The Premmy Files – Week 6
This was a challenging week for Southern United, nobody’s gonna argue that one. Docked three points for fielding an ineligible player in their season opener... but we don’t need to talk any more about that, the yarn’s already been written and you can read it right here. Southern have appealed the decision but it feels very unlikely they get much love from that process so really it’s about how they respond on the field. Three points is something you can overcome with one cheeky upset win – Southern have the quality to get past that real quick and it all started at home on a bright Saturday night against Hawke’s Bay United.
And it couldn’t have started worse. Ahinga Selemani found some space behind right back Jordan Spain and his cross made it all the way to the far post where Ihaia Delaney was there to tap it in, not even two minutes played. By the way apologies to Jordan Spain because he played last week too, played really well in fact, but when talking about their back four I mentioned Santeri Kuivalainen, and those two look nothing like each other but they do seem to have swapped numbers recently, hence the mixup. Administrative confusion involving Southern? Surely not.
Rightio then. Spurred on by the early concession, Southern stepped it up and created more than a couple chances to level proceedings. Garbhan Coughlan was the man most involved... however HBU had plenty of pace on the break themselves and with a massively improved defence this season, helmed by co-coach Bill Robertson, they took things into the half at 1-0. Unchanged from last week too, with Karan Mandair still out and Jorge Akers at left wingback. The usuals everywhere else.
One slight issue with playing during sunset is that it plays havoc with your vision, especially for goalies. It’s one thing to cope with a few lens flares on the live stream but poor old Ruben Parker was pretty much blinded as Danny Ledwith swung one into the box from a loose angle, Coughlan making a run at it but the ball creeping past everyone to settle in the net. Southern finally level... except it only lasted ten minutes before Selemani picked up on a loose Erik Panzer pass following some solid synchronised pressure from the HBU front three and although Stephen Last recovered enough to get a foot on it he couldn’t stop it from crossing the line. Third game in a row that Selemani has scored in.
Southern got a little frisky after that. Facing the prospect of a second home defeat already, they threw numbers forward and Cam McKenzie ripped one off the crossbar. Joel Stevens hit the side-netting. Jordan Spain headed one off target. And then, finally, they got what they were looking for. Substitute Cody Brook in the 87th minute, poking it home after a little scramble following a corner.
Cam McKenzie had lobbed the ball back in for the second attempt after Stevens’ initial set piece, probably not enough to credit McKenzie with the assist but he still played a big part in the goal and the cool thing about that is it was McKenzie and Brook who were the two players at the centre of the ineligible player complaint and here they were helping Southern get a late result in front of their home fans. Whatever went on with that saga, it sure wasn’t the players fault so having been caught in the middle of an awkward one, lovely to see them get some redemption. McKenzie has been playing excellently in the frontline recently, scoring last week and starting the previous five games. Brook’s been a regular off the bench, first sub called for the last four games in a row.
There was also a late penalty shout by Southern but 2-2 was the way it ended, probably fair enough too. It’s not the three points the hosts would have planned on but they had to work hard to get what they did. For HBU this was their third draw in a row and all against teams amongst that top four scrap, making it five unbeaten since they lost to ACFC on the opening weekend. They’ve scored at least twice in every game so far and are proving themselves a really difficult team to beat. Unfortunately though that’s now three equalisers conceded in the final fifteen minutes of games, all in consecutive weeks, so there might be some forceful words from the coaches this week at training about competing for the full ninety minutes. Fine work from HBU but it could be even more so if they’d snatched a three-pointer or two from these recent games.
That match was played on a gorgeous and sunny Dunedin evening but the following day saw some heavy downpours strike all over Aotearoa. Hamilton Wanderers, in their first game with K. Herbert in charge instead of R. Herbert, hosted Waitakere United and those two teams found themselves having to swim their way through Porritt Stadium the rain was falling so heavily. That rain led to a big twist in the tale but first, a couple changes for Kale Herbert and the Tron Wands. Injuries and a compromised defence that had conceded 14 times in the last three games saw Joe Terry get his first start this campaign with Adam Davidson also returning (and Jordan Lamb holding his place), while Tommy Semmy leapt straight back into the lineup. No idea who started for the Waitaks because nobody bothered to chuck it up on the ol’ socials even though that seems like a completely routine thing to do... disappointing but not surprising.
Sam Burfoot struck first for Waitakere. 25 minutes in after a free kick and the visitors were up. Then the rain went mental and the players had to take a break in the 34th min. Thunder and lightning and all sorts. It cleared up enough for the game to resume and Clark Foulds doubled the lead for the Waitaks going into a shortened half-time break, after which Semmy set up Terry with a corner kick for Wanderers and it was back to 2-1... but then the rain returned and the game was called off. They got about an hour into it but that wasn’t long enough to constitute a final result so the match will be replayed at some point early next year. Guts to all the foreign gamblers scrambling for info about the game on FB and Twitter. Maybe waste your money on a game you can actually watch next time?
There’s no need to say that Auckland City cemented their favourites status with a big win down in Canterbury because they were already clear favourites and when you’re at that level you expect to win wherever you play. Still, they did win big down in Canterbury. Albeit that scoreline was slightly misleading since it was still 0-0 sixty minutes into the game. The Dragons were defending staunchly as they always do and ACFC were perhaps missing a bit of the flash that Logan Rogerson provides, with Dylan Manickum also missing for this one... allowing for a second start for Yousif Ali – the other change from last week being Mario Bilen rotating in for Brian Kaltack as they’ve been doing since Angel Berlanga came back into the starters.
It was the normal routine for ACFC, passing the ball around and searching for those openings. But the Cantabs weren’t giving them any and as the game went on the home side began to find a bit of sharpness themselves. Lee Padmore chucked in Sam Field and Harris Zeb to start their first games of the season after at least one of them has featured off the bench every week... and Zeb’s pace up top complimented Calum Ferguson nicely. Aaron Clapham was in the midst of it all too, naturally – up against his last season’s coach in Jose Figueira only at two different clubs. So yeah this game was definitely in the balance for a while there even though City did dominate the hypothetical possession stats.
But then Mario Bilen scored a thumper from outside the area, his first Premmy goal for more than six years, and ACFC just kinda rolled with it. Myer Bevan doubled that lead within six minutes, assist to David Browne, and then Cam Howieson cashed in right at the end to blow the score out to a margin that perhaps flatters Auckland City... but then great teams take advantage and Canterbury didn’t respond well when they finally conceded. That’s a second goal in two weeks for Howieson. It’s also a ninth of the season for Myer Bevan who continues to be completely irrepressible. He’s scored in all six games, he scored in bundles at the Olympic qualifiers for the NZ U23s before that, and he’s playing top notch football. His gaffer was raving about him after the game and fair enough.
That’s 16 points from a possible 18 for Auckland City. Nothing much more to say about that other than that the more these players play together the better those combinations are going to get. Rogerson will be close to a return after missing the last two with injury. Albert Riera is getting there too. And Enaut Zubikarai is on his way back from Spain... although Conor Tracey has been fantastic in his absence. Canterbury United are in a tougher place, with only one win from six... but their two games left before Christmas are against the WeeNix and Tasman and if they can win those two then the Xmas turkey (or plant-based alternative) will taste that much better.
Speaking of the WeeNix and Tasman, they played each other in Nelson and there were some funky lineup tweaks on both sides as Tassie looked to back it up after a strong showing away to Auckland City (didn’t get the points but they still have three more than they did a week ago) while the WeeNix were coming off a comeback win over Hamilton Wanderers. Not bad for the last two winless teams in the comp this season... although retroactively speaking that’s no longer true for Tasman, I s’pose. Anyway, Tassie went all in as they recalled Facundo Barbero and also welcomed back Jean-Philippe Saiko, with the impressive speedsters on the wings of Jama Boss and Jesse Randall retaining their places (Matt Tod-Smith was the unlucky fella to drop to the bench and Labu Pan went back to fullback). Billy Scott also found himself in the midfield next to Cory Vickers, with Tasman’s 2018 NYL captain Ricky Muir not in the squad after a couple impressive starts.
On the other side the WeeNix had Oli Sail in goal after sitting on the bench up in Auckland for the A-League side the night before. But he was the only one. No other players with senior experience at the club, in fact there were three players making their first starts of the term in Ben Old, Adam Hillis, and Byron Heath. All three have featured off the bench already but yeah that was an inexperienced team even by WeeNix standards... though they still had that core of Kurtis Mogg, Ronan Wynne, Luis Toomey, and Ahmed Othman who have all started at least five of the six games (Wynne and Toomey have started all six). No Sam Sutton, he was on the bench for the top team for the third time in four weeks as he edges closer to an A-League debut.
This was another game affected by the weather. Sunny Nelson (tm) served up the torrential stuff (good for the vineyards, to be fair) and that affected the flow of the early stages of the contest, then just as Tasman seemed to be warming up to their capabilities it was Byron Heath who went down the other end and scored for the WeeNix. Matt Tod-Smith was subbed on with ten minutes left in the first half, Tasman sacrificing Barbero (not sure if that was injury related or tactical) as they sought a way back and it took until early in the second half but eventually MTS was the fella to draw Tasman level.
But as the rain kept falling, Cory Brown saw red (a second yellow) as he stopped a WeeNix counter attack and the home side had to play the last twenty with ten men, settling for a 1-1 draw. Probably reasonable for both teams as it keeps the points tally ticking over. Tasman are suddenly only two points off third thanks to a four-point week while the WeeNix have avoided defeat in half their games so far, having already played the top two teams, which is pretty bloody decent for them.
Eastern Suburbs versus Team Wellington. This was one of the very first games to look out for when the draw was released, a rematch of last season’s grand final. A lot has changed since then for both teams but this was still massive, especially with both teams having dropped a few too many points in recent times and find themselves deep in a very crowded top four hunt. Visitors Team Welly named an unchanged starting team for the fourth straight game – in fact the only change they’ve made all season has been Aaron Spain coming in for the injured Scott Midgley. And while the obvious chat is about Eastern Suburbs having a completely different team than that final back in March, Team Welly only actually had three players in their starting team (Basalaj, Sinclair & Bevin) plus one more on the bench (Hailemariam) who featured in that final. Meanwhile Surbubs might have lost all but one member of their grand final starters (shout out to Kelvin Kalua) but Mohammed Awad, Michael Built, and Campbell Strong all came off the bench that day and all three started while their current captain Adam Thomas was an unused sub. So dump the old narratives, chieftain, because Suburbs actually had more remaining players than Team Welly did from their grand final matchday squads.
Strong made his second start of the season, coming in ahead of Dan Bowkett (who would replace Strong off the bench late on). Marty Bueno also went straight back in after serving his red card suspension and that meant it was back to the bench for Jake Mechell (again, Mechell would sub in for Bueno late in the game... also throw ‘em up for Ryan Verney, the 17 year old, who came off the bench in second half stoppage time for Suburbs). Otherwise it was all the usual suspects for Tony Readings. Both these two coaches, Scott Hales for TW the other, looking to settle into their tenures with some real consistency of selection.
Early doors and this was not a game that was offering too many thrills. The pitch at Madills was looking fried from a long day’s cricket the day before and two well organised teams took some time in figuring each other out. Other than a half-decent penalty shout by Jack-Henry Sinclair and a penalty against the keeper Basalaj on Hoyle which was given but then overturned (correctly) after a chat with the lino, there really wasn’t much going on. Kalua was winning a lot of ball at the back for ES and Adam Thomas doing the same in midfield. Suburbs looked best when they could get Michael Built forward from right back and Mo Awad always makes a few things happen... but for the most part the TW back three of Gulley/Markovic/Spain were able to handle the dual threats of Stephen Hoyle and Martin Bueno. The TeeDubs created a tad more thanks to Rory McKeown on the left flank and of course Ollie Bassett was a threat with the ball at his feet. But not much going in that first half, no.
But that’s what second halves are for and this game saved all it’s drama for the final forty-five. Reid Drake got us started with a beautiful strike from the edge of the area barely a couple minutes into the stanza. Chesting it down, then volleying it on the bounce. Swish. What a goal. Then ten minutes later it was 2-0 to the home team as Aaron Spain gave a very minor shove in the back to Stevie Hoyle and up stepped Bueno to bury it from the penalty spot.
Thing is, Suburbs were 2-0 up last week too and they still needed a late equaliser to draw 3-3 against Hawke’s Bay. That’s not a particularly safe lead when you’re feeling the pressure. Team Welly responded immediately by subbing on Sam Mason-Smith for Hamish Watson, who hadn’t really had the involvement he’d have been hoping for, and basically straight away they were back in the game as SMS copped a shove in the box that was equally soft as the last one but at least nobody can complain when there was one each way. Ollie Bassett scored the penalty.
Team Welly’s second sub was The Prodigy Marko Stamenic, replacing Ollie Whyte, who jumped in there and flexed some serious passing range. An exciting cameo there from one of the most exciting local players coming through and great to see someone like this given faith in a crucial situation too as the TeeDubs stressed for an equaliser... which they would get soon enough and of course it came from the penalty spot. A much more reasonable call this time as Nati Hailemariam and Andy Bevin combined superbly down the right and Dylan De Jong chopped down Bevin like he was swinging an axe. Bassett slotted his second from the spot and he’s now up to five goals for the season.
That goal was scored at 79:55. At 80:46 they were 3-2 up as Bassett and Sinclair ran down the left and Bassett slid it back inside to JHS who took a touch and then popped it home. A lovely goal which proved to be the winner as the TeeDubs negotiated seven minutes of stoppage time to get there.
Pretty huge win for Team Welly, who also came from behind (only 1-0 behind, granted) to beat Canterbury Utd last week which means they have their first winning streak of the term. Still yet to keep a clean sheet but they’ve scored multiple goals in all but one game and with genuine attacking depth like they have that’s probably something they can rely upon most weeks. As for Suburbs, that’s consecutive 2-0 leads squandered, only taking one point from those two golden situation. That can’t happen if they’ve got plans on getting back to that grand final.... and they’re on telly against Auckland City next week. That one should be plenty of fun.
If you rate the footy chat on TNC and appreciate us doing the hard yards to bring it to ya then show that appreciation with a little pop on our Patreon page, sweet as
Also whack an ad whenever you read something worthwhile
Keep cool but care