The 1945 Chatham Cup was the 18th nationwide knockout

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competition in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and the first such competition after a four-year gap caused by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The competition was run on a regional basis, with regional associations each holding separate qualifying rounds. Teams taking part in the final rounds are known to have included

Wellington Marist Wellington Marist AFC is an association football club in Wellington, New Zealand. The team is based at Kilbirnie Park in Kilbirnie. History Marist A.F.C. is one of the oldest football clubs in Wellington, having won the Chatham Cup in 1932 an ...

, St. Andrews (Manawatu),

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

(Christchurch), and

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

The 1945 final

In the final, Jack Smith scored a

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, including one goal from the penalty spot. Merv Gordon's

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

is the first to be definitively recorded as such in a Chatham Cup final, though some goals in earlier finals are regarded as own goals in some publications. The game is noted as an exciting one, especially the second half. The only goal of the first half came after 17 minutes from Marist's G. Irvine. The lead became 2-0 twenty minutes into the second half through Ray Price, only for Western to score twice, the second goal coming only one minute before the whistle. In extra time Gordon's own goal was nullified by an equaliser from Ray Dowker before Smith hit the winner from the penalty spot. p.70

Results

Semi-finals

Final

References

Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation New Zealand 1945 page
Chatham Cup

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auckland City, who defeated Eastern ...

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