Wellington Olympic beat Auckland City in penalty shootout to lift ...

A drama-laden Chatham Cup final has been won by Central League champions Wellington Olympic, who needed a penalty shootout to beat arch-rivals Auckland City.

Level 1-1 after extra time, Olympic scored their five penalties before goalkeeper Scott Basalaj saved Tong Zhou’s spot kick to the delight of his club’s travelling fans at Albany’s North Harbour Stadium.

Main photo: The winning Wellington Olympic team with their trophy.

The game was full of incidents, including an own goal, a stoppage time equaliser by 17-year-old Stipe Ukich, disallowed goals and, of course, the penalties.

For Olympic’s director of football, Paul Ifill, the game had much in common with the 2023 which his Christchurch United side also won on penalties, against Melville United.

Considering the drama to come, the first half was relatively tame, with both sides taking a cautious approach.

Auckland City focussed on keeping possession; Olympic sat deep, willing to absorb pressure and look to break when they got the chance.

The first clear goal opportunity fell to Olympic’s Eddie Wilkinson who fired a shot over the crossbar on the half hour. Soon after, City’s Ryan De Vries curled a left-footed shot wide of the Olympic post.

Turning round at 0-0, both sides increased the intensity as the second half rolled out.

In the 55th minute, Olympic’s Jonty Roubos forced an outstanding save from City goalkeeper Conor Tracey.

Eight minutes later, City striker Angus Kilkolly — who had scored in every round of this year’s cup — blasted a shot from 30 metres over the bar.

In the 72nd minute, City’s Joe Lee struck a sweet shot against the Olympic cross bar with ‘keeper Basalaj well beaten.

City’s Nathan Lobo (13) scored an own goal to give Olympic the lead.

Olympic took the lead in the 77th minute when substitute Isa Prins found ample space on the left and fired in a beguiling cross that caught City defender Nathan Lobo off balance and the ball rebounded into his own net.

Prins continued to stretch the Aucklanders’ defence and he curled a beautifully-placed cross into the path of Jack-Henry Sinclair whose shot whistled wide of the post.

As the game entered stoppage time, City threw players forward and they went close to levelling the score.

Stipe Ukich, who was lively all night, had a header cleared off the line by Sinclair.

Then, substitute Derek Tieku found the net, only to have it ruled out for offside.

Basalaj quickly hoofed a long ball deep into City territory for Prins to scramble the ball into the goal. But again, referee Luke Gardner ruled out the effort for an offside.

As added time ran down, Ukich scored the equaliser with a powerful header, to the relief of his teammates.

In extra time, both sides had their chances.

In the 105th minute, Hamish Watson shot across the face of the City goal.

In the 113th minute, Ukich headed against the post, and three minutes later, he dragged a shot wide of the goal from the edge of the area.

The last chance in open play was a glancing header by Watson from a corner that just missed its target.

In the penalty shootout, Olympic’s designated penalty takers all found the net — captain Ben Mata, Justin Gulley, Isa Prins, Gavin Hoy and Hamish Watson.

For City, Michael Den Heijer, Stipe Ukich, Mario Ilich and Derek Tieku scored.

Tong Zhou’s spot kick was saved by Basalaj but referee Luke Gardner ruled the ‘keeper had moved off his line, and ordered the penalty to be retaken.

Basalaj dived the right way again, saving the shot, and giving Olympic their first Chatham Cup win since 2009.

A jubiliant Scott Basalaj is congratulated by teammates at the end of the penalty shootout. Result

Game played on Saturday September 7, 2024

Final

Wellington Olympic 1 (own goal 77′) Auckland City 1 (Stipe Ukich 90+6′) *Olympic win penalty shootout 5-4 after extra time

Line-ups

Wellington Olympic

Scott Basalaj, Adam Supyk (William Vincent 90′), Justin Gulley, Luke Tongue (Gavin Hoy 62′), Jonty Roubos, Hamish Watson, Gianni Bouzoukis (Isa Prins 73′), Edward Wilkinson (Kaelin Nguyen 83′), Jack-Henry Sinclair (Joel Coustrain 106′), Ben Mata, Tam Dimairo.

Subs not used: Matthew King, Gabiriele Matanisiga.

Auckland City

Conor Tracey, Adam Mitchell, Kailan Gould (Tong Zhou 80′), Gerard Garriga, Angus Kilkolly (Derek Tieku, 86′), Ryan De Vries, Regont Murati (Mario Ilich 80′), Nathan Lobo (Matt Matanyayire 90+2′), Joe Lee (Christian Gray 95′), Michael Den Heijer, Stipe Ukich

Subs not used: Areya Prasad, Adam Bell.

Officials

Referee: Luke Gardner Assistant referees: Isaac Trevis, Ashton Davenport Fourth official: Riley Greenbury

All the past winners — Chatham Cup

This story was first published on September 7, 2024

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