There were plenty of goals in the final Matchday of the 2025 Australia Cup Round of 16 as A-League sides Newcastle Jets and Auckland advanced comfortably.
Avondale also progressed to the Quarter-Finals for the first time since 2018 with an impressive 3-1 win against APIA Leichhardt.
Cooks Hill United FC 0 - 5 Newcastle Jets FC
The Jets made the most of a positive opening first 20 minutes to break the deadlock. Daniel Wilmering’s left-sided cross swung over United goalkeeper Daniel Eisenhauer and into the goal.
Newcastle continued to put pressure on the home side and doubled their lead 41 minutes in. Xavier Bertoncello found space in behind and slotted a smart finish past Eisenhauer to give the side a two-goal advantage heading into the break.
Six minutes into the second period, Newcastle added a third goal through Kota Mizunuma, who steered a low finish into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box.
Four minutes later, Ben Gibson poked home a fourth goal following a well-worked move on the right before Wilmering blasted an excellent strike in for his second goal to finish off the tie.
South Melbourne FC 0 - 3 Auckland FC
South Melbourne made a strong start to the match, eager to snatch an early advantage.
The visitors, who wore down this early pressure from their opponents, went in front within 17 minutes. Jesse Randall spun neatly inside the box, hitting a first-time shot low past goalkeeper Javier Lopez.
Auckland came out for the second half with further goals in mind. Randall notched his brace in the 58th minute, with another well-timed finish following a throw-in that dropped at the attacker’s feet in the box.
Auckland’s purposeful attack provided a third goal in the 70th minute, when Marlee Francois arrowed a bouncing strike into the right of the goal, rounding out a solid victory for Auckland.
Avondale FC 3 - 1 APIA Leichhardt FC
The hosts grabbed the lead nine minutes in. Stefan Zinni raced in behind the left channel and caressed the ball into the right side of the goal.
The away side restored parity midway through the half. Stewart whipped in an outstanding right-sided delivery to the far post for Seiya Kambayashi, who fired into the roof of the net.
An exciting first half concluded with Avondale re-establishing their lead on the stroke of half-time when Luca Tevere sent a searing free-kick into the bottom left corner.
Avondale had an opportunity to extend their lead 53 minutes from the penalty spot, but APIA goalkeeper Oliver Kalac produced an outstanding stop from Manyluak Aguek’s strike.
Aguek found his goal in the 76th minute when substitute Blake Carpenter set off on a quick-footed run down the left, hanging a ball up for the striker to volley home and secure Avondale a Quarter-Finals place.
