The Wellington Phoenix women’s reserves have earned their place in the Kate Sheppard Cup final after a 2-1 victory over Cashmere Technical.
Amber De Wit’s 90th minute winner means that the Phoenix will face Auckland United in the final, where they will have a shot at winning their first senior domestic silverware.
The Nix had the better of the game against a strong Cashmere Tech side that featured Annalie Longo, Lara Wall, and Rebecca Lake.
And they went to the break 1-0 up, after De Wit’s defence-splitting pass sent Lily Brazendale clean through to produce a tidy finish.
The Southern League side tied it up soon after halftime though, Lake rising highest at the back post to head home.
While they created plenty of chances, the academy side couldn’t find a finishing touch until right at the death, when Katie Pugh found De Wit in space at the top of the box.
She made no mistake, emphatically firing past the ‘keeper and sparking celebrations from a strongly Phoenix-supporting crowd at Fraser Park.
The Kate Sheppard Cup final will be held at North Harbour Stadium on September 7th, as part of a double header with the Chatham Cup final.
It will also be streamed live and free on FIFA+.
It was a successful weekend for the academy in general.
The men’s U18s hammered Wainuiomata 5-1, Jacob Kleinsmith leading the way with two goals.
Riley Allison, Jack Perniskie, and Dylan Tollervey also got their names on the scoresheet.
In the Central League, the women’s U18s were awarded a 3-0 win after Palmerston North Marist defaulted.
The U16 boys narrowly lost 5-3 to Upper Hutt City, despite two strikes from Finnbarr Hanrahan and a third from Kaleb McCleod.
And Ruby Barber’s brace earned a point for the U16 girls against Miramar in a 2-2 draw.
Harry Grosso, James Law, Shaina-Nashe Marahwa, and Keegan Rodwell all scored as the U15 boys beat Western Suburbs 4-2, while the U14 boys had a 0-0 stalemate against Onslow/North Wellington.
This weekend, the men’s reserves and U16 boys host North Wellington, while the women’s reserves go to Petone.
The U18 men face Wellington Marist, and then U16 girls are against Western Suburbs.
The U18 women, U15 boys, and U14 boys all play Miramar.
Cover photo credit – Photomac/Cam McIntosh
