Aotearoa Domestic Football Roundup – August 4
Men’s Northern League
Would you believe it, those Auckland City blokes did it again. Four days after Christian Gray’s stoppage-time winner against Western Springs, they beat Birkenhead United by the same 2-1 scoreline thanks to David Yoo’s very late goal on a Wednesday evening at the Croatian Cultural Club. Haris Zeb had finally broken the deadlock after 58 minutes, though Dino Botica (an appropriate scorer given the venue) later tied things back up with twenty to go. A draw would have been a very useful result for a Birko side trying not to tumble out of the title race... yet David Yoo had other ideas. One of the major reasons why Auckland City are Auckland City is because they always find a way. Sitting on the brink of missing National League qualification only to serve up consecutive last-minute winners against the two top teams on the table. How very typical of them.
Except that no sooner had ACFC risen back into the top four, than they suddenly dropped back out of it after only drawing 1-1 with Fencibles on the weekend. Jaymis Grubjesic scored for Fencies on 43’ with a towering header from a corner and it required a Myer Bevan penalty on 79’ for City to merely avoid defeat. They still found a way... but this time it was only a way for one point not three. Great result for Fencibles who are now out of the relegation zone via goal difference with four rounds left in which to keep it that way. Meanwhile Auckland City dip down to fifth... they would have been third with a win. Auckland City offered enough fuel for both the fans and the haters this week, keeping everyone on the edge of their seats.
Auckland FC Reserves made it three wins in a row by beating West Coast Rangers on Friday night. Technically it was an away game but both teams play at Fred Taylor Park so it wasn’t really. Ralph Rutherford scored after 19 minutes and goalie Blake Callinan brought the goods from there. Rutherford’s got seven goals for the ressies to make him a comfortable top scorer for the team (nobody else has more than three). Callinan becomes the third AFC keeper with a clean sheet this season (Joe Knowles has two, Eli Jones has two). Three wins on the trot matches the three wins from 15 games that AFC Ressies had previously mustered and what’s more is that they’re doing it without the A-League scholars. Those guys are a little busy at the moment – AFC’s first team had a 2-2 draw away against Brisbane on Sunday in their latest preseason effort. Players who’ve started in all three of these Reserves wins (2-0 vs ECB, 4-1 vs Rewa, 1-0 vs WCR): Codey Phoenix, Ralph Rutherford, Nick Gaze, James Taylor, Matthew D’Hotman... and 17yo Luka Vicelich for whom these were his first three starts. He’s got a perfect record in an AFC jersey.
The rest of the games all involved top half teams winning against lower-ranked opponents. Auckland United won 1-0 away against East Coast Bays with Emiliano Tade scoring from the penalty spot after 41 minutes. United had to be careful after Daniel Olaoye got marched for a second yellow after 58 minutes. Not their most comfortable afternoon but they got what they needed to jump back ahead of Auckland City. Same with Eastern Suburbs who won 1-0 against Manurewa because of an early goal from Isaac Bates (7’), combining beautifully with Thomas Dunn. That was all they got but it was all they needed, leaving Rewa three-points adrift in last-place.
Birkenhead United’s second game of the week was more successful than Auckland City’s... although they found themselves in the same position at half-time. Tauranga City were leading 1-0 after Axel Acebo’s 29th min goal, deserved reward for a really strong first forty-five. But Birko turned it around thanks to a double from Michael Suski (48’, 58’) with the second being a superb curling strike from outside the area. 2-1 final score. Birkenhead remain four points adrift of Western Springs after that lot won 3-1 against Bay Olympic. Reid Drake made it 1-0 after 15 mins. Toshiki Makamoto made it 2-0 after 34 mins. Astor Perez Baldoni (brother of Ben Perez Baldoni who keeps scoring goals for the AFC Reserves) pulled one back for the Bay five mins into the second half but Aidan Carey (64’) hit back and there you go. Western Springs need to win three of their last four matches to take the title. They’ve got Fencibles (A), Auckland FC (H), Eastern Suburbs (A), and Auckland United (H). No pressure.
Women’s NRFL Premiership
The dynamic at the top of the NRFL Prem did not change after almost identical results for both contenders, consolidating the one-point margin between them. Auckland United were away against Ellerslie where Tui Dugan gave them a seventh minute lead before Hollie Leona levelled up for the Ponies on 18’. But that situation didn’t last very long. Rene Wasi (25’) put United back ahead and then Chloe Knott scored shortly after the half (48’) to find some clearance. Then they subbed on Pia Vlok for the last half hour and PV promptly scored a hat-trick (65’, 67’, 90’). Vlok was the young star of last year’s National League grand final and has been a standout for national age grade sides over the past two years. If you read TNC’s domestic footy coverage regularly then you’ll also know she also doesn’t play a heap of winter season footy for Auckland United, instead continuing her development by playing boy’s stuff. But she was really good at the OFC Champions League and she was just as scintillating here as well. 6-1 to Auckland United.
West Coast Rangers scored early in their game against Tauranga Moana, as Maisy Dewell put them 1-0 up after nine minutes. That would prove just one of the many mirror images between this match and the AUFC game that kicked off an hour later. They also then conceded to make it 1-1 (Grace Duncan on 27’), before adding a bunch more goals to win comfortably with a young prodigy heavily involved. In their case, that was Taylor Vujnovich scoring a double (63’, 70’) – maintaining her production as she chases a spot in the U17 World Cup squad later this year. The other goals were scored by Maisy Dewell again (28’), Lorna Selby (36’), and Tessa Berger (45’)... with an own goal right at the end allowing WCR to exceed AU’s result with a 7-1 scoreline. That doesn’t bite too deeply into Auckland United’s substantial goal difference advantage so Rangers are still hoping for an AUFC slip-up somewhere along the line. Remaining fixtures:
AUFC: Hibiscus Coast (H), Western Springs (H), Fencibles (A), Eastern Suburbs (TBD)
WCR: Ellerslie (A), Western Springs (A), Fencibles (H), Eastern Suburbs (A)
The AU vs ES game is currently unscheduled, presumably because those two are also playing in the semis of the Kate Sheppard Cup in two weeks and therefore spare dates on the calendar are scarce. If they have to play that on a short turnaround then that’ll suit West Coast Rangers... either way it’s clear that Western Springs and Eastern Suburbs will have a huge role to play in where the trophy goes.
Eastern Suburbs won 4-0 against Hibiscus Coast as their strong form under new coach Adam Thurston continued. Including their KSC run, the Lilywhites have now won nine games in a row including victories against both West Coast Rangers and Western Springs during that time. This latest win came with goals from Victoria Neuefeind (23’, 90’), TJ Anderson (55’), and Jess Innes (67’). Neuefeind now has 10 league goals. It also gave Anna Leat her second clean sheet in two appearances for Eastern Suburbs – this time coming against the team she was previously trying to score goals for. Paige Satchell played for Hibiscus Coast in this match but we haven’t seen Aneka Mittendorff for a while.
Eastern Suburbs gave Nicole Mettam another 45 mins off the bench having recently returned from Oz. Tayla O’Brien got out there for the last quarter of an hour, enhancing her injury comeback. And Ruby Nathan also got subbed on for half a game. Seems that Anna Leat wasn’t the only current Football Fern to link up with Eastern Suburbs in recent weeks. Ruby Nathan is an A-League free agent after two years with Canberra United, though the path is now clear for her to return there (if the offer comes along) after Canberra managed to stump up enough government funding to continue to exist for another year. Nathan usually stays fresh in her offseason by returning to Auckland United but you can understand why a player seeking game-time might not want to link up with the most stacked squad in the country.
Finally, that loss for Ellerslie meant that Western Springs would have basically secured their top four finish with four games to spare had they won against Fencibles at Riverhills Park. Goal difference would still have kept it mathematically open but not realistically possible. That’ll have to wait for next week instead thanks to an 88th minute equaliser from Mischa Marais for Fencies. The home side had taken the lead in the opening minute via Freya Harris, though goals from Rina Hirano (42’) and Anna McPhie (59’) seemed to have the Swans on course for three points until Marais struck back. 17-year-old NZ age-rep Mikaela Bangalan captained Fencies in the absence of Rosie Missen. Marisa van der Meer played 63 minutes for Springs as she keeps ramping up after two years of knee injuries.
Men’s Central League
If you were looking for close games this weekend then the Men’s Central League was the wrong place to go searching. There was a 2-2 draw between Upper Hutt City and Petone in which the visitors led by two after goals from Bray Whitecliffe (27’) and Luke Stoupe (56’) – the latter following on from his goal against the WeeNix a week ago, an 18-year-old local doing his bit to keep Petone in the top division. But Upper Hutt City are even deeper in that relegation murk and they weren’t going down quietly. They didn’t end up going at all, after Campbell Webster scored twice in the last eleven minutes (80’, 87’) to snatch a comeback draw. With the other bottom half teams all losing, that gave both UHC and Petone a very slight boost with three weeks remaining.
North Wellington therefore fell two points adrift in the relegation spot. They played away against National League chasing Western Suburbs on Saturday and it got pretty ugly. Wests were 7-0 up after 70 minutes, eventually winning it 8-1 after Paul Owaci gave NWFC some 76th min consolation. The Western Suburbs scorers went as follows: Kaelin Nguyen (14’, 49’, 58’), Reilly Marlow-Jones (23’, 45’), Tyler Freeman (52’), Caleb Hunt (68’), Hamish Clark (90’). Good to see a hatty for ex-WeeNixer Nguyen in there. Marlow-Jones is another local lad. They’ve got some very good imports at Wests (Quillan Roberts of Guyana/Canada, Sebastian Sanchez of USA/Mexico, Tyler Freeman of USA, Jonathan Robinson of USA) but the growing quality of the kiwis in this side is pretty impressive – including 16yo NZ age grade international Rakshan Suresh who played ninety minutes here.
The relegation scrap here is a good one, the battle for the third National League spot is also a beauty. Wellington Olympic and Miramar Rangers are on course for the top two places. Olympic’s already booked their MNL spot while Rangers could get it done as soon as next week. More on them in a sec. But Napier City Rovers won 6-0 against Waterside Karori to stay within two points of Western Suburbs in the race for third. Stephen Hoyle scored a hat-trick (34’, 45’, 72’) while Eric Kostandini Ziu got two (25’, 49’) and Sam Lack bagged the other (22’). We’ve gotten used to seeing Steve Hoyle in defence over the last couple of years but he played up front in this one and feasted like he always used to. Biggest win of the season for Rovers. NCR close out the campaign with Miramar (A), Petone (H), and Wellington Olympic (A). Wests finish with the WeeNix (A), Upper Hutt City (A), and Island Bay (H). Hard not to lean towards Western Suburbs there but at least Rovers are keeping it funky. Next week could be absolutely decisive.
Meantime the bros at Miramar Rangers moved closer to a National League return after winning 3-0 away against Island Bay. Goals from Jordan Lamb (11’) and Nicolas Bobadilla (54’, 90’ pen) got the job done there. Among the starters for Miramar was Tomas Alvarado who scored four times for Island Bay before his mid-season transfer. Also in the team: Louis Fenton. The hair-cutting, interview-swearing old Welly Nix favourite has played the last couple of games for Miramar alongside his brother Timothy. Rangers are the only team to beat Wellington Olympic this season and are currently on an eight-game unbeaten streak. A win next week will guarantee their National League spot and keep the title race alive (at least mathematically) for another round.
However, the inevitability of Wellington Olympic means it’s only a matter of when, not if, they clinch their fifth consecutive Central League championship. They were away against the Wellington Phoenix Reserves who had their Aussie Cup reps back for this game (but not the first team scholars who are busy with first team scholar duties). Fergus Gillion, Lachlan Candy, and Mac Munro all started after the return trip from Perth - Candy and Gillion both scored in the penalty shootout.
But like the Trojans before them, they couldn’t withstand the invading Greeks. Goals from Tor Davenport-Petersen (6’) and Jack-Henry Sinclair (14’) ensured that Olympic led most of the way before Hamish Watson appeared off the bench with a late clincher (90’). Same scoreline as what they beat the WeeNix by in the reverse fixture back in May. Sixth clean sheet of the season for Olympic after a six-game stretch without one. The highest that Miramar Rangers can reach is 41 points and Wellington Olympic currently have 38 with a much superior goal difference. If they win next week and Miramar don’t then it’s all over. If both teams win then the magic number will be one further point.
Women’s Central League
Wellington United did their usual thing and won handily. This time it was a 5-0 victory with goals from Jemma Catherwood (17’), Hannah Cooper (20’, 45’), Summer Laskey (37’), and of course Natalie Olson (90’). That makes it 15/15 wins this season and if they’re victorious next week (or if the Wellington Phoenix U18s, who had a bye this week, fail to win their own match) then they’ll be champions again. The only thing that made this week’s win different is that it was against Petone, who themselves are desperately trying to boost it for third place and National League qualification. This result does them no favours in that quest. Petone had only conceded nine times in 13 games beforehand before shipping five in one evening.
Petone would have stayed ahead of Waterside Karori if the half-time scoreline from the Wharfies game away to Taradale had held. The Napier team led 1-0 courtesy of a Samantha Waru goal on 44’... but they couldn’t keep it going and goals from Renee Bacon (52’) and Kya Stewart (59’) instead booked a 2-1 comeback win for Waterside Karori, launching them two points above Petone. Those two teams play each other on 16 August so even though they’ve flipped spots there’s nothing concrete about the ordering.
In other news, Palmerston North United won 3-1 against Victoria University. Jorja Horn scored after 38 minutes to give them the lead and then Carmen Su (51’) and a second goal for Horn (55’) pushed it out further. Mia Parker got a very late consolation for Vic Uni. Unfortunately for Vic Uni, this result leaves them bogged in relegation trouble. If they’d won then they would have gone level on points with PNU, instead they’re now five points behind Moturoa who themselves lost 5-2 against Miramar Rangers. Goals from Jacqueline Broughton (23’), Trinity Mairs (37’) and Crystal Phillips (47’) had Rangers up 3-0 early in the second half. Anna Hinton closed the gap on 65’ but then Hayley Hicks (74’) and another for Mairs (85’) shrugged that threat off. Hinton got a second for Moturoa on 87’ to complete the scoring. These wins for Palmy United and Miramar Rangers should keep them in the Central League for another year. Vic Uni have to win at last two of their remaining four games to have any hope of avoiding the drop... and two of those four games are against Petone and Waterside Karori.
Men’s Southern League
We’re no closer to a champion in the Southern League (except chronologically) after comfortable wins for each of the top three clubs. Coastal Spirit continue to lead the way after a 4-1 win against Nomads United. Liam Cotter’s opening goal (16’) was cancelled out by Harry Bushnell (24’) for Nomads but a red card for Jacob Anderson shortly afterwards led to a penalty converted by Mason Stearn (28’) and then an own goal right before the break (44’) allowed the Coasties to boss things. Max Chretien eventually added a fourth (81’) and that was that. Coastal Spirit move to 33 points, one ahead of Christchurch United. But Christchurch United have a game in hand.
Christchurch United’s win against Universities of Canterbury followed a straightforward path. Jackson Cole, a 19yo forward who previously played U17s for Aotearoa, was the main man scoring three times (11’, 33’, 78’) while South African import Travis Graham also scored two (28’, 35’). Somewhere in the middle of that Ashton Lay got one back for UC (58’) which adds up to a 5-1 Rams victory. Christchurch Utd plays Dunedin City (H), Cashmere Technical (A), Coastal Spirit (H), and Wānaka (A) in their remaining fixtures so if they win them all then they’ll be champs. However, with Cashy Tech and Coastal on that slate it means that the title is within grasp of whichever team from that trio finishes strongest.
Cashmere Technical won 3-0 against Nelson Suburbs. Lyle Matthysen (11’, 76’) and Alex Ballard (31’) scored the goals. Nothing to worry about there as Tech stays third, two points off the top. Mattysen now has 13 goals this season... suddenly he’s only two behind leader Riku Ichimura (Coastal). Meanwhile down in the mid-table we saw a two-goal comeback from Ferrymead Bays to draw 2-2 away against Dunedin City Royals. DCR were up 2-0 thanks to Ben Campbell (27’, 53’) but then a Jacob Killick penalty (56’) and an equaliser from Luke Pritchard (65’) flipped it around. Connor Neil was red-carded for DCR with twenty mins left.
Elsewhere, Selwyn United scored first against Wānaka FC via Finlay Cotton within three minutes. Then an Anthony Sprowson three-for highlighted a very emphatic retaliation from Wānaka. 6-1 was the final score thanks to goals from Michael Johnson (30’), Sprowson (34’), Sprowson (45’), Edward Belingher (59’), Sprowson (69’), and Jake Thompson (73’). Pretty emphatic. The only team that Sewlyn can catch is Universities. Selwyn are on two points. UC are on four points. Nobody else is below 15 points. One team gets relegated... and it’s UC vs Selwyn this upcoming Saturday.
Women’s South Island League
Dunedin City Royals are another club that could seal their championship title as soon as next week. Goals from Hannah Mackay-Wright (10’) and Amy Hislop (24’) sent them onwards to a 2-0 win against Universities of Canterbury. Hislop is five clear in the Golden Boot race with 15 goals. DCR have won all 13 games, scoring 52 times and conceding just four (that’s a +48 goal difference for those of you who don’t count so well). They’ve been unstoppable.
Royals would have already had their hands on the trophy were it not for Otago University getting an impressive 2-0 win of their own against Coastal Spirit. It was still even at the break but Otago Uni bookended the second half with goals from Jemma McCormick (47’) and Georgina McEwan (90’) to take the biscuits. The Macks on the attack. Neither Georgia Nixon or Leila Hausia-Haugen were involved so Otago Uni got it done without their two top scorers. Coastal had been looking pretty good, winning four straight and scoring 21 goals in the process, until consecutive defeats against DCR and OU spoiled that run. They lost all four games against the top two this season without scoring a single goal. Spirit face Cashmere Technical next round, the team directly above them on the ladder and that’s a Tech team that’s looked amazing since picking up their old mates Annalie Longo, Rebecca Lake, and Lara Wall (although preseason Wellington Phoenix training will soon scoop up at least one of that trio). Cashmere Technical had a bye this round.
The other two games involved the four bottom teams. Roslyn Wakari moved their way clear of danger by winning 5-0 away against Halswell United. Amelia East-Giles (40’, 78’) and Harriet Park (63’, 90’) both scored braces while Zara Pratley also got amongst it (58’). That leaves Halswell four points adrift in last having now been thrashed by three different relegation rivals in a row (combined scores: 16-1). So... yeah, they’re going to finish last. Meanwhile the Nelson Suburbs revival continued with a 3-0 win away against NW United. Katherine Beuker got them started in the fourth minute before Sola Tsuruta closed out a tough win with a late double (79’, 82’ pen). Nelson Subs took one point from their first six games and have nine points from their last six games. This result leaps them above NWU in the standings.
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