Auckland 1, Capital 1 McLennan Park, Auckland, October 7 2018 A few days ago, John Palethorpe dredged up my old Newmarket Park post and shared it on Twitter. It was a nice reminder, not just of a classic piece of work I did four years ago but also of a […]
WaiBOP 3, Southern 6 McLennan Park, Auckland, October 7 2018 “It’s just been years and years of them thinking they aren’t good enough, because there’s always been the talent down there. Players like Chelsea Whittaker, Shontelle Smith and Kelsey Kennard, they’ve been there for years and years – nothing’s changed. […]
WaiBOP 0, Auckland 4 Gower Park, Hamilton, September 15 2018 Well that was a rather quiet, sombre, some might say sulky drive back along State Highway One from Hamilton for me. It’s silly really. Looking at these two sides on paper it was always going to be very, very difficult […]
Birkenhead United 1, Western Suburbs 1 AET (Birkenhead won 5-4 on penalties) North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, September 9 2018 Well that was one of the all-time best weekends I can remember. Ella, Helena and I recorded an exciting new podcast that will be coming your way very soon, ITBOTN got […]
Nelson Suburbs 0, Birkenhead United 2 Saxton Fields, Nelson, August 27 2018 It seemed like a perfectly sensible idea back when I booked it, a 6:05am Sunday flight to Nelson for a Chatham Cup semi-final. But when my alarm went off at 4am yesterday I must admit that the thought […]
By Mark O’Donnell Every footballer at every level longs to win a championship title. Indeed, some of the best footballers in the world never achieve that honour. For the 11 players on the pitch, 4 substitutes on the bench and all the management at Waiuku AFC they are 90 minutes […]
By Rob Carty and Simon Borich When thinking of Warkworth Football Club three Gs come to mind- Grassroots, Gumboots and Good Buggers. Warkworth Football Club is a club that has been built on strong personalities. Good buggers like Deano, Olly, the Carr boys, Lambie, Pies, Jonny, Notley, Stiffy, Rutty and Goffy […]
Genfield Rovers 2, Eastern Suburbs 2 McFetridge Park, Auckland, August 19 2018 Well, I’ve only been predicting it for the past three years or so but it finally happened in the year I decided to keep my thoughts to myself for once, rather than jinx the mighty Rovers. And that […]
Central United 2, Ellerslie 2 St Peter’s College, Auckland, August 12 2018 Google Maps says it takes 16 minutes to get from Becroft Park, Forrest Hill, to St Peter’s College in Newmarket – and that seemed optimistic to me, even though it’s motorway a lot of the way. I had […]
Future Ferns Domestic Programme 4, Eastern Suburbs 3 North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, July 8 2018 Auckland’s lovers of good football were spoilt for choice once again on Sunday. NRFL Women’s Premier boasted four games, any one of which I could have made a compelling case for going to – especially […]