Miramar and Olympic through

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

IN CONTROL: Wellington Olympic player Jimmy Haidakis heads the ball over Waterside Karori's Shannon Minett.

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Wellington Olympic and Miramar Rangers will fly the flag for Wellington in the Chatham Cup quarterfinals but they took vastly different routes in getting there.

Miramar blazed six goals past hapless Central League foes Wellington United in a 6-1 thrashing on Saturday but Olympic were given a fright by capital premier leaguers Waterside-Karori yesterday, eventually scoring two second half goals to prevail 2-1.

They join northern teams Waitakere City, Three Kings United, Manurewa and Forrest Hill Milford, Dunedin club Caversham, and Nelson Suburbs in the final eight.

At David Farrington Park, Olympic were dominant throughout but a combination of poor finishing, resolute Waterside-Karori defence and a string of fine saves from ex-national league stopper Mark Fulcher frustrated them.

Wharfies took a shock lead over the unbeaten Central League outfit when veteran striker Sam Buckle pounced on a defensive lapse, kept his poise superbly, and rounded Nick van Hattum to score after 17 minutes.

Olympic botched two seemingly unmissable chances in the first half and started the second in similar fashion before some nice play down the right from Jimmy Hadaikis laid on two quick goals for Mikey Halikias, the winner coming with 15 minutes left.

"We missed quite a few opportunities, which almost cost us, but luckily we rolled up and got some goals," Olympic midfielder George Barbarouses said. "The first half was one of our better halves of the season but it just didn't happen for us. We had to stay positive and it was actually the Jimmy and Mikey combo again."

Miramar killed off their round four match by halftime after racing to a 4-0 lead against Wellington United, also at David Farrington Park.

Dom Rowe scored inside two minutes and added a second goal after halftime, while Michael Eager, Bryan Little and Peter Halstead also got on the scoresheet. "I thought it was an average performance, but efficient," Miramar coach John Cameron said. "They put a lot of players behind the ball so we had to work hard, but as a spectacle some of the goals were very good."

Bryan Little is taking some time off but his loss will be offset by the addition of All White Andy Barron, who has transferred from Petone. Graham Little has also come out of retirement for the cup run, and played 20 minutes on Saturday.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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