Football: Rovers draw Miramar at home in third round

Ryan Tinsley, Tom Biss after scoring a goal on the weekend for Napier City Rovers. Photo / Duncan Brown

The drought's over as Napier City Rovers scored another home game in their Chatham Cup campaign.

The Blues will host fellow Lotto Central League powerhouses Miramar Rangers at Park Island in Napier on Sunday, June 26, in the third round of the cup.

"I don't have the actual statistics but we've had a lot of our games away," Rovers player/coach Bill Robertson said yesterday after thrashing Massey University 11-0 at Bluewater Stadium on Monday.

Last year, the defending Central League champions couldn't buy a home game after a rash of draws that yielded away fixtures, but they defied the odds to make it to the final, which they lost 2-1 to Birkenhead United.

For the record, the Rovers played seven cup matches away last season, including the final in Auckland.

Robertson was pleased to have secured a home game this month but conceded they had drawn tough opponents in the Rangers so early in the campaign.

"You sort of expect to face teams like that in round four or five but that's just how the draw goes," he said.

The Blues, who are setting the pace in the league competition this season with just one loss, drew 1-all with Miramar Rangers in an away game.

"To achieve what we want to we'll have to beat the best in the country, I suppose, so that makes no difference," he said.

After the one-sided affair with Massey on Monday, the Rovers play second-placed Western Suburbs in the league this Saturday.

They will then host Wellington Olympic the following Sunday in another league clash before the cup match.

The Napier club has five Chatham Cup crowns under their belt.

Like last season, Robertson and his men have some unfinished business after setting the goal of securing a double - league and cup crowns.

While the league looks safe after a loss and two draws, the cup campaign will be a long and winding road to national supremacy.