Aotearoa Domestic Football Roundup – May 27
Men’s Northern League
No need to panic, because Auckland City did beat Manurewa. This was the reigning National League and Oceania champs at home against the last-placed team in the division so that’s what you’d expect. But of course Auckland City have been on the slump lately, hence this midweeker at the Croatian Cultural Club was a timely fixture for the Navy Blues. They took the lead after 14 minutes through Myer Bevan and then doubled that lead after 27 minutes via Gerard Garriga. Knowing how they’ve struggled to score goals this year, getting two in a half was already a boost. Anas Zara did get Rewa back in the hunt shortly before half-time (43’) but then Matthew Ellis went nuts with a hat-trick in the second spell (55’, 70’, 90’). Evan Daniel Paez got another for the visitors (57’) in the middle of all that but it ended 5-2 to ACFC. Five goals in one outing after only scoring 11 in 10 previous Northern League matches. That’s more like it.
Friday night then brought two Northern League games with the spotlight being Birkenhead United vs Auckland FC Reserves. Sweet moment for Everton O’Leary leading AFC out as captain against the club he spent most of his junior career with. Always room for a little sentiment. AFC were without Finn McKenlay for the first time all season and Codey Phoenix was another notable absentee thus it was going to be tricky away under lights against the top team on the table. Despite those omens, AFC continued their trend of competitive performances. They held Birko scoreless through the first half. Zachary Chung (55’) finally broke the deadlock before a Semi Nabenu own goal (84’) settled a 2-0 win for Birkenhead but they had to work for that one. Also on Friday night was a 2-1 win for East Coast Bays away to West Coast Rangers. James Elder scored for ECB after 20 mins. Guy-Frank Essome-Penda made it two after an hour. Zachary Nevin got WCR on the board with ten to play but they couldn’t get any closer.
Following that were four more games on Saturday. Western Springs impressed in a 2-1 win against Eastern Suburbs. That’s a game with serious National League implications and it was a Caspar McGavin double (23’, 72’) that got the job done for the Swans (would have been three but he missed a penalty earlier in the match), with Hector Echague (67’) briefly tying the game up only for Thomas Dunn was sent off for Suburbs prior to McGavin’s second. Heck of a result there from a Western Springs side that only had three of Scotty Hales’ regulars from the 2024 National League. Some were missing, many others have moved elsewhere. Yet the Swans are up to third.
Helping them get there was a Mario Ilich goal after 54 minutes of Auckland City’s game against Auckland United. The ol’ gridlock derby in central Auckland. That Ilich goal was the only one as ACFC backed up their midweek win with a 1-0 victory. All of a sudden those jokers are back up to second in the standings while AUFC drop out of the top four at the exact midway point of the season. Granted, City have played one game more than everyone else. Bay Olympic won 2-1 against Fencibles. William Eng scored after less than a minute to put BOFC ahead and then Derek Tieku (72’) and Darius Palma (73’) traded penalties in the second half, with Fencies missing the opportunity to rise out of the relegation zone if they’d won.
And Manurewa’s week was made much worse when they travelled to the Bay of Plenty to face Tauranga City and lost 7-0. That’s 12 goals conceded in the space of four days... as many as Auckland City have conceded in their combined Northern League efforts to date (12 games). Just as they did against Auckland City, it seems that Rewa have played Tauranga City into form. Those dudes had three straight 3-1 losses but they cruised to this victory on the back of a Morgan Wellsbury hat-trick. Another bright day for the 19yo TCAFC striker who now leads the Golden Boot standings with nine. Goal scoring went: Wellsbury (13’), Liam Molloy (41’), Wellsbury (43’), Colby Brennan (50’), Wellsbury (67’), Liam Knight (82’), Jayden Hyland (84’). Axel Acebo did get red carded for a second bookable offence at the end but so it goes.
Manurewa have conceded 39 goals in 12 games. The next worst defence is West Coast Rangers with 24 in 11. Yikes, that’s not even close. They didn’t have Vadym Patkevych or Dylan Laing-McConnell for these past two games while Keen Mandizvizda didn’t travel to Tauranga and Konstantino Gorgiovski hasn’t been seen in several weeks. Hopefully those are minor injuries and not good players gapping it as the shadow of relegation begins to loom. They’ve already lost Norwegian import Daniel Normann to Western Springs after he captained Manurewa in week one.
Women’s NRFL Premiership
Hibiscus Coast were supposed to host Eastern Suburbs on Friday night at North Harbour Stadium (the outer pitches, not the stadium pitch, to be clear). But that game got postponed until Monday night and it doesn’t seem to have been played on Monday night either... not sure what’s going on there. Ah well, no game for those ladies this week. They’ll make it up some other time.
Auckland United returned to domestic football with a 4-1 win against Ellerslie at Keith Hay Park. They might have been caught napping when Mia Grgicevich gave the Ponies the lead inside of three minutes but they pretty quickly turned that around with Ava Pritchard levelling up from a 14th minute penalty before Danielle Canham made it 2-1 (37’) and then Zoe Benson continued on from her Oceania Champions League Golden Boot by scoring twice more (52’, 61’). That’ll do it. Everyone who played for United here was part of the OCL squad, although they did give backup goalie Scarlett Gray her first league appearance for the club.
West Coast Rangers did what they always do by winning again. That stretches their record to nine wins from nine for the best top flight record in the entire country after Wellington Olympic men failed to win this week. It was Minji Yun with a double (22’, 26’) and then it was Shannon Henson with a double (28’, 53’) away against Tauranga Moana, for whom Ella Golding (34’) and Briana Osborne (72’) did their best to keep the score respectable. Henson has nine goals this year, Yun has eight. They’re the two leading scorers in the division.
And in the other match, we were given a bit of Western Springs 1-1 Fencibles. Fencies scored first via Mischa Marais (12’). Springs eventually responded when Rina Hirano scored (52’). Taylah Byers was sent off for Fencies with two minutes left. But Fencibles held on for a very useful point on the road that keeps them just one behind Springs in what is likely to be a straight shootout between the pair for the last National League qualification spot. Unless Eastern Suburbs lose both their games in hand and get dragged into the muck as well.
Men’s Central League
The first stumble for Wellington Olympic has occurred... but it wasn’t a bad one. They were held 1-1 away to Napier City Rovers, the Greeks finally dropping points at the ninth attempt. Sam Lack scored after six minutes for Napier City, Hamish Watson levelled things up after 11 minutes... and that was that. There were nine yellow cards handed out in this game so plenty of niggle as everybody would have expected given the two rivals involved. It does look like Olympic were slightly stretched for depth here with 19-year-olds Joel Auty and William Vincent both in the starting eleven while their bench also had a fresh look. Probably a result that both clubs are satisfied with.
The shock of the week goes to Island Bay United who won 1-0 against Western Suburbs. That Wests side had clicked into form and were scoring goals for fun but IBUFC shut them out and then took all three points thanks to a Charlie Hale penalty in the 80th minute. Only the second win of the season for Island Bay, lifting them up a spot to eighth where they’re level on points with Petone. Both teams have 8 points from 9 games... but Island Bay have a goal difference of -17 whereas Petone’s is +2. Very different methods of getting to the same spot. Petone’s latest was a 1-0 defeat away to Miramar Rangers with Owen Smith’s 76th minute goal proving the difference. Much better defence from Petone but they forgot to score the goals this time. That result sends Miramar Rangers up to second place. They’re looking good for a return to National League.
The reason that Rangers have risen is that the Wellington Phoenix Reserves only drew 2-2 against Waterside Karori. Luke Brooke-Smith was given a game as he stays fit beyond the A-League season knowing that he’s got the potential to play in both the U17 and U20 World Cups this year. He’s off to Chile on U20s duty very soon... and sharpness does not appear to be an issue because it was LBS who opened the scoring on 34’. However, Ryan Harrison (39’) hit back for the Wharfies to make it 1-1 at the break. Daniel Makowem then thought he’d won it in the 88th minute only for Joseph Chiari (an ex-WeeNixer like many his age in the Central League) to respond in added time. Plenty of drama there. The WeeNix also had Luke Supyk, Xuan Loke, Lukas Kelly-Heald, and Jayden Smith in the eleven with first team contracts. Add in Fergus Gillion too and all those fellas will be joining LBS with that NZ U20s squad. The only Phoenix player in the current U20s group who didn’t play was Gabe Sloane-Rodrigues.
Which brings us to an instant classic between Upper Hutt City and North Wellington at Maidstone Park. Alex Mort scored just before half-time to give North Wellington the lead but promptly afterwards came a Donal Gahan goal for UHC (48’) for 1-1. Darren Juru restored the lead for NW on 53’. Lucas Hansen then scored Upper Hutt’s second equaliser on 66’... before Ethan Barbier was subbed on and straight away made it 3-2 to UHC on 78’. But wait there was more. In the 86th minute, Mort got his second of the afternoon to make it 3-3 and then North Wellington scored again at the very end for a 4-3 final score. Only problem was, it was an own goal, therefore it was Upper Hutt City who took the win. North Wellington remain last without a win but it does feel like they’ve been a lot more competitive of late. Their last three results are this 4-3 loss to Upper Hutt, a 3-2 loss to the WeeNix, and a 2-2 draw with Waterside Karori.
Women’s Central League
How many goals did Natalie Olson score for Wellington United this week, you ask? Only three. Unable to match her two separate five-fors already this year. Oh well. It was her fifth minute penalty that gave the Diamonds the lead away against Moturoa and you can probably guess how it went from there. Wellington United won 7-0 with the subsequent goals being scored by: Sophie Parker (31’), Zoe Barrott (40’), Hannah Pilley (46’), Sophie Parker again (54’), and then two more for Olson (67’, 87’). That takes Wellington United to a perfect 8/8 winning record with +42 goal difference, and it takes Nat Olson to 17 goals in eight matches which is beyond amazing no matter how well her team is tracking.
This was an away trip to New Plymouth, so the Diamonds weren’t even at full capacity. Sophie Parker only joined Welly Utd from the Phoenix Academy at the start of the year (and also spending time with Ole Academy previously) and she scored twice. Parker and fellow starter Nevaeh Derbyshire were teammates together for the Capital Football NYL squad last year so they can’t be any older than 18yo right now. Farina Anchico’s already earned her starts with goals but she’s still a teenager too. Lara Smith and Georgie Furnell were with the WeeNix U20s last year. Natalie Brook only just turned 21 a few weeks ago. Also sounds like there were big raps for the performance of Aussie import Jade Di Mattina in the midfield. This team is loaded.
The Wellington Phoenix U18s won 1-0 away against Miramar Rangers and once again it was Katie Pugh who scored the goal. Her 34th minute goal split the two sides. Pugh has 12 for the season. With another clean sheet here, the WeeNix have only conceded once in seven outings. Grace Rodwell made her first appearance off the bench here. Tory Schiltgen’s got this young team cooking in the Central League. However, the Women’s U20s did finally lose a game. Amber De Wit’s 65th minute goal against Miramar Rangers Boys U15s wasn’t enough to overcome a couple of early concessions. 2-1 to Miramar. They had been three outta three until then. Brooke Neary played in goal for that game, having made her A-League debut off the bench in the last game of the Phoenix’s ALW season a few weeks ago. She was in 13 matchday squads overall, alternating with Aimee Danieli who was in nine of them. Danieli had seniority but recurring injuries allowed Neary to creep ahead as the season progressed. Now she’s staying busy over the winter with the U20s.
Waterside Karori won 5-0 against Victoria University to make it six wins in a row. Goals from Sophie Bradley (9’), Renee Bacon (12’, 29’), and of course Nicola Ross (41’, 53’). Ross has scored 13 goals. It’s Olson (17), Ross (13), and Pugh (12) breaking away from everyone else in the Golden Book ranks. No other player has more than eight and that’s only because Pepi Olliver-Bell scored a brace for Petone in their 4-0 win versus Taradale. Jessica Owens-Blackmore also scored twice in that match. It went POB 11’, JOB 19’, JOB 34’, POB 69’... that’s POB and JOB taking care of business (TCOB). And also Palmerston North Marist won 2-1 against Palmerston North United in the Palmy Derby. Charlotte Noakes (32’) and Kate MacPherson (38’) had PNM leading by two at the midway point. Annabel Irwin (59’) did get one back for United but no more than that.
Men’s Southern League
Another unbeaten record has fallen. Christchurch United have been looking imperious this year but they got popped 2-1 by Coastal Spirit on Sunday in a crazy finish. Mason Stearn’s 39th minute penalty had Coastal in the lead after Riku Ichimura sneakily won the foul. Coastal scrapped away with that narrow lead right up until the fifth minute of second half stoppages when Joel Steven scored a typically magical free kick...
Granted, there was an outfielder in goal at that point. Ellis Hare-Reid suffered a nasty collision with one of his defenders with about five mins left in regulation, leading to Weston Bell having to put the gloves on. EHR has had head knocks before, hence he plays with the rugby headgear on, so best wishes to him for a speedy recover. Those ones are awful to witness. Coastal didn’t have a keeper on the bench hence the makeshift adjustments, although that extended injury break also meant heaps and heaps of stoppage time and so it was that Liam Cotter’s tenacity set up the in-form Hachimura for a 90+11th minute winner for Coastal Spirit. Bonkers scenes. The Rams are still first on 19 points but now Coastal Spirit are only one point behind them. Then there’s a five-point gap to the five teams all on 13 points. Ichimura has 10 goals to be leading the way in the Southern League.
The team with the best goal difference of that third-placed quintet is Cashmere Technical. That’s because they’re one of the few teams in the country with the ability to concede four goals and still win easily. That’s what they did against Universities of Canterbury this week. Yuya Taguchi (30’) and a double from Lyle Matthysen (33’, 45’) had Tech with an easy breezy 3-0 lead at HT, a lead that expanded when Taguchi got his second on 68’. Pero Forman pulled one back for UC (69’) but then Yusuf van Dam (70’) promptly retaliated for CT and that was followed by a Dean Winstanley red card in the 73rd minute. Pero Forman wasn’t having that so he scored his second on 79’ and then completed a cheeky hat-trick on 83’. Suddenly it was 5-3 and Cashy Tech weren’t so safe. But Lyle Matthysen had more in the tank. Two more, in fact. It was Matthysen that made it 6-3 on 83’. Oscar Marron made it 6-4 (86’) but then Matthysen got his fourth and Jesse Burge also joined the party, both in stoppage time, as Cashmere Tech claimed a unique 8-4 victory. This was a slightly less experienced Technical side than usual with Finn Caughey (20yo), Yusuf van Dam (20yo), Lewis Carswell (19yo), and James Brittain (21yo) all in the starting eleven... while Jesse Burge came off the bench to score his goal and he’s only 18 years old.
Nomads United defied a second-half red card to win 3-0 against Nelson Suburbs. It was goalless at half-time but then captain Jacob Anderson scored for Nomads on 56’ before the Erling Haaland of the Canterbury region Flynn Holdem took over. His 59th minute goal ensured that his side were 2-0 up when Daniel Metherell saw a straight red (65’). Then Holdem, who’d only been substituted on at the break, scored again in the 84th to wrap it up. Dauntae Mariner got sent off for Nelson Suburbs at the very end to at least mean both teams finished with ten. Bummer result for Suburbs as they sink back into the third-place mix, allowing the top two to pull away. But a great win for Nomads who therefore climb into that group, with 17yo Holdem getting on the board for 2025 after scoring eight times as a sixteen year old last year.
Dunedin City Royals travelled upwards to face Selwyn United and returned with a thrilling 5-2 comeback victory. They were 2-0 down after 31 minutes after Finlay Cotton (15’) and Luke McKay (31’ pen) each rippled the net. Brady Jacobs quickly made it 2-1 after 33 mins but it stayed that way for a long time. Until all of a sudden Max Davidson (73’), Charlie Fawcett (77’), Cato Williams (89’), and then a stoppage time second for Jacobs saw DCR claim what deceptively appears a comfortable victory on the scoreboard. Fawcett and Williams both scored off the bench. Good depth. Then in the other match, Luca Marson scored early (4’) and Kasper Marson scored late (83’) as Ferrymead Bays claimed a 2-1 win against Wānaka FC. Anthony Sprowson had tied the match back up (22’) in between those two strikes. Very memorable day for the Marson whanau.
Women’s South Island League
This was the fixture we’d been waiting for: Dunedin City Royals vs Otago University. Both teams had won six from six to this point. For DCR, those are very feasible activities. For Otago Uni, it’s much more unexpected – they’ve been the surprise package of the entire country so far. However, it was the team with the long-term pedigree that came out on top in a very close contest at Tahuna Park. Amy Hislop was in the right place at the right time to give DCR an 18th minute lead and that was all the scoring that the spectators were blessed with. It was all they needed if they were Royals fans. 1-0 to DCR.
Seven from seven for that Royals crew, with Hislop up to nine goals for the year. She’s two clear atop the scoring charts and her club has just taken outright control of the South Island League. 31 goals scored and just two conceded. This is the first full-year version of this competition but in the three shorted seasons that they’ve played it’s been Coastal Spirit (2022), Cashmere Technical (2023), and Cashmere Technical again (2024) who’ve lifted the trophy while Dunedin City Royals have been stuck in second for the past two seasons. Perhaps that’s going to change in 2025.
Don’t sweat about Coastal Spirit because they were ruthless in a 7-1 win against Halswell United. It was only 1-0 at the break following a sixth minute goal for Margi Dias and then it all went wild as Britney-Lee Nicholson (52’), Frankie Morrow (53’), Holly Lyon (56’), Nicholson’s second (64’), and Nicholson’s third (74’) suddenly made it 6-0. Ella Hartell did get one back for Halswell on 81’ only for Kate Berry (83’) to make sure that Coastal Spirit had the final say. With that, Coastal move up to 15 points where they remain in outright third. They’re three points behind Otago Uni and six behind DCR.
No dramas for Cashmere Technical away against Universities of Canterbury. Katie Harris (41’) and Ruby Luxton (45’) each scored just before half-time to set up a 2-0 victory. Harris used to play for Universities, while Loxton was on the fringe of the Northern Rovers squad back when they were winning everything a couple years ago (before they lost their coach and a bunch of players and got relegated). Also, Nelson Suburbs were able to rally from an early deficit to win 2-1 against Roslyn Wakari. Zara Pratley got it started for RWAFC on 15’ but Gillian Morgan (32’) and Giselle Rynvos (35’) turned that around for the home side’s first victory of 2025. They’d lost all six games until this result. NW United had the bye.
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