North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Familiar foes contest national finals
After more than 170 games of football played around the country across two knockout competitions the last teams standing have home grounds within 25 minutes of each other.
In an unprecedented outcome, the finalists in the Chatham Cup and Women’s Knockout Cup all hail from the Northern Football region.
First-time finalists Birkenhead United booked a place in the Chatham Cup’s showpiece event on September 11 after defeating Wellington’s Miramar Rangers 3-1 in their semi-final on Sunday.
Birkenhead’s Jarrod Smith was quick to open the scoring with a powerful header that found the back of the net within the first five minutes of the match.
Miramar levelled the score but minutes later before Godwin Darkwa calmly slotted home to restore Birkenhead’s lead going into halftime. Substitute Ethan
‘‘I am so happy for them and all of the people that make this club special’’ Birkenhead United coach Paul Hobson
Galbraith sealed the victory late in the game.
Birkenhead coach Paul Hobson says it is an unbelievable feeling to make the final. ‘‘To make the semi-finals last year and go one step further, I can’t do it justice. We are a community club so I am so happy for them and all of the people that make this club special.’’
Birkenhead will meet threetime Cup winners Waitakere City in the final. Waitakere beat Three Kings United 6-1 to secure a berth in their first final since 2013.
Glenfield Rovers, two-time defending champions in the Women’s Knockout Cup, will play local rivals Forrest Hill Milford in their final.
An individual goal from Katie Rood was the difference in Glenfield’s 1-0 semi-final win against Upper Hutt City.
The 2016 Cup final will be Rood’s fifth with Glenfield since 2011 and she knows her team will be motivated to get their name on the trophy again.
‘‘We love to win,’’ Rood says. ‘‘Finishing fourth in the league this season was really disappointing for us so there’s nothing we want more than to bring that Cup back home.’’
A match-up against Forrest Hill - who they last met in a Cup final in 2014 - is also appealing for Rood. ‘‘We’re pumped! We’ve had a few good battles against them this year and it’s always a good rivalry … so it will certainly be a good contest.’’
Forrest Hill beat Cashmere Technical 6-0 in Christchurch in the semi-finals. Tayla Christensen scored a hat-trick and Samantha Tawharu, Malia Steinmetz and Emma Rolston also netted. The finals of both the Chatham Cup and Women’s Knockout Cup will be at QBE Stadium in Albany on September 11.
The cup finals day will be a real football feast with a 5-a-side girls’ age-group tournament also being held on the stadium’s outer oval in the morning to kick off the FIFA Live Your Goals campaign, activities for which will take place throughout the following week across the country’s seven federations to celebrate and promote women’s football.
QBE Stadium will become a focus for football over the coming weeks with the venue also set to play host to the All Whites’ first home match on their road to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, on November 12.