2026 Men’s National League – Week 3
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Birkenhead United
Fresh from a ten-goal hiding at the hands of Cashmere Technical, the Wellington Phoenix Reserves called in some reinforcements. Not too many of them because the A-League team had a preseason game away to Macarthur on the same day (they lost 2-0 but preseason results are irrelevant)... though Alby Kelly-Heald was held spare for ninety minute with the ressies, what with Henry Gray (and Alex Rufer and Bill Tuiloma) having returned from All Whites duty to feature in Sydney. As was... import striker Rafael Durán.
Not that uncommon to see an import turn up in National League but always an exciting happenstance. In Durán’s case, his partner had a baby a couple days earlier so he stayed back when the rest of the squad traversed the ditch but he’s been on an injury-recovery schedule and therefore still needed the minutes. Hence he played about an hour at Fraser Park. It’s possible there were more examples before this, but over the past eight seasons these are the Wellington Phoenix visa players who’ve turned out in National League...
Michał Kopczyński – 2 games in 2018-19
Gary Hooper – 1 game (1 goal) in 2019-20
Matti Steinmann – 1 game in 2019-20
Yan Sasse – 1 game in 2022
David Ball – 4 games (1 goal) in 2024
Rafael Durán – 1 game in 2026
Righto, but how did he go? What did he look like? This was Durán’s first competitive game for the club, after all... not that there were any major hints to glean from this game. He played up top and looked to make runs in behind. His first involvement was to get clobbered in the back by Dion Buckingham and then his second involvement was getting called offside. One very nice flick-on header. One half-chance taking a ball in his stride but having his shot blocked as he tried to drive it back across the goal. Mostly, he struggled to get involved with minimal service coming his way against a Birkenhead United team that were coming off a bye week (in which they hosted Auckland FC’s ALM side for a preseason hit-out) and very keen to make amends after their own hiding at the hands of Cashmere Tech.
It was a different look to this Birko side. Buckingham and Christian Rodriguez were added to the back three on either side of Dino Botica while Caleb Marwick played holding midfield and Zachary Chung’s selection at wing-back allowed Devin Slingsby to operate through the middle. Meanwhile in yellow and black, coach Joshua Neff’s response to the pantsing in Christchurch was to switch to a back five. Riley Allison and Arlie Loughnan were promoted as wing-backs while George Fullelove supplemented the CB cohort. Fletcher Pratt also made his first start of the campaign as an attacking midfielder... joining Ben Trenberth who was one of five players to hold his position from last week. The 16yo signed a three-year A-League contract in between those games, making him the first new addition to the scholarship class.
The first milestone arrived after four minutes when the packed-out WeeNix defence looked across at the scoreboard and saw 0-0... which was two goals better off than they were at the same stage last game. Key difference was that they were winning headers this time. Much more assertive defending their area, with Fullelove making a noticeable impact. Alby Kelly-Heald’s safe hands and vertical reach also helped with those aerials. To be honest, Birko also played into those safe hands with an abundance of early balls over the top and crosses from wide areas. Bit one-dimensional from the Northern League champs, perhaps not anticipating this much of an improved defensive resistance from their hosts (although they should have because they did something similar against Auckland Utd in round one).
It wasn’t only defensive... George Fullelove put a header off the post getting up for a set piece in what was the closest instance either side came to a goal during the initial forty-five minutes. The Nix certainly weren’t going to give up a ten-bagger this time. Birkenhead’s response was to sub on Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit at the break and they amped things up from there. RCDT got his head on a deflected cross for a shot on target. Birko put the ball in the net shortly after except a pretty blatant handball meant no deal. However, the goal did finally arrive on 66’ when Everton O’Leary’s swinging cross was met by the head of Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit who did the most important bit. AKH got both hands to the header, which was pretty close to him, but couldn't keep it out of the net. Might be disappointed with that although it’s always tough with those quick reaction ones. Took a long time but there was the breakthrough.
Birko only needed one goal. Not very encouraging for their championship hopes given how rarely they threatened the WeeNix goal despite a chunky advantage in the territory stakes, though it must be said that defensively they had it in their pockets the whole way. Other than a few evasive Ben Trenberth turns, Dino Botica and mates continually squeezed the life out of the Nix forwards. They won contested ball the whole way through and when they needed to foul they fouled. Gave the WeeNix nothing. Long time ago now but Botica did actually spend some time in the Phoenix Academy close to a decade ago, injuries held him back and now he’s a Birko legend. That’s the way that the world goes around.
He only played half a game but it was goalscorer Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit who changed the course of this fixture, shout out to that guy. 24 years old and back from his time in the American university system (where he scored 24 goals with 10 assists in 52 games for Regis University). Kinda the bare minimum from Birko though that’s alright, they needed the three points more than anything.
Much more heartening performance from the Nix youngsters this time. George Fullelove had already looked tidy in his two substitute appearances and clearly has a bit about him with those headers. Joe McIntyre was ripping into everything in the midfield. Ben Trenberth put on a display that’ll help his A-League chances with the new scholar not only showing off his dribbling on a few occasions but also making sure to let folks know that he plays tough through contact too. Plus a curious one off the bench: Waisea Henry. Henry was part of the recent NZ U19s squad alongside a few of these Nixers so with Christchurch United not qualifying, he’s apparently doing summer school with the Nix. Interesting to see if that leads to a permanent switch next year.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 0-1 Birkenhead United
Goal (Assist)
66’ | 0-1 | BU | Carlson-Du Toit (O’Leary)
Auckland City vs Wellington Olympic
Big news during the week that Ekow Quainoo has been relieved of his head coaching duties at Wellington Olympic via mutual agreement. The Greeks only finished second in the Central League this year, breaking a five-year championship run, and went out early in their Chatham Cup defence. Not too convincing over the first couple games of the Nats either, where they needed a very late winner against Auckland FC before losing at home to Ferrymead Bays. But, like, that’s not that bad? Sounds like the decision may have been more about the planned directions for next season... oh well, that’s the nature of the game. Taylor Hall-Jones has stepped up as interim for the rest of the year.
And for THJ’s first game in charge, no biggie, just the Mediterranean Cup against the old foes of Auckland City up at Kiwitea Street. Probably the best rivalry we’ve got in the National League these days – not only was this a rematch of the instant classic grand final of 2025, in which Wellington Olympic equalised in stoppages to force extra time and then Auckland City equalised in stoppages to force penalties with ACFC taking the title in the tiebreaker, but also a rematch of the 2022 and 2023 grand finals as well.
One very immediate change from the new Olympic coach was to arrange the team in a back four, with Noah Boyce and Adam Supyk as fullbacks. Will Vincent joined Ben Mata at CB. Tam Dimairo returned from suspension in the midfield while Kailan Gould came into the starting eleven in a ten role. Auckland City’s Rudy Mozr made one change from the 4-2 win over Eastern Subs, putting his new Somalian/Australian signing Bilal Habib on the left wing.
A handy aspect of Wellington Olympic’s 4-2-2-2 shape, with less emphasis on the wings and more on numbers in the attacking third, meant that there was always someone to pick up the thread in those areas. Like they did when Kailan Gould grabbed possession off a long Scott Basalaj boot, running at the defence and slipping a pass in for Bouzoukis... whose effort was saved by Louie Caunter however Morgan Wellsbury stuck a leg out for the rebound, claiming a foul that wasn’t given but keeping the play alive for Gavin Hoy to have a punt and his shot beat Caunter inside the post despite a hand from the returning Navy Blues gloveman. All four frontmen were involved as the Greeks went ahead after 17 minutes.
Olympic went looking for a second, going close when Hoy turned one on target from close range and then Wellsbury backheeled the seconds into the grasp of Caunter. Auckland City didn’t seem too bothered by any of that, cycling through their possession wheels as always – nobody’s ever coaching that out of this team. But it would get worse for them after 38 mins when a corner kick from Gavin Hoy took the tiniest touch from Gianni Bouzoukis on its way into the net. Looked like an Olimpico but we’ve got it on good authority that both relevant fellas have claimed a touch and the NZF match centre reflects that too. Regardless of who scored it, the Greeks were two-up at Kiwitea Street.
The visiting dugout must have been buzzing... until a few different emotions were added before the teams made it to half-time. All throughout there were simmering feelings among these two rivals. Some chippy fouls and some feisty afters. Taylor Hall-Jones was booked late in the first half for his reaction to one such instance and then two minutes later he got another and his dugout debut was over after 43 minutes. Red card for the visiting coach. In his head coaching debut for the club. Eventful.
There’s a saying in football that 2-0 is a dangerous lead... you feel like you’re well ahead but then one concession and the whole picture changes in an instant. So, really, 2-1 when you’ve just conceded is the dangerous lead. Anyway, that’s what happened a dozen minutes into the second half with Wellington Olympic in their bag making crunching tackles and courageous blocks up until Bilal Habib curled in a free kick and suddenly things got wobbly. Lovely finish from Habib who had been having a rough day adjusting to his new team. First proper touch he got, he tripped over the ball. Then he boosted one over the top from a Doudera cut-back for ACFC’s first shot of the game. But with that delicious free kick he showed why Auckland City have brought him over and his confidence flowed from there. Take note that the free kick was won by Nathan Rostron, centre-back, picking up the ball in his own half and carrying it all the way to the edge of the penalty area. He’s a unique talent, that fella.
Auckland City immediately subbed on Ryan de Vries after that goal, not wasting any time in their search for an equaliser and potentially a winner afterwards. That’s what they usually do at Kiwitea Street. Having said that, they would have conceded straight after had it not been for Caunter making a great stop after Gould had found Hoy’s feet with an early cross. Couldn’t put the finish where it needed to go. Caunter was even sharper to twice pluck the ball from the feet of sub Luke Stoupe as he tried to get around him at pace. Can’t be said that Olympic didn’t have chances to kill it off... which must have made it sting even more when in the last minute of five additional, the ball fell to Christian Gray in the penalty area – a man who made a habit of scoring crucial goals last year, including the extra time equaliser in the National League grand final against Wellington Olympic. But Gray didn’t score, his shot was deflected. It was Dylan Manickum who somehow contorted himself to score from a ridiculous angle and confirm a 2-2 draw.
Two goals down at half-time yet Auckland City found a way, once again. No doubt this fella would have enjoyed it...
Always nice with the club legends show up. Not the only Auckland FC player in attendance either – Isa Prins was there to catch his former team Wellington Olympic (same as he did for the AFC Reserves game in week one) and with him, as per the telly cameras, were Marley Leuluai and Van Fitzharris. Love a bit of kiwi football tier integration.
Despite the sting of a last-gasp equaliser, that was still a very good result for Wellington Olympic. Just couldn’t quite drive that stake through the vampire’s heart before sunset arrived. Nevertheless, this carries on a pretty commendable recent record in Auckland, where Olympic have gone 11-1-2 across all competitions since September 2023. The two defeats were against ACFC in Oceania Champions League qualifying at Kiwitea in March ‘24 and that upset loss to Auckland FC Reserves at Riverhills last year. Their back four were commanding throughout, Ben Mata and Adam Supyk leading the way with their challenges. Promising signs with how they front four interacted too - much improved from last week’s struggles against Ferrymead Bays. Also, it was the Greeks who staged a late comeback against the AFC Reserves to begin the season, scoring a direct free kick to win it in stoppages so in a way this is what goes around coming back around.
Never a shortage of belief from Auckland City in any situation and with guys like Christian Gray and Mario Ilich and Dylan Manickum involved they’re always a chance. Might be a bit concerned about conceding twice in both games so far, won’t be at all concerned with taking four points from Eastern Suburbs and Wellington Olympic. Great haul from what should be two of their most difficult fixtures. Manickum had his footprints all over this game while the difference between Bilal Habib pre-goal and post-goal should be a warning to future opponents. Bit quieter from Michal Doudera compared to last week yet he’s very clearly a playmaker to be reckoned with in this league. Not a great Northern League campaign from the Navy Blues but what do you know the National League swing around and they’re looking like the real deal again.
Auckland City 2-2 Wellington Olympic
17’ | 0-1 | WO | Hoy
38’ | 0-2 | WO | Bouzoukis (Hoy)
58’ | 1-2 | AC | Habib
90+5’ | 2-2 | AC | Manickum
Ferrymead Bays vs Miramar Rangers
It was back to Ferrymead Park for the Bays, following a magnificent win away against Wellington Olympic (a result so good that the oppo got rid of their coach straight after). This was the scene of a very gritty 0-0 draw against Eastern Suburbs in week one, showing all sorts of defensive steel which they continued into that game in Welly. Alas the resistance did not carry into the visit from Miramar Rangers. Not for ninety minutes, anyway, as Ferrymead Bays suffered their first off day in the National League.
Miramar made a couple changes after injuries blighted their victory against the AFC Reserves. Spencer Cameron returned at left-back while Adam Hewson got a start on the left wing. And it was Hewson who broke the deadlock inside of fifteen minutes. Superb pass from Owen Smith, piercing the backline from just inside his own half to put Hewson through. No dramas with the 1v1 finish and simple as that the Ferrymead Firewall had been disabled. Then Smithy did it again, collecting wide on the right and faking a shot before sliding a smart ball into the run of Nico Bobadilla who did the rest. Two assists within the space of five minutes thanks to the multi-layered threat of reigning National League MVP Owen Smith.
Hold on though, not so fast, because the home side did have their avenues. Wasn’t a long throw this time but a corner kick, from which Treye Butler almost scored an Olimpico except for Owen Smith getting back to head the ball clear off the line. Good defending initially but then Chris Murphy lifted it back into the danger zone where Liam Stanton flicked home from close range. Keeping it alive and capitalising, Ferrymead Bays were back in the contest after 26 minutes and they kept up the danger with persistent aerials into the penalty area. Gotta say, Rangers did pretty well to keep scrambling those away.
Then, having seen off that difficult period, Miramar went up the other end and scored again like the good teams tend to do. They’d gone close with a Smith header on target right before. Later they’d earn a freaky corner kick after Lewis Thompson charged down a clearance that almost dropped under the crossbar, Evan Ovendale having to tip it over the top. From that corner, the initial delivery was deep so Andy Bevin sent it back across from the opposite side and it dropped generously for Owen Smith from about eight yards out.
With the two-goal advantage restored, the situation was pretty simple: Ferrymead Bays only really looked like they could score from set pieces (corners and long throws) so Miramar had to stay focused in those scenarios, with the knowledge that their fluid front four would continue to make things happen whether on the break or otherwise. Hewson wasn’t able to beat Ovendale 1v1 after an angled run through. But Smith made no mistake near the end as he ran onto a smart pass from substitute Sam Gates and dispatched his shot bottom corner from the perimeter. Keeper didn’t even move. Too slick. Make that two goals and two assists for Owen Smith, the reigning MNL Most Valuable Player continuing the good work. He’ll be back at Vanuatu United for the Pro League at the conclusion of his domestic efforts.
Final score was 4-1 to Miramar Rangers who proved much too good. These are both pretty rugged sides (remember the card fest for Rangers in week one) but Bays weren’t quite attuned to the pace that Rangers were able to move the ball at. Some really silky interplay between their midfielders and forwards and the big fellas at the back did what was required against the route one approach. Miramar had layers to their approach which Ferrymead did not, at least not on this particular day.
Owen Smith was clinical as a creator and as a finisher, involved in all four of his team’s goals, though guys like Andy Bevin and Connor Gaul were also excellent even if they didn’t end up with goal contributions. For Ferrymead, this was perhaps a wake-up call as they weren’t quite as sharp as they had been in the win against Olympic a week ago. Two tremendously stoic defensive efforts in a row but this one lagged slightly, the backline getting stretched out of shape, and they were punished for it. National League lessons. Miramar were fantastic though. A draw and two wins to begin their run... enough to put them top of the standings at this early stage. They led the Central League for most of the season before stumbling just enough to allow Napier City Rovers to take the title instead, although this is a much shorter campaign.
Ferrymead Bays 1-4 Miramar Rangers
13’ | 0-1 | MR | Hewson (Smith)
17’ | 0-2 | MR | Bobadilla (Smith)
26’ | 1-2 | FB | Stanton (Murphy)
43’ | 1-3 | MR | Smith
88’ | 1-4 | MR | Smith (Gates)
Auckland FC Reserves vs Auckland United
It had been two games and two defeats for the AFC Reserves heading into this meeting... that’s as many losses as AFC had in total during the 2025 National League. They only conceded ten times in those ten matches for the best defensive record in the competition now two games in they’re already halfway there. But they did have a familiar foe at Fred Taylor Park on Sunday in Auckland United, a team they had a win and a draw against during the Northern League.
Unlike their rivals in the capital, none of the AFC imports were spared – not even Sam Cosgrove who was available after serving his Intercontinental Cup red card suspension during the first two rounds of the National League, making him available after all for the start of the A-League season. Silly solution to a silly suspension. He wouldn’t have gotten into the National League team ahead of Harley Hill anyway, not on recent form. So no Rafael Durán equivalent here but AFC did select two scholarship players: Marley Leuluai making his second appearance and Aaron Cartwright his first. Luke Carter also got a starting debut after featuring off the bench a week ago – Carter’s just 15 years old and has come across from Western Springs where he was already getting first team games.
Auckland United had a thumping 7-1 win against Napier City last time out but they did still make a couple alterations with Ine Maro available in goal while Bruce Izumi and Jedd White joined the were back after dipping to the bench last time. Ben Wallace was also fit enough for a seat on the sideline having missed the first couple outings. No surprises it was AUFC who had the early chances in a relatively steady contest. Jack Beer tried a couple sighters before White ripped one off the woodwork. But Marley Leuluai wasn’t far off with a thunderbastard attempt for AFC, first-timing a rolling ball at range and only narrowly missing the frame. One thing about Marley Leuluai that quickly stands out is he’s got some great technique – as you’d expect for a bloke who spent as much time as he did in the Manchester City academy. And he’s a tough bugger too. Other elements of his game are works in progress but you can see why AFC have picked him up.
You can also see why they like Luke Carter enough to have rushed him into senior football. The central defender hit a couple of delicious crossfield switches (something Leuluai does well too, since you mention it) and one such example led to Aston Burns and Matt D’Hotman working an overlap link on the left edge. D’Hotman delivered towards the near post where Harley Hill was made a good striker’s run and bingo. That’s three games in a row in which Harley Hill has found the net. He’s the all-time leading scorer for the AFC Reserves.
Skip forward into the second half and there still wasn’t much happening for Auckland United so they chucked on Matt Conroy and Ben Wallace. At the same time, around 56 minutes, AFC chucked on Damion Kim which pushed Leuluai into central defence to get some reps in his other position. This was good from AFC. They were structured at the back and making solid contributions. Fullbacks Ranui and D’Hotman kept AUFC from getting anything going out wide. They did lose goalkeeper Liam Hill to an injury, though fortunately they had Eli Jones on the bench for specialist cover.
Hill’s two injury breaks took some steam out of the game which felt like a helpful thing at the time for Auckland FC but soon turned out not to be as United picked up the tempo and got AFC on the defensive. The equaliser arrived with 15 mins to go. Very quiet game from Will Mendoza after scoring four last week but he did poke the ball away in midfield to give Julian Cristales Barrios room to shoot... unleashing a powerful low attempt that skip-bounced right in front of Jones who got down well and yet the ball somehow scooped up and behind him and dropped into the net. Strange way for the ball to end up in the net but they all count the same. Then would you believe it Adama Coulibaly headed home from a corner kick with only a couple mins remaining, punishing his former team. Interesting to see him back in midfield after mostly being used across the defensive line during his two years as an Auckland FC scholar. Back in his Western Springs days he was famous for playing pretty much every position imaginable (except goalie).
This was reminiscent of week one AFC Reserves let a 2-1 lead slip against Olympic by conceding late goals (81’ & 90+5’ on that occasion; 75’ & 87’ on this occasion). Would have been an extra bummer for a former player to have inflicted defeat. Would have but was not because there was more to this tale yet. The injury breaks also contributed a hefty amount of stoppage time and it was in the fourth such minute that D’Hotman whipped one low into the area where substitute Charlie Hale met the cross and flung it into the net. The Ressies hadn’t offered much at all while United were hunting for their goals but they gave it a burst after going behind and managed to savage a draw for their first point of the campaign.
One sneaky aspect of the Olympic loss was that Marley Leuluai was subbed right before they started conceding. Here they began to lose control of the game (admittedly in part due to AUFC’s changes as well) after moving Leuluai out of midfield and into defence. It’s not always about goals and assists, gotta take notice when players are regularly impacting results with their presence, and there may be something there with young Marley. Quality performance from Matt D’Hotman too – reminding folks why he he made a couple of A-League benches last season. All five of their goals so far have been split between Harley Hill (3) and Charlie Hale (2)... after those two shared top scorer status during the Northern League matches with nine each. Quiet outing from Aaron Cartwright as an ALM scholar, not trying to impose himself too much with his dribbling and simply making smart choices when he got on the ball.
So on the one hand, Auckland United are undefeated after three rounds... but on the other hand they’ve bookended a stunning 7-1 win against Napier City with a pair of frustrating draws against the A-League Reserve teams – constituting the only point each of those two sides has gotten so far. Strange. But there’s a lot to like about that back four and Jack Beer has been excellent in all three games. Getting top scorer Ben Wallace back fit could be the difference for them the rest of the way.
Auckland FC Reserves 2-2 Auckland United
34’ | 1-0 | AFC | Hill (D’Hotman)
75’ | 1-1 | AU | Barrios (Mendoza)
87’ | 1-2 | AU | Coulibaly (Beer)
90+4’ | 2-2 | AFC | Hale (D’Hotman)
Napier City Rovers vs Cashmere Technical
Cashmere Technical had been absolutely imperious scoring 14 goals without reply in a pair of wins while Napier City Rovers were yet to win and just got beaten 7-1 last round... so naturally Napier City were always going to beat them, right? Rovers may have ben without captain Jim Hoyle, who broke his nose last week so George Andrew took his place, but two of their imports returned for this match. Midfielder Callum Cooke last played against Cashy Tech in the Chatham Cup final where he was red carded during a defeat; striker Jacob Fenton has also finished serving a suspension, in his case only for one game after his part in the Miramar Melee of week one. Cashmere were unchanged for the third game running (the only team to have still only used the bare minimum eleven starters).
The first play of the game saw NCR goalkeeper Will Tønning wriggle out of a Garbhan Coughlan press with a Cruyff Turn so if you didn’t already have your seatbelt on that was fair warning (make it click). Tønning was back to more regular activities with a double save off Coughlan a bit later. There were a few instances where Rovers were caught on the ball or looked while rushed playing out, but they’re an aggressive side out of possession and there was never any possibility that Coughlan would get the kinda time on the ball in the attacking third that the WeeNix allowed him last week. Not that he usually needs it.
Napier City were threatening too. Sam Lack stung the palms of Pieter-Taco Bierema while the English trio of Leo Brown, Callum Cooke, and Jacob Fenton all had narrow misses. Rovers only needed to get one of those on target and they’d have been in business. Meanwhile, Emerson was on call to clear a Taguchi shot off the line after Coughlan’s cut-back. Coughlan was doing a lot of creating for others, using his gravitational pull to drag defenders away and then releasing the ball for runners in space. Eventually he did that for himself, dropping deep and then playing a nutmeg short pass to Zander Edwards and sprinting through as Edwards laid off to Alex Ballard who did the intended thing and Garbs in a 1v1 situation usually only has one outcome. This was the normal outcome. Superbly worked goal from Technical.
You can’t keep Coughlan out of the game, it simply does not happen. Between that goal and the end of the first half, he’d had a couple offsides, he’d caught a knock to the nose competing for a header, and then he got dragged down by Andrew on the edge of the area who had just enough defensive mates around him that it was only a yellow card rather than a last-man red card. Take that as a microcosm of a breathless and bonkers game of football because the second half began with Schofield and Lack having consecutive shots blocked at one end before Coughlan shanked a back post chance from a Lyle Matthysen set-up. Danny Kane made a retreating block to deny Lack for NCR. Edwards narrowly missed one for CT about twenty seconds later. Schwarz was blocked in the six yard box from a near post header off a corner. So much goalmouth excitement (with limited precision) and not a lot of control in the midfield with both teams far too intent on chasing goals... to put it simply, whichever of them could find some decent finishing quality would get the biscuits.
Or a deflection instead – it’s often better to be lucky than good. Amidst the chaos, Callum Cooke took a pop from range while both sides still had bodies packed in the area after a Napier City corner kick. Can’t say for sure that there was a deflection on the shot but the way that Bierema reacted implied that there was as the ball fizzed into his bottom corner. Well, something had to give. Great moment for Cooke to reinforce his importance to this Rovers team after they’d struggled in his absence... and that wasn’t all. Cashmere hadn’t conceded at all for over 250 minutes of National League footy but after leaking one, they soon leaked another when Sam Lack, forever getting into great pockets, picked out the run of Callum Cooke dashing into the penalty box and he slid a calm finish past the keeper.
Tech did have a couple of very late chances for Yuya Taguchi but Tønning saved ‘em both and with that we had the extremely NZ National League circumstance of a team that lost 7-1 last week beating a team that won 10-0 last week. Don’t get that madness in your English Premier Leagues or Spanish Ligas or German Bundesligas. Wouldn’t entirely rule it out in the Australian A-League though. No doubt what the difference was for Napier City Rovers: having Central League MVP Callum Cooke back was everything to them. Strong and rangy midfielder with a serious goal threat, no wonder they didn’t look the same without him. Sam Lack was really good too, while Will Tønning’s saves were equally essential. His distribution is class too, especially those quick throws. Much more like it from the Central League champs. As for the Southern League champs, this was only Tech’s third defeat of the calendar year but it didn’t have to be that way if they’d have been a little more clinical in front of goal. Wouldn’t worry about them based on this result. They just had to take one for the competition – getting beaten the week after winning 10-0 is simply too funny for it not to happen. But Garbhan Coughlan has scored in all three games so they’ll be right.
Napier City Rovers 2-1 Cashmere Technical
37’ | 0-1 | CT | Coughlan (Ballard)
74’ | 1-1 | NCR | Cooke (Hurd)
86’ | 2-1 | NCR | Cooke (Lack)
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miramar Rangers | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Cashmere Technical | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 6 |
| Auckland United | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Auckland City | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Wellington Olympic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 |
| Ferrymead Bays | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 4 |
| Napier City Rovers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 4 |
| Birkenhead United | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 3 |
| Auckland FC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 1 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 1 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 12 | -11 | 1 |
| TOP SCORERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Garbhan Coughlan | Cashmere Technical | 7 |
| Will Mendoza | Auckland United | 5 |
| Harley Hill | Auckland FC | 3 |
| Yuya Taguchi | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Sam Lack | Napier City Rovers | 2 |
| Lyle Matthysen | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Finn Caughey | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Jack Beer | Auckland United | 2 |
| Jacob Killick | Ferrymead Bays | 2 |
| Charlie Hale | Auckland FC | 2 |
| Julian Cristales Barrios | Auckland United | 2 |
| Owen Smith | Miramar Rangers | 2 |
| Callum Cooke | Napier City Rovers | 2 |
| MOST ASSISTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lyle Matthysen | Cashmere Technical | 5 |
| Garbhan Coughlan | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Yuya Taguchi | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Finn Caughey | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Jack Beer | Auckland United | 2 |
| Alex Ballard | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Will Mendoza | Auckland United | 2 |
| Matt D'Hotman-De Villiers | Auckland FC | 2 |
| Owen Smith | Miramar Rangers | 2 |
Week 4 Fixtures
Wellington Phoenix Reserves – BYE
Miramar Rangers vs Auckland City
Wellington Olympic vs Eastern Suburbs
Cashmere Technical vs Auckland FC Reserves
Birkenhead United vs Napier City Rovers
Auckland United vs Ferrymead Bays
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