Coastal Into Chatham Cup Semis

A bumper crowd turned out at the picturesque Stanmore Bay Park, home of the Hibiscus Coast but the bulk of the fans left unhappy after a thrilling cup tie ended with Coastal Spirit prevailing 6 – 5 on penalties after the sides ended at 3 – 3 at the end of extra time. 

Former Nomads player, Seth Simpson had a great chance in the opening minutes to put the home side in front, but his shot was well wide. In the 18th minute, Coastal Spirit took the lead after a great ball from Danny Boys found Weston Bell on the left and Bell’s cross was pinpointed for Alex Steinwascher to open the scoring. Just before the break, Hibiscus won a free-kick near goal and Daniel Cyra scored with a glancing header after losing his marker. Early in the second half from the Hibiscus Coast thrown in Adam Dickinson controlled the ball well to score on the turn to put the home side ahead. The lead was short live as Coastal captain, Joe Hoole levelled, with no additional scoring in normal time. Into the second half of extra time, Hibiscus regained the lead when Adam Windelburn scored before being subbed off injured. Minutes later Hoole levelled for the second time to make it 3 – 3. Into the final minutes of extra time Hibiscus hit the crossbar with their keeper, Joshua Precious then saving twice in a matter of seconds deep in added time to send the game into penalties. With Coastal going first both sides slotted their regulation five spot-kicks into sudden death time. Coastal scored their sixth before Hibicus's sixth went high over the bar. Coastal joins Wellington Olympic, Auckland City and Birkenhead United in the semi-final draw on Tuesday with the semis to be played over the weekend of 18/19 August. 

Results / Scorers:

Hibiscus Coast 3 (Daniel Cyra, Adam Dickinson, Adam Windelburn)
Coastal Spirt 3 (Joe Hoole 2, Alej Steinewascher)
HT 1 – 1
FT 2 – 2 aet
Coastal win 6 – 5 on pens 

Wellington Olympic 4 (Hamish Watson 2, Ben Meta, Kaelin Nguyen)
Manurewa 0
HT 1 – 0 

Otago University 1 (Liam Buyck)
Auckland City 5 (Angus Kilkolly 3, Derek Tieki, own goal)
HT 1 – 2 

Napier City Rovers 1 (Jack Albertini)
Birkenhead United 2 (Corban Piper, Monty Patterson)
HT 0 - 2 

Tight Contest At Halfway Stage

Just three points separate the top three sides in the South Island Women’s League after Round 5 was completed over the weekend. Defending title holders, Cashmere Technical left it until the final seconds of their game against Dunedin City Royals to score to earn a 1 – 1 result with Coastal Spirit SAS untroubled to defeat Roslyn Wakari 6 – 1 with the final game seeing Otago University pick up their first win at the expense of Nelson Suburbs 2 – 0.

The Royals still top the table on 13 points with Coastal now only a point adrift with Technical on 10. University is now on 4, Roslyn has 2 with Suburbs on 1. 

There was plenty of action between Cashmere Technical and the Dunedin City Royals, who came into the game knowing that a draw would be enough for them to remain on top of the table. A defensive error gave the Royals a chance to take an early lead but the ball was cleared off the line. Both keepers were then called on to make saves. On the stroke of half time Technical had the ball in the back of the net but the ‘goal’ was ruled out in a tight offside call. On the hour mark, the Royals won back-to-back to corners and from the second the ball was not cleared properly which allowed Nieve Collin to break the deadlock from close range. Tech pressed forward knowing that a draw was required to keep their title hopes alive. The Royals were defending in numbers and almost scored via substitute Raegan Potter from a cormer but Technical were saved by the crossbar. Deep into added time, Technical were finally rewarded when Denva Perrott finally forced the ball home. 

Coastal Spirit opened the scoring via a penalty from Whitney Hepburn midway through the opening half against Roslyn Wakari. Holly Lyon then doubled the lead just before the break. Sophia Body then pulled a goal back on the hour mark before two goals in the space of a minute, to Mel Cameron and Trelise McEwan put Coastal back in control. Hepburn then completed her hat trick, with the final goal coming in added time. 

Not for the first time this season Nelson Suburbs dominated the scoring chances in the opening half but somehow went to the break still locked at 0 – 0. The missed chances came back to haunt the home side when Aynsley Martin opened the scoring with Elise Jackson then doubled the lead for Otago University. 

In the coming round, Technical host University with Suburbs at home Roslyn, with both these games being played on Saturday with the top two sides, Coastal meeting the Royals on Sunday. 

Results / Scorers – Round 5 of 10 

Cashmere Technical 1 (Denva Perrott)
Dunedin City Royals 1 (Nieve Collin)
HT 0 - 0 

Roslyn Wakari 1 (Sophia Body)
Coastal Spirit SAS 6 (Whitney Hepburn 3 incl. pen, Holly Lyon, Mel Cameron, Trelise McEwan)
HT 0 - 2 

Nelson Suburbs 0
Otago University 2  (Aynsley Martin, Elise Jackson)
HT 0 - 0 

Technical Claim Remaining Semi-Final Spot

Cashmere Technical is the fourth semi-finalist in the Morrison Mitsubishi English Cup after they defeated Nomads 4 – 0.  Benji Lapslie put Technical ahead after nine minutes with Technical then suffering two injuries to Jack Hallahan and Danny Kane, forcing two replacements before the half-hour was up. One of the subs, Garbriel Gallaway then doubled the lead to put his side in control at the break. Lachie McIsaac then extended the lead before Gallaway added his second with twenty minutes to play. Technical will now face current cup holders, Christchurch United in the second semi-final on 20 August with the first semi between Western and Coastal Spirt a fortnight early on 6 August. 

Result / Scorers:

Cashmere Technical 4 (Garbriel Gallaway 2, Benji Lapslie, Lachie McIsaac)
Nomads 0
HT 2 - 0 

Waimak Extend Lead 

Waimak now looks to be in control of the New World Men’s Premiership after extending their lead to six points with 5 rounds to play. Waimak had to come from a goal down before going on to edge Selwyn Reserves 3 – 2, with the result Waimak’s seventh win on the bounce. Second-placed, Cashmere Technical Res. also had to come from behind after Halswell led 2 – 0 at the break, before sharing the points when drawing 2 – 2. In the battle for third place, Burwood edged Nomads Res. 1 – 0, the goal coming just after the break with the result seeing Burwood leapfrog Nomads on the table. Western made it two wins in a row when accounting for Christchurch United Under 20 Academy 2- 0 and in the final game Ferrymead Bays Res. defeated Parklands 4 – 1.

Waimak now has 32 points six clear of Technical 26 with Burwood on 23, one point clear of Nomads 22. Halswell has 19, Selwyn 18, Western 14, Bays 13, United 12 with Parklands on 2. 

Results – Round 13 of 18:

Burwood 1
Nomads Res. 0
HT 0 - 0 

Halswell United 2
Cashmere Technical Res. 2
HT 2 - 0 

Parklands 1
Ferrymead Bays Res. 4
HT 1 - 1 

Selwyn Res. 2
Waimak 3
HT 1 - 2 

Western 2
Christchurch United U20 Academy 0
HT 0 - 0 

Final Round Decider In Women’s Premiership

The New World Women’s Premiership will be decided in the final round on Saturday after Round 6 was completed on results over the weekend. Universities of Canterbury (UC) maintained the top spot after scoring twice in each half to defeat Selwyn 4 – 0. Second-placed NW United claimed all the points on offer when accounting for Coastal Spirit SAS Reserves, 3 – 0.  Halswell maintain their unbeaten run in the league when finishing 1 – 1 with Ferrymead Bays, the Hawk's second draw in as many rounds and their fourth in six games. The final game saw Cashmere Technical Reserves edged UC Maroon, 1 – 0.  

UC has 15 points, NW United 13, with Halswell, Maroon and Technical all on 10, Selwyn 4, Bays 3 and Coastal 1. UC has the home advantage on Saturday with NW needing to win to claim the title, with the other fixtures see Halswell facing Technical, Coastal taking on Bays with Selwyn hosting UC Maroon. 

Results – Round 6 of 7:

Ferrymead Bays 1
Halswell United 1
HT 1 - 1 

Cashmere Technical Res. 1
UC Maroon 0
HT 1 - 0 

NW United 3
Coastal Spirt SAS 0
HT 1 - 0 

Universities of Canterbury 4
Selwyn 0
HT 2 - 0

Article added: Monday 29 July 2024