Two of the three local matches in the Preliminary Round of the Chatham Cup needed extra time before winners could be found.

Western was within seconds of an early exit after Luke Martin had put Mid Canterbury ahead in the 73rd, but Arian Asghari scored in the fourth minute of added time to force extra time. Asghari then put Western ahead, and minutes later, Rodrigo Balcazar extended the lead before a double yellow to Niall Young reduced the Ashburton side to ten men. The drama was not over with Martin then scoring again to reduce the margin in the 120th minute, making for a hectic final few minutes.

Parklands had to come from behind twice against St Albans Shirley in normal time, with John Stack drawing Parklands level in the 88th minute to send the game into extra time. After Finn Gaupset had put SAS ahead, Marcus Livingstone equalised before Daniel Ribiero put SAS back in front. Stark then bagged a double to put Parklands ahead, with Michael Morris securing inside a place in the next round when he added Parklands fourth goal with two minutes to play. 

FC Twenty11 were a Martin Lopez goal up going to the break with Conor Clarke, then doubling the lead on the hour mark. Lopez then scored from the penalty spot to secure the match for FC with Harrison Bowman and Universities Tyler Pride trading goals in added time. 

In the north of the Mainland Federation, both FC Nelson and Blenheim Rangers moved into the next round after defeating Tahuna 4 -0 and Mapua Rangers 3 - 0, respectively.

Chatham Cup - Results / Scorers

FC Twenty11 4 (Martin Lopez 2 - incl pen, Harrison Bowman Conor Clarke, Universities 1 (Tyler Pride) HT 1 - 0

St Albans Shirley 2 (Finn Gaupset, Daniel Ribiero) Parklands 4 (John Stack 2, Marcus Livingstone, Michael Norris) HT 1 - 0 FT 2 - 2

Mid Canterbury 2 (Luke Martin 2) Western 3 (Arian Asghari 2, Rodrigo Balcazar) HT 0 - 0 FT 1 - 1

FC Nelson 4 (Labu Pan, Van Roland, own goals 2) Tahuna 0 HT 0 - 0

Blenheim Rangers 6 (Liam Clamp 2, Julian Delgado 2, Jono Masters, Keagan Motimer) Mapua Rangers 0 HT 3 - 0

Coastal Pressed Hard In Cup

Former cup holders Coastal Spirit had to work hard in the opening round of the New Zealand Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup before overcoming a determined Waimak side 1 - 0, with Universities also advancing when defeating Halswell 5 - 0 and Ferrymead Bays knocking out Nomads, 3 - 0.

Coastal struggled to break down Waimak's playing formation, with the latter working hard on defence. Waimak keeper, Annie Foote, had an outstanding game that resulted in Coastal being scoreless going to the break. The deadlock was finally broken when Mel Cameron scored in the 70th minute with Waimak, then frustrating Coastal when denying them any further goals. 

The other tie was not as close, with Universities defeating Halswell 5 - 0. The students were only up one at the break, thanks to a goal from Erin Roxburgh after 37 minutes. Roxburgh added a second after halftime, with Frankie Morrow claiming the other three goals. 

A Maggie Anderson goal saw Bays up going to the break, but they then had to wait until late in the match to add to their scoreline. Jess Dyer doubled the lead with eight to play before being replaced by Sarah Summerlee, who was only on the field for minutes before adding Bays final goal.  

Kate Sheppard Cup - Results / Scorers

Coastal Spirit 1 (Mel Cameron) Waimak 0 HT 0 - 0

Universities 5 (Frankie Morrow 3, Erin Roxburgh 2) Halswell 0 HT 1 - 0

Ferrymead Bays 3 (Maggie Anderson, Jess Dyer, Sarah Summerlee) Nomads 0 HT 1 - 0

Written by Gavin Searle. 
Article added: Tuesday 27 April 2021