Anzac Day’s Ultra Football Central League action has done little to separate the top sides, while Havelock North Wanderers pulled off the shock of the season so far to get off the bottom of the ladder.

Napier City Rovers took a one-point lead at the top of the table thanks to a 2-1 win over Stop Out at Hutt Park.

They had the ball in the back of the net within 35 seconds of kickoff, but Martin Bueno was adjudged to be offside before he latched onto a through ball.

The frenetic early action also saw Stop Out’s Luke Grindlay attempt to deflect a low cross in after finding space in the box, but his touch let him down and the ball sliced wide.

The match settled from there, with Napier creating the better chances in the first half.

Bueno opened the scoring eight minutes before halftime when turning home a simple cross from the edge of the six-yard box.

Napier doubled their lead three minutes into the second half as captain Josh Stevenson headed home a cross from the left.

The visitors continued to have more clear-cut chances, with Sho Goto twice guilty of squandering one-on-one chances when hesitating on his right foot.

Stop Out got a goal back with five minutes to go. Cherbel Khouchaba was good in the leadup, putting Steven Gulley clear into the box. He crossed low to the back post for Jared Mitchell to finish at the near post.

Stop Out’s charge was ended in stoppage time when Jordan Martens was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Wests continued their unbeaten start with a 3-0 win over Wellington Olympic to sit one point behind Napier in second.

Eli Just got the only goal of the first half with a top-drawer strike, before scoring a tap-in 10 minutes into the second. Mohamed Awad iced the match with a sublime chip with 10 minutes to go.

Havelock North caused a genuine boilover when hammering Wairarapa United 6-2 at Guthrie Park.

With the scores locked at 2-2 in the 63rd-minute, Solomon Islands international Gagame Feni stepped up to score a hat-trick in the time remaining to earn his side’s first win of the season against last year’s runner-up.

Wellington United condemned Waterside Karori to the bottom of the ladder with a 5-3 win at Newtown Park as Willem Ebbinge and Henry Hamilton both bagged braces.

Lower Hutt City and Miramar Rangers played out a 1-1 draw.


In the Capital Premier division, there were a pair of thrilling battles at the top of the table as North Wellington and Petone both won 4-3.

Leaders North Wellington had a Maksym Kowal hat-trick to thank for their win over Island Bay United, while Petone got out of jail against Wests’ reserves with an injury-time winner to Ta Eh Doe, having led 3-1 with 10 minutes to go.

In other results, Miramar’s reserves beat Olympic’s reserves 3-0, Upper Hutt City drew with Lower Hutt’s reserves 1-1 and last-placed Kapiti Coast United got their first win of the season when thrashing Tawa 5-1.


Results

Ultra Football Central League round five

Napier City Rovers 2 (Martin Bueno 37’, Josh Stevenson 48’) Stop Out 1 (Jared Mitchell 85’). HT: 1-0
Western Suburbs 3 (Eli Just 28’ 56’, Mohamed Awad 81’) Wellington Olympic 0. HT: 1-0
Wellington United 5 (Henry Hamilton 5’ 35’, Willem Ebbinge 56’ 90+2’,  Max Batchelor 18’) Waterside Karori 3 (Ryan Cain 42’ 65’, Nick Lane 32’). HT: 3-2
Lower Hutt City 1 (Sam Johnson 65’) Miramar Rangers (Merlin Luke-Miny 29’). HT: 0-1.
Havelock North Wanderers (Gagame Feni 63’ 75’ 90+5’, Liam Shackleton 5’ Chris Greatholder 17’, Ethan Dent 71’) Wairarapa United 2 (Paul Ifill 34’, Shakille Belle 51’). HT: 2-1

Golden Boot leaders: 6: Calvin Harris (Wellington); 5: Martin Bueno (Napier), Willem Ebbinge (Wellington), Eli Just (Wests)

Standings: Napier 12, Wests 11, Wellington 9*, Stop Out 9, Olympic 9, Wairarapa 7, Lower Hutt 5*, Miramar 4, Havelock North 3, Karori 0. *game in hand


Capital Premier round five

North Wellington 4 (Maksym Kowal 29’ 36’ 75’, Jonty Bilderbeck 47’) Island Bay United 3 (Jesse Randall 38’ 45’, Luciano Colucci 17’). HT: 2-2
Lower Hutt City 1 (Cameron Roberts 45+2’) Upper Hutt City 1 (Sam Rausch 39’). HT: 1-1
Petone 4 (James Murdoch-Gibbs 21’, Jeremy Field 39’, Benjamin Field 45’, Ta Eh Doe 90’) Western Suburbs 3 (Cameron MacKenzie 33’ 80’, Jameel Ali 90’). HT: 3-1
Kapiti Coast United 5 (Dylan Hayes 63’ 77’ 85’, Stuart Lawrie 43’, Magno Vieira 48’) Tawa 1 (Lachlan Hill 86’). HT: 1-0
Miramar Rangers 3 (Rueben Thurston 7’ Shea Gormley 41’, Taban Dier 74’) Wellington Olympic 0. HT: 2-0

Standings: North Wellington 13, Miramar 10, Petone 10, Island Bay 7, Lower Hutt 7, Wests 6, Tawa 5, Upper Hutt 5, Olympic 4, Kapiti 3