Kate Sheppard Cup joy for Otumoetai with washouts and blowouts elsewhere
Otumoetai are into the last 16 in the ladies national competition but their men are out while Tauranga City's need to wait.
Otumoetai have progressed to the third round of the Kate Sheppard Cup for the first time after a hard-fought victory over Onehunga Sports. Niamh Carter and Lilly Muspratt earned a comeback 2-1 win to put Oats in the draw for the round of 16.
They will be the only Bay of Plenty team left in the competition, following defeats for both Tauranga City and Lakes FC.
Two late goals put the gloss on Fencibles United’s 4-1 triumph over City while Lakes suffered a 12-0 drubbing at the hands of former winners Western Springs.
Otumoetai’s men could not match the women’s achievements as they were sent crashing out of the Chatham Cup in awful conditions. In a game switched to Gordon Spratt from Fergusson Park due to the sodden King’s Birthday weather, Oats were dispatched comfortably by a very impressive Melville United side, 6-1 the final score.
It’s been five long years since Tauranga City’s men’s first team have had the pleasure of hosting a Chatham Cup game at Links Avenue and the club will need to wait at least one more week on top of that. Their King’s Birthday clash with Manukau United was called off on Monday due to heavy rainfall.
Just as with Otumoetai, the game was initially switched to Gordon Spratt Reserve when it became clear that Links would not be viable due to the soggy weather.
The Papamoa venue was then also deemed unplayable by the match referee. Therefore, the match is postponed, and City will have to wait until a rearrangement, most likely next weekend, to finally play a home Chatham Cup tie.
It was a weekend of big wins in men’s local cup competitions.
After beating fellow Chatham Cup local heroes Waipuna Rangers 4-1 in their postponed first-round fixture on Thursday night, Te Puke’s first team went on to get revenge for their reserves in the Miller Cup.
Tauranga City New Blues had beaten the Litt Park-based second team 4-0 in the previous round but a depleted team were swept aside 10-0 by the Bay 1 title challengers.
Tauranga City Relics fared much better in their fixture, hammering Waiariki 9-0. Relics and Te Puke undoubtedly go into the next round looking like the two teams to beat in this year’s competition but Katikati also dealt out a hiding, beating Otumoetai OTT Reserves 6-0, to underline their credentials.
Meanwhile, Whakatane Town, Otumoetai Special Reserve, Ngongotaha Lakes O-35s, and Waiariki O-35s all booked their place in the next round of the Miller Bowl.