There will be no Cinderellas in New Zealand football's Chatham Cup this season.
The semifinal lineup features four clubs - Auckland City, Birkenhead United, Wellington Olympic and Coastal Spirit - all currently sitting in the top-two in their NZF National League regional leagues.
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Defending National League champions Wellington Olympic and 2022 Cup winners Auckland City had little trouble in their quarterfinals to advance to the last four of the national knockout competition.
Angus Kilkolly netted a hat-trick and new recruit Derek Tieku also scored in City's 5-1 victory over Otago University on the artificial turf at Dunedin's Logan Park on Saturday night, in a match that featured a 45-minute delay after the lights went out..
Kilkolly and Tieku scored late in the first half for a 2-0 lead, before the Students pulled one back in stoppage-time. Kilkolly secured the result with goals in the 51st and 87th minutes and went close on two other occasions.
Kilkolly has scored in all four of City's Chatham Cup matches, with six goals in the competition and eight overall this season.
Former Wellington Phoenix striker Hamish Watson scored a goal in each half in Central League-leading Olympic's 4-0 win over Manurewa at Wellington's Wakefield Park on Saturday.
Watson found the back of the net in the 44th and 59th minutes, with a goal from captain Ben Mata in between, before Manurewa lost midfielder Eber Ramirez to a straight red card in the 69th minute.
Birkenhead, second in the Northern League behind City, held off Napier City Rovers 2-1 at Napier's Bluewater Stadium on Sunday. Corban Piper and Monty Patterson gave the visitors a 2-0 lead after 33 minutes, while Napier City's goal came from J Albertini in the first minute of the second half.
In the match of the round, Coastal Spirit, second in the Southern League, escaped Whangaparoa with 6-5 shootout victory over Hibiscus Coast, after a 2-2 draw at full-time and 3-3 after extra-time.
Joe Hoole scored two equalising goals for Coastal - in the 55th and 112th minutes - then converted his penalty in the shootout, before Satsumi Hirano buried the winning spot-kick.
In NRFL Women's Premier, West Coast Rangers became the second club to qualify for the Women's National League Championship, joining Auckland United, after defeating Hibiscus Coast 3-0 in Round 16 on Sunday.
With five rounds remaining, third-placed Fencibles United got the jump on Eastern Suburbs and Western Springs in the race for the last two berths in the Women's NLC.
Fencibles defeated Hamilton Wanderers 2-0 at Porritt Stadium to move three points clear in third, while Springs beat Suburbs 2-1 on Megan Lee's 68th minute to pull within a point.
United maintained their six-point lead over Rangers atop the league with a 2-0 victory over Ellerslie on Sunday.
CHATHAM CUP RESULTS - QUARTERFINALS
Coastal Spirit 3 (6) Hibiscus Coast 3 (5)
Wellington Olympic 4 Manurewa 0
Auckland City 5 Otago University 1
Birkenhead United 2 Napier City Rovers 1
NZF NATIONAL LEAGUE RESULTS
NORTHERN LEAGUE - ROUND 17
Auckland City 2 West Coast Rangers 1
Hamilton Wanderers 2 East Coast Bays 2
Western Springs 4 Tauranga City 1
Auckland United 1 Melville United 0
NRFL WOMEN'S PREMIER - ROUND 16
Fencibles United 2 Hamilton Wanderers 0
West Coast Rangers 3 Hibiscus Coast 0
Western Springs 2 Eastern Suburbs 1
Auckland United 2 Ellerslie 0
WOMEN'S CENTRAL LEAGUE - ROUND 10
Wellington United 1 Petone 0
Taradale 2 Palmerston North Marist 0
Waterside Karori 5 Victoria University 1
Moturoa 5 Seatoun 3
WOMEN'S SOUTH ISLAND LEAGUE - ROUND 5
Coastal Spirit 6 Roslyn Wakari 1
Otago University 2 Nelson Suburbs 0
Cashmere Technical 1 Dunedin City Royals 1
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