Cashmere Technical and Ferrymead Bays will renew their rivalry under the lights on Friday night, with both sides looking to build on their National League form in a crucial local derby.
The clubs, whose home grounds at Garrick Park and Ferrymead Park are barely a five-minute drive apart along Ferry Rd, will meet on the national stage for the first time at Bays’ home ground.
Tech sit atop the table heading into the weekend after a 3-0 home win against Auckland FC Reserves on Sunday, while Bays have slipped to seventh in the 11-team competition after suffering their first defeat, a 2-0 loss away to Auckland United.
It will be the fourth meeting between the sides this season. Tech won both league fixtures, 5-0 and 4-0, before edging Bays 4-3 in the third round of the Chatham Cup in a Friday night clash in June.
“If it’s anything like the Chatham Cup game, it’ll be a cracker,” Tech head coach Dan Schwarz said.
“Every time we scored, they scored, it was a proper derby, a proper game under the lights. Here’s hoping much of the same for this weekend.”
Ferrymead Bays head coach Alan Walker said it was the game he had most looked forward to since the draw was announced.
“Cash Tech are the proverbial winners, and we’re always trying to punch them on the nose. Occasionally we get a bloody one, but not too often.
“I’ve been looking forward to this one for quite a while.”
Schwarz said Friday evening kick-offs presented some logistical challenges, with the match starting at 7.15pm and players likely to arrive at the ground before 6pm.
“You’re always sitting in a bit of traffic going down Ferry Rd, and obviously with builders in the team, people that are on the grass coaching, people that have been in uni all day, it’s sometimes tough to get up for a game.
“But I’m sure with the size of this game, I don’t think anyone’s going to struggle with that. It’s something I really miss from playing in the UK, it’s lovely to play under floodlights on a damp, cold evening.”
The derby does not yet have an official name like the derby between rivals Manchester United and Manchester City, or Spain’s famed El Clásico between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
However, both coaches agreed the “Ferry Rd Derby” had a certain ring to it.
“We’re both just off Ferry Rd,” said Schwarz, “so, yeah, it should be.”
Walker said he was pleased with how Bays had performed in their first season at National League level. They opened with a win and a draw before losing their next two games.
“Every game we go into, we’re the underdog,” he said.
“But we’re holding our own and not disgracing ourselves, and that’s the biggest pat on the back the guys can have.”
In the women’s competition, Canterbury United Pride travel to Dunedin to face Otago University at 2pm on Sunday, with both teams chasing their first points of the season.
The Pride have lost their opening three games, including a 2-0 home defeat to Fencibles United on Saturday, while Otago have lost all four, most recently going down 4-0 to Wellington United.
The teams occupy the bottom two spots on the table, meaning at least one will have the chance to get its season up and running this weekend.
National League round 5
- Ferrymead Bays v Cashmere Technical, Ferrymead Park, 7.15pm Fri
- Otago University v Canterbury Utd, Logan Park, 2pm Sun