Auckland Sunday league side Sperm Whales caused the biggest upset of the Chatham Cup’s first round when they beat Lotto NRFL second division leaders Ngaruawahia United.
The Whales — or Spunkies as they are known in Sunday league circles — beat previously unbeaten United 2-1 thanks to a late penalty (see match report below).
Main photo: The Sperm Whales will go into Tuesday’s second round draw.
As always the first round of cup ties provided some fascinating results and some high-scoring games.
The Saturday results included two double-figure routs with Northern beating Invercargill’s Old Boys 13-2 and Mt Albert Ponsonby hammering Otumoetai 11-1. Northern’s Tyler Muir took individual honours with six goals.
Here’s our round-up of cup action:
Sperm Whales deal to the Green Machine
Ngaruawahia United’s start to life in Lotto NRFL division two was going well — unbeaten, top of the division and playing some excellent football.
Then along came the Whales, an Auckland Sunday league outfit, and the only such team remaining in the cup after the preliminary round.
The Spunkies had beaten Northland Community Division 1 side Whangarei FC in the preliminary round, after a nerve-jangling penalty shoot-out that ended 8-7 in their favour.
And it was a penalty again that enabled the Whales to go into Tuesday’s second-round cup draw.
Playing at Seymour Park, the Sperm Whales went ahead through Oliver Chiaroni in the 39th minute, and they took that lead into half-time.
Jack Connor levelled for Ngaruawahia in the 66th minute and the sides knuckled down for the remainder of the half.
With three minutes left, Ngaruawahia captain Samuel Nahna was judged to have pushed Whales skipper Art Twigg in the back, denying him a goalscoring opportunity.
Referee Yunjie Diao issued the red card to Nahna.
And Twigg put the penalty away to complete the round’s biggest upset.
First-half blitz gives MAP huge win at home
Eight goals in a ruthless first-half display at their Anderson Park home saw Mount Albert Ponsonby romp past WaiBOP Premiership side Otumoetai.
Jared Colligan found the net four times before the break, to lead an all-out blitz on the shell-shocked visitors. They provided him with his scored his 93rd, 94th, 95th and 96th first team goals, giving him the status of becoming MAP’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Nicholas Hindson and Cristian Cuero both scored doubles in the first half, effectively ending the contest.
In the second half, MAP worked their bench, giving five players game time and substitutes Bradley Rathbun and Harry Streamer added their names to the scoresheet.
At least, Otumoetai had the last say in the tie when Miroslav Sindler scored a consolation goal three minutes into added time.
Red cards costly for Northland as Manurewa win late
Three red cards marred Northland’s cup tie against first division Manurewa after the sky blues had managed to stay in the contest till the last 10 minutes.
Northland had taken the lead at Trigg Arena in the 36th minute through Olusegun Rotimi but the game turned in the 40th minute when referee Craig Crawford gave a straight red card to Finn Diamond for a heavy tackle.
The referee also red-carded the home side’s goalkeeper coach Geoff Bigwood for dissent.
Manurewa took advantage of the furore to level the tie with a goal from captain Jeremiah Perez on the stroke of half-time
Despite being down to 10 men, Northland remain on even terms until the 80th minute when Nicholas Bobadilla put Rewa ahead. Then Dylan Horgan extended the lead to 3-1.
Northland’s Liam Reynolds became the third red card of the day when he copped a second yellow for a reckless foul.
That was the signal for Manurewa’s Horgan to perform the coup de grace with his second goal in added time.
Cambridge pull off another cup upset
In recent years, Cambridge have developed a reputation for Chatham Cup upsets against teams from higher divisions and the Reds have added to their record by claiming the scalp of Onehunga Mangere United.
Cambridge, who play in the Lotto NRFL second division, started well, taking the lead in the 14th minute through Josh Clarkin.
It gave the home side a 1-0 lead at half-time against United who play a division higher in the Lotto NRFL competition.
Clarkin, who was Cambridge’s top goalscorer last season, doubled his side’s lead in the 51st minute, and the upset was on.
The Mountain Men tried hard to peg back the lead, pulling back a goal through forward Osman Rastagar with three minutes left.
But it wasn’t enough and Cambridge can now set their sights on trying to better their best-ever performance in the cup, which is the third round.
10-man Ngongotaha scrape through
Ngongotaha go into the second round draw after scraping home 3-2 against Bay of Plenty rivals Tauranga Old Blues.
Ngongotaha striker Luke Barker had given the home side what seemed to be a commanding 3-1 lead with little more than 10 minutes to go.
However, Cook Islands international midfielder Harlem Simiona was sent off in the 83rd minute for a second yellow and Old Blues sensed a fightback was on.
Joaquin Javier Reynoso reduced the deficit to 3-2 with two minutes to go, and Ngongotaha a few nervous minutes before the win was assured.
Four Ferrymead goals in five minutes finish off FC Twenty
An amazing burst of scoring early in the second half settled the round’s first cup tie as Ferrymead Bays beat FC Twenty 11 by 5-0 under floodlights on Friday night.
The teams were scoreless til three minutes before the break at Ferrymead Park in Christchurch when William Pierce put the home side ahead.
Any hopes of an FC Twenty revival were smashed soon after the second half started.
Ferrymead rattled home four goals in five minutes as 19-year-old Pierce completed his hat-trick (50′ and 53′) and Alex Meaclem (52;) and Daniel Metherell (55′) got among the goals.
There was no way back for FC Twenty and Ferrymead became the first name to go into the hat for Tuesday’s second round draw.
Northern’s Muir hits Old Boys for six
Southern Premiership side Northern registered Saturday’s biggest win, thrashing Invercargill’s Old Boys 13-2.
Leading the rout was Tyler Muir who scored six goals to continue his hot form which has seen him score nine goals in six league outings.
Rory Hibbert also grabbed a hat-trick for Northern.
In brief
The cup holders: Cashmere Technical coasted through their first round, beating Nomads United 6-0 at Garrick Memorial Park. Jacob Richards led the way with a first half hat-trick.
Busy referees: Surely the round’s most ill-disciplined game was either Northland’s 4-1 loss to Manurewa in which two players and a coach were red-carded (see above), or it was Halswell United’s 1-2 loss to Parklands United. In that game, nine players were given yellow cards by referee Iain Marshall, of which six were handed out in added time.
First-round results
Friday
Game played May 13, 2022
Ferrymead Bays 5 (William Pierce 42′ 50′, 53′, Alex Meaclem 52′, Daniel Metherell 55′)
FC Twenty11 0
Saturday
Games played May 14, 2022
Northern region
Ngongotaha 3 (Axel Balaho 14′, Luke Barker 28′, 77′)
Tauranga Old Blues 2 (Felipe Torres 48′, Joaquin Javier Reynoso 88′)
Waikato Unicol 1 (Thomas Wright 90+5′)
Tauranga City 4 (own goal 25′, Liam Molloy 43′, Mirko Brinkmann 53′, Xavier Maddox 74′)
Cambridge 2 (Josh Clarkin 14′, 51′)
Onehunga Mangere United 1 (Osman Rastagar 87′)
Northern Rovers 5 (Paul Rhodes 4′, Jack Caunter 11′, 90′, Leo Harbottle 25′, Thomas Shaw 84′)
Mangere United 0
Franklin United P
Oratia United P
*Game could not be played as planned on Saturday evening because of floodlight failure.
West Coast Rangers 9 (Jack Kelly 2′, 32′, Kofi Dwamena 7′, Matthew Banks 8′, 63′, 85′, Harlan Blackwood 59′, Josh Armitt 70′, Benjamin Gallagher 88′)
Papakura City 0
Mt Albert Ponsonby 11 (Jared Colligan 13′, 17′, 22′, 33′, Nicholas Hindson 14′, 25′, Cristian Cuero 15′, 38′, Lewis Black 49′, Harry Streamer 59′, Bradley Rathbun 81′)
Otumoetai 1 (Miroslav Sindler 90+3′)
Bucklands Beach 4 (Daniel McCarthy 22′, Joshua Smith 55′, 90+2′, Rory Bohea 66′)
Kerikeri 0
Northland 1 (Olusegun Rotimi 36′)
Manurewa 4 (Jeremias Perez 44′, Nicolas Bobadilla 80′, Dylan Horgan 84′, 90+1′)
Te Awamutu 0
Metro 1 (Jaydyn Englefield 9′, pen)
West Auckland 6 (Richard Wilcox 4′, Haylen West 7′, Nathan Rollinson 10′, 36′, Matthew Hearn 48′, Gordon Riddoch 90+3′)
Onerahi 1 (Daniel Hanmore 39′)
East Coast Bays 2 (Keegan Kelly 2′, Nicholas Gaze 88′)
Te Atatu 0
Hibiscus Coast 3 (Adam Dickinson 10′, Trent Mayes 33′, 40′)
Albany United 4 (Benjamin Roberts 41′, own goal 72′, Damian Mosquera 83′, Seth McGuinness 88′)
Central / Capital Region
Whanganui Athletic 3 (Charlie Meredith 67′, Quinn Mailman 68′, 69′)
Havelock North Wanderers 1 (Bjorn Christenson 78′)
Palmerston North Marist (5pm kick-off – result to come)
Massey University
Seatoun 0
Wellington Olympic 8 (Gianni Bouzoukis 11′, 44′, 51′, 62′, Connor Gaul 58′, 83′, Jesse Randall 78′, Devon Thurston 89′)
Kapiti Coast United 0
Upper Hutt City 1 (Jeremy Fong 28′)
Brooklyn Northern United 3 (own goal 4′, Jago Sperring 26′, Richard Glenn 65′)
Wainuiomata 4 (Joshua Hinton 43′, Baxter King 44′, Adam Ross 60′, 84′)
Lower Hutt City 5 (Daniel Makowem 13′, Mick Reid 55′, Lachlan Candy 62′, Luke Flowerdew 76′, 85′)
Stokes Valley 0
Victoria University 1 (Yannick Pocock 45+1′)
Tawa 4 (Lachlan Hill 17′, Lewis Jackson 26′, Harry Findlay 29′, Paul Willis-Benton 90+3′)
Naenae SC 0
Island Bay United 4 (Tsar Mitchener 11′, Jeremy Sutton 43′, Felix McKay 73′, Matthew Chadwick 84′)
Wellington United 3 (Ignacio Junca 23′, Caleb Hilbron 76′, 78′)
Stop Out 1 (Isa Prins 83′)
Mainland Region
Coastal Spirit 3 (Aashish Rai 45+3′, Dominic McGarr 60′, 63′)
Waimakariri United 1 (Mitchell Quigley 41′)
Halswell United 1 (Patrick Cameron 89′)
Parklands United 2 (Andrew Jones 47′, Daniel Lingard 112′)
*After extra time
Universities 0
Christchurch United 6 (Daniel Maclennan 5′, 81′, Benjamin Lapslie 16′, Alex Mort 41′, Sanni Issa 45+1′, Edward Wilkinson 47′)
Cashmere Technical 6 (Jacob Richards 24′, 42′, 44′, Lyle Matthysen 26′, Garbhan Coughlan 48′, own goal 51′)
Nomads United 0
Burwood 0
Selwyn United 5 (Jamie Carrodus 44′, Jack Allatt 67′, Nikolas Fairley 81′, Calum Murdoch 87′, Darius Van Wyk 88′)
Southern Region
Queens Park 7 (Juan Sebastian Viveros 2′, 12′, 26′, Calem Castle 25′, Michael Larsen 62′, Geraldo Miranda 86′, 90+1′)
Grants Braes 0
Northern 13 (Hayden Teixeira 4′, Rory Hibbert 17′, 38′, 79′, Tyler Muir 32′, 45′, 51′, 60′, 82′, 84′, Mateo Savou 47′, Eli Newall 70′, own goal 72′)
Old Boys 2 (Ethan Stout 56′, 89′)
Gore Wanderers 0
Roslyn-Wakari 6 (Luke Williams 13′, Nathan Wilkie 36′, 58′, 75′, Ben Williams-Davies 39′, 47′)
Sunday
Northern Region
Northern United 1 (Kieran Payton 34′)
Taupo 3 (Connor Perrott 11′, Joseph O’Donoghue 21′, Jack Semple 26′)
Central United 3 (Sam Lloyd 38′, 70′, Matt Guthrie 60′)
Waitemata 1 (own goal 62′)
Beachlands Maraetai 3 (Caid Szopa 62′, Jamie Birch 65′, Callum Hamilton 72′)
Claudelands Rovers 4 (Ellis Breadmore 12′, 37′, Henry Thompson 40′, Levi Clark 60′)
West Hamilton United 7 (Jason Venema 38′, 49′, 70′, Noor Mire 73′, 80′, 83′, Joshua Muldrock 78′)
Waiuku 1 (Stuart Lusty 13′)
Papamoa 3 (Eamon O’Donoghue 33′, Marcos Giles 84′, Benjamin Van der Salm 86′)
Ellerslie 2 (Tom Durkin 52′, Alex Clark 81′)
Sperm Whales 2 (Oliver Chiaroni 39′, Art Twigg 87′ pen)
Ngaruawahia United 1 (Jack Connor 66′)
Central / Capital Region
Waikanae 0
Wellington Marist 10 (scorers to come)
FC Nelson 3 (Van Roland Hlawnceu 11′, Brandyn Pirere 40′, Harrison MacFadyen 45′)
Tahuna 1 (Pedro Costa Vaz 78′)
Nelson Suburbs 4 (Noah Platt 21′, Jordan Yong 38′, 73′, James McPhie 80′)
Richmond Athletic 0
Southern Region
Wanaka 3 (Angus Campbell 45′, Blair Scoullar 49′, Stephen Pleskun 56′)
Otago University 4 (Harry Kidd 17′, Sam Murray 30′, 43′, 108′)
*After extra time
Byes
Northern: Auckland City, Auckland United, Bay Olympic, Birkenhead United, Eastern Suburbs, Fencibles United, Hamilton Wanderers, Manukau United, Melville United, North Shore United, Takapuna, Waiheke United, Western Springs.
Capital: Napier City Rovers, North Wellington, Petone, Miramar Rangers, Waterside Karori, Western Suburbs
Southern: Dunedin City Royals, Green Island, Mosgiel, Queenstown AFC
Preliminary round results
Click here to read our round-up of the preliminary round games >>>>
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