City Youngsters Chase Chatham Cup Dream

Stand-in coach Martin Brandon, his assistant coaches Videesha Pahalu, Zoheb Khan and team manager Dinesh Chand have stepped up from the club’s U-23 and U-14 teams to guide the club against Waiheke United.

Brandon, a former Reading FC youth player, is excited by the opportunity.

“I’m fully aware of the history and significance of Chatham Cup, I relate to it like the FA Cup back in England. I was part of teams that performed very well in the FA Youth Cup growing up, and I managed to play in a couple of FA Cup ties myself, so I understand the significance and the importance of these great domestic cup competitions.”

“We want the club to advance to the next round and so do the players, they’re really highly motivated to do so.

“We see it as a tough, very tough, but winnable, fixture and with the group of lads we have, technically, I think we’ve got what it takes.

“We will have to deal with the additional physicality of playing the full men’s sides.

“This is a talented but young group of players but it’s also a wonderful opportunity for them to grasp a rare opportunity to make a first team appearance.

“They all know the senior players are away at the FIFA Club World Cup in the USA and want to do their bit to support them.

“We’ve had a tough week of training and worked on our game plan, so we have high hopes.”

In terms of working with Pahalu and Chand, Brandon is effusive in his praise for both.

“I love working with the Deesha. She’s helped me with the U-23s for the last couple of weeks and we’ve had a lot of in depth discussion regarding our football philosophies, the way the team operate, how we look out of possession of the ball, and our defensive shape and structure, the niche is very good and positive around all the players all The time.

“She and Dinesh are great to have around the dressing room.”

Chand, a former player with Ba, has been with Auckland City FC for the past three years and has made a big impact with his helpfulness, organisation and positive attitude.

“Dinesh is very good with staff and players – he’s been a massive help in the U-23, youth and first team spaces lately.

“Deesha is very, very articulate, very good at reading the game, analyzing the game whilst it’s whilst it’s on, always offering ideas on how we can sort of break down the opposition areas to exploit in possession.”

“Zoheb offers a lot of support at a time where we need to bring everyone together and give this our best shot.

“We have a big chance to test ourselves and we’re looking forward to it.

“This is a very young team with only two players with first team appearances previously in Paris and Ryan.

“For the rest, this is a brand new experience.”

The match kicks off at 2.00pm NZST at Kiwitea Street.

Ends

Match Details
Delivereasy Chatham Cup Round 3
Saturday 14 June 2025
Auckland City FC v Waiheke United
Kiwitea Street, Sandringham
Kick-off: 2.00pm NZST
Live Stream via Waiheke United YouTube Page

AC: 24. Areya PRASAD (GK), 2. Niko TARAWA (c), 3. Virhal KRISHNA, 4. Manraj SINGH, 5. Mason SHAW, 6. Paris DOMFEH, 7. 8. Bond TRAN, Ryan ELLIS, 9. Santino ELSCOLME, 10. Kane WINSTANLEY, 11. Carlos STULICH, 12. Niko CLARE, 13. Sebastien HARRIS, 15. Kaio MARTINEZ, 17. Samuel FAGAN, 18. Reon WERAHIKO (GK),

COACH: Martin BRANDON
ASSISTANT COACH: Videesha PAHALU
ASSISTANT COACH: Zoheb KHAN
TEAM MANAGER: Dinesh CHAND
PHYSIO: Alyx WHITFIELD

Watch Live: https://www.youtube.com/@waihetv604/streams