The Premmy Files – Week 5

It was the most fascinating matchup we’ve seen so far this season: Eastern Suburbs hosting Auckland City. With all due respect to the opener where Auckland City met Team Wellington, those two have played each other so often in 2018 that we sorta knew what we were getting and could just settle in for the ride. But the new look Eastern Suburbs, coming in with three wins outta three, against the defending champs from across town… mate, that’s enough to make you feel all tingly inside.

The two remaining undefeated teams in the comp took two very different approaches. Suburbs kept an unchanged lineup from last week, with Harry Moss-Edge and Alex Clayton keeping their spots and the rest of them the same jokers who’ve started every game thus far for what’s probably their strongest available team. City though, Ramon Tribulietx got a little frisky with it – switching formation to a back three with Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi sliding into defence alongside Mario Bilen and Angel Berlanga while Yousif Ali came into the midfield alongside Reid Drake and Cam Howieson. Part of that was tactical, Ramon clearly wanting a third midfielder so as not to be outnumbered by ES’s 4-3-3, but part was also down to personnel. Albert Riera, David Browne and Fabrizio Tavano are still unavailable and Micah Lea’alafa was out for personal reasons too. Dylan Manickum came in up front to play off of Javier Lopez.

One thing teams are fast coming to realise about Eastern Suburbs is that they begin like a racehorse out of the starting blocks. In every prior game they’d scored a goal within the first ten minutes – last week they even had time for two of them. There was no such rapid strike in this one but Suburbs were definitely the more enterprising team from the get-go and should have gotten their reward for that when the ref pointed towards the spot after Andre De Jong was clattered over by Angel Berlanga fifteen mins in… only for the esteemed Enaut Zubikarai to save a relatively average spottie from ADJ. He’s been playing so excellently, De Jong has, but this was a messy one. He then volleyed the rebound wide too.

Wouldn’t say this contest will go down as a Premmy classic but she was an entertaining battle all the same. Both teams were keen to spread the ball around and pick apart defences… but both defences are bloody top shelf at the same time so it was a real scrap, swinging from end to end. Auckland City took the hint from the early penalty and found a spark. Jordan Vale, Reid Drake and Dan Morgan all went close… Drake probably should’ve scored.

One fella we didn’t see a huge amount of here was Javier Lopez but Andre De Jong coulda tell ya that everyone has a quiet day at the office now and then. By the way, Sky Sports singling out ADJ in pre-coverage was deserved and all but maybe when Fred De Jong is your comments man you go for Eli Just or Tim Payne instead, you know? Geez, that was cringey. Hey but shout out to Fritz Schmid who made an appearance in the crowd. In an ideal world the All Whites coach shouldn’t need to pick any players from this league because of the depth overseas, however this is still where All Whites are made, as the saying goes. Debatable saying, sure. Gotta catch the next generation on their way up though – I’ll give you fifty bucks right now if you can pop into a time machine and find a single future timeline where Eli Just doesn’t ever play for the All Whites (bet is void in any circumstances that involve nuclear or environmental apocalypse).

Yeah then Dylan Manickum scored a goal. Kept busy with a high workrate but didn’t see a whole lot of clean action until he hassled the ball off Nando Pijnaker, who has otherwise been great all season, and dashed through to score. First time Suburbs have trailed all campaign. That gave us a final half hour and change where Suburbs were therefore forced to chase a game rather than shutting up shop as they’ve gotten so good at. And they weren’t able to. Tim Payne did have a header at the far post hacked off the line by Zubi, a shot so close that Payne was already celebrating before he realised play was continuing (looked like the right call to me, but then I’m the kind of person who gets pissed off if throw-ins are given when the ball was clearly still shadowing the line so whatever).

Probably telling that the two subs Suburbs called upon were Campbell Strong and Kelvin Kalua – a holding midfielder and a centreback based on their previous Premmy experience (though Strong came on as an attacking mid and Kalua as a fullback). Defensively they’ve still only conceded twice in 360 minutes so no dramas there but another attacking superstar wouldn’t go astray… say, hasn’t Callum McCowatt just wrapped up a three month trial with Sparta Rotterdam and is ready to join a Premiership club? Hmm…

Anyway it ended 1-0 to City and the defending champs are still the team to beat. Four wins from four, even if they’ve progressively scored one fewer goal each time (four, three, two, one). You know what else? This was ACFC’s first clean sheet. The team that kept about a billion in a row last season and they couldn’t avoid a trip to the laundromat until their fourth (completed) game. Remember they ramped it up after the New Year break last time so no stalling on them now. As for Suburbs this is a game they needed to set the standard of what they’re aiming for. I’ve no doubt that they’re title contenders and on another day ADJ scores that spottie, Tim Payne has that goal awarded and Suburbs win 2-1. This day was not that day but another one might be.

Tell you what, if you’re looking for a side of stunning goals with your plate of Premmy Files then you’ve been treated already this season. Tommy Semmy’s individual ripper stands out but Andre De Jong, Calvin Harris, Jake Butler, Andrew Abba… there have been some great goals for sure. And this one from Mario Ilich on the weekend is right up there. Old mate’s so far out from goal he might as well have still been playing for Central United at Kiwitea Street. Get a load of this…

Maaaaate.

David Beckham, Xabi Alonso, Charlie Adam… Mario Ilich.

Southern tied it up through Abdullah Al-Khalisy when he got on the end of a throw in and bingo (brother of ACFC midfielder Yousif Al-Kalisy, aka Yousif Ali, who made his first start of the year a mere two hours later so big day for that family, congrats). Only the second goal Southern have scored this season. The Southerners have one of the most consistent XIs out there and defensively they’re fantastic but they need to find out how to get Garbhan Coughlan and Marcus Fjørtoft more involved. They’re good enough to bang the goals away, just gotta get that support going. Tough thing for Southern is they’ve only had one home game so far and it got abandoned. Next they’re away to Waitakere. Then home to Tasman and away to Wellington Phoenix and Hawke’s Bay. All four are winnable games but seven matches into the season they’ll have only played one full home game. It’ll even out, don’t worry.

Jack-Henry Sinclair and Nate Hailemariam ended up bagging second half goals to earn a 3-1 win for Team Welly. It was a deserved win and you can’t overlook the attacking ability that the TeeDubs have to offer. For the first time this term Hamish Watson failed to find the net yet Sinclair got his second in two weeks and Hailemariam’s been overdue. In five games Team Welly have scored 15 goals from eight different scorers. Putting three past Southern is no mean feat. Wouldn’t be surprised if nobody else goes better than that all 2018-19 against SU. Considering that goal scoring tends to be what holds kiwi teams back in global competitions, that’s a big positive ahead of their Club World Cup sojourn.

Just quietly, Aaron Clapham also made his Welly debut off the bench in the second half. Almost scored too. Additionally Jose Figueira gave Liam Wood a second consecutive start at the back, with Scott Hilliar only replacing him for the last half hour. There’s growing depth in basically every position now – CB and CM were the two obvious positions where they needed more cover and now that’s sorted, don’t forget Alex Palezevic who has played both posies as well. Only Scott Basalaj left who they can’t afford to get injured at this point.

With twenty minutes to play Tasman United were on course for a first point after a difficult start to things – already having to play Auckland City and Team Wellington both away from home hasn’t helped – as they were still level at 0-0 away to Waitakere United. But then Eder Franchini-Pasten scored from the spot and Andrew Abba scored a brace for a 3-0 win. Bloody Waitaks, aye. Lost by a combined 6-1 in the first two and have now won by a combined 8-1 in the next couple. It’d be nice to add some more about that game but Waitakere are absolutely awful with the social media stuff so I couldn’t even tell you who started. Guts to Tasman who have now lost all four. Ten goals conceded and two scored. Their game next week against Wellington Phoenix is already shaping as the first leg of the playoff for wooden spoon.

Okay then, what else have we got? How about an absolute thriller in the capital?

Rightio, the Phoenix reserves were without a few of the helping hands they’d had in the opening few weeks but then they didn’t really help them all that much anyway. However a Friday night game for the A-League side meant some alternative helping hands. No Michal Kopczynski or Dylan Fox, instead they had Ollie Sail in goal, and Ryan Lowry and Libby Cacace in defence for their first game at Newtown Park this campaign. Not sure why Cacace wasn’t with the top team but it is exam time at high schools so that’d be one reason to hang back in Wellywood. Willem Ebbinge also made a return to the starting team after two on the bench.

Will Ebbinge is a crucial one to note because half an hour into this game against Canterbury United he’d scored a double and the WeeNix were winning 2-0. The winless, point-less (important hyphen, there) WeeNix were leading one of last season’s semi-finalists by a couple goals. Until then only Calvin Harris had managed to score for this team. Ebbinge nearly had a hatty too, with great chances either side of his three-minute double. Quite the incredible start to this game.

Canterbury United are in a little struggle to maintain their top four status. Only one win from their first three, a grinding 1-0 over Southern followed by a draw with Hawke’s Bay and loss to Eastern Suburbs. They needed this win. For the first time Willy Gerdsen was required to make an alteration to his starting team with Seth Clark and Andreas Wilson replacing Sean Liddicoat and Reece Cox in the XI. It was another long serving soldier, Stephen Hoyle, who pulled one back in first half injury time to provide an avenue for the comeback.

The Dragons were buoyed by that goal. One of those perfect time to score goals. They reconvened following sliced oranges and put the pressure well and truly upon their young hosts. Quarter of an hour in Tom Schwarz headed in a deserved equaliser, which then gave both teams incentive to attack. Both keepers were kept on their toes. It was Adam Thurston, who signed with Canterbury after playing last term with Hawke’s Bay, who got the decisive goal on the break after the Cantabs absorbed a bit of pressure and then unleashed it back doubled in response. 3-2 win for the Dragons and the train is back on track… at least until they play Auckland City on Sunday at Kiwitea Street. Another competitive game involving Auckland City and another brilliant game to perceive (but you’ll have to get there to watch it because Waitakere vs Southern is the telly game).

One last game and it was Hawke’s Bay vs Hamilton down in Napier, a chance for the home side to get their first win and an opportunity for the visitors to bounce back after losing to Southern. Problem was, HBU had Maxime Olivieri suspended and with him went a bit of their creativity. Paul Ifill started in his place (there was also another change with British import Liam Schofield in for youngster Jorge Akers). Hamilton kept it steady on the teamsheet despite the loss.

Steady is all the Tron Wands really need as long as Tommy Semmy is playing. He’d get his moment eventually though you’d have to say the first half was remembered best for Saint Paul striking one off the post when clear through on the keeper. Unlucky, chief. It was even stuff in that first 45, just a matter of who’d break the deadlock first when the game restarted…

Cheers to HBU for doing some actual social media stuff this game. Much appreciated. The Bay then really went for it with a double attacking sub, Paul Ifill and Cory Chettleburgh replaced by Sho Goto and Jordan Lamb, however the attempted comeback was kinda spoiled when Cam Lindsay was sent off for a last man foul. Tommy Semmy soon had his third of the season and Hamilton Wanderers are back to winning ways with a third three-pointer from four. What a bunch of legends, absolutely shattering all memories of the last two seasons.

For reference: Hamilton Wanderers points per game with Tino Contratti, Martin Bueno and Derek Tieku amongst the starters: 2.25. Hamilton Wanderers points per game last season without them: 0.33. Quite the contrast, right? I also wanna give some praise to 19 year old Hamilton local Stafford Dowling who has started every game so far, in case you thought it was the new imports doing all the work.

HBU remain winless but you’d have to admit they were well in each of their last three games. Also, as things stand, they’ve played four of the top five teams on the ladder so that’ll add some perspective to what’s going on. Especially since they play the fifth of those five teams, Team Wellington, next week. Jeez, mate, who rigged that one? Don’t put it past them to go on a major run of results after that game, just as people have started writing them off because they haven’t looked any deeper at who they’d played.

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