Waiuku reserves make the Counties Cup final

Waiuku made the Counties Cup final when they beat Mangere Town in a thrilling penalty shoot out at Massey Park on Sunday. The Waiuku reserves team play in the Auckland competition in Div 2 and on their way to the final they have beaten both Manurewa and Mangere who play in the premier reserve competition which is five divisions above the league they play in.

After Waiuku beat Manurewa 2-0 in the quarter final, Mangere travelled to Massey Park as keen favourites and they started the strongest. Mangere went 1-0 up in the first fifteen minutes when the Waiuku defense gave the ball away and the Mangere attacker gave Phil van den Broek no chance with a neat finish. However Waiuku hit back straight away to even things up when Robert Thornton slotted home from eight yards out. Mangere took the lead again when again Waiuku gave the ball away and in similar fashion to the first, the Mangere attacker drew his nearest marker and beat Van den Broek at the far post. Waiuku started to hold on to the ball through Waiuku stalwarts and midfield pairing Owen Hill and Nick Ruygrok. Hill sent Ken Nicoll away on the left and his cross was met by Luke Sutton who passed into the back of the net for 2-2. Just before halftime, Waiuku got a freekick just outside the penalty area. Hill tapped the ball to Thornton who chipped the ball into the far left corner with his left foot. 3-2 Waiuku.

Playing into the wind in the second half, Mangere started to dominate as the Waiuku team struggled to put their foot on the ball. Mangere equalised and then went ahead 4-3 with two well taken goals. With fifteen minutes to go, Thornton sent the home crowd into raptures with a 20 yard volley into the corner of the net. However Mangere had not read the script and broke away to score again to make it 5-4 Mangere. Waiuku were not finished and with three minutes left on the clock, Mitchell Thomasen and Caine Robbie combined to win a corner. Captain Chris Bullen floated over the corner which Thornton met with a diving header however it was cleared off the line by a Mangere defender. The ball fell to Shane Oliver who put the ball back into the Mangere area and after a goalmouth scramble, Sutton was there to put the game into extra time. 5-5.

Extra time was played out with caution as both teams didnt want to give the ball away and the teams went into a penalty shoot out. The first penalty was taken by Mangere and Phil van den Broek got down and saved brilliantly with his left. Up stepped captain Bluebeard who took his penalty nicely to put his team in front. No one else missed as first Thornton, Ruygrok and Sutton kept Waiuku in front. Then Oliver stepped up to take the final and decisive penalty and he slotted it home to spark the celebrations.

Ken Nicoll got man of the match for a superb marking role in the backline.

Team: Phil van den Broek, Ken Nicoll, Dion Potter, Sean Dunn (Shane Oliver 80), Caine Robbie (Jason Heather 115), Chris Bullen (c), Mitch Thomasen, Owen Hill, Nich Rygrok, Robert Thornton, Luke Sutton