Soccer: Metro hearts shattered in Chatham Cup thriller

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Four pulsating quarter-finals - interwoven with varying dollops of drama - confirmed yesterday that Chatham Cup soccer is alive and kicking.

When the dust finally settled, only Central United will be there to carry Auckland hopes when the draw for the August 20 semifinals is made on Wednesday.

Gone are Ansett national club championship leaders University/Mt Wellington, three-time cup-winners Waitakere City and a plucky Metro side.

Chasing their first cup triumph, Metro were cruising after fighting back from 0-1 to lead Central 3-1 with 17 minutes to play. Ahead by the same score five minutes from time it was, surely, in the bag.

But the home side lifted. Veteran Fred de Jong grabbed one, rising star Miro Major another - his second following a seventh-minute penalty - and then, 57 seconds into time added on, substitute Stephen Mack smacked the winner.

Metro hearts were broken.

Inspirational player-coach Sean Hird, who had toiled tirelessly in the Metro midfield, was shattered.

"I've never played in a cup tie like that," he said as he dragged himself from the Kiwitea St pitch to join disconsolate team-mates. "And I hope I never do again."

Hird was the standout in the Metro side, with solid back-up efforts from Rab McNeil, goalkeeper Grant Schofield, James Pritchett and Sakdy Phommahaxay.

Hird's 17th-minute penalty - after Gareth Rowe had brought down Danny McHenery - got the visitors back to 1-1 after Major's earlier success when Jason New was fouled by Hird. The visitors went ahead eight minutes into the second spell when McNeil added the telling touch following a comedy of errors in front of the Central goal.

Twenty minutes later, with his first touch after replacing McNeil, substitute Graeme Green intercepted a poor ball across the face of the Central goal to score.

Content to sit back and soak up anything Central tossed at them, Metro should have coasted home.

Instead, de Jong, who last won a cup-winner's medal in 1983 with Mt Wellington, was able to urge his Central team-mates back on the right planet and set them on the path for a most unlikely victory.

In a cracking game at Park Island, Napier City Rovers and Waitakere went at each other hammer and tongs, with the only goal of the match coming from Napier's well-travelled Jimmy Cudd eight minutes from time.

The scoring was over but not the action as a late fracas saw Napier's Chris McIvor and Ricki Ravenhill, and Waitakere's Ryan Dawkins sent packing by referee Peter O'Leary.

Kara Waetford had University/Mt Wellington ahead after just four minutes in Dunedin. It was not until the 69th minute that unsung hero Jonathan Smith got the home side back on terms.

Mads Svenstrup grabbed the winner 15 minutes from time to continue Dunedin Technical's long unbeaten run and end their opponent's 12-match unbeaten streak.

Miramar Rangers needed extra time to see off non-league Wellington United 4-2 after United had taken the early lead and Duncan Oughton had sent the game into extra time with a 71st-minute equaliser.