The 2024 Chatham Cup final was a football match played at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, on 7 September 2024 to determine the winners of the 2024 Chatham Cup. It was the 96th final of New Zealand football's primary cup competition, the Chatham Cup.
The final was contested between current National League champions Wellington Olympic and rivals Auckland City, who are current the OFC Champions League holders. This was the first time these two sides have met in the final.
Route to the final
Wellington Olympic +Wellington Olympic's route to the finalRoundOppositionScore2Seatoun ()4–03Western Suburbs ()5–04Stop Out ()8–0QFManurewa ()4–0SFCoastal Spirit ()5–1Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue This was Olympic's third final. The club previously lost in 1994 and won in 2009.
As a Central League team, Wellington Olympic entered the tournament in round 2. They began their campaign with a 4–0 home win over Seatoun with a brace from Kaelin Nguyen and goals from Joel Coustrain and Oliver Davies. They next recorded a 5–0 home win over Western Suburbs at Wakefield Park with two goals for United from Coustrain, plus goals from Ben Mata, Jack-Henry Sinclair and Isa Prins. In round 4, Olympic hosted and defeated Stop Out Sports Club 8–0 with hat-tricks coming from Mata and Gianni Bouzoukis along with goals from Isa Prins and Edward Wilkinson.
In the quarter-finals, Olympic defeated Manurewa 4–0 at their home ground, Wakefield Park with a brace from Hamish Watson and goals from Ben Mata and Kaelin Nguyen.
In the semi-final match, held at Coastal Spirit's Linfield Park in Christchurch, Olympic won 5–1. Watson grabbed another brace, while Sinclair and Prins also bagged a goal each.
Auckland City +Auckland City's route to the finalRoundOppositionScore2Metro (H)5–03Hamilton Wanderers (H)2–14Cambridge (A)4–1QFOtago University (A)5–1SFBirkenhead United (H)4–2 Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue This was Auckland City's second final. The club previously won in 2022.
Auckland City also entered the tournament in round 2, as a Northern League team. They began with a 5–0 home victory over Metro at Kiwitea Street with two goals for City from Cam Howieson, and one each from Gerard Garriga, Ryan de Vries and Angus Kilkolly. They then defeated Hamilton Wanderers at home in round 3 in a 2–1 victory with goals for City from Liam Gillion and Angus Kilkolly. In round 4, they beat Cambridge 4–1 away at John Kerkhof Park with a goal each from Gerard Garriga, Christian Gray, Angus Kilkolly and Regont Murati.
In the quarter-final match, Auckland City faced Otago University at Logan Park, Dunedin, where they came out 5–1 winners, with a hat-trick for City from Angus Kilkolly, a goal from Derek Tieku, and an own goal from Milo McBride. In the semi-final match, held at Kiwitea Street, Auckland City defeated Birkenhead United 4–2 after extra time to qualify for their second Chatham Cup final with another hat-trick from Angus Kilkolly and a goal from Ryan de Vries.
Pre-match New Zealand Football confirmed that the 2024 final would begin at 19:00, a change from the usual afternoon kick-off time so as not to clash with local football.
Broadcasting The final was shown live on FIFA+.
Match Summary After a goalless first half, Wellington Olympic took the lead in the 77th minute through a Nathan Lobo own goal. Derek Tieku and Isa Prins also scored goals in added time but these were both ruled out for offside. In the 6th minute of added time Stipe Ukich headed in an equalizer from a Joe Lee cross to take the game to extra time. After a few chances in extra time the score was left unchanged at 1–1. Wellington Olympic scored all of their penalties and won after Scott Basalaj saved Tong Zhou's retaken penalty.
Details
GK 1 Scott Basalaj RB 15 Ben Mata (c) CB 5 Justin Gulley CB 8 Jonty Roubos LB 3 Adam Supyk CM 6 Luke Tongue CM 11 Edward Wilkinson CM 20 Tamupiwa Dimairo RW 14 Jack-Henry Sinclair CF 10 Gianni Bouzoukis LW 9 Hamish WatsonSubstitutes: GK 41 Matthew King DF 2 Gabiriele Matanisiga MF 23 Gavin Hoy MF 25 Joel Coustrain MF 26 Isa Prins MF 28 William Vincent FW 7 Kaelin Nguyen Manager: Paul Ifill GK 1 Conor Tracey RB 3 Adam Mitchell (c) CB 25 Michael den Heijer CB 12 Regont Murati LB 13 Nathan Lobo CM 6 Kailan Gould CM 16 Joseph Lee CM 8 Gerard Garriga RW 27 Stipe Ukich CF 11 Ryan De Vries LW 9 Angus Kilkolly Substitutes: GK 18 Areya Prasad DF 4 Christian Gray DF 21 Adam Bell DF 22 Tong Zhou MF 2 Mario Ilich MF 23 Matt Matanyayire FW 20 Derek Tieku Manager: Albert Riera
Man of the Match: Stipe Ukich (Auckland City)
Assistant referees: Isaac Trevis Ashton Davenport Fourth official: Riley GreenburyMatch rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Nine named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time
Post-match Following the match, Albert Riera was happy with the way City conducted themselves throughout the match stating: "I am extremely happy to be fair. Obviously I am sad like the players that we've lost this final. But the way we played this game without speculating, going at them, controlling a lot of good things against a very dangerous team... we've been fantastic. I'm very proud of them." He also addressed that he has been in Zhou's position, missing the decisive penalty in the 2017 Chatham Cup final.
With his team's victory, Paul Ifill won back to back Chatham Cup's after winning on penalties with Christchurch United last year.
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