Nelson Seals knocked out in first round
At a glance
The Nelson Suburbs Seals have been knocked off their perch by the Marlborough Mariners.
Just a week after wrapping up the division one football championship for the second consecutive year and beating runners-up Marlborough by four points, the Seals have been bundled out of the Price Charity Cup in the opening round, going down 2-0 at A&P Park in Blenheim on Saturday.
Marlborough scored two early goals through Bryce Smith and Alex Connor-McClean to quickly gain control of the game and the under-manned Seals simply had no answer.
The Seals weren’t the only heavyweight to face an early exit though, FreshChoice Richmond Athletic’s struggles continuing in their 2-1 defeat to defending champions Nelson College at Jubilee Park, Bertie Fish scoring in the second half after Labu Pan and Thang Thang Vanuk gave College an early 2-0 lead.
FC Nelson held off a spirited Sprig & Fern Tahuna side 4-3 at the Tahunanui Playing Fields, Ben Pitcaithly scoring his second of the afternoon to deny an unlikely Tahuna comeback.
FC were up 3-0 courtesy of goals to Pitcaithly, Nick Crosswell and an own goal and looked on track for a relatively comfortable win, but a dramatic 10 minute period saw Tahuna score twice through Heyden Nunn and once through Darren Fitzgerald to tie the game up at 3-3 until Pitcaithly scored with just three minutes left.
In Wakefield, the Nelson Suburbs reserves relied on the combination of experience and youth to see off Pomeroy’s Wakefield 2-1. After going down 1-0 at halftime through Wakefield’s Loren Marshall, Nick Brooks levelled midway through the second half before Josh Cresswell grabbed the late winner. 2 (Bryce Smith, Alex Connor-McClean) HT: 2-0 (Labu Pan, Thang Thang Vanuk) (Bertie Fish) HT: 2-0 (Ben Pitcaithly 2, Nick Crosswell, own goal) (Heyden Nunn 2, Darren Fitzgerald) HT: 1-0 (Nick Brooks, Josh Cresswell) (Loren Marshall) HT: 0-1