Southern with historic win over Canterbury United
A late goal from Andrew Cromb secured all three points for Southern against Canterbury for the first time in three years.
It was the visitors who started off on the stronger foot as their opening attacks looked threatening while the boys in blue were a little lacklustre in front of goal.
Canterbury broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute with a stunning free kick from George King who fired it past keeper Liam Little who, despite getting a hand to it, couldn’t keep the powerful shot out of the net.
Southern looked to try and bounce back before the break but still struggled to find that little bit of spark in front of the opposing goal.
In to the second half and Southern looked stronger than before, with Garbhan Coughlan and Cam Mackenzie having a couple of chances to level out the score.
A driven run forward by Danny Ledwith in the centre of the pitch gave him space to fire a classic Ledwith left shot from 22 yards out which smashed off the crossbar and was flagged by the assistant referee as bouncing over the goal line.
The goal was given and brought Southern back into the game.
The boys had a new lease of life and with some fresh legs through Cody Brook Southern were on the front foot.
A clearance from a Canterbury corner found the ball at Coughlan’s feet as he just beat Lames Pendrigh to the ball. Pendrigh went in with a high flying, studs showing, tackle which meant the referee was left with no choice to give the Canterbury substitute a red card with just ten minutes left to play.
The Christchurch team struggled to find their formation being a player down and Southern utilised it. Just five minutes after the sending off Andrew Cromb was able to drill the loose corner ball past keeper Danny Knight.
Southern were able to hold off a couple of late attempts of redemption by Canterbury and secure all three points against South Island rivals for the first time since January 2017!
Southern will look to keep their momentum going as they travel to the North Island this Sunday where they will take on Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm Reserve at 12pm.
Photo Credit: Adam Binns Photography