The Waitakere United Sentinel
Match28 Dec 2026
Every point is an argument now for Waitakere United
Position 6 and 8 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Market28 Dec 2026
Marco Sutton hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Waitakere United can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Liberato Wood, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.72
A mark of 7.72 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Ryan Boxall says Waitakere United went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad28 Dec 2026
The step up is real for Monty Singh
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Waitakere United
Liberato Wood and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Dec 2026
WaiBOP United take the points off Waitakere United
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Matt Garbett left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Tom King asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
In brief
- The dugout Somebody else is better right now than Ryan Lewis
- Market Stephen Walker linked with a move away
- Player ratings Francis Waine runs at them all day