Soccer: Force in relegation dogfight

North Force's relegation danger indicator is jammed into the red after they were trounced 4-0 by title contenders Ellerslie at Tikipunga.

The Whangarei team sit at the foot of the Northern League's first division table but it is too early yet to consign them to second division football as they still retain a fighting chance to get out of their predicament.

"We were never targeting Ellerslie seriously, you never aim to lose a game at home but we would have been lucky to earn a point, they were a lot better than us," Scott Burgess said.

Regular keeper Leon Taylor, who was marginal after recovering from a shoulder injury, was rested. Instead, coach Bruce Plunkett was in goal.

This week's match against Albany, who were beaten 6-3 by Ngaruawahia on Saturday, becomes a crunch encounter for both teams. If North Force can win at Rosedale Park they will trail Albany by just a single point but they have games in hand over the North Auckland side - and indeed their other relegation rivals.

This fact allows the side to retain some optimism.

"Luckily most of our final games are against teams who are also in the relegation area so we are targeting three or four wins out of our remaining matches to stay up," skipper Aaron Taylor said.

They play second bottom Lynn Avon at Tikipunga the following week, followed by matches against Ngaruawahia (home), Takapuna (home) and Forrest Hill-Milford (away).

"If we don't beat Albany we may well be up the creek without a paddle, it's a must win match for us," Burgess said.

Northland senior football league matches took a break with the second round of Stafford-Choat knockout matches played. Central Brown progressed through to the next round with a 5-1 win over Kerikeri reserves, while FC Whangarei's premier side beat Madhatters Green 3-1.

Kaitaia also earned a place in the third round with a 4-1 win over FC Reserves, while Kerikeri also went through after thumping FC's first division team 10-1.