Nelson Suburbs battled hard but couldn't stop a strong Christchurch United side winning 4-0 at Saxton Field today.
Aiming to defend its unbeaten home record this year, Suburbs were without a string of first-team players, finishing the game with nine players from its reserve side on the pitch.
Suburbs started brightly enough but a penalty just before the half hour mark gave the visitors an opportunity to take the lead. Suburbs goalkeeper Corey Wilson could only watch it pass by as Shogo Osawa sent him the wrong way.
The goal sparked a period of action.
Suburbs midfielder Ben Polak had a deflected shot sail just wide, Wilson made a terrific save but when Christchurch defender Travis Graham scored from a corner after 33 minutes, it signalled a tough afternoon for the hosts.
Suburbs co-coach, Ryan "Skippy" Stewart says after being 2-0 down at the break, they decided to "push on" a bit more in the second half.
"We said 'lets come out and have a go', and that's always going to leave us vulnerable at the back. But yeah, we had to be positive."
Christchurch threatened several times but did get their second-half goal when Joshua Tollervey headed in. Wyatt Borella scored in the dying minutes to extend the lead when Suburbs had made many of their substitutes.
For Christchurch United, the win meant that it has secured qualification to the National League, sparking celebrations at full time from the visitors.
Suburbs will now travel to Wanaka for their final match of the season, a win down south will see Suburbs claim a top-four spot in the Southern League.
"At the start of the year we wanted to push for the top two," says Skippy. "We've had a really good cup run [getting to the semi final of the Chatham Cup]. So to finish fourth, yeah, we'll take that."
But to do that, Suburbs will need to win next week without many of its top players.
"So it's good opportunity for the young lads to put their hand up and get a bit of experience in the Southern League. We'll go down with the mentality that we've got to win."
