Aotearoa Domestic Football Roundup – April 7
Women’s NRFL Premiership
It’s been the question on everyone’s lips lately (if not then it should have been): Is Anna Leat actually playing as an outfielder for Hibiscus Coast? The answer is yes. The Football Ferns’ starting goalkeeper at the 2024 Olympic Games is now doing ninety minute stints for the Coasties as a centre-forward. She’s keeping busy as she takes a break from the hectic professional scene after her Aston Villa stint ended unfavourably so don’t get any grand ideas but this ought to be fun while it lasts.
Hibiscus Coast played away against Eastern Suburbs this week and conveniently it was the live-streamed game on the Northern Regional Football channel thus the cat is now out of the bag. Anna Leat started up top with fellow international Paige Satchell running off her. Naturally, Leat does bring a fairly limited striker’s bag to the party with almost all of her involvements being lay-offs, hold-ups, and other back-to-goal stuff. She did try to chip the keeper from distance when she picked off a loose defensive pass late in the first half but the shot went astray. There was another shot from just outside the box later on that she whipped wide. Barely any instances where she took more than three touches. But for a specialist goalkeeper she held her own and, based on her efforts so far, she will get goals this season. That’s gonna happen. Apparently, she already put one away against Western Springs during a preseason friendly.
It didn’t happen against Eastern Suburbs though, the Lilywhites were simply too good. Sofia Garcia opened the account after only eight minutes. Yuki Nishizono scored directly from a free kick on 38’. Sam Tawharu completed the scoring after an hour. Add it up and that’s 3-0 to Eastern Suburbs. Could have been more but Sasha Brett was solid in goal for the Coasties, as were central defenders Jessica Smith and Miya Stott. By the way, Stacey Martin, Charley March, and Deja Pareta all played for Suburbs... having transferred from Hibiscus Coast this year. Seems that worked out alright for them.
Western Springs won 1-0 against Fencibles with Kitty Jacob scoring the goal after ten minutes. Rina Hirano popped up on the bench alongside Arisa Takeda, lovely to see Springs retaining their Japanese legends. This was a tricky game though. Fencies have a good mix of talent and they took them the distance. On the flipside, West Coast Rangers faced Tauranga Moana and cruised to a 7-0 victory. Long list of goal-scorers here: Lorna Selby (19’), Emily Lyon (39’ & 43’), Minji Yun (40’), Sienna Higinbotham (54’), Mackenzie Longmuir (55’), and Shannon Henson (89’). That’s more than half the starting line-up who got on the scoresheet. And yeah obviously Auckland United won. Ellerslie kept it close for as long as they could but United took the points with a 3-0 victory with the goals scored by Alexis Cook (35’ & 85’) and Ava Pritchard (61’). Auckland United and West Coast Rangers are the only sides with three wins from three, already pulling away just like they did last year.
Men’s Northern League
Of the 15 players that took the pitch for Birkenhead United in the National League grand final in December, only four of them have featured during the opening three weeks of 2025: Dino Botica, Leon van den Hoven, Curtis Hughes, and Miles Palmer. They do still have Silvio Rodic and Luke Jorgensen on the books so they’ll probably come into the mix later in the year... but there’s been some drastic turnover at Shepherds Park.
Not that it seems to have bothered them. Birko hosted Manurewa this week and smoked them 5-0. Eitan Rosen opened the scoring on 33’ before a Curtis Hughes penalty just before the break made it 2-0. Sam Philip will be chuffed with his goal (60’) after struggling to repeat his previous prolifics when he moved up from Christchurch United last year. A Leon van den Hoven strike (62’) plus a Miles Palmer penalty (84’) then polished things off. Only four players in common with the MNL? Yeah sure but three of them scored and the other was Botica who captained them. This was also a good win for Shuaib Khan who spent the last couple years with Manurewa before recently swapping to Birko. Manurewa are the only team to have lost all three matches... however they do have quite a few new signings, including several from overseas, so it might take them some time to gel.
Auckland United kept up the fine work with a 3-1 win away against Fencibles United. Emiliano Tade made it three games in a row with a goal and this time he got it done early in only the fourth minute. Oliver Fay then doubled the lead on 42’. Nick Rooney closed the gap for Fencies on 50’. Lucca Lim continued his hot start with a goal on 58’. And that was that. AUFC were caught short last season with a young squad that couldn’t hang with the top four qualifiers yet it doesn’t seem that’ll be an issue this time. They’ve made some awesome additions and are looking dominant... one of only three undefeated teams left alongside Auckland City and Birkenhead United.
Auckland FC Reserves and Eastern Suburbs cancelled each other out with a 0-0 draw. Similar side for AFC except for third-choice keeper Joseph Knowles finally getting to play for the team in a competitive fixture. That puts him one match ahead of second-choice Michael Woud who has been on the bench for every A-League game but is yet to debut thanks to the undeniable Alex Paulsen. AFC’s ressies have used a different keeper each game: Eli Jones, Blake Callinan, and Joe Knowles. Funny thing about that is Jones debuted against his old club Fencibles while Knowles debuted against his old club Eastern Suburbs (not Callinan though, he was picked up from Auckland United... whom AFC face next week). So maybe Woud will finally get his chance against Bay Olympic somewhere down the line. Eastern Suburbs handed out three club debuts: Marcus Nevin, Sterling Vasconcellos, and Nick Petherick. Nevin’s a keeper who got last played for Birkenhead, Vasconcellos is a Fijian international (unused sub against the All Whites a few weeks ago), and Petherick has come across from North Shore United after being a Birko junior.
The Battle of the Bays saw Bay Olympic and East Coast Bays settle for a point apiece. Derek Tieku twice gave Olympic the lead (13’ & 32’ pen) and the visitors twice matched him, first a Jack Caunter penalty on 24’, then a James Elder goal on 68’. 2-2 was the final score. And it’s fair to say that the Contest of the West between Western Springs and West Coast Rangers delivered an upset result with WCR winning 1-0 on the road courtesy of a Zachary Newman goal on 47’. First win for WCR following defeats against Auckland City and Tauranga City. Auckland FC Reserves, East Coast Bays, Fencibles, and Manurewa are the teams without a win so far... remember we’re back to two teams getting relegated this year and also remember that AFC Reserves cannot be one of them. Very early days, of course.
As for Auckland City in the OFC Champions League, they followed their 1-0 win over AS Pirae of Tahiti (Dylan Manickum with the goal) by winning 2-0 against Tiga Sport of New Caledonia (goals for Manickum and Haris Zeb) and then made a bunch of changes for a dead-rubber game against Rewa of Fiji which they drew 1-1. Haris Zeb scored after 12 minutes then they conceded deep into stoppage time. Bit sloppy but it doesn’t stop them from finishing first in the group – ACFC will meet Ifira Black Bird of Vanuatu in the semis at 1pm on Wednesday – a club that they needed penalties to get past in the same stage two years ago, albeit that was when a competition hosted in Vanuatu. They’ll meet in the Solomon Islands this time around.
Women’s Central League
Only two games happened in week one, for whatever reason, so several of these teams were playing their opening fixtures this round. That included Wellington United, with the Diamonds surely fancying themselves to defend their title given the rebuilding state of that Waterside Karori squad. Those two teams have split the past seven championships in a row and they bumped into each other at Karori Park on Saturday.
Wellington United have most of last year’s squad returning plus they’ve added WeeNix graduates Lara Smith and Georgie Furnell – Smith has played for WU in the past, while Furnell is a Central Football product. Waterside Karori still only had the same four players in common from the 2024 National League grand final as they did last week (strange how they’ve got that in common with the beaten men’s finalists) but one of those players was Renee Bacon who scored twice in this match (34’ & 50’). Alas, those goals proved to be mere consolations as Natalie Olson ran rampant with an incredible five-goal haul. Carolyn O’Reilly got it started on 20’ before Olson scored her first (28’). Bacon pulled one back then Olson scored again before half-time (40’). Bacon responded once more for the Wharfies and at 3-2 down with forty minutes to go they were well in the contest. But then things went bonkers with Hannah Pilley (51’), Olson’s hat-trick (61’), a debut goal for Furnell (62’), Olson’s fourth (68’ pen), and Olson’s fifth (77’) turning it into an 8-2 victory for Wellington United. We’re so used to scrappy draws between the two heavyweights of the division but not this year, apparently. Shout out to Natalie Olson though. Five-for. That’s unreal.
Believe it or not, the biggest threat to Wellington United would appear to be the Wellington Phoenix Thirds (U18s)... who travelled to face promoted Palmerston North United on Sunday and gave them a 12-0 fizzing. There were players like Lily Brazendale, Libby McMillan, Katie Push, Holly Robins, and Phoebe Hawes in there with solid National League experience. There were also plenty of the next wave of WeeNixers involved too. And they were devastating. Katie Pugh captained and scored a hatty within half an hour (6’, 10’, 29’). Bridie Christie (24’) also got her name on the scoresheet... but she was unique for the Nix in that she only scored one. Everyone else who scored got at least two: Eliza Vincent (14’ & 48’), Phoebe Hawes (31’ & 34’), Maisy McDonald (51’ & 89’), Anahera Easton (67’ & 81’), and of course Katie Pugh as well. Pugh has already put her head above the crowd as one of the club’s top attacking prospects... and it looks like there’s plenty more where she came from. This is after the WeeNix U18s won 4-0 against Karori last week.
Elsewhere, there was a 0-0 draw between Petone and Palmerston North Marist. Several WNL calibre players on show for each team, including Aoife Gallagher-Forbes who was a fill-in goalie for the WeeNix late last year. It was almost the same fate for Victoria University and Moturoa... until substitute Isla Robertson scored an 84th minute winner for Vic Uni to take the 1-0 win. And then also Taradale had a good 3-0 win at home against Miramar Rangers. Goals from Hollie Gee (22’), Johanna Nieuwenhuis (59’), and Caitlyn Turner (81’).
Not sure what to make of the WeeNix Thirds having won both games with 16 goals scored and 0 conceded... they will certainly have tougher games ahead. Conversely, Waterside Karori’s two heavy defeats have been nasty but they might have already played the two most fearsome teams and we can surely trust them to eventually settle into a groove. What this does, is it leaves the second Capital Football spot in the National League open for the taking. The WeeNix can’t claim it because they’re already in via their Reserves. Taradale, Moturoa, and PN Marist (plus PN United who won’t be in this convo) fall under the Central Football banner. Looks like Vic Uni, Petone, and maybe Miramar Rangers could get lucky... while the Wharfies certainly aren’t out of it either despite their initial rocky road. The Capital spots for WNL are a bit more of a gentle agreement than a strict qualifying situation so there’s room for tweaking in the rules. We’ll see how it goes.
Men’s Central League
New year, same Wellington Olympic. The quest for five in a row is off to a sharp start with two wins from two to kick off the new campaign... even if they’re not exactly in mid-season form yet. You wouldn’t have believed that when they were 3-0 up after 35 minutes thanks to goals from Hamish Watson (23’), Adam Supyk (30’), and Isa Prins (35’)... but opponents Petone sparked a genuine comeback in the second half. They subbed on Kieran McMinn and he scored once within a couple minutes of being introduced (58’) and then later again (72’) to really make things really frisky. But Wellington Olympic came through the fire for the 3-2 win.
Napier City Rovers have also gone two from two. No sweat without their Scandinavians. It was the ever-dependable Cameron Emerson who scored two minutes into the second half as Rovers claimed a 1-0 win at home against North Wellington. By the way, cool to see Christian Leopard back in action for Rovers. Leopard also played first class cricket for Central Districts but specialised on the footy a couple years ago only to suffer a pretty bad leg injury. And even though Ethan Richards has left for Birkenhead, Kieran Richards remains with NCR (just like how Harry Mason is still there a year after Oscar Mason moved to Western Springs – at least the Hoyle Brothers did it the other way around with Steve moving to Napier to link up with Jim last year).
Waterside Karori did what needed doing with a 2-0 win against Upper Hutt City. A pair of reliable contributors sorted that result out in the ten minutes after half-time: goals for Ihaia Delaney (46’) and Lukas Halikias (54’ pen). Solid from them after also winning 2-1 against Petone in week one. It’s also 2/2 for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves after they romped to a 5-1 win away against Island Bay. Tomas Alvarado’s stoppage time consolation at least spoiled the clean sheet for the Nix Ressies but that was only a minor complaint. Daniel Makowem’s 28th minute goal had the WeeNix leading 1-0 at the half before Ryan Watson (53’), Luke Mitchell (74’), Luke Flowerdew (78’), and Jack Perniskie (81’) saw it home from there. Mitchell is a new recruit who’ll be aiming for NZ U20s selection this year (as will all of his teammates). Jayden Smith and Xuan Loke were the only contracted first-teamers involved. The WeeNix tend to move in two-year cycles and this is them with a second-year squad so expect them to be flash this year (after finishing adrift in fifth in 2024).
It’s not looking great for Western Suburbs though, jeepers. They lost away to Miramar Rangers, scoring first through Seb Barton-Ginger after 18 minutes (against his former club) but being unable to hold onto that lead after the break. Ronaldo Munoz tied things up on 55’, then Martin Bueno won it on 74’. The South Americans to the rescue for Rangers – one Chilean and one Uruguayan. Miramar were captained by Tim Fenton, the younger brother of Louis Fenton (Transfermarkt claims Louis is also on the books of MRAFC this year but don’t go blindly trusting Transfermarkt on such matters). Compounding things for Wests was that six of their starting eleven got yellow cards including Finn Diamond who got two of them leading to a late red. Sounds like it may have gotten a wee bit feisty at David Farrington Park.
Women’s South Island League
This is the only one of the six major competitions that has a bye round (although the Men’s National League will apparently incorporate one to fit the Auckland FC Reserves in). As such, Nelson Suburbs had to wait an extra week before beginning their season and unlucky for them they had to do it against Cashmere Technical... who beat them 3-1. Rafaela Da Costa Canal gave Cashmere a very early lead, starting this week after being a late sub on debut for the club in week one. Instant impact from the striker. Don’t know much about her but with a name as South American flavoured as that she could be one to track. Anyway, Nelson Suburbs made it 1-1 after 28 mins via their captain Samantha Crawford... but Tech promptly restored their advantage when Petra Buyck scored on 30’ and then their own captain, Lily Fisher, scored the third on 65’. That’s a good bounce-back win from Tech after losing to Dunedin Uni in the opening round.
It’s a pair of Dunedin clubs setting the pace with two wins from two, each with 10 goals scored. Dunedin City Royals went to NW United and won 5-0. Kylie Jones gave them a seventh minute lead and then they pulled away in the middle stages. Raegan Potter scored on 37’ and 71’ while Amy Hislop (52’) and Madi McLean (59’) struck early in the second half. Lots to like about that DCR side... but Otago University went even further with an 8-0 win away against Halswell United. Three big away wins this week in the WSIL. Georgia Nixon (32’ & 58’) and Madison Kay (38’ & 85’) each got doubles and that was only half the damage. There was an own goal in the fourth minute, then Aynsley Martin (11’), Ruby Brathwaite (17’), and Isla Ganley (52’) also got in on the act. Otago Uni were 3-0 up after 17 minutes and it didn’t get any closer from there.
Finally, there was a 1-1 draw between Roslyn Wakari and Universities of Canterbury. It was UC that took the lead late in the first half via Liv Deane – making the move down the motu having been a highly-regarded attacking youngster at Wellington United – and that lead lasted until Amelie East-Giles tied the game back up right at the very, very end. UC scored late in the first, RW scored late in the second. Honours even. Coastal Spirit had the bye.
Men’s Southern League
We’re two weeks into the season here and only one team has won both matches: Cashmere Technical. Nothing unusual about that. The Techies were at home against Coastal Spirit, the team that joined them as Southern representatives in the 2024 National League (and beat them in the last English Cup final)... and they did what they usually do by taking an early lead through Garbhan Coughlan in just the second minute. Coughlan then got injured had to be replaced after only five minutes.
Onwards it went until Coastal Spirit’s pounce-and-counter approach paid off with a transition goal finished smoothly by Riku Ichimura on 59’ and from there it was a tennis match. Yusuf Van Dam restored Cashmere’s lead on 67’. Mason Stearn levelled up from the penalty spot on 85’. Van Dam scored again two minutes later after a delicious turn in the box and then YVD set up Gabriel Galloway running away in the ninetieth minute to make it 4-2. Pretty sure Aidan Barbour-Ryan set up the first three goals for Cashmere Tech. Seems like one of those ones where the scoreline didn’t quite reward the mahi as far as Coastal are concerned – they’ve not got the same year-to-year consistency in their squad as Cashmere so this was an encouraging performance despite the defeat. Hopefully Coughlan isn’t hurt too badly, though 20yo homegrown prospect Yusuf Van Dam already has three goals in two games... perhaps this could be his breakthrough season.
Not only did Christchurch United not win... it required a last-minute equaliser from Jago Godden just to get them a 1-1 draw at home against Nelson Suburbs. Ilan Mastrocola-Simon had scored the Suburbs goal on 74’. The Rams are embedding a number of new players after a disappointing 2024 thus some teething issues are to be unexpected, though there’s a lot of pressure on them so they’d better be quick with it. During the Paul Ifill/Ekow Quainoo era it felt like they were poised to become the driving force of South Island footy but there’s been a drop-off since then. Tell ya what though, Nelson Suburbs won 4-1 against Ferrymead Bays in week one (despite a first half red card) so they might be worth tracking in that scrap for the top two.
Speaking of Ferrymead Bays, they bounced back with a comprehensive 5-0 win away to Selwyn United. Goals for Trey Stewart (6’), Luca Marson (25’), James Deehan (29’ pen), Naythan Coleman (45’), and Omar Cameron (52’) meant they got the job done with time to spare. Even bigger winners were Nomads United who whupped Univsersities of Canterbury 6-0 on the road. Jacob Anderson got a brace (13’ & 54’) while Caleb Johnson (24’), Guy Reeves (29’), Cooper Goldsmith (35’), and Joshua Litt (80’) also found the net. Caleb Johnson has three for the season so he’s tied with Coughlan and Van Dam in the very early Golden Boot stakes. Also Dunedin City Royals had a battling 1-0 win against Wānaka FC courtesy of a fifth minute goal from Brady Jacobs. That’ll do it.
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