A weekend full of goals for the Wellington Phoenix academy.
In the Dettol Central League, the men’s reserves recorded a statement 6-0 win away to Upper Hutt City.
Daniel Makowem opened the scoring, before Ryan Lee and Lachlan Candy put the Nix three ahead at halftime.
Lee’s second, plus late strikes from Mac Munro and Ryan Watson rounded out the scoring.
The result keeps them firmly in the title race, four points behind leaders Wellington Olympic with eight matches to play.
The U18 women suffered a blow in their own title race, losing 2-1 to top-of-the-table Wellington United.
Bridie Christie’s goal had levelled the score before the break, but an early second-half goal for United meant the Phoenix remained in second place.
The U18 men recorded a comfortable 5-1 win over Victoria University, Jack Perniskie’s quickfire double putting them on track.
Samuel Law, Alessandro Marchesse, and Grayson Lunman scored the others.
In the Capital 1 division, Harry Grosso’s goal wasn’t enough to overcome Miramar, who beat the U16 boy’s side 2-1.
However, the U16 girls had a huge win, overcoming high-flying Te Kotahitanga 5-3.
Florence George, Victoria George, Piper Rickey, and Matilda Smith were all on the scoresheet, with Smith nabbing a brace.
And both the U15 and U14 boys sides secured crushing victories against Stop Out.
A remarkable four goal haul for Jack Clegg, plus a Zach Cashmore hattrick, led the U15’s 9-2 win, with Charlie Farac and Bilal Kusuma adding the extras.
Clegg’s feat was matched by Tristan Bancroft, who also scored four for the U14 boys.
Zeko Mouroukis, Harper Norman, Tawanda Mutingwende, and an own goal made it a final score of 8-0.
The Kate Sheppard Cup returns this weekend, with the women’s reserves travelling to Wellington United in a massive round of 16 matchup.
Both the U16 boys and U16 girls play Upper Hutt City. The U15 boys host Petone, and the U14 boys face Greytown FC.
Cover photo credit: AW Media
