Soccer: Waikato clubs lead Chatham Cup charge

Photo / APN

Waikato will have three clubs in the last 16 of the Chatham Cup for the first time after Hamilton Wanderers, Melville United and Ngaruawahia United all won their third round ties yesterday.

Wanderers and Ngaruawahia both had relatively comfortable wins but when Melville striker Jordan MacCarter was sent off in extra-time it looked odds on that Papatoetoe would stop the trend and go on to claim one for South Auckland opposition.

The visitors had earlier taken a 19th minute lead through Daniel Billot which was cancelled out by Melville's Jama Boss 13 minutes into the second spell, but seven minutes from the end of extra time Tewi Te Pou converted a penalty for the 10-man home side to complete a groundbreaking day for the region.

Across town, Northern Premier League challengers Wanderers struggled in a scoreless first half against second division Mangere United but burst into life after the break thanks to a Mark Jones hat-trick and two goals to Michael Built in their 5-0 victory.

Travelling in the other direction, Ngaruawahia scored both their goals in the first half to beat Onehunga Mangere United 2-0 with well-taken efforts from Tim Kautai and Frederico Marquez earning the club a spot in tomorrow's (sunday) fourth round draw.

There was drama in the late kickoff in Wellington as Island Bay United were within minutes of claiming the day's upset only to succumb to two comebacks from Wellington Olympic and eventually go out 5-4 in a penalty shootout.

Barry Lewis gave away a 30th minute penalty that allowed Alex Palezevic to open the scoring only to redeem himself with Olympic's first equaliser in the 90th minute.

James Wypych put the underdogs back in front two minutes in extra time but Olympic drew level again this time through a 99th minute James O'Connor penalty.

The goalkeepers shone in the penalty shootout with Olympic's James McPeake making two legitimate saves - and another which was retaken and missed - to book his team's progression.

A four-goal haul to Damien Foster, which included a first half hat-trick, led Roslyn Wakari to a 8-1 mauling over Northern in Dunedin, while in Christchurch Danny Boys netted a goal in each half as Cashmere Technical beat Ferrymead Bays 2-0 in the day's other South Island fixture.

Bay Olympic were too good for East Coast Bays in a heavyweight clash in Auckland, running away with a 5-1 win, while Onehunga Sports won 4-1 at Fencibles and Manurewa edged Three Kings United 2-1.

Six more third round ties take place today, including mouthwatering derbies between Glenfield Rovers and Birkenhead United in Auckland.

A rematch of the 2011 final sees Napier City Rovers host Wairarapa while 2012 finalists Lower Hutt City meet Waterside Karori.

Nelson College take on Canterbury's Waimak United, Ellerslie face three-time winners Waitakere City and Palmerston North Marist travel to Tawa.

A flooded Caledonian pitch in Dunedin meant the fixture between Caversham and Dunedin Technical had to be postponed for player safety.

Details of the rescheduled fixture will be announced on tomorrow and the fourth round draw will take place as planned.