Waiuku took on Waikato/Bay of Plenty division team Te Awamutu in their first New Zealand wide knockout game called the Chatham Cup. Waiuku didn't have it all their own way however even though Te Awamutu play in a division below as they went 2-0 down within 15 minutes only to run riot in the second half and take the game 5-2.

Waiuku rested four players from last weeks win against Fencibles with Vaughan Banfield, Charlie Heather, Jamie Pegg and Robert Thornton all getting a start. Waiuku spoke long and hard about starting strong but Te Awamutu showed Waiuku exactly how this was done as they totally dominated the first half an hour which was also helped with the strong wind behind their backs. Waiuku though got into the game before half time after keeping the score to only 2-0 when a Jerry Hubbard freekick was met by Danny Baldwin who poked the ball home. Heather nearly equalised the game when he put pressure on the goalkeeper who gave him the ball but his shot went narrowly wide.

2-1 down at halftime and Waiuku lifted their momentum straight away in the second half. Jesse Smyth Kirk and Grant Muckle came on for Heather and Thornton and equalised straight away. A through ball found the pacy Smyth Kirk who took one touch and finished well at the near post and then celebrated in front of the Waiuku faithful. Not long after top goalscorer Cody Ralph got onto the score sheet. Picking the ball up just inside the Te Awamutu half Ralph went unchallenged as the defence opened up and he slotted past the diving goalkeeper. Game over and now Waiuku were running riot. Baldwin was next to score when Ralph picked up a cross in the six yard box and could only shoot against the cross bar. The ball fell perfectly to Baldwin who shot into the back of the net. Derek Sinclair had been part of much of the Waiuku attack and it was only fitting for him to pick up the fifth when he turned on a loose ball and shot into the right hand corner. Pegg nearly got on the score sheet when his 25 yard drive cannoned off the crossbar and into safety.

Coach Jim Evans gave praise to Te Awamutu "The Chatham Cup is all about upsets and Te Awamutu came out today and started with a hiss and a roar scoring two great goals. The way they played forced my hand into making a couple of changes just after halftime and they should take something away with the way they played today. Im proud of the way we battled back from 2-0 down and if we had our shooting boots on we may of scored ten. However that would not of reflected the way the game went as Te Awamutu gave us a good fight. Man of the match today not only for scoring two goals but his hard running is Daniel Baldwin although Pegg, Hubbard and Sinclair ran him close."

Waiuku are again at home next week when they take on second place Onehunga Mangere at 2.45

The Waiuku reserves kept their place at the top of the table with a convincing 7-0 win over Eastern Suburbs. Goalscoring machine Luke Sutton scored another three goals while Smyth Kirk got two and Kenny Nicholl and Nick Ruygrok got one each. Ruygrok received man of the match.

Team: Justin Baldwin, Vaughan Banfield (Scott Petersen 70), Jerry Hubbard (vc), Sam van Pomeron, Robert Thornton (Grant Muckle 55), Derek Sinclair, Joe Rayson, Daniel Baldwin, Jamie Pegg, Cody Ralph (c), Charlie Heather (Jesse Smyth Kirk 55)

Subs not used: Phil van den Broek, Luke Sutton, Caine Robbie

Rested: Wayne Trout, Davie Johnson