Aotearoa Domestic Football Roundup – April 20
Men’s Northern League
With less than twenty minutes to go, Fencibles United were leading 1-0 against the Auckland FC Reserves. Jordan Boon had scored the goal (26’), nodding in after a barrage of corner kicks. As the game entered second-half added time, the AFC Reserves had spun things around to be leading 2-1 thanks to a quick blast from James Elder (74’ pen) and Sean Kane (78’). But when the final whistle blew it was Fencibles who’d won 3-2 after Kodie Nicol (90+3’) and Ryan Clarke (90+5’) provided some absolute madness at Riverhills Park.
There was some nifty dribbling from Harley Hill to win the penalty for Elder to convert for his third goal of the campaign, while Kane’s was an absolute banger volleying in off the crossbar from the edge of the box. Kane is the only man to have started all six Northern League games for AFC this season. At that stage it seemed like the heroics would be theirs but then Nicol broke the offside trap running onto a long ball from his goalkeeper (Sota Yuasa) and rounded the keeper to score... then Clarke scored at the second attempt after Liam Hill had spilled a headed shot from a corner kick. Almost the last act of the match.
Hearty stuff from Fencies as they settle into third place with a fourth win from six. AFC, meanwhile, haven’t won since the season opener against last-placed Manukau. Five on the trot winless since – which includes blowing a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 with Auckland Utd, conceding a stoppage time equaliser against Tauranga, and conceding both a stoppage time equaliser and a stoppage time winner in this game. It’s a largely new squad for the Ressies and coach Rory Fallon’s going to have to instil a few fundamentals about game management along the way. These are typical young player mistakes though, nothing to worry about.
Birkenhead United got the job done travelling down the state highway to beat Melville United 2-0 with the goals coming courtesy of Dino Botica (14’) and Sam Philip (87’). Third of the campaign for Botica, powering in a header from a Miles Palmer corner kick. Not a hugely expansive game played in increasingly tricky weather but yet again Birko were able to bend the outcome in their favour. Five wins and a draw means they’re undefeated at the top of the ladder.
And the team that’s running them closest? That’d be East Coast Bays, mate, after a 1-0 win away to Bay Olympic with (you guessed it) Marius Zabarauskas scoring yet again. The Lithuanian got the breakthrough just before half-time, tapping in from a slick Liam Andersen assist. BO goalkeeper Petr Jakoubek was red carded right at the end for what NRL referees would probably deem a hip drop tackle after getting dispossessed outside his area. ECB were already playing with ten at that stage after Anderson was injured with their bench already emptied, that happened with 83 minutes on the clock and the red was 90+4’. Decent effort from Bays (plural) to hold on away against Bay (singular) in those circumstances. Zabarauskas is leading the Golden Boot ranks with six goals, one ahead of Ryan Clarke of Fencies (who scored that winner vs AFC).
Tauranga City and Auckland City battled to a 0-0 draw down at Links Ave on the new turf. Neither club has had a very convincing start to the Northern League so they’ll both take that point and move on – it does mean that ACFC are already four points adrift of the top four after just six rounds. As are Western Springs, the reigning champs of this division, however they’ll be feeling much better about that after Ben Wallace scored twice in a 2-0 win against Auckland United. First goal on 42’ after another delicious shot fake from Ryan Watson to set him up, the second from the penalty spot on 90+7’ after Caspar McGavin was dragged down in the area by Julian Barrios Cristales, who had already been booked and thus saw red.
One more game up here and it was hosted at Centre Park in Mangere where... Manukau United were no match for Eastern Suburbs. 3-0 to the Lilywhites with the goals coming from Noah Karunaratne (1’), Jake Mechell (23’ pen), and Hector Echague (55’). Manukau remain without a win. Eastern Suburbs have kept four clean sheets in six games, their three overall goals conceded matching Birkenhead for the best defence in the division.
Women’s NRFL Premiership
The expected thing has happened at Western Springs with Ben Bate shifting from his Head of Mixed Academy role (replaced by Brock Radich) to become the new Head of Women’s Football – a role that involves coaching the women’s first team. This after Katie Duncan resigned a fortnight ago. Bate’s first game in charge was at home against Eastern Suburbs, an extremely tough start against a stacked team... and if there were any inklings that Bate’s job change would lead to a raft of incoming transfers then that hasn’t happened yet. He named an eleven that looked a lot like what we’d been seeing in previous matches: very young, very inexperienced.
They livestreamed this game on the NRFL channel but were a few minutes late in getting the broadcast going and by that time it was already 2-0 to Eastern Subs (they later uploaded the rest of it, don’t worry). Maddi Ollington scored on the follow up after about 80 seconds and then Sam Tawharu finished off a low cross (3’), at which point they were on course to win 60-0... but a combination of some sloppy finishing, some better organised Springs defence, and especially some hectic weather that required a lightning break (at the same time as Auckland FC’s A-League match was going through the same scenario a few kilometres across town) meant that it stayed 2-0 into the hiatus after half an hour and continued that way until half-time.
But not much longer than that. TJ Anderson (50’) converted from another square ball across the six yard box from American import Erika Skindlov (who’d also set up the second and it was her shot that led to the opener). They finished off a fourth when Juliette Lucas (61’) touched home at the near post. Skindlov found her goal with a lovely first-time finish from the edge of the box (69’) while Lucas got a second running onto a touch in behind (79’). And that was that... 6-0 to Eastern Suburbs. Still no goals for the Swans this season but perhaps an improved performance. The Lilywhites remain undefeated... and will host Auckland United next weekend in a very tasty encounter.
Speaking of whom, Auckland United did their usual thing beating Tauranga Moana 5-1 at Keith Hay Park. Maggie Jenkins scored a hat-trick to continue her absolutely unstoppable form – she’s scored at least two goals in all five games thus far (every one of them wins), with 14 goals all combined. Sasha Adamson and Aniela Jensen, two more signings who’ve hit the ground running for the defending National League champs (but not the defending NRFL Prem champs, remember), got the other goals. It was 3-0 at half-time. Haven’t got the scorer for TM yet – they’ve lost four out of four... but so have Western Springs and Tauranga Moana’s goal difference is way better. Those two and Melville United will be battling to avoid the wooden spoon and so far the only match between any of them was when Melville won 1-0 vs Springs in round one. It’s Tauranga vs Melville next week, so that’ll teach us a fair bit about how that spoon race will go.
Auckland United have been keeping busy, by the way. A couple of weeks ago they were the opponents for the latest Auckland FC Talent Development Programme game for the Women’s U17 group. Those AFC players are all based at other clubs but, same as on the men’s side, AFC work with the best youngsters providing extra training and the occasional game like this. Dunno what the score was, that bit’s irrelevant, but you can see in the pics below that AUFC had the likes of Jess Philpot, Yume Harashima, and Olivia Ingham all out there in some capacity so that’s a very high benchmark they were setting for the youngsters. Also, AUFC defender Alaina Granger was spotted at Football Ferns training when they were in town. The Ferns used Keith Hay Park as their base for the World Cup... this time they went to Takapuna but at least one United player still got to make up the numbers (that’s one of the cool things about actually getting to play home internationals, right?).
Dunno what happened between Melville United and West Coast Rangers but somehow that game ended up in a 10-4 win for WCR. Melville scored their four goals to make it 3-1, 6-2, 10-3, and 10-4... so a couple of late ones to help the margin. Haven’t got their scorers or timings up on the match centre yet but for Rangers it was four for Emily Lyon, doubles for Chloe Bellamy and Maisy Dewell, plus additional Mia Ferrentino and Arisa Kida goals. She’s been overshadowed by what Maggie Jenkins is doing but Emily Lyon has herself scored eight times in five matches. Melville Utd have been able to find the net, that’s not been their problem, their problem is keeping them out at the other end. Since that clean sheet opening win vs Springs they’ve allowed 33 goals in four matches including consecutive 10-baggers from AUFC and WCR.
Fencibles got the job done with a 3-0 win at home against Ellerslie on Friday night. Tineke de Jong and Morgan Day (x2) made sure of the points. It could very likely come down to those two teams scrapping it out for fourth place and National League qualification so this was a critical result for Fencies who have now had three clean sheet wins around a very respectable 2-1 defeat against Auckland United. From that perspective, maybe it’s underselling them to only thing about fourth place. We’ll get a better idea when they host West Coast Rangers on Friday. A funky addition for Fencies recently: American import Mackenzie Rastatter who played for Southern United in the last National League season.
Men’s Central League
All of the expected teams won in the Men’s Central League. Miramar Rangers vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves was the closest game, with Miramar scoring right off the bat through Connor Gaul (1’) and holding on from there for a 1-0 victory. Once again it was a WeeNix team full of first-team contracts – Nathan Walker, Xuan Loke, Gabe Sloane-Rodrigues, and Eamonn McCarron have started all three games while Luke Supyk has gotten the last two. Supyk’s Nix deal expires at the end of the A-League season and he’s currently stuck in the reserves, doesn’t bode particularly well for his future at the club. At least the others still have deals for next season. With the ALM team now eliminated from finals contention, perhaps a couple of these guys will get a chance for Chris Greenacre (their usual Reserves coach) next week in the last game. The Nix had plenty of opportunities to level this game up but the finishing wasn’t up to scratch and Rangers have a good, physical defence which stood strong for the clean sheet win. 10 points from four games means Miramar Rangers are leading the way.
Western Suburbs were the opposite, they thrashed Island Bay United 6-0 with goals from Tareq Morgan (16’), Kyle Carr (31’, 58’, 69’ pen), and Reilly Marlow-Jones (43’, 48’). Hatty for Kyle Carr, an American import striker who’d previously been playing in Puerto Rico. Napier City Rovers are also looking strong at the moment. Ben Stanley (15’) and Ross Willox (64’) scored this week to give them a 2-0 win away against Upper Hutt City. NCR had a game postponed against Island Bay last week and if they’d played and won (as you’d expect them to do) then they’d be level with Miramar at the top.
Here’s a dose of excitement from Petone’s 2-1 win over Waterside Karori...
Luca Siegel with the stoppage time penalty save to preserve the points, how good. Petone had scored first through Harry Lamont (21’), been hauled back by Oscar Crowe (26’), then retaken the lead as Ashtun Lake (64’) scored what eventually turned out to be the winner. But only after Siegel denied Tomas Alvarado from twelve yards.
That leaves Waterside Karori with four defeats from four matches. FC Western have also lost every game following a 4-0 defeat against Wellington Olympic. This was their first home game since promotion, Lynmouth Park officially becoming a Central League ground, but they were no match for the Greeks. Hayden Aish (36’), Ben Mata (41’ pen), Kieran McMinn (80’ pen), and Ben Campbell (87’) got the goals. Western kept it close for much of the match, fair play. Olympic probably needed a game like that after a stuttering start to the term, we’ll see if they can kick on from here.
Women’s Central League
Both Petone and Waterside Karori had submitted their title credentials over the opening month of the season, running into each other with perfect 3/3 records respectively. Karori have been more dominant in their scorelines but it was Petone who beat Wellington United last week. Petone also welcomed back Pepi Olliver-Bell for this match after her futsal season, where she was part of the Capital team that won the NZ SuperLeague and then carried that on into an international debut for the Futsal Ferns during their recent games in China. But it wasn’t a winning return, instead Waterside Karori took the points with a 2-1 victory in a pretty even contest played in some hectic wind.
Sophie Burchfield put the Wharfies ahead flicking home at the near post from a corner (17’) before Renee Bacon doubled the lead (42’) by curling directly in from a free kick that took good advantage of the breeze. Petone got one back through defender Ellen Flett (50’), diverting in from close range, but that was that. Flett’s goal was just the second conceded by WKAFC this year: 24 goals for, 2 goals against, 4/4 wins. Petone’s defence is right there with them, having only allowed three in four games and two of those were in this game. Perhaps not a surprise then that all three goals came from set piece situations. This was result was the reverse of how the men’s game finished between the same two clubs straight afterwards.
In the other fixtures, Wellington United bounced back from their first Central League defeat in two years by putting bundles beyond Victoria University in a 9-2 win. Carolyn O’Reilly scored a hat-trick. They were 3-0 up at half-time after goals from Leonora Webb (15’), O’Reilly (23’), and Kennedy Corkin (28’) and then the acceleration came with a burst of five goals in twenty minutes midway through the second spell to make it 8-0: Farina Anchico (57’, 68’), Hannah Pilley (70’, 73’), and O’Reilly (75’). Vic Uni salvaged some dignity with a couple of their own as Mackenna Chittenden scored from the penalty spot (79’) and then Milli Stewart also disturbed the net (86’). But fittingly Caro O’Reilly had the last laugh completing her hatty in stoppages. 9-2 is not a scoreline you see very often.
Great game between Palmerston North Marist and Taradale, hosted in Palmy, where Taradale went up 2-0 thanks to an own goal (16’) and a Megan Thomas strike (24’). PNM promptly pulled one back through Ruby-Aroha Gurnick (28’) before Thomas scored her second (41’) to restore the two-goal margin. Livvy Watson got Marist right back in range (52’)... but that’s where it ended. 3-2 to Taradale, very good win for them on their travels. Marist had been thrashed 8-0 by Petone and 10-0 by Karori in their other games so this was a much more competitive outing from them. First win of the campaign for Taradale after a narrow defeat vs Seatoun in their only other game.
And Miramar Rangers were a little too good for Palmerston North United as Iris Reweti-Gould scored twice (37’, 51’) in a 2-0 win, seeing that one through despite a red card for goalkeeper Stella Pratt with half an hour remaining. That gets Miramar on the board after they’d begun with defeats against Karori and Petone. Reweti-Gould played alongside a few of those Palmy Utd players for Central in the 2025 National League.
Men’s Southern League
Northern AFC have been doing big things down south, winning three of their first four games since promotion to rise up to second place heading into this week. But you know what happened the last time Cashmere Technical ran into a potential challenger to their title credentials? They smoked Ferrymead Bays 5-0 a couple weeks ago to hammer that point home and they did it again this time, beating Northern 6-0. Even more emphatic was that their centre-back scored a hat-trick: Tom Schwarz with the first three goals (16’, 27’, 47’ pen) before former Northern striker Rory Hibbert (76’) continued his tidy production and the inevitable Garbhan Coughlan offerings were saved until last (82’, 90+1’). Nice of them to give Schwarzy the penalty to complete his hatty, usually Coughlan woulda taken that but Schwarz deserved it on the back of his first goal where he chipped the keeper from halfway. Unreal...
Coughlan’s first goal was also a spectacular first-time hit from twenty yards out. There’s just no stopping Cashmere Technical who have won 5/5 scoring at least four times in each of them. Tech have already beaten Ferrymead Bays and Northern comprehensively, the two teams closest to them on the ladder.
Ferrymead Bays are hanging tight though. They’ve won all four against the rest of the pack (including 1-0 wins vs Northern and Christchurch Utd), with the latest being a 2-1 victory away against Coastal Spirit. Linfield Park is a tough place to get results but there ya go. Weston Bell put Coastal up early (5’), benefitting from a goalkeeping fumble, but Bays saved their run until late when Sorasit Mac Prathumphithak (77’) and Daniel Thoms (86’). Prathumphithak is a former CUFC youngster returning after a spell in Australia - his goal took a handy deflection to balance out the bad luck from the earlier one. The winner from Thoms was a smooth finish after a brilliant bit of pressing from Christopher Murphy. Not quite as bad as Coastal conceding twice in stoppage time to lose last week vs Nomads but that’s two weeks in a row where they’ve coughed up late points. Not very promising for their title defence and (a more realistic aim) not very promising for their National League chances either this year or next. But Ferrymead Bays are buzzing, keep an eye on that lot.
Nelson Suburbs were too good for visitors Selwyn United with a 6-0 win punctuated by goals from Johnny Reynolds (37’, 42’, 86’), Cory Vickers (45+3’, 60’), and Sebastian Hickman (90+1’). Hatty for Mr Reynolds, an American forward who you may recall playing for Western Suburbs and Wellington Olympic over the past two years. He’s swapped sides over the Cook Strait and the goals are flowing. Nomads won 2-0 away against Dunedin City Royals thanks to Hamish Gillett (18’) and Jesse Burge (90+1’). Neither team had started the season particularly well so Nomads getting three points from their road trip will go down a treat – it seems the late festivities against Coastal last week have given them a timely boost.
And shout out to Christchurch United who grabbed a 4-2 win against Wānaka to jump back up to fourth. They were 2-0 up through Sam Mahlamaki (18’) and Takumi Hiruma (29’) but WFC hauled them back before half-time as Robert Mackay (31’) and Wynn Skinner (35’) scored in quick succession. Half-time served its purpose though. Hiruma added a second (52’) before former WeeNix lad Oliver Grosso (64’) pocketed another. Just a second win in five for the Rams although it looks as though their rebuilt team may be starting to click, with new signings supplying all of those goals.
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