Western Springs 3 - 0 Bay Olympic FT
Birko and City score 3 goals in 3 minutes and the forum doesn't bat an eye lmao
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https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/06/21/northern-leagues-bay-olympic-farewell-head-coach-peter-smith/
Bay Olympic head coach Peter Smith is leaving the Auckland club for an opportunity in Melbourne.
Bay Olympic head coach Peter Smith is leaving the Auckland club for an opportunity in Melbourne.
Smith (56) will be replaced for the rest of the Northern League season by experienced coach Chris Milicich.
Thanking Smith for his contribution to the club, Bay Olympic chairman Aidan Lovelock said: “Through his involvement with both our men’s first team and Talent Development Programme, Peter has played an important role in supporting the development of our players and strengthening our football programme.”
Smith says the opportunity to move to Australia followed his wife Irene’s acceptance of a role in Melbourne.
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Niche Cache. Auckland City get strengthened, as OPL guys return to amateur football.
Auckland City will be off to the OFC Men’s Champions League in a month’s time so they’ve got to clear up some room in the calendar. That means midweek games and while their meeting with East Coast Bays got rained off last week, they were able to squeeze in an Auckland FC Reserves visit to the Croatian Cultural Club on Wednesday... where City had a frisky time trying to break down the AFC defensive wall but eventually came away with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from their veteran strikers Angus Kilkolly (51’) and Ryan de Vries (86’). Second consecutive clean sheet for Matthew Foord in there, the 20yo Christchurch keeper who joined after getting some Pro League experience with Fiji’s Bula FC. Before that he was in the Wellington Phoenix Reserves for a spell. Same Nix to Bula to ACFC journey that was also walked by Fergus Gillion, who has also been a prominent figure since joining the club recently.
Auckland City will be off to the OFC Men’s Champions League in a month’s time so they’ve got to clear up some room in the calendar. That means midweek games and while their meeting with East Coast Bays got rained off last week, they were able to squeeze in an Auckland FC Reserves visit to the Croatian Cultural Club on Wednesday... where City had a frisky time trying to break down the AFC defensive wall but eventually came away with a 2-0 victory thanks to goals from their veteran strikers Angus Kilkolly (51’) and Ryan de Vries (86’). Second consecutive clean sheet for Matthew Foord in there, the 20yo Christchurch keeper who joined after getting some Pro League experience with Fiji’s Bula FC. Before that he was in the Wellington Phoenix Reserves for a spell. Same Nix to Bula to ACFC journey that was also walked by Fergus Gillion, who has also been a prominent figure since joining the club recently.
Neither of those two were City players before their Pro League excursions (although Gillion’s older bro Liam once was) however ACFC did lose a few fellas to that competition when squads were picked. Christian Gray was one of those, he rejoined alongside Gillion and Foord a couple weeks ago. And what do ya know, now Mike den Heijer, Nathan Lobo, and Matt Ellis have all done the same. Three lads from the AFC Pro League squad... though none were rushed back to face Auckland FC’s U20s in this match.
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New faces this weekend are:
Auckland City
Auckland City
- Pavel Osmancik (Czech import, was playing in the 3rd division, same level as Leo Hall when he went to Czechia)
- Ryan Watson (Ex Nix prospect and U20 rep for NZ, has moved over from Western Springs)
Fencibles
- Owen Moyo (Has moved from Christchurch Utd, looking for more game time as the OPL players return from SIU?)
Western Springs
- Riley Manuel (Hadn't been playing with Tiahn at Auckland United, so now moved to the other Manuel brother's club)
- Amaan Mohammed (Promoted from the U23 squad)
Thought I might start checking through the teamsheets again, if people are interested. Although I'm still not convinced that Sporty is always 100% correct.
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Endorsed by
New players this weekend:
Birkenhead
Birkenhead
- Kian Donkers (back from an OPL stint with Auckland FC)
Eastern Suburbs
- Jonas Hoffmann (Actually Eastern Suburbs' GK coach, must be running low on goalies over there)
- Luke Robb (Has been around the block in the Championship for a couple of years, was playing for Takapuna at the start of the year)
Manukau
- Kaiki Sawasaka (Japanese CB import who was previously part of the revolving door at Manurewa, having last played in Bosnia)
- Bryan Ung (Promoted from the U23's)
Not too many big results this weekend, although I imagine both Western Springs and Auckland United must be disappointed with a 0-0 as both are still struggling to make National League this season.
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Endorsed by
