Coastal Spirit were knocked out of the National Women's Cup football championship when beaten 2-0 in the semifinal by Three Kings United in wet conditions in Auckland yesterday.

Coastal were chasing back-to-back final appearances and it was their first defeat in 18 games this season.

Jeese Mathews scored both goals, the first on halftime and the second from a corner with nine minutes remaining.

Coastal's technical adviser, Gareth Turnbull, was disappointed with the outcome.

"It looked like the first half would be scoreless but we conceded in the only minute of added time, with the ball going into the net and seconds later the ref blew for halftime.

“Their second goal came from a corner which we failed to clear, just after we had a good period of play," Turnbull said.

It will be Three King's sixth cup final appearance.

In the men's Mainland Premier league leaders Ferrymead Bays beat bottom-placed Christchurch United 3-1, to move to 32 points, Nelson Suburbs came from behind at home to overcome Halswell 4-1, with Cashmere Technical edging Coastal Spirit 1-0.

Suburbs and Technical are both five points behind Bays. Western eased their relegation worries when defeating fellow cellar dwellers FC Twenty11 3-1, with Western remaining third from bottom on 16 points, four clear of FC with United a further two points adrift.

At English Park Western's Alex Pax set up Jayden Richard after 27 minutes. Brandon Wither then equalised for FC 2011 with a stunning 40-metre strike just after the break. Western wrapped up the win with goals to Daniel Moir and Pax, with the latter flying out yesterday to trial at Polish club Lechia Gdansk.

A double from Wiremu Piercey saw Bays in control over United although Chris Chick reduced the margin. Russell Kamo restored the two-goal margin in added time. A goal from Andy Barton early in the second half was the difference between Technical and Coastal in their clash.

Steve McRae gave Halswell the lead against Suburbs before Ben Wright and Erik Panzer scored for the home side in the final minutes of the opening half with further goals to Denis Ifunana and Alex Ridsdale after the break.

In the women's league, FC Twenty11 over-ran Cashmere Technical 7-2 with Rachel Brodie bagging four goals, the win lifting FC into third place ahead of Technical with Western defeating University 2-0.

RESULTS

ASB Women's Knock Out Cup - Semifinal: Three Kings United 2 (Jesse Mathews 2) Coastal Spirit 0. HT: 1-0. Mainland Premier League: Coastal Spirit 0 Cashmere Technical 1 (Andy Barton) HT: 0-0; Ferrymead Bays 3 (Wiremu Piercey 2, Russell Kamo) Christchurch United 1 (Chris Chick) HT: 1-0; Western 3 (Jayden Richards, Daniel Moir, Alex Pax) FC Twenty11 1 (Brandon Wither) HT: 1-0; Nelson Suburbs 2 (Ben Wright, Erik Panzer, Denis Ifunaoa, Alex Ridsdale) Halswell 1 (Steve McRae) HT: 2-1.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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