Aotearoa Domestic Football Roundup – April 22
Men’s Northern League
Busy times up North. They always are over Easter Weekend (and having Anzac Day up next means there won’t be much respite). Busy times often mean crazy times and that’s exactly what we got with a full slate of fixtures held on Good Friday and then a whole other set on Easter Monday. We’ll do this chronologically with the Good Friday goodness first... so how about we begin with Auckland City losing again?
The Navy Blues were beaten 1-0 by Western Springs last week, albeit with a rotated squad that didn’t include any of their OFC Champions League group. Seven of their starting eleven that faced Birkenhead United away at Shepherds Park also started the OCL final so perhaps there was some tiredness as Dino Botica scrambled the home side in front after only eight minutes. Auckland City levelled things up soon enough when Gerard Garriga whipped home from a cutback... although it’s gone done as a Zach Chung own goal on the official records (not sure about that – although the FIFA+ streams can be deceiving). Onwards we proceeded, set pieces looking the best threat for both sides, and in the 67th minute a Paul Clout flick-header from a long throw put Birko back into the lead. ACFC threw the kitchen sink at them. Usually they’re able to find a late goal when they need one but on this occasion they fell short... sending Birkenhead to the top of the standings. Consecutive defeats for Auckland City. At least they only had to wait until Monday to try get the train back on the tracks.
That result left Birkenhead as the last remaining undefeated team because Auckland United were dropped 2-1 by Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm. The requisite Emiliano Tade goal came in the last moments of the first stanza – making it five games in a row that he’d scored in for AUFC – but an earlier strike from Joby Reid (30’) and a later one from Hector Echague (54’) sent this one in the other direction to deal United their first defeat of the term. Echague’s winner was an incredible strike, chipping AU’s keeper with a quick free kick from nearly halfway. Eastern Suburbs had Marcus Nevin, former Birko keeper, impressing between the sticks for this one while 18yo ex-Melville defender Isaac Bates also started. Plus Fijian international Thomas Dunn got the second half’s worth on club debut. You can always trust Eastern Suburbs to cast their net wide with the transfers. One of the better recruiting clubs going around.
Those were both home victories by 2024 National League representatives so dunno if they can be called upsets. That tag might fit more snugly for Western Springs getting popped 3-0 at Seddon Fields by Tauranga City though. Adam Davidson with a penalty on 25’, Colby Brennan doubling the lead just before the half on 43’, and then a late Morgan Wellsbury clincher on 81’. Springs had substitute Daniel Normann sent off with twenty to go after a pair of bookings but they were already two down when that bloke was introduced. This was a strong Springs squad but TCAFC keep proving they’ve got some tricks up their sleeve. This took Morgan Wellsbury to five goals in five, with Brennan only one behind him.
Another bloke who keeps scoring goals is Derek Tieku. His time with Auckland City didn’t lead to much last year but since linking up with Bay Olympic he’s resumed his familiar ways. He scored twice as Bay Olympic beat West Coast Rangers 3-0. Opening goal on 35’ plus a penalty on 53’. Kazik Swain grabbed a 43rd minute goal in between. That made it three wins from five matches for the Bay.
Still no wins for the Auckland FC Reserves after they got dropped 2-1 by East Coast Bays thanks to a brace from Guy-Frank Essome-Penda (71’ & 76’). James Taylor pulled one back right at the end but it was too late. This was another AFC team stacked with first-team scholars (and a first start for Semi Nabenu) but the young side, so far only picking their U20s dudes, has had trouble turning promise into goals. Nothing unusual about that. Finally, for the first set of fixtures, Manurewa belatedly got on the board after drawing 2-2 away against Fencibles. Darius Palma gave the home side the lead midway through the first half (26’) but quickfire strikes from Dylan Laing-McConnell (40’) and Ryan Dougherty (43’) had Rewa leading at the break. Alas, they couldn’t hang on with speedster Aston Burns scoring an 80th min equaliser for Fencies.
With that all in the bank, it was soon time to rise again (so to speak) for another full set of fixtures on Monday. So... did Auckland City lose again? Nah mate. Although they only won 1-0 against Bay Olympic at Kiwitea Street so it wasn’t their most convincing performance. Gotta cut them some slack with their fixture congestion though. A 49th minute Jordan Vale goal was the difference - haven’t seen a lot of Vale lately but he’s clearly still got the knack. Having said that, the ACFC footage shows that it was pretty blatantly an own goal after Vale’s headed dropped off the bar and onto the keeper. Eh, close enough.
That means that, after six rounds, there are three teams above Auckland City on the standings. One of those is Birkenhead United who won a humdinger 3-2 away to Western Springs. Rowan Kawale’s 8th min goal was matched by Toshiko Makimoto’s 32nd min response. Sam Philip scored after 42 mins to put Birko back in front... but Ben Wallace levelled up after 76 mins to have things back on balance. The match was heading for a draw until Michael Suski bagged a winner in stoppage time, via a nasty deflection, to keep Birko in first place. They’re the top scoring team in the Northern League and it’s not even close. Amazing work after so much player turnover... Suski is one of their new additions, a 23yo American midfielder. Brutal way for Springs to lose a second match in four days though.
Eastern Suburbs have only scored half as many goals as Birko but that’s all they’ve needed. They’re second, one point back, after a 1-0 win over East Coast Bays sparked by a 31st minute penalty from Eber Ramirez. They had both Thomas Dunn and Sterling Vasconcellos in the starting team here, both of their Fijian internationals. And the other team above Auckland City is the team that the Navy Blues beat in the opening fixture: Tauranga City. This after TCAFC condemned Auckland United to a second defeat of the week and also broke Emiliano Tade’s goal-scoring streak with a 1-0 win in the Bay of Plenty. Colby Brennan scored after 27 mins – his fifth of the campaign. It was a back and forth game for most of the way but Tauranga had to use all of their wits and plenty of luck to hang on at the end. That team’s really up to something. Wins over Western Springs and Auckland United over Easter should have everyone paying attention.
What else did we have? Well, Fencibles were 2-0 up away to West Coast Rangers after 26 minutes thanks to goals from current NZ U17s rep Nathan Martin (14’) and the-brother-of-you-can-guess-who Adam Paulsen (26’). However, victory evaded them after Sam Burfoot (50’) and Ignacio Machuca (80’) orchestrated a second-half comeback from Rangers.
And over in the final fixture of a crowded Northern League weekend... the Auckland FC Reserves finally tasted the sweet nectar of victory as they ran riot in the second stanza away against Manurewa AFC. Rewa were unable to build upon their draw from a few days earlier. This one was goalless at the break... then Oliver Middleton (46’), Jonty Bidois (51’), Shivan Nair (82’), and Nicholas Gaze (85’) took over. Conor Sykes made his first appearance with a late bench cameo... he was the last of the officially announced players to finally take the field. Eli Jones made his first start since game one. Also, captain Codey Phoenix missed his first match here... guts to be the captain and the team finally win without you (Phoenix has been one of their best through the first five weeks though, don’t get it twisted).
Women’s NRFL Premiership
There was supposed to be an absolute blockbuster on Thursday night with West Coast Rangers (4/4 wins with +16 goal difference) hosting Auckland United (4/4 wins with +17 goal difference) in the first of what’ll be at least three meetings this season... but our buddy Cyclone Tam had other ideas so that game’s been postponed until Wednesday 30 April. Damn weather spoiling a long weekend and also delaying a banger game of footy. Even without playing, those two teams remain first-equal on the standings after five rounds.
Eastern Suburbs are third with 10 points from five games. They hosted Tauranga Moana on Friday and did what they were expected to do by winning 5-0 with Sammi Tawharu scoring a hat-trick in amongst. It was only in the last quarter of an hour that the Lilywhites pulled away though. The final scoreline ended up being extremely harsh towards the travelling Tauranga side. The goal flow went: Tawharu (11’), Jess Innes (75’), Tawharu (78’), Millie Boyle (80’), Tawharu (87’).
That first Anna Leat goal remains one for the future after she didn’t play for Hibiscus Coast as they hosted Western Springs. Paige Satchell was back while Aneka Mittendorff also featured... feels like they’re never able to get those three all available at once. They did have Maia Lythe though, a former Western Springs junior up against her old team. Nice pick-up there. But Western Springs were too good and goals from Nanami Omasa (22’), Kate Duncan (40’), and Liz Savage (89’ pen) earned a 3-0 win for the Swans.
With Suburbs and Springs looking strong, and AUFC and WCR already putting everyone else in the rearview, the margins are slim for the rest of the competition if they want to push for the top four. So instances like Fencibles versus Ellerslie make for very important occasions – gotta be winning consistently against everyone else if you’re going to threaten the main quartet. Fair play to Fencies, that’s what they did with a 2-0 win coming via goals for Hayley Miller (28’) and Ayumi Horikoshi (41’). Both were goals that Ellerslie will feel gutted about conceding. Miller’s up to three for the term, she’s been knocking them in. Of the eight players with at least three goals so far, Miller and Tawharu are the only two who aren’t from Auckland United or WC Rangers.
Men’s Central League
The Wellington Phoenix Reserves faced their trickiest task yet when Miramar Rangers came to visit... and Chris Greenacre’s boys came through this one unscathed just like all the rest. Luke Flowerdew’s 59th minute goal was the difference in a 1-0 victory. This Rangers side won 8-0 last week and the Nix U20s just shut them down. These Nixers have only conceded once in four games whilst winning all of them. Before you go getting any ideas, Gabe Sloane-Rodrigues was in the starting eleven alongside captain Xuan Loke... but they were the only two current first team scholars involved. Interesting to see Fergus Gillion get a few mins off the bench while Lewis Partridge was an unused sub – both those dudes were excellent in the last National League but turned 20 in January so it wasn’t clear if they were still around. Turns out they are.
Wellington Olympic also remain a perfect 4/4 after beating Western Suburbs. Alex Solomon broke the deadlock after 16 mins. A pair of ex-Phoenix Academy lads traded goals early in the second half, first Joshua Rudland making it 2-0 on 49’ then Kaelin Nguyen (who played for Olympic last year) quickly matching that on 52’ for 2-1. Eventually, Noah Boyce sealed it for the Greeks with an 88th minute strike to make it 3-1. Boyce was also a WeeNixer but has been away at Manhattan College these past few years. Olympic gave a start to new English import Louis Danquah (who most recently played in Australia). Tiahn Manuel also featured off the bench... so we’ve got Jackson Manuel at Auckland City, Riley Manuel at Auckland United, and Tiahn Manuel at Wellington Olympic. Could get three brothers in the National League at three different clubs this year.
How about Upper Hutt City with the late equaliser? An 87th minute goal from Ethan Barbier earned them a 1-1 draw away against Napier City Rovers. Stephen Hoyle had given Rovers the lead on 65’ but they couldn’t close it out. Very un-Napier of them. That’s UHC’s first point of the season following a trio of defeats. In fact, it was their first goal having been kept scoreless in each of those losses.
In the other two games it was goals galore. Waterside Karori and Island Bay played out a bonkers 3-3 draw. Fijian international Brendan McMullen made it 1-0 to Island Bay (8’) but then Sam Mitrakas tied it back up for the Wharfies (19’). Charlie Hale restored the IB lead (30’) and that lasted for a decent span of time until Ryan Harrison (65’) and Lukas Halikias (68’) struck in quick succession to make it 3-2 to WK. However, Tomas Alvarado – IB’s big offseason addition who joined from... would you believe it: Waterside Karori – scored in the 84th minute to settle the accounts. Ahmad Othman was sent off at the end for Karori.
And it’s not even worth going goal by goal in the Petone vs North Wellington game because there were too many of them. Petone won 7-3. Petone’s goals were scored by Kieran McMinn (10’, 27’, 66’), Bray Whitecliffe (51’), Matthew Brazier (62’, 87’), and Jaga Scott-Greenfield (90’). North Wellington’s goals were scored by Benjamin McMillan (10’) and Wilson Souphanthavong (38’, 59’). If you work that out, it was 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3 before Petone surged away in the last half hour beginning as soon as Matt Brazier was subbed on. The 2023 Central League Golden Boot is singing his familiar tune again.
Women’s Central League
The Wellington Phoenix U18s have been unstoppable since joining the Central League... but they had a bye this week. That Wellington United knew they had to win by ten clear goals to go ahead of the WeeNix on goal difference. The Diamonds were away to Taradale... and things looked pretty good when Farina Anchico scored in the third minute and Hannah Pilley added another on 15’. But Taradale aren’t easybeats and they slowed things down, only conceding once more in the half (another Anchico goal on 38’), until the damage resumed with a Natalie Olson goal on 58’ and a double from Carolyn O’Reilly (60’ & 79’). Wellington United won 6-0. Not enough to go first but they’ve won three out of three so no reason to stress. Farina Anchico is from a Colombian immigrant family and is in her last year at Onslow College. She was awarded a Tania Dalton Scholarship last year. Very exciting forward prospect who got some National League minutes last year and should be in for another leap in 2025. This was her first start of the year and she banked it with two goals.
Petone had themselves a statement win, pumping Miramar Rangers by a 5-1 scoreline thanks to a hat-trick from Pepi Olliver-Bell. Emmy Lantz (21’) and Phoebe Gray (25’) got them started before POB went nuts to begin the second half (48’, 54’, 58’). It was only with fifteen left that Iris Reweti-Gould got one back for Rangers. Lantz has joined from Seatoun where she was the Players’ Player of the Year the past two seasons running while you surely already know Olliver-Bell from the last few years of National League footy – she was a guest player with Wellington United in 2024 but with Waterside Karori not what they used to be perhaps she’ll make it directly with Petone this time. Also looks like Marie Green has joined Petone after graduating out of the Wellington Phoenix Academy (she turned 20 in January). Green is an age grade international who moved down from Ellerslie a couple of years ago and seems to be sticking around, attending Victoria University. Remember Kieran McMinn scored a hatty for Petone’s men following after Pepi Olliver-Bell’s own three-for so it was a double header to rejoice at Memorial Park (amazingly, Finn O’Connor also got a hatty for Petone’s Cap Prem side).
Good news for Waterside Karori. They won 3-0 against Palmerston North United with the goals scored by Nicola Ross (7’, 90’) and Rhianna Houghton (79’). Took until late to make it safe but they got there. That’s consecutive wins for the Wharfies against Palmy clubs to overcome their shocking start. Much more like it. PN United have lost four from four with -24 goal difference so it ain’t looking great for them. And in the other game, Palmerston North Marist won 3-1 against Moturoa. Sasha Rasmussen scored first for the visitors (14’) but PNM turned it around in the second half with a double from Amber Mahoney (56’ & 60’) plus an Isabella Yarwood goal (73’) to make sure of things. This was a Palmy team vs a New Plymouth team so plenty of Central Football teammates in opposition.
Men’s Southern League
Christchurch United are getting scary again. They were away against Selwyn United on Friday and they beat them 9-0. Ruthless stuff. They shared the goals out between Oliver van Rijssel (6’), Joshua Tollervey (10’, 27’), an own goal (39’), Charlie Beale (43’), Shogo Osawa (45’), Josel Stevens (52’, 78’), and Eddie Wilkinson (83’). Phew, there ya go. Not a bad way to debut for 18yo goalkeeper Ben Graney. That win keeps the Rams undefeated and in first place while Selwyn have lost every game and are last.
Dunedin City Royals should have been in trouble against Nelson Suburbs when Caleb Osborne was sent off after 66 minutes with the game at 0-0. Instead a brace from captain Connor Neil (75’, 83’ pen) propelled them to a 2-0 win. That’s three wins from four for DCR. Coastal Spirit perceived no dramas as they won 6-0 against Wānaka. It was goalless at half-time so they stepped on the gas with Riku Ichimura scoring a hatty in amongst. Joe Hoole (50’, 86’ pen), Kaleb De Groot-Green (58’), and Ichimura (63’, 69’, 90’) did the dirty deeds. Lots to like about how Spirit are tracking, they’re currently averaging four goals per game. Same points tally as Dunedin City Royals but somehow with ten more goals scored. Ichimura already has six goals, leaping to the top of the charts and looking like a wonderful addition.
There was a wild one between Universities of Canterbury and Ferrymead Bays. Omar Cameron gave Bays the lead on 19’. Stuart Campbell tied it up for UC on 33’. Strikes from Chris Muprhy (35’), Cameron Ream (42’), and Liam Stanton (50’) then blew it open in favour of Bays before Joshua Dempster’s goal (72’) restored some hope for the home side... up until Ferrymead Bays scored again through Cameron (83’) to seal a 5-2 victory. Universities of Canterbury have lost four in a row with the same record as Selwyn but better goal difference by six. Only one team gets relegated so already that’s looking like a shootout.
Good news for Cashmere Technical: Garbhan Coughlan returned from injury for the visit from Nomads United. Expected news for Cashmere Technical: Garbhan Coughlan scored. Bad news for Cashmere Technical: more points have been dropped. That’s because Lyle Matthysen’s rapid goal (6’) was immediately cancelled out by Danny Kane’s own goal (7’). Then Nomads jumped into a half-time lead after Angus McIntyre’s effort (31’), so obviously Coughlan had to do his thing from the penalty spot after 50 minutes to make it 2-2. But that wasn’t all. Harry Bushell (73’) struck for Nomads to have them positioned for victory... for about five minutes until Lachie McIsaac made it 3-3 and that’s how it ended. Cashy Tech have seven points from four games. Only three points off first but what’ll be concerning them most is that they’ve conceded nine times already.
Meanwhile, the English Cup also began this week. That’s the Christchurch regional knockout cup. It was first round so most teams rotated heavily. The exception was Christchurch United who picked a very strong side which won 5-0 against Universities with Shogo Osawa getting a hatty. Selwyn were the other Southern League side eliminated. They went down 3-2 against Western AFC. Cashmere Tech had a bye. Coastal won 2-0 vs Oxford. Nomads won 14-0 against Parklands United with Harry Bushell and Angus McIntyre both getting triples.
Women’s South Island League
Over here there was a bye for Dunedin City Royals while the match between Nelson Suburbs and Halswell United suffered the fate of so many outdoor activities over Easter Weekend and got rained off. They’ll have to pick that one up another time... leaving three Friday fixtures to fixate over.
Cashmere Technical did what they needed to do with a 2-0 win away against NW United. Saskia Pelham scored in the first half (34’) and Tess Toombs scored in the second half (84’). Toombs was born in Papua New Guinea and actually used to play for Halswell. She was in the Canterbury United youth team last year (along with several of her teammates). By the way, with Annalie Longo stepping away from professional football, you wonder if maybe there might be a few Cashmere Tech appearances in her future. Hopefully that’s not too much to ask for.
Otago University have been the main story so far this season. With DCR not playing, they had the opportunity to put points on the board by extending their perfect start to go outright first. That’s exactly what they did. Went away to Roslyn Wakari and smoked them 5-0. It was a scoreless game until the 40th minute when Georgia Nixon broke things open and then a second from Nixon (62’) followed by goals from Madison Kay (68’), Leila Hausia-Haugen (78’), and Kate Johnstone (90’) took them to fives. This team, coached by Hamish Philip, has won four from four scoring 18 goals and conceding only 2. They’ve only got a one or two players who played National League last season (most notably captain Samantha Woolley, a Central Football product who has played for Southern United these last couple years). Yet they’re doing serious damage... and that includes a win over Cashmere Tech. Georgia Nixon has joined Royals duo Amy Hislop and Kylie Jones atop the Golden Boot charts with five goals. Amazing mahi going on at Otago Uni.
In contrast, Universities of Canterbury are yet to win a game after four attempts. Admittedly, losing 4-2 against Coastal Spirit is nothing to be ashamed of. Coastal have won three out of three themselves (along with DCR and Otago Uni there are three teams still with perfect records in the South Island League... Royals vs Coastal is next week though, so someone’s not going to last beyond this week). Goals from Frankie Morrow (22’) and Margi Dias (26’ & 36’) had Coastal Spirit surging away until Sophie Hartshaw’s penalty kick made it 3-1 on the brink of half-time. Liv Deane eventually closed that to -2 with an 84th min goal for UC but less than three minutes later, Dias completed her hat-trick for 4-2. Coastal had Britney-Lee Nicholson back and captaining them for this game, fresh from representing the NZ futsal team in their series against China.
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