Southern United signal championship intent

Southern went on a first-half rampage against Central at a sun-drenched Forrester Park. Southern defied the expectations of most last season to make the playoffs for the first ever time and showed they are capable of repeating that feat with a dominant display against a side looking to shake off the wooden spoon.

With over half of the Southern squad in the Dunedin Technical team that made light of their underdog status to claim the Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup a week earlier, the hosts took plenty of momentum into the game and Central did not manage to combat the front-foot nature of their display.

The quality of the finishing at times was breath-taking, particularly a long-range effort from Shontelle Smith that is sure to be an early contender for goal of the season.

It didn’t take long for Southern to get ahead when an inch-perfect through ball from Mikaela Hunt was prodded home by Renee Bacon early on but the spectacular strikes then began, Sophie Crewe equalising for Central with an unstoppable volley from just outside the box a few minutes later.

But any hopes Central had of going on to at least secure a point were soon put to bed as Southern struck three times in quick succession before half an hour was up. Smith, who received the Maia Jackman Trophy as player of the Kate Sheppard Cup final, put her side back in front with an outstanding free kick before Britney-Lee Nicholson made it 3-1 with a side-foot from close range.

The moment of the match then arrived when a free kick was played short to Smith and she rifled an unbelievable shot into the top corner from over 30 yards.

At 4-1 down, it was effectively game over for Central but Southern added another couple of goals in the second half for good measure, Amy Hislop dinking in a fifth just after the break before a cruel deflection after a weaving run from Tahlia Roome made it six.

“It was a great start for us – the way the team trained during the week and performed today was great,” said Southern coach Ignacio Sande of his first match in charge.

“We are trying to play good football, to keep the ball and score more goals. We know there are going to be tough moments throughout the season but we are definitely going to try to play that way. There are things to improve and we have to focus on that now during the week, there is still plenty of room for improvement.”

#UnitedWeStand

Updated 00:11 - 25 Oct 2018 by Markus Fjørtoft