Coastal Spirit SAS retained the Morrison Mitsubishi Reta Fitzpatrick Cup when they defeated Universities 6 – 0 in the final before a very vocal and colourful crowd at English Park on Saturday evening.The win was the third on end and the tenth since the Reta Fitzpatrick Cup was first introduced in 2005, replacing the former Knockout Cup, with the win making it a clean sweep of the silverware after Coastal had already claimed both the New World Mainland Premier League and the inaugural South Island Championship.

Coastal took control of the game early on when scoring twice in the space of two minutes from two Lauren Dabner corners which were headed home by Whitney Hepburn who was celebrating her 200th game for the club. Hepburn completed her hat-trick just before the break. It was not all one-way traffic with Universities, Tessa Burns and Jasmine Donald leading the way. Within a minute of being subbed on Laura Newman scored from another Coastal corner. In the final five minutes the score blew out with Mel Cameron increasing the lead when breaking clear with the final goal coming from a long-range strike from sub, Britney-Lee Nicholson. Hepburn capped of a memorable day when being named MVP of the Final.

Both sets of fans were in fine form with flags with a large group of Universities fans arriving after the kick-off after their bus was involved in a minor accident prior to pick-up meaning a replacement bus was needed.

Scorers   

Coastal Spirits SAS 6 (Whitney Hepburn 3, Laura Newman, Mel Cameron, Britney-Lee Nicholson)
Universities 0
HT 3 - 0

Tight Race In Women’s CPL

The race for the New World Women’s Canterbury Premier League has tightened after the latest round. Christchurch United returned to the top of the table when they defeated fellow CCL side Cashmere Technical 3 – 0, with Monique Barker, Rachel Brodie and Jennifer Merkin all scoring after the break. In the other all CCL clash Halswell picked up the highest away win of the league when accounting for Coastal Spirit SAS 6 – 0, with Emily Cooper and Marcella both claiming a brace to ensure the Hawks remained unbeaten. The game between Selwyn and Universities was postponed due to Universities playing in the Reta Fitzpatrick Final with Nomads having the ‘bye’.

Article added: Monday 15 August 2022