Ben Waine loves a dose of cup footy. Always has. But none of his past exploits compare to what he did over the past week.

Ben Old is a left-back now, he’s even admitting it himself. Not a winger playing out of position but a genuine converted option having played nothing but fullback for the past two months.

The bad news for Motherwell is that if they want to win a trophy this season, it’s going to have to be the Premiership. The good news is that they might genuinely be in the league title race after another week of very helpful results.

In a season where Hearts are seriously threatening to bust up the Old Firm hold on the title, it’s Motherwell that have become the darlings of Scottish football and Elijah Just has been a big part of that.

After waiting more than half of the Championship season for a proper Flying Kiwi head to head (Crocombe vs Bindon last week), we got another one straight afterwards (Crocombe vs Cacace). Millwall versus Wrexham, two clubs challenging for playoff places.

It wasn’t going to do anyone any good for Clegg to spend another year sitting on the bench. Hence she’s left. Hence she’s signed a two-year contract with Vittsjö GIK in Sweden.

Max Crocombe was a few weeks shy of his 30th birthday when he debuted in League One with Burton Albion. Now he’s 32 years old and starting games for a Millwall team pushing for promotion from the Championship and he’s about to go to a World Cup later in the year.

For almost two months we didn’t see Libby Cacace in action at all. Even before that he was in and out of the team amidst recurring muscle injuries – the first time in his entire career that he’d been stuck with injuries, probably in part due to his lack of a preseason.

There aren’t many All Whites (or Football Ferns either, for that matter), who can claim to have had a better 2025 than Elijah Just. In fact, you can stretch that out to the last 18 months... and there’s no end in sight.

Less than six minutes into the match and Tyler Bindon had scored his first Championship goal. Leapt about three metres into the air to whallop home a header from a corner kick. Superb stuff.

Three weeks ago, Ben Waine was in the footballing wilderness. He was so far out of the frame at Port Vale that he hadn’t even made a matchday squad since late-August, with the exception of getting unused-subbed in an early FA Cup tie against non-league Maldon/Tiptree

Five losses in a row for Swansea City meant they more from anyone who could spare it, so more was what Marko Stamenic provided...

There were some sweaty moments for Viking FK down the home stretch of this title challenge but when it came to the final round, needing simply to win to claim the club’s first Norwegian championship since 1991, it was never in doubt.

Joe Bell’s international break came and went without damage, in fact he was even rested for New Zealand’s game against Ecuador to keep him fresh. Now the business of winning the Norwegian Eliteserien could resume.

There isn’t a story in the Flying Kiwis realms more significant than this one at the moment. Joe Bell’s Viking FK side are now just two wins away from lifting the Norwegian championship – something the club hasn’t done for 34 years

Gabi Rennie was straight back from Footy Ferns action (earning her first caps in over a year) and immediately chipping in with another goal (and also an assist) as Eskilstuna United cruised to another victory.

For all his brilliant start to life as a Motherwell player, Elijah Just hadn’t actually scored for Motherwell yet. He’s third in the Scottish Premiership with three assists and he’d had several close calls for goals of his own

The one thing that’s been missing since Ali Riley returned from that long-term injury was... well, the most important bit: the actual return. She’d made it as far as the bench after getting back into full training but hadn’t actually been subbed on in a game

As far as Grace Wisnewski goes, this goal was just another bright spot in a season full of them. She’s quickly become a first eleven player, putting in reliable shifts in a few different midfield roles…