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Otago Daily Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Youthful side end City Highlanders' reign
PHOTO: ODT FILES After a reign that stretched over 900 days, the City Highlanders have ceded the Challenge Shield to the exciting, young Kings United Royals side, after falling to a 3-2 defeat. Despite the Royals heading in on top of the table and unbeaten, with the shield being up for grabs, this would be a tough test. Kings made the best possible start to the challenge though, as Madi Lobb fired home inside the first three minutes. City didn't panic though and after working a couple of penalty corners, it was one that went slightly array that got them back on level terms. After it broke down on the top, Hayley Cox went to a good old-fashioned straight hit, and it caught the Royals off-guard. The game was surprisingly open, with chances at both ends kept out by Rachael Lecky and Lily Le Brun in the second quarter, before Lobb stuck away her second just before halftime. City were not going to go down without a fight though, again equalising at penalty corner time. This one was far more routine, a spot deflection from Tessa Jopp giving Lecky next to no chance. Back on level terms, the Highlanders really began to turn the screw, dominating the rest of the third quarter and continuing it on into the fourth. They wanted the win, but equally, a draw would have been good enough for them to retain the shield. They had all the territory to start the final stanza, but one chance against the run of play was all Kings would need. They got the ball down into the attacking 25, before a hopeful diagonal took the faintest of touches off Chloe Deerness' stick, on its way into the back of the net. There was still 10 to play, but the Highlanders were beaten this time, failing to properly test Lecky before time expired. It was jubilation for the Royals, who add the shield to their earlier Toast Cup victory. Elsewhere in the premier women's grade, Momona were again off the boil, but they still chalked up a 4-1 win over the University Stingrays. In the late game, a late Ella Rogers goal saw the University Huskies sneak to a 1-0 win over the Taieri Tigers. Due to scheduling changes, there was also a shield game in the premier men's competition, but there was to be no boilover, as the Taieri Tuataras pounded the University Whales 4-0. It was a fairly dour game, but James Nicolson bagged a hat-trick to ease his side home. The other two games were hopelessly one-sided, as the Albany Alligators registered 15 goals again, downing the Panthers 15-0 as Jack Cotton got himself another five-goal haul. Down in Southland, it was a special day for the Nation family, as 15-year-old Max Nation scored a hat-trick on premier debut, playing alongside his father James, as the Kings United Cobras cruised to a 9-0 win over the Barbarians. By Nicholas Friedlander
Axios
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Friday Cheers celebrates 40 years of after-work magic
Friday Cheers is back this week, kicking off two months of pre-summer concerts. Why it matters: This is the 40th year of Richmond's longest-running outdoor concert series. Flashback: Friday Cheers got its start in the 1980s, in Festival Square, which was just outside of the then-brand-new Sixth Street Marketplace, the Times-Dispatch reported a decade ago. The series was an after-work favorite for downtown professionals, who would loosen their ties and head over straight from the office to take in a free show, per Style Weekly. It stayed in Festival Square, in the shadow of the now long-closed Richmond Coliseum, for 20 years before eventually making the move to Brown's Island in 2006. On Brown's, overlooking the James, is where the concert series really took shape and became one that a whole new generation of locals came to love. Zoom in: Over the years, there have been other changes. Cheers started charging $5-$10 for shows to offset the cost and attract bigger acts. The season shrank, going from all summer to just May and June, because of Richmond's brutal late summer heat Plus, the beer and wine selection is now stellar. What they're saying: "For a concert series to last for 40 years is a real accomplishment and I'm so proud of our team, the RVA community and our sponsors for loving and supporting Friday Cheers for so many years," says Stephen Lecky, director of events for Venture Richmond, which organizes the series. Cheers has hosted an impressive lineup of then up-and-comers along the way, Lecky tells Axios, including: The Head and the Heart, Jason Isbell, Tyler Childers, Alabama Shakes, Lucy Dacus, Zac Brown Band and Turnpike Troubadours. Fun fact: For the 40th anniversary, Venture commissioned Richmond-based artist Hannah Tatum to create a limited-edition poster, which features local critters (an osprey and eastern grey squirrel) jamming on the 7th Street pedestrian bridge that connects to the island. Written faintly in the sky behind them are the names of the bands that played Cheers through the years. 100 prints are available and for sale this season for $20. If you go: Friday Cheers starts Friday with Chaparelle and runs weekly through June 27.
