New Zealand Club Football Team Rankings - 12 August 2013

Plenty of talking points after the weekend games, but now too much time to blog this week.

Cashmere Technical stay the #1 in the rankings after defeating rivals Ferrymead Bays (who fall to #9)  - in doing so they practically wrap up the MPL.

Caversham rise to #2 after thumping Green Island 6-1.  It’s still tight in the FSPL, although Dunedin Technical (ranked #6) now looks favourites for the title after a sound 4-0 win over Old Boys while Roslyn Wakari dropped points (and dropped to #3) following a 3-3 home draw with Queenstown Rovers. Grants Braes are all but relegated from the FSPL.

There was a twist in the CPL as #4 ranked Miramar Rangers lost 2-1 at Napier City Rovers while #5 ranked Wellington Olympic made up ground with a massive 8-1 win over Wairarapa Utd.  Rangers and Olympic meet next week – a win for the latter will all but seal the CPL title for the Greeks.  Wellington Utd is relegated.

It’s a two horse race and down to the wire in the NRPL as well.  #8 ranked East Coast Bays drew 1-1 with resurgent Waitakere City, while #7 ranked Birkenhead Utd scored a fine 2-1 win away at Central Utd.  Just as fascinating in the NRPL is the battle at the bottom of the table.  Division One bound Manurewa AFC beat Bay Olympic 1-0 while Ellerslie AFC earned a 3-3 home draw with Three Kings Utd.  With Onehunga Sports now looking safe and Waitakere City on a roll, it looks like either Bay Olympic or Ellerslie AFC that will face the drop.

Ranking	Team	Points	Change
1	Cashmere Technical	1201.72	0
2	Caversham AFC	1189.78	1
3	Roslyn Wakari	1186.52	-1
4	Miramar Rangers	1181.51	0
5	Wellington Olympic	1181.51	0
6	Dunedin Technical	1180.06	1
7	Birkenhead Utd	1178.99	2
8	East Coast Bays	1177.19	0
9	Ferrymead Bays	1174.66	-3
10	Lower Hutt City	1172.22	0
11	Western Suburbs	1168.60	2
12	Nelson Suburbs	1167.40	-1
13	Western	1166.30	2
14	Wairarapa Utd	1165.07	-2
15	Hamilton Wanderers	1161.73	1
16	Waitakere City	1161.06	1
17	Three Kings Utd	1159.57	1
18	Green Island	1159.32	-4
19	Otago University	1157.93	0
20	Napier City Rovers	1154.34	0
21	Petone	1149.32	0
22	Onehunga Sports	1149.01	2
23	Bay Olympic	1148.51	-1
24	Central Utd	1148.44	-1
25	Halswell Utd	1146.53	1
26	Coastal Spirit	1145.70	-1
27	Northern AFC	1138.29	0
28	Mosgiel	1135.48	0
29	Ellerslie AFC	1132.28	0
30	Upper Hutt City	1131.21	0
31	Queenstown Rovers	1130.48	0
32	Invercargill Old Boys	1124.01	0
33	Tawa	1122.80	0
34	Nomads Utd	1120.94	0
35	Manurewa AFC	1119.93	0
36	Grants Braes	1115.35	0
37	Wellington Utd	1109.46	0
38	FC Twenty11	1094.75	0

New Zealand Club Football Team Rankings - 4 August 2013

With just a handful of games left it’s going to be a close run thing at the top of in all the Tier 1 divisions, and there’s some decent relegation battles going on as well.  First, and starting from the top, MPL leaders Cashmere Technical retain the #1 rankings spot despite being held to a scoreless draw by Nelson Suburbs.  The MPL title is still a four-way race and next weekend’s fixtures will be decisive as third placed Ferrymead Bays (ranked #6) face Cashmere at home and second placed Nelson Suburbs (ranked #11) host fourth placed Western (ranked #15).  FCTwenty11’s loss in the weekend sees them relegated from the MPL.

Holding on to #2 in the rankings are Roslyn Wakari who were 4-0 victors away at Northern.  Elsewhere in the FSPL, Caversham AFC welcomed new Southern Utd coach Luis Uehara to Tonga Park before dispatching his Otago University side 6-0; that big win sees Caversham climb to #3 in the rankings.  And FSPL league leaders Dunedin Technical got up at the last 2-1 over Mosgiel AFC and now sit in #7.  Any of the three Dunedin sides that sit in the rankings top 10 can still claim the FSPL title.  Rooted to the bottom of the FSPL are Grants Braes and anything but maximum points in their remaining four games will see them relegated.  A battle royal is also facing Queenstown Rovers, Invercargill Old Boys and Mosgiel AFC to avoid relegation.  This puts next weekend’s clashes between Rosyln Wakari and Queenstown Rovers, and Dunedin Technical and Invercargill Old Boys in clear perspective – at the top and the bottom there are often no easy games at this stage of the season.

Staying in the the #4 rankings spot are Miramar Rangers who were held 1-1 away at Wairarapa Utd but still able to take advantage at the top of the CPL as Wellington Olympic slumped 3-0 at Western Suburbs; Olympic remain ranked #5 and Miramar remain favourites to take out another CPL.  At the ‘other end’ of the CPL Tawa scored a massive win over fellow strugglers Wellington Utd, which sees them leapfrog off the bottom of the table.  Wellington Utd need something from next weekend’s game against Upper Hutt City if they are to avoid seeing their sojourn in the CPL end.

Finally in the NRPL, #8 ranked East Coast Bays continue to lead #9 ranked Birkenhead Utd by three points thanks to a tight 1-0 win over Ellerslie AFC.  Birkenhead has a game in hand over the Bays and got home late to defeat third placed Hamilton Wanderers 2-1, effectively ending the Waitako club’s title challenge.  Manurewa AFC look destined for Division 1 football in 2014, but their hopes will be revived if they can get three points away at Bay Olympic next week.  Remarkably, since they were the 2011 and 2012 NRPL champions, the Bay also finds themselves in a relegation battle along with Ellerslie AFC and Onehunga Sports.  Waitakere City aren’t out of trouble yet either, but they have put together a suburb run in the league and Chatham Cup which has seen them record five straight wins and up to #17 in the rankings; things looked bleak at the end of May when Waitakere were ranked #36, but not many would bet on them being relegated now.

Ranking	Team	Points	Change
1	Cashmere Technical	1198.04	0
2	Roslyn Wakari	1187.37	0
3	Caversham AFC	1184.88	1
4	Miramar Rangers	1183.12	-1
5	Wellington Olympic	1178.39	0
6	Ferrymead Bays	1178.34	0
7	Dunedin Technical	1177.85	1
8	East Coast Bays	1177.84	-1
9	Birkenhead Utd	1176.57	0
10	Lower Hutt City	1171.93	0
11	Nelson Suburbs	1171.31	0
12	Wairarapa Utd	1168.18	0
13	Western Suburbs	1166.11	1
14	Green Island	1164.22	2
15	Western	1162.39	0
16	Hamilton Wanderers	1162.37	-3
17	Waitakere City	1160.41	2
18	Three Kings Utd	1159.15	0
19	Otago University	1155.89	-2
20	Napier City Rovers	1152.73	3
21	Petone	1151.80	0
22	Bay Olympic	1151.25	0
23	Central Utd	1150.86	-3
24	Onehunga Sports	1148.38	0
25	Coastal Spirit	1146.39	0
26	Halswell Utd	1141.87	1
27	Northern AFC	1140.32	-1
28	Mosgiel	1135.02	0
29	Ellerslie AFC	1132.69	0
30	Upper Hutt City	1129.87	0
31	Queenstown Rovers	1129.63	1
32	Invercargill Old Boys	1126.22	-1
33	Tawa	1123.09	2
34	Nomads Utd	1120.24	-1
35	Manurewa AFC	1117.20	-1
36	Grants Braes	1115.81	0
37	Wellington Utd	1110.80	0
38	FC Twenty11	1099.41	0