The opening round of the regional phase of the boys’ Youth National League was a successful one for the Wellington Phoenix U17s.
The Phoenix hosted Petone FC on Friday night, storming to a 7-0 victory.
A first-half hat trick from Jack Perniskie got the Nix off to a flyer.
Perniskie recently featured for New Zealand at the U16 OFC Championship, scoring against the Cook Islands.
Kyle Koch and Luqman Abrahim also netted before half-time to give the Phoenix a 5-0 lead at the break.
Riley Allison then bagged a sixth, before Koch made it a brace late on to wrap up the scoring.
The format of the regional phase sees two pools drawn for the Central region, where the Phoenix have been placed in group B.
The three best teams from across the two pools will qualify for the Youth National League, of which the Wellington Phoenix academy are the reigning champions.
Their next game is against FC Western at 12pm on Saturday, 21 September at Petone Memorial Park.
The coming weekend will also see the girls’ academy team begin their Youth National League campaign at the regional phase.
Meanwhile, the senior National League will kick off for both men’s and women’s Wellington Phoenix reserves the weekend of Saturday, 28 September.
