2026 Men’s National League – Week 7
Auckland City vs Birkenhead United
We’ve come a long way since Birkenhead were thumped 4-0 at home by Cashmere Tech in round one. Only their second defeat of the entire year (the other coming in the Chatham Cup) but a terrible way for the Northern League champs to begin their National League quest. Yeah, well, since then they’ve had a bye and then won four on the bounce, conceding only once in the process, making them the form team in the competition as they turned up to Kiwitea Street to face the only remaining undefeated team, with Auckland City’s lossless status preserved by Nathan Rostron’s last equaliser last week away at Cashmere Tech. Don’t need to build it up any more than that: with both teams on the charge and only two hotly contested golden tickets to the grand final available, this was arguably the most consequential game of the season thus far.
It began with a minute’s silence for Mike “The Bucketman” Vessey, the ACFC and Central United superfan who passed away recently. It continued with a tremendous game, worthy of any footballing wake. And it ended in torrential downpour. Minimal changes for these in-form teams. Birko brought in James Taylor for the injured Kian Donkers; ACFC brought in Alfie Rogers at left-back with Nathan Lobo moving up to the wing and Pavel Osmančík also returned to the eleven after his lone bench appearance last time. So many match-ups here... one example being Nathan Lobo vs Everton O’Leary after they were teammates for AFC in the Pro League not so long ago.
Birko were out of the blocks with untamed ferocity, as both Shiv Nair and James Taylor had rapid chances that were thwarted by Louie Caunter in goal for the Navy Blues. But as they so often do, it was Auckland City who broke the deadlock. Simple stuff: long shot from Michal Douděra got parried away and Dylan Manickum whipped it home on the follow-up from a tricky angle, very precise finishing when it initially looked as though Oliver Pocock had done enough with the save. And you know what Auckland City are like when they take the lead, especially at Kiwitea. Control and constriction. Lobo pulled a shot wide. Osmančík made a mess of a Douděra cutback, spoiling the Czech connection. They had things where they wanted them and a second seemed inevitable... until Christian Gray made an uncharacteristic error, bumping over Shiv Nair and giving Birko a penalty. Josh Redfearn (who missed a pen against Napier a few weeks ago) converted from the spot and that was the instigating incident for a bonkers final five minutes of the opening half.
For starters, Auckland City retook the lead immediately. Not even two minutes from ball crossing the line to ball crossing the line. They went straight down the other end, got a corner kick, whipped it deep where it somehow made it all the way through via a wee flick-on from Gray upon its journey, to Mario Ilich who did the rest. Unusually ineffective set piece defending from Birko. Ilich then peeled off and celebrated with a show of honour to the Bucketman poster behind the goal. Even still, it was a baffler how they weren’t level going into the break because, in the time that remained, Lewis Caunter made an astonishing double save while Dino Botica headed onto the crossbar from a corner kick. Fine margins in a game like this.
City had edged the first half with their off-ball runners making it tricky for Birko’s man-marking approach. They had the territory advantage, they had the lead. But that splash just before HT gave Birkenhead belief because it was a completely different game when the teams resumed. Birko absolutely brutalised them, City couldn’t even get out of their own half as the team in red and white won all the second balls and went bursting up the wings and hurled in difficult crosses. Nair narrowly missed with a header. Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit came off the bench and missed a back-post tapper, Birko striking the crossbar for the second time in the match... and then Caunter made another spectacular save as Nair struck the rebound on target.
City’s resistance could only last so long. Shiv Nair made sure of that by getting goalside of Rostron on the move and dribbling around and back so that he could whack in the equaliser from the corner of the six yard box. Beautifully done. Can’t say it hadn’t been coming. If anything, City were fortunate they weren’t losing, owing several favours to the respective crossbars at each end. And of course to their acrobatic goalkeeper.
They were getting crunched for twenty savage minutes there but two things happened to bring them back into it. The first was a wise substitution that put Mike Den Heijer into the midfield alongside Mario Ilich, an extra body to shield the defence and prevent blokes like Charles Bidwell and Shiv Nair from running riot. The other was a thunderstorm. It had been a lovely afternoon in Sandringham until all of a sudden a few crashes of thunder sounded in the distance and with about 25 mins to go, the heavens opened up. It was absolutely torrential – bear in mind this was the same storm that caused the Auckland FC vs Wellington Phoenix A-League derby across town to be delayed by an hour. It was a pity because it sorta spoiled the conclusion of a tremendous game... but gotta give due plaudits to ACFC for handling it better and pushing closer to a third goal. Adam Mitchell had a shot deflected over. Ryan Watson pinged one just wide. Everyone seemed pretty satisfied when the final whistle blew and they could get inside for a shower and a cup of tea.
This was a crazy result for the league table. Combined with the other relevant outcomes this week (we’ll get to those shortly), it means there are now three teams tied on 13 points atop the ladder and three more within three points of that. Still enough rounds left to keep them all in contention which sets up a whole bunch of mint match-ups over the coming weeks. There was no winner here but there’s only admiration to be shown for the respective teams. Really high-quality game and a great showcase for this league. Auckland City remain undefeated but have now drawn as many games as they’ve won while Birkenhead’s winning streak takes a halt but they remain on the charge for a grand final place. This was a rematch of the 2024 grand final and who knows perhaps that duel will be repeated in 2026. If it’s anything like this meeting then that’d be something to salivate over.
Auckland City 2-2 Birkenhead United
Goals (Assists)
18’ | 1-0 | AC | Manickum (Doudera)
38’ | 1-1 | BU | Redfearn (Nair)
40’ | 2-1 | AC | Ilich (Gray)
58’ | 2-2 | BU | Nair (Slingsby)
Wellington Olympic vs Auckland United
Wellington Olympic are one of those teams still in serious contention for the top two and in order to stay there they’ll have to keep winning. Same goes for everyone else. This is a last-one-standing kinda league where the short season means you might get away with one slip but you probably won’t escape after two of them... and the Greeks already fumbled a 2-1 loss to Ferrymead Bays in week two. But they’ve looked rejuvenated since the coaching change. For this match, they brought Justin Gulley in at left-back while Jaylen Rodwell returned to the midfield. Another start for Luke Stoupe with Gianni Bououkis still injured. On the other side, Auckland United have been trending in the other direction after a couple of defeats. The plan to halt that involved Tiahn Manuel starting in the midfield (he played for Olympic in 2025), allowing Adama Coulibaly to continue his post-AFC climb up the formation. From defence to defensive midfield and now to the right wing. Ben Wallace dipped to the bench to accommodate that. Same back four for the sixth game in a row.
It was Coulibaly who had the first shot of the game, taking advantage of some defensive hesitation on a long ball to ran on and thump it at goal where Scotty Basalaj made a sharp stop. Adam Supyk had some blame for that (although it was Ben Mata who was vigorously apologising for stepping out of the line) but Supyk soon saved the day when he headed whalloped Jack Beer shot off the line. Very brave defending. True to form there was some great energy from both sides, looking to move the ball through their shapes at pace. Lots of free kicks as a result. And it was via that hectic stuff that the opening goal arrived: Luke Stoupe running fast in transition and getting past Abdi Khaled. Freddie Martin made the save but the rebound caught Khaled who couldn’t get his feet out of the way and it rebounded for an own goal, 1-0 to Wellington Olympic.
AUFC were on equal footing within the match-flow but perhaps struggling with the wind when it came to their deliveries into the area. Having said that, Beer got one spot on from a corner which Khaled popped over the top, and from there they definitely finished the half in the ascendency with some strong aerial work from the Greeks and perhaps a lack of a target man keeping United from finding a leveller. With Jack Beer up top, he’s always going to go drifting around for touches so the onus is on the wingers and advanced midfielders to make those runs into the box around him. Didn’t quite click for them in that spell but a couple minutes into the second half, Adama Coulibaly tapped in at the far post after Leo Hall’s low cross had been flicked along by Shuto Kono. Concerning for Olympic how they’d been caught out behind both fullbacks to begin the second half. There was the goal that United had been threatening.
Jack-Henry Sinclair was sent on for WO directly after that equaliser... and the man that he is, he immediately set up a goal to restore the lead. Slick work from Gavin Hoy to wriggle out of pressure and put JHS into space on the left and the low cross was touched home by Morgan Wellsbury. Third of the campaign for Wellsbury who is sneakily taking his career to the next level by translating the goal-scoring that saw him share the 2025 Northern League golden boot (while at Tauranga City) into the National League stuff. He did score twice for Birko last year but he’s much more centred as a key player with Olympic. This has been a good stride forward in his development.
Auckland United’s response was sub on Ben Wallace and Matt Conroy, hoping for the same bench impact as Sinclair made. But instead what happened was Kailan Gould intercepted a poor pass and stormed it into the penalty area where he smashed in his 50th goal for Olympic. United’s build-up has been vulnerable to the press this season and while Olympic didn’t really go down that route, those guys are never ones to turn down a sniff of a transitional attack.
If you thought the home side would cruise it from there though, you were mistaken. AUFC were promptly back on the attack with Basalaj making a two-handed a Jack Beer free kick away from his top corner. Then Wallace somehow couldn’t get contact on a far post nudge from Julian Barrios, the ball bouncing back off the inside of the post to be headed away for a corner by Mata. Multiple blocked shots and a Conroy skier during that spell too... leading up to Will Mendoza taking a pop from distance and scoring a brilliant goal. Number seven of the campaign from him and surely the best of the bunch.
At which point this topsy-turvy encounter swung back towards the Greeks applying pressure. Wellsbury and Rodwell had shots. Sinclair was about to pick his spot from nine yards out when Khaled made an amazing blindside sliding block. Then came an almighty scramble that would be impossible to describe but just know that it ended with Wellington Olympic notching a fourth, credited as an own goal after Josh Zatorski’s shot was diverted into the net. Always a bit of a bummer when those subjective ones get given as own goals rather than benefit of the doubt to the attacker but whatevs. This was goalmouth scrambling at its most delightfully chaotic...
That goal ended the game as a contest but there was still time for Boyd Curry and JHS to each get booked after a cheeky boilover, following a foul for which Khaled was also yellow carded. Must have been something that was said. Anyway, tempers settled back down and Wellington Olympic emerged with a 4-2 victory that keeps them on track for the final with absolutely definitive games coming up against Cashmere Tech and Birkenhead.
Not a whole lot between them in this game but from Auckland Utd’s perspective, they found themselves in a shootout with a team you don’t want to get stuck in a shootout with... and conceded some preventable goals in the process. Gotta be sharper than that at Wakefield Park, even if the overall performance was pretty useful. Coulibaly was heavily involved while he was out there. Barrios and Beer brought their usual import quality. Three defeats in a row for AUFC, three wins in a row for the Greeks. That Mata/Supyk defensive combo continues to look the goods and they’re at their best with Jaylen Rodwell bouncing around in the middle. Super contributions from Hoy and Gould who have returned to maximum prominence since Taylor Hall-Jones took over as coach, guiding the Greeks back towards the high-octane transitional team they were under Rupert Kemeys a few years ago. Very fun to watch and the results have backed it up. They were still pretty good under Ekow Quainoo, a talented coach who’ll no doubt do fine things in his next job, but they do look more like themselves again under THJ. This was the fifth time that these two teams have met (four in the Nats plus the 2025 Chatham Cup final) and Wellington Olympic have won all five, scoring at least three times in every match.
Wellington Olympic 4-2 Auckland United
25’ | 1-0 | WO | Own Goal
48’ | 1-1| AU | Coulibaly (Kono)
54’ | 2-1 | WO | Wellsbury (Sinclair)
61’ | 3-1 | WO | Gould
69’ | 3-2 | AU | Mendoza
86’ | 4-2 | WO | Own Goal (Zatorski)
Ferrymead Bays vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
Back down to Ferrymead Park where the home side were hoping to snap a four-game losing skid, having not scored in any of the past three of those... while the visitors were on a high having finally won their first game for almost six months with a 3-2 junior derby win against Auckland FC Reserves.
Ferrymead Bays were unchanged from a battling 2-0 loss to Birkenhead. Wellington Phoenix Reserves did shuffle the deck though... with Jayden Smith replacing Isaac Hughes in central defence (one first teamer returning from injury taking the place of another) while Anaru Cassidy added to the A-League flavour with only National League appearance thus far. With Eamonn McCarron between the sticks and Ben Trenberth on the right wing, there were four ALM contractees involved for one of the WeeNix’s strongest line-ups yet. Kinda harsh on Joe McIntyre to drop to the bench after a blinder last week but that’s probably because he’s got an U17 World Cup to play in a fortnight. Fletcher Pratt also got a start up top.
Bays attempted their first long throw after just thirty seconds... and McCarron had to be alert to ensure the scrappiness didn’t end up with a goal conceded. Frisky stuff. Elsewhere, the WeeNix were quickly on the prowl through Trenberth who ran into some vacated fullback space, latching onto a nicely-weighted through ball from Pratt, only to drag his shot agonisingly across the face of goal. He had another effort soon after from a more open angle, taking some pace off the shot to make sure he curled it on target. Evan Ovendale made a smart stop.
Encouraging signs... though Ferrymead were every bit as promising with McCarron making a reaction stop with his leg as Omar Cameron tried to turn one in at the near post. It was one of those curious games where two teams who’ve gotten used to losing games, to being stuck in defensive mode, ran into each other and instantly started playing with confidence and attacking intent, unshackled by their respective vulnerabilities. Sorta makes you wonder if they oughtn’t try be more expansive in those other games too. Take the proverbial bull by the metaphorical horns and perhaps they’d score a few more goals.
Ferrymead scored from the resulting corner kick. The Nix got it clear initially but then Nicolas Falco, the American fullback with the long throw, proved that he also has a ballistic boot because jeepers take a look at this missile...
Yeah that’ll do it. Good thing he did because the shooting from everyone else left a lot to be desired. Pratt was unable to get an attempt on target from Grosso’s pullback for the Nix, while Trenberth hurled an in-swinging free kick on target (which he’d earned himself after putting on the moves down the right wing) that was saved by Ovendale before Thomas drove wide from the second effort. Up the other end, Cameron cleared the crossbar on the stretch from six yards. Tough one but after getting there ahead of the defender it was eminently score-able. It remained 1-0 at the break.
Just like Isaac Hughes last week, Jayden Smith was only cleared for 45 minutes upon return from injury so Jesper Edwards swapped in for him at CB when half-time arrived. Hasn’t started a game this season but Edwards has been first man off the bench three weeks in a row... maybe next week he’ll get his turn. But it was only Smith who sat down. Cassidy hasn’t been injured, he was on the bench for the A-League team in game one, hence this was purely about match fitness for him and he did the full ninety. Same deal with McCarron, obvs. And they were certainly glad to have one of the tallest goalkeepers in the country against the aerial bombardment of Ferrymead... that and also a set of defenders who were forever getting bodies in front of shots. Can’t ever deny that the Nix develop brave defenders. Mac Munro was the predominant exponent on this particular afternoon.
A lot of the second half was spent with the Nix Reserves passing short across the back and getting frustrated at the lack of options around them or the lack of ball speed into them. Little bit too ponderous in those areas against a sturdy team that wasn’t going to be coaxed out of shape. As a result, the chances that the Nix were creating in the first stanza largely disappeared since they weren’t able to shift the ball fast enough to access the same spaces. The exception was when they were able to get it to Waisea Henry because he could go 1v1... but nothing eventuated from those instances either. The door was slightly ajar because of Ferrymead’s own inability to grab a clinching second goal but it stayed ajar without any bother – good thing for that Falco screamer because other than that it was the two lowest-scoring teams in the competition living up to those reputations. There was a late penalty shout from Phil Azevedo but he went down too easily and was booked for simulation.
Therefore Ferrymead Bays claimed their second win of the season and the first MNL victory in front of their home fans. It was a game of missed half-chances and one amazing finish but the way that Bays were able to control the midfield, especially second half, was what did it for them. Miles Holder and especially Chris Murphy, along with the tireless close-outs from their attacking players. Spare a thought for Murphy in the Ferrymead midfield who at 39 years of age was up against a team whose oldest player was Cassidy who turned 20 back in February. Must’ve felt like a parents vs kids game for him. Omar Cameron wasn’t able to bag a goal but his back-to-goal play as a centre-forward was very useful and Evan Ovendale produced a few sweet saves in that first half. Heck of a thing that Bays have two wins despite only scoring four goals in total.
The Wellington Phoenix Reserves have been beggars for goals all year and if there was hope that things had changed with the three they put past Auckland FC... this was back to the old routine. But it’s not like they didn’t show promise. Ben Trenberth was very bright and just needs to improve that final third decision making and execution... it’ll come with more experience. Anaru Cassidy put in a big shift, though didn’t quite have the combinations with those around him – too much time with the first team, maybe. Impressive from Mac Munro at the back too. Look, they may have gotten blanked again but they only conceded once and it took a wonder strike for that to happen. They’ll be hacked off they didn’t get something from this.
Ferrymead Bays 1-0 Wellington Phoenix Reserves
11’ | 1-0 | FB | Falco (Newsome)
Auckland FC Reserves vs Napier City Rovers
The day after the A-League derby, the Auckland FC Reserves were in action at Fred Taylor Park where they hosted Napier City Rovers. Always preferable when the Ressies game happens after the first team game as it frees up any dudes who didn’t get on the park to rock up and contribute. Like, for example, Marley Leuluai and James Mitchell who were both on the bench vs Wellington Phoenix and were both in the starting line-up against Napier City. Aaron Cartwright returned on the right wing – Cartwright and Leuluai were both absent as AFC lost to the WeeNix in the National League version of the derby last time out. Louis Wickremesekera, Will Gross, and Liam Hill also came into the side. No Harley Hill though.
Their opposition, Napier City Rovers, no longer have Will Tønning at their disposal as he’s been summoned for Pro League duties with Vanuatu United so 20-year-old Josh Capstick got to wear the gloves for a National League debut. Otherwise it was all the usuals with the only other change from the 3-1 win vs the WeeNix being Caleb Hunt getting a start at right wing-back.
Truth be told, it was a very decent beginning from AFC who were posing threats with some up-tempo footy. A Louis Wicks effort off-target was the best of them while Lucca Lim also put one into the side-netting. But the problem is that the chances you create are only as good as your ability to convert them (we saw something similar from the first team on Saturday)... and since AFC didn’t grab the early goal they were after, they instead got counter-punched when Aston Hurd was given enough room to cross and the defence were too deep to cover it and the midfield didn’t get back in time. Callum Cooke took a bobbling first touch and then slammed the volley home with the second. He alley-ooped himself.
AFC responded though. Clever ball over the top from Will Gross after Wicks had done the old drop to collect, draw the defender with you, then lay it off and run into the hole created. He did that and Cam Emerson got wrong-sided and clipped him. Penalty. Wicks took the spot kick himself and sent Capstick the wrong way. Finally somebody other than Hill or Hale was on the scoresheet for AFC (albeit from a penalty). And they would have gone ahead via a brilliant solo Dejaun Naidoo goal had Capstick not stuck out a hand and saved it after Naidoo’s searing counter-attacking run. More good stuff from AFC. But then same as they did against the WeeNix, they spoiled things by conceding right before half-time. Aston Hurd scored the goal with a mid-air karate volley... bloody good goal, to be fair.
Hurd gave the stanchion a rip with an early chance in the second stanza however Auckland continued to chip away. There was a decent chance for Hale, curling over the top from 18 yards after shaping onto his left. Then Naidoo angled infield and put a shot on target. This was still very much a game in the balance with half an hour to go... at which point those pesky Rovers went berserk and scored four more goals to completely change the outlook.
It was all rather passive from AFC when Napier City took a quick free kick up their left wing and Jim Hoyle’s cross wasn’t properly cleared so Sam Lack gave it a whack into the net from the edge of the box after the chest-down from the irrepressible Hurd. That gave NCR a bit of breathing room yet Auckland continued to move the ball pretty well, with Naidoo getting plenty of touches. Lucca Lim had a shot blocked in the six yard box. But then Lack scored his second direct from a free kick (with Liam Hill making a mess of it) before Liam Schofield thumped home a wormburner getting forward on the left. And Aston Hurd completed the belated rout when he buried the sixth deep into stoppages, working a one-two on the counter with Jacob Fenton and burying his shot under Hill’s attempted stop.
Tough day at the office for the AFC goalkeeper, outstanding one for Aston Hurd with two goals and two assists. For the second time in three games, AFC Reserves have been on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline (Birko also did it to ‘em)... and with four new notches on the chart we can now say they’ve conceded 12 times in the last ten minutes of a half or in added-time. Rory Fallon might want to get the beep test going at training this week because these lads are not closing things out properly.
And yet it wasn’t anywhere near the one-sided game that the scoreline suggests. Napier buried some mean finishes and there were a couple goals that ought to have been saved. AFC didn’t make the most of their own chances and they conceded at critical times. Very typical Napier City to spend the first half testing the opponent for strengths and weaknesses, like the initial rounds of a boxing bout, and then throwing combinations once they figure it out. Callum Cook, what a player. Very cool to have a guy of his calibre (over 200 games in England’s League One and League Two) hanging out in the NZ National League before his 30th birthday. Sam Lack was typically influential against the team he spent last year’s National League representing, while Luca Barclay is quietly developing into one of the MNL’s most reliable defenders.
The AFC Ressies are a development team so they’ve got different priorities but it’s crazy that they continue to concede this ridiculous amount of goals after last year having the best defence in the competition. 25 goals against them in seven games is horrible and yet it’s more or less the same blokes every week in Fallon’s line-ups. They’re learning the hard way. The last couple goals were scored after Marley Leuluai was subbed, he’s always a steadying hand... though there is a case to say they could use a bit more from their first team fellas. Aaron Cartwright is more of the target there – he looked so good for the NZ U19s but has zero goal contributions in four MNL appearances and his dribbling just isn’t getting past those dangling feet at this level. They’ve got a bye next week to figure out a few things.
Auckland FC Reserves 1-6 Napier City Rovers
26’ | 0-1 | NCR | Cooke (Hurd)
35’ | 1-1 | AFC | Wickremesekera [p]
45+2’ | 1-2 | NCR | Hurd (Barclay)
64’ | 1-3 | NCR | Lack (Hurd)
81’ | 1-4 | NCR | Lack
90’ | 1-5 | NCR | Schofield (Cooke)
90+5’ | 1-6 | NCR | Hurd (Fenton)
Eastern Suburbs vs Cashmere Technical
Finally we had this doozy at Madill’s Farm where Eastern Suburbs were fresh off finally winning a game (and avoiding any red cards) with a 2-0 triumph over Auckland United that probably felt like a 10-0 such was their relief. Cashmere Technical, their opponents, actually do have a 10-0 win this season. They’ve been close to unstoppable with their attacking firepower... although they were without Southern League Defender of the Year Danny Kane who got himself a red card at the very end of their draw vs Auckland City last time, conceding late to cost them what would have been a massive victory.
See, now, the thing about this game is that somewhere along the line the livestream got botched so there’s really nothing to go by. Didn’t even make it into NZF’s highlight compilation. It’s the missing game. And for Cashmere Technical folks that won’t be such a bad thing considering they were turned over 2-0, repeating the outcome of the Kate Sheppard Cup final between the women’s sides of these two clubs a few weeks ago. It was 3-1 to the ‘Burbs on that occasion.
What we can say is that it was only in the last fifteen minutes that Eastern Suburbs flipped it in their favour. They were quarter of an hour away from the ultimate blasphemy of the NZ National League, a nil-all draw, when Keen Mandizvidza scored for the Lilywhites and then deep, deep into stoppage time Finn Murphy polished off an assist from Kofi Dwamena, a couple of substitutes combining, to complete the upset victory.
Two local teenagers with those goals. Mandizvidza is 19yo while Murphy is only 18yo. They also gave 18yo Caleb Woodfield his first start in the Nats after making four appearances off the bench. There was definitely a switch in how Suburbs approached last week’s game with more emphasis on energetic youngsters in support of Jake Mechell in attack and less of the undisciplined scrappiness that’d seen their proud defensive record crumble in those previous defeats. Only got the line-ups and the scoreline to go draw conclusions from but this at least seems like more of the good stuff. Oh and there was a Jack De Groot clean sheet. Normal transmission has resumed for that fella.
This throws a spanner in the works for Cash Tech. Had they held on against Auckland City, they’d have been running clear with a big statement behind them. They didn’t... and now they’ve lost their subsequent game. Still top of the table but only on goal difference and they’ve gotta serve their bye yet, meaning all those other teams within range could overtake them. Gotta imagine the absence of Danny Kane was a factor. They had all the rest of their main men for the trip though, plus the last time they went to Auckland they were outstanding winning 4-0 away to Birko. But who knows, maybe they missed a couple open goals and hit the woodwork five times and had a stonewall penalty turned down. Didn’t see it, can’t speak. At least there are photos to prove it happened...
Eastern Suburbs 2-0 Cashmere Technical
76’ | 1-0 | ES | Mandizvidza
90+4’ | 2-0 | ES | Murphy (Dwamena)
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashmere Technical | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 13 |
| Wellington Olympic | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 13 |
| Birkenhead United | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Auckland City | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| Miramar Rangers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
| Napier City Rovers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| Auckland United | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 2 | 8 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | -6 | 7 |
| Ferrymead Bays | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 7 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 18 | -13 | 4 |
| Auckland FC | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 25 | -16 | 1 |
| TOP SCORERS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Garbhan Coughlan | Cashmere Technical | 10 |
| Will Mendoza | Auckland United | 7 |
| Harley Hill | Auckland FC | 4 |
| Lyle Matthysen | Cashmere Technical | 4 |
| Martin Bueno | Miramar Rangers | 4 |
| Kian Donkers | Birkenhead United | 4 |
| Charlie Hale | Auckland FC | 4 |
| Callum Cooke | Napier City Rovers | 4 |
| Sam Lack | Napier City Rovers | 4 |
| Finn Caughey | Cashmere Technical | 3 |
| Luke Stoupe | Wellington Olympic | 3 |
| Charles Bidwell | Birkenhead United | 3 |
| Hector Echague | Eastern Suburbs | 3 |
| Josh Redfearn | Birkenhead United | 3 |
| Morgan Wellsbury | Wellington Olympic | 3 |
| Aston Hurd | Napier City Rovers | 3 |
| MOST ASSISTS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lyle Matthysen | Cashmere Technical | 7 |
| Aston Hurd | Napier City Rovers | 5 |
| Garbhan Coughlan | Cashmere Technical | 4 |
| Devin Slingsby | Birkenhead United | 4 |
| Jack Beer | Auckland United | 3 |
| Matt D'Hotman-De Villiers | Auckland FC | 3 |
| Shivam Nair | Birkenhead United | 3 |
| Yuya Taguchi | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Finn Caughey | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Alex Ballard | Cashmere Technical | 2 |
| Will Mendoza | Auckland United | 2 |
| Owen Smith | Miramar Rangers | 2 |
| Gavin Hoy | Wellington Olympic | 2 |
| Kailan Gould | Wellington Olympic | 2 |
| Liam Schofield | Napier City Rovers | 2 |
| Noah Boyce | Wellington Olympic | 2 |
| Michal Douděra | Auckland City | 2 |
| Jack Henry-Sinclair | Wellington Olympic | 2 |
| MOST CLEAN SHEETS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pieter-Taco Bierema | Cashmere Technical | 4 |
| Oliver Pocock | Birkenhead United | 3 |
| Louie Caunter | Auckland City | 2 |
| Scott Basalaj | Wellington Olympic | 2 |
| Evan Ovendale | Ferrymead Bays | 2 |
| Jack de Groot | Eastern Suburbs | 2 |
Next Week’s Fixtures
Auckland FC Reserves - BYE
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Auckland City
Cashmere Technical vs Wellington Olympic
Napier City Rovers vs Ferrymead Bays
Auckland United vs Miramar Rangers
Birkenhead United vs Eastern Suburbs
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