Aotearoa Domestic Football Roundup – 28 April
Men’s Northern League
Tauranga City are top of the Northern League. After beating Auckland United 1-0 last week, they’ve repeated the dose during one of their longest road trips by winning 1-0 away against Birkenhead United. Birko had scored 20 goals in six previous games but Tauranga kept them quiet with Axel Acebo’s tenth minute goal making all the difference. Another spectacular defensive effort from TCAFC. Another brilliant win. They’re the only non-Auckland club in the top flight yet they’re leading the way and confidence is growing with every passing week. Check out the goal that won it for them. C'est magnifique...
Auckland City are only behind Tauranga City on goal difference (and beat them in the season opener). This after they claimed a narrow win against Fencibles United. ACFC were trailing after Aston Burns scored for Fencies after 51 minutes. However, an own goal (74’) and an Angus Kilkolly strike (80’) had them back in the familiar territory of scoring late goals when needed. Unsurprisingly, ACFC have the best defensive record in the Northern League, averaging less than a goal per game conceded. But they’ve only themselves scored nine times across seven fixtures so it’s been tough sledding for the perennial champs. With a huge squad settling in, not to mention the Champions League excursion, they’re heavy in the grind right now. But as long as they keep squeezing out results then no worries.
Fresh after getting thrashed by the Auckland FC Reserves (AFC’s first Northern League win), Manurewa AFC produced the shock of the round by whipping Eastern Suburbs 4-1 at Madills Farm. Nobody saw this coming. They were 3-0 up after 20 minutes thanks to Dylan Laing-McConnell (5’) and Anas Zara (12’ & 20’) goals. From there they battled away until 17yo forward Keen Mandizvidza made it four on 65’. It was only an 84th min consolation from Alexander Irwin, the Lilywhites’ Canadian import, that gave Suburbs anything to cling to. Heck of a way for Rewa to finally get that first win of the campaign. Doesn’t lift them out of last place but it does mean that every team in the division has at least one win. With Birkenhead losing we can also now say that every team in the division has at least one defeat too.
West Coast Rangers grabbed a much-needed victory as substitute Jack Butterfill’s 71st minute effort gave them a 1-0 win against the Auckland FC Reserves. Luke Casserly picked the same starting eleven as last week, rewarding the AFC lads who got that initial win... but they couldn’t repeat the dose. Western Springs were too good for Bay Olympic, winning 3-0 courtesy of a brace from Ben Wallace (44’ & 76’) as well as a goal from Toshiko Makimoto in between (60’). And in the other game, East Coast Bays were on track to for an upset win at Keith Hay Park following Damion Kim’s goal five mins into the second half. But Auckland United levelled it up in the 85th via the usual suspect: Emiliano Tade with his seventh of the campaign already, leading the Golden Boot charts by one ahead of Bay Olympic’s Derek Tieku and also Western Springs’ Ben Wallace (after his double this week).
Women’s NRFL Premiership
Auckland United may have had time off last time due to cyclone activities but they had to do double duties this time around... clearing space for their imminent jaunt to Tahiti for the Oceania Champions League. Thus it was that they found themselves with a midweek trip to Fencibles. The rest clearly did them good because United were as unstoppable as ever in a 7-1 victory. They were already up by four with ten minutes to go in the first half - this was a demolition against a what’s normally a very good Fencies team. Goals came courtesy of Talisha Green (2’), Danielle Canham (18’), Ava Pritchard (29’), and Jess Philpot (34’) in that original burst. Then Tui Dugan arrived off the bench and scored on 60’. Alexandrea Ape-Paia got the home side on the board after 64 mins... but Alexis Cook (74’) and then a second for Dugan (89’) ensured the damage continued. Cheeky debut towards the end for English defender Victoria Neuefeind too. Last year she was on the books at Durham which is where Mickey Foster and Hannah Blake currently are. Possible link between the two – Foster made a few appearances for AUFC in between her Wellington Phoenix and Durham deals.
That was match was a cruise for AUFC but they met with more resistance against Western Springs on the weekend. United made five changes to the midweek starters and one of those was a promoted Tui Dugan who promptly put them 1-0 up after eight minutes. Not bad, not bad. But it took a very long time to find a second. Western Springs made it tough for them and it wasn’t until Charlotte Roche subbed on and scored an 86th minute goal that they finally clinched it at 2-0. We also saw a bit of Pia Vlok as a late substitute in there. She was the teenaged hero in the 2024 National League grand final... but she tends to play boy’s football during the winter season.
Fencibles also had to back up on the short turnaround after that midweek game and bloody hell they had to play away against West Coast Rangers. Up against the two best teams in the space of five days, yikes. They got thrashed in the first of those games but were much more competitive in the second. West Coast Rangers still won 2-1 though. WCR scored through Minji Yun (11’) and Sienna Higinbotham (60’) before Alyssa Wong kept it close for Fencies (63’). Rosie Missen’s National League stint with Central last year was a helpful one because after already bringing Zara Erol-Watt back with her, Lilly Dowsing has also begun appearing for Fencibles. Add in their recruitment of Daphne Ranta and Alisa Tuatagaloa, along with some of their own emerging youngsters, and there’s lots to like about what Fencies are doing. But they’ve lost four of their first seven games so the results will need to sharpen up. West Coast Rangers have won five from five with a +17 goal difference. Pity that meeting with Auckland United got postponed. We’re just going to have to wait to see how they stack up against the champs.
Ellerslie produced a great result with a 2-2 draw against Eastern Suburbs. They scored quickly through Lyric Davidson inside of three minutes but the in-form Sammi Tawharu cancelled that out right before the midway point (43’) and then seemed to have won it for the Lilywhites down the stretch (78’). Seemed to have but did not... because Ponies legend Anita Trudgen was there at the death to earn a 2-2 draw. Ellerslie also drew 2-2 with Western Springs in week one so they’re doing their bit to make the top four race as competitive as possible. Sam Tawharu now has six goals, sending her top of the charts ahead of Alexis Cook (AU) and Minji Yun (WCR) on five each. Meanwhile, we should have had a bottom of the table clash between Hibiscus Coast and Tauranga Moana on Sunday but that one got rained off same as the top of the table clash did last week. Bummer.
Men’s Central League
Wellington Olympic’s quest for a fifth-consecutive Central League title is going swell. They’ve won five out of five and were as convincing as it gets with an 8-0 victory away against last-placed North Wellington on Saturday. The goals mostly came in two separate bursts. It wasn’t until the 27th min that Tor Davenport-Petersen put the first of them away (he whose first name literally translates to “goal” in German) but that strike was followed swiftly by Noah Boyce (32’) and Josh Rudland (34’) efforts. Rudland got a stray second in the 58th minute and then it went a bit bonkers as the Greeks scored four more in the final fifteen minutes. Adam Supyk (76’), Gavin Hoy (77’), Jack-Henry Sinclair (79’), and then a hat-trick clincher for Josh Rudland (82’). Gotta love that from 21yo Rudland. Even these days where the Wellington Phoenix are extra focused on their youth development, there’s never going to be room for everyone in the first team. Rudland was a very consistent goal scorer for the reserves, and he did make one Aussie Cup appearance for the first team, but he aged out last year and perhaps the Nix will come to regret that given their need for finishers. Either way, Rudland’s landed on his feet with Wellington Olympic... who are now the only remaining team with a perfect record after five rounds of Central League footy.
That’s because the Wellington Phoenix Reserves were finally halted. They fell behind against Petone when Kieran McMinn scored after 18 mins... however, goals from first-teamers Luke Supyk (30’) and Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues (58’) flipped the script in a very competitive fixture. That is, until Lachlan Candy was sent off with around twenty to play. That let Petone back into things and, right at the end, McMinn scored again to snatch a 2-2 draw. Points dropped by the Nix Ressies, finally. Petone are going to need to do something about a defence that’s allowed multiple goals in every game so far... but at least in these last couple of games they’ve scored enough to make up for it. The WeeNix had only conceded once in their previous four matches.
Goals were flowing everywhere because Napier City Rovers more than doubled their season’s tally with a 6-1 win away against Island Bay. Sam Lack’s 22nd min goal had them narrowly ahead at half-time before Harry Mason (50’), Lack again (57’), and then both Hoyle Bros (Jim on 63’, Steve on 66’) blew the lid off it. Tsar Mitchener did pull one back after 88 mins for Island Bay... but even that didn’t soothe things because Ethan Spencer grabbed an injury time reply for Rovers. Interesting addition for Island Bay: Joseph Cornille lined up in central defence, having finished up at the Wellington Phoenix after making four National League appearances last term. Also, that’s 17yo Ethan Spencer who got the last goal for Rovers. Big raps on that bloke, by the sounds of it. Napier City remain third thanks to that victory with 10 points from five games. Strong bounce-back win after losing to the WeeNix and then conceding a last-gasp equaliser against Upper Hutt City in their last couple matches.
In fourth place, as we cross beyond the quarter-mark of the league fixtures, is Miramar Rangers who were convincing in a 4-0 win away to Upper Hutt City. Martin Bueno (3’) and Sam Gates (16’) ensured they were leading from the start. An own goal (72’) then another Gates goal (84’) padded that out. Sam Gates is 18 years old and won the Player of the Year for the Miramar reserves last season so that’s a name to jot down.
The other game this round was Western Suburbs vs Waterside Karori... where Wests all of a sudden found their mojo with a 6-1 victory. Cameron McKenzie (14’) and Alex Andersson (16’) got it started. Ryan Harrison pulled a goal back for the Wharfies after 28 mins but then a penalty allowed Andersson to restore the two goal advantage shortly afterwards (32’)... and it was 4-1 by half-time after Seb Barton-Ginger struck (41’). SBG scored again on 51’ and Kaelin Nguyen polished it off on the hour with number ono. Alex Andersson is a Swedish import who’s mostly played in the USA, first at uni then in a few of the lower leagues... including with Colorado Switchbacks in the USL last year (same tier as Alex Greive, Kyle Adams, Riley Bidois, etc. are currently plying their trade). He didn’t play much for them - otherwise what would he be doing here, right? – but that’s another high calibre import that Wests have been able to procure. They’ll be hoping he can pick up where Lucas Meek left off in 2024. These were his first goals for the club (it’s Sebastian Barton-Ginger who’s leading the way for Wests with four already).
Women’s Central League
There were lots of new names for the Wellington Phoenix U18s this week. Nobody in the starting eleven was making their first Central League appearances (although a couple on the bench were), but they were without a good chunk of the players who’d been leading them to copious victories this week due to the start of the U20s/Reserves season across in the Boy’s Capital Development U15s league. Chances are we’ll get played alternating between those two squads seeing as one is playing women’s footy and one is playing boy’s footy – it’s not as simple as the usual U20s and U18s (reserves and thirds) set-up. But there are now two teams stretching out the wider academy squad each week now so perhaps that’ll slow down the ferocious run that the WeeNix had been on in the Central League. To illustrate the point, here were the squads for each this weekend (substitutes are in italics)...
Nix U20s: Mackenzie Greene (c), Gigi Freeman, Grace Bartlett, Isla Cleall-Harding, Amber de Wit, Phoebe Hawes, Poppy O’Brien, Emily Humphrey, Lily Brazendale, Sienna Candy, Charlotte Eagle (gk), Dorothy Yek, Natalie Young, Alyssha Eglinton, Libby McMillan, Holly Robins
Nix U18s: Mackenzie Bryant (c), Harriett Muller (gk), Katie Pugh, Eliza Vincent, Madison Sharkey, Olivia Goodwin, Ava Hipkins, Anahera Easton, Holly Robins, Freya Des Fountain, Maisy McDonald, Bridie Christie, Anais Le Carpentier, Paige Doran, Ruby Hale
A captain Mackenzie for each. Couple notes on that U20s team... Amber de Wit and Dorothy Yek have moved up from Christchurch, both having been part of the Canterbury Utd squad last year. Poppy O’Brien has joined from Auckland United. Also, Natalie Young is an NZ U17s international who has made the switch from Hamilton Wanderers (another Ricki Herbert Academy product). The rest of them were all part of the National League group from late last year. Also note that Holly Robins was on the bench for the ressies then started for the thirds the following day. The U20s have the much more recognisable group, although a few of those U18s did play National League last year.
With all that on the table, how’d the supposedly weakened Phoenix U18s go against Petone on Sunday? They drew 0-0. Still undefeated, still having only conceded once (this was a massive clean sheet given the aforementioned player turnover)... but at the same time they were kept scoreless having put 23 of the suckers away during their first three matches. You know what though? Petone’s defence has also only conceded once in four games and they’re also undefeated. Equal respect upon their name. This was a definitive stalemate between two high class defensive units.
Not so for the Phoenix U20s. They did win a few games in this league last year but to come out straight away and win 4-2 against Waterside Karori’s U15 lads is pretty eye-catching. They led at half-time through an Amber de Wit goal (35’) but were trailing 2-1 after an hour. Then Phoebe Hawes (63’), Isla Cleall-Harding (68’), and Grace Bartlett (70’) all scored in a flurry and there ya go. Bartlett and Hawes have already scored for both the U20s and U18s this year.
Back to the Central League, this was the first week where we had a full round of fixtures. Wellington United remain perfect with four wins from four but it didn’t come easy against Victoria University. Farina Anchico got another start and scored another goal to give the Diamonds a 23rd minute advantage. There were quite a few alterations to that Welly Utd side – with Natalie Olson, Zoe Barrott, Sarah Alder, and a couple others away in Auckland for the Futsal SuperLeague finals (Capital lost in the semis, Papakura City won the title) – so that might explain why they struggled to find a second goal. Vic Uni punished them for that when Millie Lynskey came off the bench and scored a leveller after 82 mins. Dropped points for the Diamonds? Nah, mate. Hannah Pilley scored in stoppage time and they won 2-1. Jeez, that was close though.
Taradale edged out Palmerston North United, keeping the latter without a point after five matches (although this was by far PNU’s best effort since earning promotion). Palmy Utd conceded after only a minute via an own goal, however they kept it that way for the rest of the half and then levelled things up through Elizabeth Dombrowski on 49’. At which point Maddy Hughes immediately responded (50’) and Taradale took the 2-1 victory. Miramar Rangers scored an 84th minute equaliser as they drew 1-1 with Palmerston North Marist. Amber Mahoney had earlier given PNM an 18th min lead. Rangers still haven’t won a match but that’s their second draw from four games so they’re ticking things over. And Waterside Karori had a good win away against Moturoa. Sherize Concession scored on 40’, then after the break Taylor Cooper (52’) and Nicola Ross (54’) drove things further in their favour. Tia Christensen pulled one back for Moturoa on 83’ but Kate Mills had the last reply on 90’ for a 4-1 Wharfies win. Despite their horrendous start, Karori have now won three games in a row and sit third in the standings. They might suddenly be bringing it all together with this new-look squad.
Men’s Southern League
Christchurch United are back, don’t you worry about it. They’ve been showing some ominous signs of late and then this weekend they unleashed an almighty fury upon Universities of Canterbury with a 10-0 win. Complete devastation, they were 5-0 up after 24 minutes. Goal scoring went: Travis Graham (8’), own goal (13’), Josh Rogerson (15’), Joel Stevens (21’), Eddie Wilkinson (24’ & 53’), Daniel Meyn (70’ & 87’), Wyatt Borella (76’), and Josh Tollervey (85’). Borella and Meyn both got their goals as substitutes. Meyn is the son of club president/money-man Slava Meyn (and has been on the fringes of the first team for a couple of years, he’s now 20yo). Borella is only 16 years of age and joined the Rams from Ōtākaro FC. He only made his Southern League debut last week and now he’s scored in match number two.
That game was a Friday nighter under lights. The following afternoon saw Wānaka grab a 3-1 win against Selwyn. It’s been struggle street for Selwyn who have lost all five. They scored first in this one through Finlay Cotton (11’) but it didn’t take long for Steve Sprowson (16’) to hit back and then goals either side of the break through Elijah Gaeth (45’) and Edward Belingher (47’) sent Wānaka onwards for three points. It wasn’t all bad for Selwyn though. Thanks to Uni of Canterbury’s hefty defeat, Selwyn have actually risen above them on goal difference so they’re out of last place.
There was a very good game between Ferrymead Bays and Dunedin City Royals which ended even stevens with a 2-2 draw. James Deehan (8’) gave Bays the lead. Connor Neil tied it up for DCR from the penalty spot (24’). Cameron Rean restored the home side’s advantage (68’). Then Ben Campbell levelled up near the end (86’). And it was an even more back-and-forth affair when Nomads United hosted Coastal Spirit. It was Spirit who scored first though Riku Ichimura’s third minute strike. Their latest Japanese import has been doing wonderful things... this goal sent him top of the goal-scoring charts with seven already to his name. But by half-time it was Nomads who were leading after goals from Cooper Goldsmith (30’) and Caleb Johnson (40’). Jake Hale soon had Coastal back on terms with a 52nd minute goal. Then Jack Mitchell (78’) and Liam Cotter (82’) completed the job for Coastal Spirit who won 4-2. Nomads had William Holland sent off near the end for a second booking.
Guess what else? Cashmere Technical lost. They were away against Nelson Suburbs and before you ask: no, Garbhan Coughlan didn’t play. But it was still a strong team stacked with last year’s National League squad that lined up so conceding in the tenth minute to a Lennon Whewell goal wasn’t what they’d have anticipated. A red card for Cory Vickers just before half-time should have given Tech a path back into the match yet instead they conceded again – Trevin Myers on 55’ – and fell to a 2-0 loss. Superb work from Nelson Suburbs who sit third with 10 points from five fixtures. Ol’ Cashmere Tech are in danger of tumbling backwards. Their last three games have been a 3-2 loss vs Wānaka, a 3-3 draw vs Nomads, and this 2-0 loss vs Nelson Subs. They’re already five points adrift of Nats qualification.
Women’s South Island League
The big game down here was Dunedin City Royals vs Coastal Spirit. Two teams intending to be up around the top. Both having won all three of their previous matches, both with excellent defensive records so far. Who’d emerge on top? It was home side Dunedin City Royals who won 2-0 thanks to a pair of early goals from Raegan Potter. One after four minutes, one after thirteen minutes. Fantastic win for the Royals, sending them to the summit thanks to those Otago University upstarts having the bye. Both DCR and Otago Uni have won all four whilst conceding just twice in the process. But DCR have a slightly better goal difference.
In third, we’ve got Cashmere Technical who did the required thing against Roslyn Wakari. Brazilian import Rafaela Da Costa Canal got them started on 22’, then Petra Buyck (36’) and Kate Loye (41’) extended things leading into half-time. Zara Pratley made it 3-1 on 50’. But then Katie Harris came off the bench and promptly scored from the penalty spot (61’) and Emma Kench finished it off on 66’. 5-1 was the final score. No dramas there. Cashmere Tech have been hit harder than anyone else by what feels like a notable chunk of Canterbury prospects moving to Wellington and Auckland this year but there’s always more where they came from. Not to mention the vets holding it down.
Universities of Canterbury have had a rough start so their 2-0 win against Nelson Suburbs was overdue. Kyra Lazor scored after just five minutes and then a second half own goal (72’) got them over the line. First win for them, while Nelson Suburbs are left in the wake with three straight defeats to begin the term, scoring only once in those matches. And then finally Halswell United had a comeback win against NW United. Jemma Creed scored first for the visitors on 50’ but a double from Ella Hartell (58’ & 72’) soon changed that story. That’s Halswell’s first win after three consecutive losses – they hadn’t even scored a goal until Hartell got down to business. Roslyn Wakari are the only other winless team (along with Nelson Subs) but they do at least have a draw to their name.
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