Whanganui Football: Athletic have one hand on the Federation League trophy

Jake Simcox leading from the back and proving to be a standout player for Whanganui Athletic. Photo / Karen Hughes

Whanganui Athletic arrived at midday to a cold, gloomy Park Island in Napier after an early morning trip.

Their goal difference lead over title contenders Palmerston Marist was cut slim after they battered Napier City Rovers 8-1 on the turf. This inflicted a lot more importance on the Sunday game and a win was a must for the travelling reds.

Whanganui Athletic came out of the gates firing and with a near full-strength squad — they took 16 players away — all with the same goal of collecting three more vital points.

The reds started strongly and dominated the first 20 minutes, doing everything bar finding the back of the net until Quinn Mailman squeezed a header in from the bi-line after a pin-point cross from Zac Farmer.

Set pieces, usually a worry defensively, were key for Athletic as Ants Bell made a strong header from a corner that managed to find Mailman's shin in the lead up.

Another Farmer corner only three minutes later scrambled in the box before Josh Smith backheeled it through a wave of Marist bodies to make it three only 35 minutes in.

The reds cruised into halftime with a comfortable lead but were hungry for more, not only for their goal difference but to send a statement to league rivals and potential play-off opposition in the Wellington Capital Premiership.

Right on the hour mark, Quinn Mailman doubled his goal tally and added a fourth for Athletic as he struck a 25 yard ball into the right hand post which dribbled along the line and hit the right side of the left post and bounced in.

Seventy minutes of full blown attack and dominance allowed Jason Farmer to clear the bench as he put all five substitutes on to the pitch, Neihana Kahl being one of these, and after chasing a long throw-in, his first touch of the game took him into the box where the Napier Marist defender brought him down for a penalty.

Ryan Holden calmly slotted this in the bottom left corner to score his fifth goal of the year and Josh Smith wrapped the day up in the 90th minute to make it a comprehensive 6-0 victory.

Athletic showed why they are top of the league and unbeaten this season in the league with a dominant performance from kick-off right until the final whistle, controlling the game completely and scoring at key times. They kept the foot on the throat for all 90 minutes and put their goal difference lead back up to 10 over second place, Palmerston Marist.

This goal difference could still come into play, however with only two games remaining, Athletic need just one point to claim the Federation league title for the first time in eight years. They will look to wrap things up this weekend against Napier City Rovers at 1pm on Saturday.

This fixture is likely to be moved to Bluewater Stadium as Rovers' first team have no game this weekend. This could come at a cost as Rovers will be able to drop down three first team players to buffer their squad.

All other Whanganui football was postponed due to weather and field conditions. Wembley Park was closed by the council but will be back in action this weekend with a full crowd as junior football is back on with the school holidays ending.