Chatham Cup and Central League Round 11
A disappointing crowd were on hand for the eagerly anticipated Chatham Cup clash on Saturday between Miramar Rangers and Wellington Olympic, and a great deal of them would have wished they had stayed at home after a scrappy first half. In chilly conditions, it was Rangers who took control of the game 20 minutes in when a long kick from Sacha Nathu was flicked on by Dominic Rowe for PJ �Disco� Lupi to bring down and smash past Olympic keeper Andrew Toomath. It was a lovely piece of skill by the crowd favourite Lupi, and was out of place in a game that had to that point been punctuated by mis-placed passes and poor option taking by both teams. With half time approaching, confusion in the Miramar penalty area was seized upon by Olympic striker Anthony Neonakis who made no mistake from 12 yards out.
Although Olympic were lucky to go in at half time on level terms, they started the second half the stronger of the two teams. The second stanza became a typical cup tie with strong challenges from both sides as the game swung from end to end, with Olympic looking the most likely team to score. Into the last 15 minutes the balance of play swung back to Rangers as their superior fitness began to show, and with 10 minutes left on clock, inspirational captain Timmy 'Tim-Tam' Butterfield controlled the ball 25 yards out, and lashed it into the top corner past a stranded Toomath. Wild celebrations by the Rangers players showed how much the goal meant to them, and the game was put beyond doubt when the returning Michael Woodside let fly from the edge of the area, and the ball took a wicked deflection past the unlucky Toomath.
For Miramar, Michael Woodside was impressive after returning from a lengthy injury break, and they will fancy their chances with another home tie in the next round, drawing Napier City Rovers. Olympic's best player was left fullback Chaz Lawrence.
Western Suburbs advanced in the Chatham Cup in trying conditions at Kilbirnie Park on Sunday with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Marist AFC. Goalkeeper Johnny Crooks was the hero for the home side, making numerous saves to thwart the visitors throughout the match. It looked like it could be Marist�s day after Dave Johnson scuffed his penalty in the 10th minute and missed the target completely but an Adam Birch wonder strike into a strong wind after half an hour gave the visitors a 1-0 lead at the break. It could have been several more if it had not been for Crooks who continually defied the Wests attack. Rupert Ryan lobbed the keeper from outside the area 5 minutes into the second spell and he then made the game safe 10 minutes later after following up a Jonathan Rowe strike. Crooks was the pick of the home players while for the visitors wide man Jonathan Rowe caused havoc with his pace and willingness to get beyond players.
Napier City Rovers continued to the business end of the Chatham Cup after edging out Central League rivals Gisborne City 1-0. The pace of the game was furious as both sides were fully committed to attack. Scott Dunn in the Napier goal pulled off a tremendous save, tipping the ball over the bar from a Hone Fowler header mid-way through the half and Dunn's opposite number, Danny Robinson tipped Graham Fyfe's curling effort around the post as both sides cancelled each other out in the opening 45 minutes.
The second period started with the same pace and it was real cup football, as both sides battled to play on a soggy pitch. Napier started to take control of the game and should have gone ahead after Chris McIvor found himself with just Robinson to beat, but the 'keeper denied the striker, saving well with his legs. It was always going to take something special to split the two sides and it happened in the 65th minute. A drilled cross-field ball from Graham Fyfe was met by Napier captain Chris Greatholder who volleyed a stunning angled drive from outside the box to send the vociferous home supporters into raptures. Gisborne piled on the pressure to try an find an equaliser and forced a succession of corners in the final 10 minutes but couldn't find a way through as Napier's defence held firm.
Wairarapa continued their fantastic cup run, beating Palmerston North End 1-0 after extra time in Palmerston.
In the only Central League match over the weekend, Lower Hutt were unable to capitalise on their victory last weekend against Olympic, drawing with Stop Out in the Hutt derby at the raceway ground. Shawn Stringfellow opened the scoring with a powerful header after 30 minutes to put Stop Out ahead. However, Lower Hutt came back just before the half to equalize through Adam Church. Lower Hutt were more direct in the second half and had the better of the game, attacking straight away. With only ten minutes of the second half gone Stop Out�s task became even more difficult, Stringfellow going from hero to zero when he felled Blair Easthope who was one on one with the keeper. Stringfellow was shown a straight red card. However, Hutt failed to convert the resulting free kick and couldn�t take advantage of the extra man, Stop Out holding on with ten men to get the draw.
