2026 Men’s National League – Week 1
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Auckland United
The National League season has begun for the last time in its current format, before it shifts to a winter season next time around. Lots of focus on that restructuring – including Western Springs securing the final qualification spot at the expense of Christchurch United last week in their playoff – and that’s probably caused the 2026 version to be overshadowed a wee bit. But that’s all sorted now so we can focus on the immediate stuff and that means a couple months of typically hectic summer football (seasons may vary). There are bye weeks in both the MNL and WNL this year so Auckland City... youz fellas will have to wait your turn until week two. For everyone else, lesssgo.
It all began at a delicious grass surface at the New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport where the Wellington Phoenix have their training base and where we’ve started to see a few games get played. They had the U17 matches between the Nix and Auckland FC there recently, for example. That meant the pitch wasn’t perfectly pristine but it’s far better than an artificial surface covered in terrorising line markings of all colours in all directions. A fine aesthetic development... for a WeeNix side that’s sorta caught between generations at the moment with some sizzling talent in the U17s yet their U20s just had their worst ever Central League campaign by far. Defensively they’re okay but scoring goals has been the mission.
There was one surprise in their starting side with Riley Allison returning to the academy after spending the winter season with Upper Hutt City where he started every game as an 18yo. He was up top alongside Jack Clegg who only just got back from NZ U17s duty in Japan. No first team players involved, what’s more they were without a couple of their usuals with Dylan Gardiner and Luke Mitchell busy training with the A-League squad. Ryan Lee had to slot in at centre-back, he’s usually a left-back. Jiovanny Mora made his fifth appearance for the Nix Reserves – the only overseas player in the group, having come across from the FC Cincinnati youth system where he previously worked with Nix Reserves coach Joshua Neff.
Auckland United were missing a selection of key dudes with Boyd Curry, Ben Wallace, and Tiahn Manuel all injured (Curry and Wallace are ex-Nixers, as were Manuel’s brothers Jackson and Riley... though not himself). But that didn’t seem to bother them as they applied serious heat with their press and gave the WeeNix nothing to work with aside from the occasional unfulfilled counter attack. Jack Beer and Otto Ingham had chances for AU. Then suddenly a dinked ball into their area from Grayson Lunman led to Allison getting his ankles clipped in the second phase and a penalty was awarded to the Wellington Phoenix entirely against the run of play. Jack Clegg placed that thing in the bottom corner with the ease of a born goal-scorer (it runs in the family).
The Phoenix lads looked a different side after that goal with the ball moving faster and the energy way up. Didn’t last though. Auckland United drew level five mins before the break when goalkeeper Ine Maro hit a super diagonal to Jack Beer, who carried infield and squared to Will Mendoza... and that fella went bang from distance to beat Joe Chalabi into the bottom corner. Both sides then made a change at the break with Willem des Tombe spelling Jack Clegg for WPR (the young strikers splitting time) and Matt Conroy on to give AUFC some extra pace out wide.
From there it was all aboard the Auckland United express the rest of the way. Jedd White probably should’ve buried one at the back post when Ingham picked him out with a dipping cross. Then Nix fullback Kyle Koch saved the day when he got to a low cross before Beer. Possibly fortunate that Mac Munro didn’t give up a penalty after he bumped into Conroy trying to atone for a turnover. Phil Azevedo, putting in a fine shift in midfield, made a tremendous lunging block to break up a sweet AUFC counter. Jack Beer and Oli Fay forced saves outta Chalabi from distance. And so on, so forth.
The only notable chance for the Reserves in that second half fell to substitute Ben Trenberth, chopping onto his left after latching onto the ball in the area. But as good as he did to get that shot away, it was too close to Maro who parried it clear. By the end of the match there were Nixers tumbling with cramps everywhere you looked but fair play too them because they withstood a dominant opponent to cling onto a draw and in the process showed more of that defensive grittiness which kept them in most games throughout the year (9 of their 11 Central League defeats were by one-goal margins – the other two were a 3-1 and 2-0 loss to Olympic).
17yo George Fullelove had a nice bench cameo in central defence for the Nix. Goal-scoring remains the problem, their only goal here coming from the penalty spot, but Auckland United were lacking some firepower themselves without Ben Wallace and couldn’t quite capitalise. We’ll see if AUFC rues that down the line because they were the should really have found a way through here. But keep in mind that they’ve got a young squad too... 23yo Abdallah Khaled was the oldest guy in their back four (Oliver Campbell and Leo Hall are 20yo, ex-Auckland FC scholar Adama Coulibaly is 21yo). They had 18yo Jedd White on the wing too. Goalkeeper Ine Maro is 21 years old... and was named in the Cook Islands squad for this window (along with Ben Mata – while ex-Fencibles and future Bay Olympic coach Rhys Ruka is the coach). Not involved in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Tahiti but there’s a rematch on Wednesday he could yet partake in.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 1-1 Auckland United
Goals (Assists)
22’ | 1-0 | WP | Clegg [p] (Allison)
40’ | 1-1 | AU | Mendoza (Beer)
Ferrymead Bays vs Eastern Suburbs
Of the 11 clubs competing in this particularly incarnation of the National League, all but one have also qualified for next year’s revamped edition. The lone exception is Ferrymead Bays but hey at least they’ve got this one to get used to the travel routines, learn the levels, and hopefully build upon a fantastic year (finishing second in the Southern League and winning the English Cup) by earning promotion next time. For their introduction on the national stage, they hosted Eastern Suburbs, a team who conceded just nine times in 22 matches during the always robust Northern League.
Ferrymead Bays do have a couple of guys that National League aficionados might be aware of. Noa Prestel has had stints at Coastal and Christchurch Utd. Mac Prathumphithak was also a Ram, while Luke Pritchard played some Nats for Coastal back in 2021. A few more who Southern League folks would recognise for sure... but it’s a largely homegrown side that coach Alan Walker has taken to this level, a pretty supreme accomplishment all things considered. Among those to keep an eye on over this season: striker Omar Cameron, attacking midfielder Treye Butler, and fullback Liam Stanton.
There must have been nerves from Ferrymead because they took some time to get a foothold. Suburbs were moving the ball quickly with a very well-drilled tactical approach, finding joy with the way they were able to swell and contract and with trained fluidity. Different looks in different situations. In contrast, Bays prefer to keep things solid and compact with defenders who guard their penalty area with courage. Nice little tactical battle there. Back three (ES) against a back four (FB) as well. Not to mention the cultural element with the heavy South American influence in this year’s Lilywhites group: Tino Contratti and Hector Echague from Argentina (plus Eber Ramirez who played off the bench) along with Ignacio Machuca from Chile. Roberto Alarcon Saez is Spanish but close enough.
Nevertheless, this game finished goalless. That tasty tactical clash turned out to be a bland stalemate where the defensive quality on display far outweighed everything else and the whole thing was honestly quiet uneventful. Eastern Suburbs spoiled a few good moments with poor shooting and were denied on others as pretty much everyone in the Bays backline provided a block. Ferrymead Bays didn’t do much going forward but what they did have was a monstrous long throw from American fullback Nicholas Falco. Just an enormous launch from that fella. Some decent counters too when they could get a winger into a take-on position or when a flick-on connected.
But fair play to Jack de Groot who was excellent against those aerials in goal for Eastern Suburbs, meaning the 22yo extended an astonishing run of form after only conceding six goals in 17 appearances during Northern League with 11 clean sheets. He’s used to this. Not so for Ferrymead Bays who can be pretty chuffed with a goalless draw in their first National League outing. On the board immediately as the underdogs, bit of self-enlightening proof that they can stick it at this level. 0-0 draws are usually blasphemous in this competition but we’ll allow this one for sentimental reasons.
Ferrymead Bays 0-0 Eastern Suburbs
Napier City Rovers vs Miramar Rangers
These two sides know a lot about each other. They were neck and neck throughout the Central League season contending for the title, which Napier City Rovers ultimately held on for despite Miramar Rangers beating them both times in the head to heads - the only two defeats that Rovers experienced during their championship run. Those were feisty games, with Miramar scoring a 90+5th minute winner in the most recent of those... but they weren’t quite as feisty as this one which ended with all sorts of frayed tempers and cards bouncing out of the ref’s pocket like toast from a toaster.
Unsurprisingly, the melee at the end had been brewing the entire way through. Two evenly matched teams that pride themselves on their rugged edge, each looking to set a tone, and suffice to say there were regular whistles all afternoon. The decisions weren’t as contentious as the folks involved made out but that’s what happens when things get emotional. Miramar copped three yellows in the first half all for rough challenges. The Napier goalkeeping coach got sent off late in that spell after arguing a non-penalty call (he got one yellow, then must have kept yapping because the ref turned around again and gave him another). Miramar’s fourth booking would follow in the second half (the second for which Sam Lack was on the wrong end of the foul), while Napier City picked up one for preventing a counter and another for arguing too hard.
Then came the kerfuffle at the end where Rangers coach Jamie O’Connor grabbed the ball to prevent a throw-in so Jacob Fenton shoved him aside and the rest of the Miramar bench got up and involved so the Napier City bench rushed across and by the time the dust cleared there’d been red cards to O’Connor and an additional Miramar staff member plus two more of the NCR bench staff (to go with their earlier one) while Jacob Fenton, who’d been cautioned for dissent only about five minutes earlier, got his second and he was done. NCR coach Bill Robertson and wing-back Aston Hurd also saw yellows in amongst it all.
Bill Robertson, per Hawke’s Bay Today: “I asked the referee why my centre forward had been yellow-carded. I didn’t receive an explanation. I was just shown a yellow card. I’m waiting to see the referee’s match report to see how many cards there were and what they were for.”
There was some football played too. Neither team was at full strength since Martin Bueno was left out for Miramar while poor old Napier City were without the triumvirate of their top scorer (Ben Stanley was out of town), club player of the year winner (Liam Schofield was injured), and Central League MVP Callum Cooke (still suspended following his red card after the final whistle in the Chatham Cup semi-final defeat to Cashmere Technical). There has been some chat that Englishman Cooke was trialling with the Wellington Phoenix as they ponder whether to use their last visa spot - the whole A-League is broke after the league massively cut central distributions and adjusted the salary cap so cheap fifth visa players have become the order of the day. Daniel Normann at Auckland FC and Matt Ellis at Perth Glory are a couple other NZ National League graduates who have benefitted from that.
One player who was available was Sam Lack, a Napier City favourite who spent the last National League with Auckland FC Reserves but has been in and out with injuries since returning to Rovers this year. He was good to go for this one and forty seconds into the game he floated a right-footed effort into the net to have Napier City ahead just like that. Quick free kick from Dakota Brady and they caught ‘em slipping. Really busy start from Rovers... though Miramar quickly snapped to attention, hitting the bar through a deflected Connor Gaul attempt and soon enough Theo Ettema had scrambled one home after another typically insane Owen Smith inswinging corner kick – the reigning MVP intent in retaining his crown. He drove it in with whip and curl and nobody knew what to do with it until Ettema stuck a foot out and ended the confusion with an equalising goal.
Aaaaand that was that for the scoring. It didn’t have to be because both sides had game-breakers out there and things got increasingly frantic as it got closer to the finish line. Their respective Fentons were both busy – Louis for Miramar (who hit the post with a shot on the spin late 1H) and Jacob for Napier City (who was eventually sent off in the brouhaha at the end). There was a wicked Spencer Cameron block on the line to deny NCR at one stage while William Tønning made one unreal save in particular at the other end. However, Rangers also had issues with the offside trap and Rovers had issues getting through the midfield, while their press wasn’t where it normally is. The dribblers (Lack, Smith, etc.) couldn’t find space without getting blocked off (sometimes illegally). And both sets of defenders were in imperious moods, Luca Barclay (NCR) and Theo Ettema (MR) being standouts in amongst. Add that all together and you’ve got a 1-1 draw.
To be honest, it was Miramar Rangers who had the majority of the threatening moments and perhaps should have made it 3/3 against NCR for the calendar year. It was a weird game though. So many whistles, so much broken play, so hard to get a rhythm going. There will be more fruitful match-ups for both of these sides... although Rovers need to be careful because they’ve already got an injury or two and now they’ll have two of their overseas guys, Cooke and Fenton, suspended next week for avoidable reasons.
Napier City Rovers 1-1 Miramar Rangers
1’ | 1-0 | NCR | Sam Lack (Dakota Brady)
17’ | 1-1 | MR | Theo Ettema
90+5’ | RED | NCR | Jacob Fenton
Auckland FC Reserves vs Wellington Olympic
We call this one the Isa Prins Derby. This game might have clashed with Auckland FC first team training so dunno if Prins was able to attend this game between his old club (where he scored a hat-trick in a Chatham Cup final amidst many other achievements) and his new club (where he won an OFC Pro League and now has an A-League scholarship contract). Might even see him play some during this season although he was spared this reunion... though there was one AFC scholar involved: Marley Leuluai was named in central midfield for the Reserves which technically speaking was his club debut – having only featured as a trialist in unofficial games thus far.
AFC Ressies also found room for Lucca Lim in the eleven, a new signing from Melville United who has linked up with the black and blue for this National League effort. Luke Carter (Western Springs) and Louis Wickremesekera (aka Louis Wicks, East Coast Bays) have also been added to the group. Carter wasn’t involved in this match after having featured for Springs these past couple weeks against Western Suburbs and Christchurch United (he scored against Wests) but Wicks was on the bench and would play 45 mins. Louis Wicks previously spent some time in the Phoenix system. Lucca Lim is a Cambodian youth international. Wellington Olympic looked as familiar as always (this was the 150th game that Scott Basalaj and Ben Mata have played together for the club) although they did seem to lose Jack-Henry Sinclair as a late injury withdrawal after being named in the starting side. Gavin Hoy took his place hence they were left a man down on the bench.
On an incredibly windy arvo at Fred Taylor Park, Wellington Olympic were quickly on the front foot with Hoy having a goal disallowed due to an earlier offside while Eli Jones made a sharp low save to deny Morgan Wellsbury in the box (Wellsbury is from the Tauranga City production line – he played MNL for Birkenhead last year and joined the Greeks midway through this one). Encouraging start from Olympic but the match swung sharply midway through the first half when Harley Hill beat the offside flag and was charging towards goal when Tam Dimairo bumped him over from behind. Free kick just outside the area and a red card for denying the goal-scoring chance. A few minutes later, a sweet switch of play from Leuluai put Charlie Hale on the ball out wide right and, well... he scored a blinder.
Charlie Hale’s had a curious year. He was previously in the Wellington Phoenix academy where he made ten appearances in the Central League without scoring. Then he switched mid-year to the rivals up north and promptly scored nine goals in nine games. Now he’s already on the board in the Nats. He had another decent opportunity not long after, as did Harley Hill though neither were able to beat Scott Basalaj in goal. Olympic coach Ekow Quainoo then made a premature substitution, possibly as a consequence to the red though there could have been an injury, with Hayden Aish replacing Seb Barton-Ginger at right wing-back. If you didn’t know any better, you might have thought they were rattled... but for many years and under several different coaches, Wellington Olympic have been masters of transitional football so even with ten men they’re always dangerous. Case in point, when they did get back down the other end, all it took was for Noah Boyce to fling a wonderful delivery into the box for the main man Ben Mata to head home and it was level again. On the scoreboard, if not for players on the pitch.
There was time for both goalkeepers to come up with good saves to keep things level into the break. Burns had a curler pushed clear on the dive by Basalaj while Mata produced another headed effort, this one into the hands of a well-positioned Jones. Meanwhile the rain picked up to match the wind... not a happy experience for the spectators although those who stuck around would get their rewards eventually. The man advantage in heavy weather was paying dividends as AFC began to edge things in the second half, threatening several times before eventually retaking the lead when Harley Hill flipped one home off the left boot amidst a scramble in the area. Hill and Hale tied for the team’s top scorer during the Northern League with nine each and both were on target in week one of the Nats.
Gianni Bouzoukis did have one major chance for the Greeks, nicking the ball off Riley Dalziell but being denied by a very good 1v1 save from Eli Jones. Having survived that one, Auckland FC looked well on course for victory as time ticked onwards and the final whistle drew nearer. Hold up though, not so fast. Olympic refreshed their frontline with Luke Stoupe and Kailan Gould and directly after an injury break for Marley Leuluai (who was clutching at his hamstring and had to be replaced, hopefully nothing bad there), the Greeks found a second equaliser out of nothing much when Stoupe’s snapshot was parried by Jones but only as far as Gould who did the easy bit with an empty net before him. That was good, this was even better...
Jaylen Rodwell, you maniac, what a goal. A free kick like that deep into stoppages to win the game after playing seventy minutes away from home in rotten conditions and what’s more it was Rodwell who’d had to do extras in the midfield after his CM partner was the bloke red carded. Rodwell only joined Olympic a couple months ago after playing for South Island United in the OPL so a win against an AFC team would have tasted extra juicy after losing to those guys in four games out of four during the Pro League. Very few overlapping players between that AFC team and this one but nonetheless. Also take note of coach Quainoo taking a graceful tumble during the celebrations by the bench. And how half the Olympic team allowed the spirit to move them as they launched into kneeslides.
This was revenge for Wellington Olympic having lost at home to a stoppage time Ralph Rutherford goal against AFC during last year’s National League. Rutherford has been named in the NL squad for the Squires as he seeks his return after an ACL injury suffered just prior to the Pro League which he was supposed to be part of, it’ll be a thrill to see him again after that setback. But yeah they let that one slip, gotta say it... as soon as Leuluai left the pitch they conceded twice. Don’t think we’ll see AFC repeat as the best defensive team in the National League this time around, though they should be able to score goals against anyone with the depth they’ve got in attack – basically the opposite dynamic to the Wellington Phoenix Reserves. Also a shout out to Tam Dimairo who has played 109 games for Wellington Olympic scoring one goal and getting three red cards. In contrast, Ben Mata has scored 72 goals in 197 matches as a central defender.
Auckland FC Reserves 2-3 Wellington Olympic
20’ | 0-0 | WO | Dimairo [Red Card]
24’ | 1-0 | AFC | Hale (Leuluai)
36’ | 1-1 | WO | Mata (Boyce)
73’ | 2-1 | AFC | Hill
81’ | 2-2 | WO | Gould (Stoupe)
90+5’ | 2-3 | WO | Rodwell
Birkenhead United vs Cashmere Technical
One of these two teams went undefeated throughout their league season to win a regional championship, although lost to Fencibles United in the Chatham Cup. The other team... went undefeated throughout their league season to win a regional championship, although lost to Fencibles United in the Chatham Cup. Northern League champs versus Southern League champs to begin the National League – it’s not quite northernmost club against southernmost club because Ferrymead Bays are a couple kilometres south of Tech’s home base but close enough.
It was serious business from Cashmere Tech who travelled all the way to Beach Haven on Auckland’s North Shore with the same starting eleven that began the Chatham Cup final. Birkenhead United were pretty much as expected too. Garbhan Coughlan vs Monty Patterson also matched up the respective Golden Boot winners from those leagues... granted Coughlan (28 goals) was a little further ahead in his race than Patterson (12 goals) had been. Be aware of a couple ex-AFC Reserves in Everton O’Leary and Shiv Nair who’ve both returned to Birko this year. Josh Redfearn spent a couple years playing lower leagues in England. Monty Patterson’s obviously had a storied career himself. Very experienced group for Tech, though their midfield duo are both in their early 20s while Nick Murphy, who scored a banger in the cup final, was an U17 World Cup started back in 2023.
With an intro like that, you’d have expected maybe a tightly fought draw, preserving those undefeated league streaks, but what actually happened was that Cashmere Technical turned up and rolled then 4-0 at Shepherds Park. Admittedly Birko had finished the Northerns with consecutive draws and then had three and a half weeks off... but it was rather confronting to see them get popped like that. No initial signs of what was coming, though it was a scrappy start as the two sides tried to gain territory within some dark and blustering conditions. But then two goals in two minutes from Yuya Taguchi and Garbhan Coughlan blew the doors off, Taguchi collecting a poor clearance and then slamming in a lovely strike from outside the box while Coughlan took advantage of a quick free kick to drive unchecked towards goal before fading past Sam Philip and slotting inside the far post like a good little striker.
Hamed Basiri did almost pull one straight back for Birko, latching onto a half-volley that Pieter-Taco Bierema made a good save from. And the home side certainly weren’t afraid of the direct approach with Monty Patterson taking surprise shots and the wide fellas lifting plenty of deliveries into the swirling breeze. But Tech always looked like they had more in them. After surviving a few more Coughlan half-chances, Birko probably would’ve been happy to get through to the break only two down, where they could hit pause and reassess knowing they were still in the game if they could score next. Instead their goalkeeper, Oliver Pocock (who wasn’t their main man during the season), missed a Zander Edwards shot that he ought not to have missed. He knew it, didn’t need to be told. Though his defenders didn’t exactly help him out, letting Edwards fight through a challenge to get his shot away. Three up for Cashy Tech.
Birko coach Paul Hobson swung the axe at HT with Charles Bidwell, Christian Rodriguez, and Zachary Chung all sent on (for Nair, O’Leary, and Newman). Rodriguez was quickly in the action making a sliding challenge in the box on GC that didn’t leave much margin for error. It’s a long way back from three goals though, so while Birko, to their credit, never stopped trying... countless Monty Patterson pot shots weren’t that difficult for Cashmere to defend and it only got more difficult once the rain turned torrential. In fact, they’d concede a fourth with twenty to go when they were caught overcommitted by an early ball over the top from Lyle Matthysen into the path of, guess who, Garbhan Coughlan. You can fast-forward the rest because you know what happened next.
And so Birkenhead United’s undefeated regional phase was parlayed into a thrashing at home to begin the National League. Nobody saw that coming. Just a little bit off the pace against a dangerous team in that first half and the rest of it is how things often go once the scoreline gets awry. If that ain’t a wake-up call then dunno what is. They’ve got to sit and simmer on this one for a while longer though because they’ve got the bye next round. The Cash Tech front four, especially Coughlan was as potent as ever but save some praise for how their back four defended their own penalty area because a less resolute side might still have been hauled back by the weapons in that Birko team. But Tom Schwarz and Danny Kane especially just muscled up time after time. Super efforts to consolidate what their forwards were doing. Cashmere have yet to have a winning record in a full National League campaign and didn’t even qualify last year. You get the feeling that internal expectations are a lot higher this time around.
Birkenhead United 0-4 Cashmere Technical
20’ | 0-1 | CT | Taguchi
22’ | 0-2 | CT | Coughlan (Ballard)
46+1’ | 0-3 | CT | Edwards (Matthysen)
70’ | 0-4 | CT | Coughlan (Matthysen)
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cashmere Technical | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| Wellington Olympic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Miramar Rangers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Auckland United | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Napier City Rovers | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ferrymead Bays | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Auckland City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Auckland FC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 0 |
| Birkenhead United | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -4 | 0 |
The Niche Cache can only do what we do thanks to the fine folks who support us on Patreon, Substack, and Buy Me A Coffee... don’t be shy if you appreciate the yarns
Also helps to tell your mates about us, whack an ad while you’re here, and do the social media stuff for the algorithms