Flying Kiwis – May 13
Go tell the children, there will be no Europa League title for Chris Wood. His penalty had given Nottingham Forest a 1-0 advantage after the first leg at home but they barely even turned up for the second leg.
Go tell the children, there will be no Europa League title for Chris Wood. His penalty had given Nottingham Forest a 1-0 advantage after the first leg at home but they barely even turned up for the second leg.
The game of the round was Eastern Suburbs vs Fencibles United. Two teams in strong form, both with designs on the top four... possibly a lot higher. Kenya Brooke (28’) and Mihiro Kisu (35’) traded first half goals for Suburbs and Fencies respectively before the game swung in a five minute spell…
Imagine thinking a few months ago that Chris Wood would be in the middle of a European semi-final right now. Not only was he working his way back from knee surgery at the time but Nottingham Forest, largely in his absence, were tearing through managers at rapid pace…
The new-look Wellington Phoenix U18s have put a notch in the win column at the fourth attempt. They won 4-1 away against a struggling Palmerston North Marist side that has now lost five in a row…
They were hoping to rebound from a rotten campaign last time by getting back into the playoffs, instead they were flirting with a wooden spoon for a while there, and in the end they settled for eighth place.
When Silkeborg go well, it usually means that Callum McCowatt has gone well... and Callum McCowatt has been going very well lately.
Everything was all set for some Friday night footy at Fred Taylor Park, home of the Auckland FC Reserves. The youngsters were hosting Bay Olympic. Both teams looking for points after a couple of tough recent results…
Last week the story was about Chris Wood’s return, this week it was all about the action. Nottingham Forest had two games in quick succession with the potential to massively alter the course of their season.
With less than twenty minutes to go, Fencibles United were leading 1-0 against the Auckland FC Reserves. Jordan Boon had scored the goal (26’), nodding in after a barrage of corner kicks. As the game entered second-half added time, the AFC Reserves had spun things around to be leading 2-1…
The purpose of these last two Football Ferns international windows has been to qualify for the World Cup. Those windows are now complete and the Football Ferns have qualified for the World Cup.
173 days after he last took the pitch in a 3-0 loss against Chelsea that marked Ange Postecoglou’s final game in charge of the team, Chris Wood made his return for Nottingham Forest.
If Cashmere Technical don’t win the Southern League then something pretty crazy will have happened between now and then. Four games in and they already look like they’re cruising, with their latest demolition being a 9-0 victory away against Wānaka
23 November 2024 and 25 March 2026… those were the two games of competitive football played by Malia Steinmetz on either side of busting her ACL, returning to action in a very convincing Danish Cup semi-final first leg win against Kolding
In a week where Auckland City and Wellington Olympic both lost and the Men’s Northern and Central Leagues are looking like anyone’s for the claiming right now... one thing you can bank on is Cashmere Technical
Game by game, window by window, this All Whites team has been trying to figure out how to win. They’ve gotten to where they can consistently competing against more fancied nations but haven’t often been able to turn those performances into results
Everybody say kia ora to the Men’s & Women’s Central Leagues, which got underway this week. Might as well lead off with them and might as well start with the (perennial) defending champions, Wellington Olympic, who were away against rivals Miramar Rangers at David Farrington Park
Would you look at that, there’s a new Football Ferns squad already. It was only a few weeks ago that they were in camp in the Solomon Islands... but that was only phase one of this World Cup Qualification quest
Nottingham Forest had put a mid-April target out there for Chris Wood’s return to the first team so nobody was expecting him to appear in the starting line-up for the U21s this soon. And yet there he was.
Friday night at Fred Taylor Park marked the start of the 2026 football season in New Zealand, as defending National League champs Auckland United were hosted by defending NRFL Premiership champs West Coast Rangers
In an ideal world, Darren Bazeley would have picked a shadow version of his intended World Cup squad for these games so that he could chase some serious results against Finland and Chile.