Central United FC

by Jeremy Ruane

Glenfield Rovers, fielded five ASB Premiership stars in their tie at Kiwitea Street, and when Richard Beard tapped home the rebound after Steven Holloway had hit the post in the fifth minute, it looked as if the Lotto Northern Premier League leaders were on their way to victory.

But Central United have a tremendous pedigree in the ASB Chatham Cup, having won it five times. And despite fielding a youth-laden side – five players are eligible for the NZ U-20 squad – bolstered by two ASB Premiership stars in Ivan Vicelich and Emiliano Tade, they fought their way back into the contest, with the Argentinian goal-getter netting the equaliser three minutes before half-time.

Central’s hopes suffered a setback, however, when Adam Mitchell was sent off on the hour for a professional foul just outside the penalty area. Rovers were unable to take advantage from the free-kick, but all the stars seemed to be lined up for the visitors when Tamati Williams saved Tade’s penalty five minutes later.

Even when Mike Gwyther had a goal disallowed for offside eighteen minutes from time, victory for the eleven men appeared likely, but their numerically challenged opponents had a shock in store for their table-topping counterparts – two, in fact.

The first saw Tade’s 86th minute shot take a deflection off AJ O’Toole to leave Williams beaten all ends up and hand Central the lead for the first time in the contest. Cue all-out assault from Glenfield as they sought a late equaliser, but it was all for nought.

For they were caught on the counter-attack in stoppage time, James Hoyt wrapping up a famous come-from-behind 3-1 victory for Central, who have now reached the ASB Chatham Cup quarter-finals in thirteen of the last eighteen years – a level of consistency and sustained achievement which money just can’t buy.

Central United 3 (E. Tade (42, 86), J. Hoyt (90)),
Glenfield Rovers 1 (R. Beard (5)) HT 1-1

by Jeremy Ruane

One of the all-time-great comebacks in ASB Chatham Cup history was the talk of the land on June 15, twenty-four hours after a major boilover saw the reigning Lotto Northern Premier League champions rolled by the current Second Division leaders.

Central United’s stunning 4-3 fightback win over Birkenhead United crowned a real black Friday weekend for clubs in the Northern Football Federation, four of whom crashed out of the competition despite enjoying home advantage in their fourth round ties.

Birkenhead were 3-0 up and cruising just after the hour mark in the tie of the round at Shepherds Park, two Jack Hobson-McVeigh free-kicks sandwiching a Rory Turner strike against opponents who had been reduced to ten men by the dismissal, moments after half-time, of midfielder Dae Wook Kim for committing two bookable offences.

Cue the comeback, with Central drawing level six minutes from time as Emiliano Tade completed the rare feat of a hat-trick of penalties, his twelve yard treble coming in the space of just nineteen minutes.

That set up a grandstand finish, with both teams going all out for a winner in an effort to avoid an additional thirty minutes of action. Deep in stoppage time, Nic Zambrano supplied it, completing a “cen-sational” fightback by the visitors, who moved into the last sixteen in the competition thanks to this remarkable triumph.

Team:
1 Jacob Spoonley, 3 Nick Dale (70th min 11 Mario Ilich), 4 Joseph Dawkins, 5 Adam Mitchell, 8 Dean Lausev, 9 Regont Murati (52nd min 7 Jordan Roberts), 10 Karl Reimann (75th min 12 Nicolas Zambrano), 16 Daewook Kim, 19 James Hoyt, 20 Emiliano Tade, 21 Finn Cochran

Substitutes not used:- 18 Maro Bonsu, 22 Keegan Ashdown-Inia

Scorers:- Emiliano Tade 3 (pens), Nicolas Zambrano