Chatham Cup and Central League Round 16
The big clash of the weekend was the Chatham Cup match between Wellington�s two form sides. With an 8-0 aggregate score over Miramar Rangers from the two league games this season, Western Suburbs were red hot favourites for the Chatham Cup quarter final at Endeavour Park on Saturday. So red hot in fact, that the TAB offered odds of $10 for Rangers to win in normal time - an offer that this football fan (and many others) found too good to turn down. With Miramar down to 11 players, with head coach Jose Quijada a noticeable absentee, the early encounters saw the TAB representatives choking on their pints of DB Draught. Miramar nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute when Allen Chote squared the ball to Dominic Rowe, whose shot agonisingly hit both posts before being cleared away. Rangers were dominating the midfield, with Timmy "Tim-Tam" Butterfield rolling back the years with a vintage display, but they were unable to find a way past Suburbs' keeper Phil Imray. Rangers introduced two-meter Peter Halstead in the second half, but he was added to the list of players foiled by man-of-the-match Imray, and the game went into extra time.
The first period of extra time began in a haze of thick cigar smoke as the TAB representatives celebrated what seemed an unlikely result for them 45 minutes earlier. Wests began to show more attacking enterprise, although the winning goal was somewhat fortuitous. Five minutes before the extra time interval Craig Henderson's mis-hit shot was turned goal wards by New Zealand under 20 reserve goal-keeper Rowdie Roddy Brown, much to the delight of the Western Suburb's players and fans. The second period of extra time saw chances for both teams saved impressively by keepers, and the final whistle saw Suburbs through to the semi-final as they look to defend their Chatham Cup. Rangers could count themselves unlucky after successfully closing Wests down for long periods, but couldn�t find the goal to take them through to the next round. Wests will travel to Dunedin to face Caversham for a place in the final.
In the Central League, Olympic welcomed Napier City Rovers to a soggy, sandy Newtown Park on Sunday for a second versus third clash. With the match on at the same time as the Wellington Phoenix encounter, rumour has it that even Uncle Steve wasn�t in attendance. Olympic started the better of the two sides but found it hard to break down the Napier defence whose last league defeat was in the reverse fixture over two months ago. The visitors relied on the counter attack to create their chances but also failed to breach the Olympic rearguard and the game was goalless at the break.
The second half saw the game open up considerably and numerous good chances were wasted by both sides until a game of pinball ensued in the Napier six-yard box and Micky Maliuvik�s miscued shot rolled into the corner to give the Greeks a lead with just 12 minutes remaining. Within 5 minutes, Napier were back on level terms and found an equaliser courtesy of Graham Fyfe, who stole in at the back post to side-volley past the stranded 'keeper Andrew Toomath. More action was to follow as Rovers� David Gearey collected a second yellow card for dissent and the game reached a frantic finale. Both sides could look back on missed opportunities but overall, a draw was a fair result.
Lower Hutt moved into third place with a satisfying 3-0 win in Gisborne on Sunday. Childers Road has been a hard place to travel to in recent weeks as Kevin Fallon�s side has benefited from several mid season acquisitions. Lance Eason, Hone Fowler and Noah Hickey were all unavailable due to injury but City still fielded a strong outfit with plenty of NZFC experience. However, in the heavy conditions it was Lower Hutt that reacted best, their no nonsense football giving the potent City no opportunity to unleash the attacking football they have been producing in recent weeks. Michael Madden broke the game open on 44 minutes, slotting home from inside the penalty area after a defensive mix up. Miguel Baladares made it two soon after, converting from close range at a corner. And while City tried hard to get back into the match in the second spell, Phil Patterson and Rodney Mays worked exceptionally hard for the clean sheet. Adam Church capped a fine performance with an opportunistic goal late on, beating an impressive Michael Utting for the third time. A fine win for the Hutt side demonstrated the quality that should have seen them competing for the title this year, but unexpected losses have once again left them in mid table.
Finally, at the bottom end of the table Team Taranaki received what must be the final nail in the coffin of their season, beaten 3-0 by Palmerston North Marist. Taranaki have now conceded 50 goals, 17 more than the next placed Stop Out, and have struggled to assemble a side with the quality to succeed at this level. Marist were two goals to the good at half time thanks to goals from Adam Cowan and Ian Robinson and rounded off the performance in the second spell, Steve Tippet grabbing a third. With three rounds to go, the amber and blacks will be eyeing up a playoff to remain in the Centrl League in 2008.
