Auckland clubs Northern Rovers and Auckland United go into the Kate Sheppard Cup semi-finals after beating league rivals.
Northern Rovers have emerged as cup favourites after dispensing with Eastern Suburbs while Auckland United had few problems beating Tauranga City.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Dunedin City Royals continued their unbeaten season, disposing of Cashmere Technical in a game that went to extra time.
Here’s our round-up of the quarter-finals:
Rovers take league form into cup to beat Suburbs 3-1
Unbeaten Northern Rovers made sure cup tie tension did not get in the way of a 3-1 victory over Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm.
Rovers are runaway leaders in the Lotto NRFL Women’s Premier League and Suburbs have been steadily improving in the chase to catch them.
And the first half was even enough.
Rovers had taken the lead in the 32nd minute before Suburbs skipper Rebekah van Dort levelled from the penalty spot in the 38th minute.
Locked 1-1 at the break, the question was which side would turn the game?
The answer came in a two-minute spell just before the hour mark.
Danielle Canham put Rovers up in the 55th minute; then, almost from the restart Michaela Foster stretched the lead to 3-1.
Foster and team mate Chelsea Elliott joined Rovers for this season, after being in the Hamilton Wanderers side beaten in last season’s cup final.
No doubt the pair will be aiming to go one better this season.
Main photo: Eastern Suburbs and Northern Rovers are among the best sides in the north this season. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
Highlights from the game:
Auckland United sweep aside Tauranga to reach last four
Auckland United had few problems getting past WPL rivals Tauranga City, beating them 4-0 at Links Avenue.
Despite dominating play, the visitors went into the break only one goal ahead, scored by Bree Johnson in the 36th minute.
But in the second half, United found their rhythm and doubled their lead in the 53rd minute when Ruby Nathan struck a well-placed shot from 22 metres into the top of the goal.
Five minutes later, Prue Catton scored direct from a corner.
The final goal came from Stella Lawson in the 74th minute.
Marist move a step closer to creating club history
Palmerston North Marist did just enough to get past the well-regarded Waterside Karori side, beating them 1-0 at Arena Manawatu.
The winning goal came from 18-year-old Pip Coakley, in her first season with Marist after moving from Nelson Suburbs.
She scored in the 34th minute and her side kept their clean sheet against their Wellington rivals.
In the last round, Marist caused an upset, beating cup holders Wellington United in a penalty shoot-out.
They are now just one game away from creating history, should they reach the final for the first time.
Extra time needed to separate South Island rivals
Unbeaten Dunedin City Royals needed a full two hours of football to breakdown Cashmere Technical and advance to the cup’s last four.
Playing at English Park, the Christchurch team went ahead in the 15th minute through Jonelle Arthur.
However the Royals came back through Margarida Dias who equalised in the 24th minute.
That’s how the teams went into half-time and the scored remained 1-1 at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.
Five minutes into extra time, Shontelle Smith put the Royals ahead and the teams settled down for a tense finish.
With two minutes of extra time left, Dias scored her second to give the Otago team a 3-1 win.
Technical can console themselves knowing their goal was only the second to be conceded by the Royals all season.
Watch the game in full here:
Results
Games played on Saturday July 9, 2022
Tauranga City 0
Auckland United 4 (Bree Johnson 36′, Ruby Nathan 53′, Prue Catton 58′, Stella Lawson 73′)
Eastern Suburbs 1 (Rebekah van Dort 38′ pen)
Northern Rovers 3 (Estelle Harrison 32′, Danielle Canham 55′, Michaela Foster 57′)
Palmerston North Marist 1 (Pip Coakley 34′)
Waterside Karori 0
Sunday
Game played on Sunday July 10, 2022
Cashmere Technical 1 (Jonelle Arthur 15′)
Dunedin City Royals 3 (Margarida Dias 24′, 118′, Shontelle Smith 95′)
The Kate Sheppard Cup is supported by the NZ Football Foundation.
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