion, this one will feature a few goals from both sides, so I'm picking a 3-2 victory to the Reds.

Wanganui City will be riding high after moving through to the next round of the Federation cup on Monday, disposing of a feisty Inglewood team with a decisive victory.

But today at 12.30pm they'll need to keep their heads and focus back on staying at the top of the Western Premiership.

The last time these two teams faced off, it was a single goal that gave City the win over the PN Marist 3rds.

The team they face this weekend could again make them work hard for the win, having begun a surge back up the table, wining four of their last seven games.

With the season now well underway, the Marist 3rds should have a settled squad, as positions in the higher grades will now be fairly determined and every player in their squad will be looking to impress and push themselves for selection in Marist's more senior teams.

But City coach Kelvin Francis will be aware of this and should have kept the focus on the game plan that has been successful to date.

Carl Bond could feature again this week after putting in a man of the match performance on Monday.

The midfield pairing of Bond and veteran Chris Annabell provided a lethal core for City against Inglewood in both attack and defence, and that core will again be crucial in this match if City are to control the pace and direction.

The midfield will be where this match is won, so expect the majority of it to be played around the centre of the park.

Both teams have the ability to be lethal on the break, so both keepers will need to be on their toes and ready for the task at hand.

I'm picking this one to go down to the wire, with a 2-1 victory to the local boys.

The Wanganui Athletic Women will be glad not to be travelling this Sunday, as they host Wellington United at Wembley Park, after last weekend's confidence building display. Wellington United currently sit fourth on the Central League table, but they also sit fourth in the standings of goals conceded as well.

Athletic will likely see this as an opportunity to meet a minor goal for their season to put a goal past their opposition.

They looked threatening last week through striker Rose Lockett, but Athletic will need to continue to build on their work in controlling possession and building play if they are to give her decent opportunities to trouble United's keeper.

This could be the weekend the ladies in red earn their first competition point in the Central League, but it will take plenty of grit, determination and self-belief, which new coach Donna Kahl would have been reminding them about during the week.