Cambridge’s Rachel Hill tackles a Matamata Swifts defender. Photo – Louis Roberts.
Cambridge’s women’s football team are only one game away from reaching their fourth Waikato Women’s Cup final in six seasons.
The team will travel to Claudelands Rovers for their semi-final of this year’s cup, to be played at Hamilton’s Galloway Park on Sunday August 12. The match will bring together two clubs with an excellent recent record in the competition.
In 2013, Claudelands Rovers beat Cambridge in the final but a year later, Cambridge turned the tables, bringing the 2014 trophy back to John Kerkhof Park. Cambridge were also beaten finalists in 2015 and reached the final of the Waikato Plate in 2016. This year, the Cambridge women have reached the last four with a 5-0 win against Matamata Swifts in the first round, and a 3-2 victory against Tokoroa in the quarter finals.
The winners of the Claudelands Rovers-Cambridge semi-final will play the winners of West Hamilton United and Melville United’s Development team.
Cambridge are also one of the title contenders in this year’s Waikato A division, having drawn their latest game 0-0 in a local derby with Matamata Swifts on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Northern League football returns to John Kerkhof Park this weekend when the Reds host third-placed Albany United.
Cambridge had a bye on Saturday and need points against the Aucklanders to pull clear of a congested pack of clubs hovering too close for comfort to the relegation zone.
The Reds play Albany at 3pm on Saturday. The Reds second team – who have a three-point lead in the Lotto NRFL reserves league – kick off at 12.30pm.
On the weekend, the club’s team in the Loaded WaiBOP Championship lost 4-0 to league leaders Ngaruawahia United. Cambridge’s Waikato A men’s team lost by the same scoreline to Otorohanga. However, both of the club’s Waikato D teams had more success.
The D1s went into their game against Northern United Seniles knowing whichever side won would take the initiative in the race for the divisional title. Cambridge went behind 1-0 in the first half but second half goals from leading scorer Dave O’Donnell and Fabian Burgos ensured the points went to the visitors with a 2-1 victory.
Cambridge D1s now have 25 points from their 11 competition games while Northern United Seniles have 22 points, having played one game more.
The D2s beat Northern United’s other division D team, the Gaffers, 5-1. Scorers for the D2s were Andy Kemp, Quinn Dickey (from a smartly taken free kick), Shaun Kemp, Andrew Myers and Liam Storey, who chipped the ‘keeper from outside the box.
