The Premmy Files – Men’s Premiership, Week 1

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Apparently global pandemics don’t really work to anyone’s preferred schedule, so after last season was abandoned early and this season was delayed it had been one day shy of eight months in between Premiership fixtures. 244 days to be more specific. A long time to wait... but what better way to get us started for a fresh new campaign then a little Wel Classico action? Wellington Phoenix hosting Team Wellington on the artificial turf at Fraser Park in Lower Hutt. Let’s do this.

The WeeNix always have heaps of player turnover between seasons, that’s the curse of being an U20s squad, so it’s always curious to see that first line-up of the term to get an idea of where everyone stands in the pecking order. And it was in defence where that was most notable, with captain Kurtis Mogg joined by three Ole Academy lads: Alex Clayton on the right, Jaylen Rodwell in the middle, and Ollie van Rijssel on the left. It’s funny because Ole is probably best known for the remarkable attacking talent they’ve produced but here they were supplying 75% of the WeeNix’s defence. Meanwhile Alex Paulsen started in goal, a kiwi youth internation with heaps of potential, while Adam Hillis partnered Henry Hamilton in the middle with Louis Toomey on the right of midfield and Benjamin Old on the left. Riley Bidois played up top with Thomas Raimbault hanging off him.

On the other side it was mostly as expected. The only real point of interest was Ben Mata starting in the middle of the back three, the 22 year old having been with the squad last season but only very sparsely playing. Last time around it was Aaron Spain or Scott Midgley who’d usually get that other CB role next to Justin Gulley and Taylor Schrijvers (though from memory I think Schrijvers would play through the middle). Mata perhaps adds a more natural central defender’s presence plus he’s good on the ball and you could see them working through his feet a lot in their build-up stuff. Other than that, Scott Basalaj was in goal with Jack-Henry Sinclair and Rory McKeown as wing-backs. Mario Barcia and Alex Palezevic in the midfield. Andy Bevin in front of them with Joao Moreira and Sam-Mason Smith up top.

If you didn’t already know that this was the first game of a new season (with a disrupted preseason preceding it), say for example you’d just stumbled on the livestream and were having a peek to see what’s what, then you’d have been able to guess it pretty quickly by the slumbering nature of the early stages. Both teams looking to get plenty of touches but without wanting to take too many risks either. It took more than quarter of an hour before we even had a shot of note, Jack-Henry Sinclair and Andy Bevin of course involved in the build up there with Joao Moreira shooting wide. Sam Mason-Smith headed a JHS cross off target soon after, before a give and go in the box between Moreira and JHS led to Sinclair having his shot saved at the near post.

So... Team Wellington certainly asserting a more control over the game and yet at the same time there was a feeling like they weren’t being ruthless enough in front of goal, looking for that extra pass or just not being clinical or whatever. It’s not like Alex Paulsen had to rip off any stunning saves or anything. One thing you would say however is that the WeeNix were very smoothly organised. That CB duo of Kurtis Mogg and Jaylen Rodwell looked excellent, defending with great shape and then also with the skill on the ball to spark their own spells of possession too... Rodwell especially (who has just committed to go to uni in Portland, shots to him). Not a lot of room for Team Welly down the middle therefore with the bulk of their best stuff coming down the right wing here Sinclair was posted.

Tell ya what... as the game went on the WeeNix found more confidence. With Ben Old and Louis Toomey both carrying licences to cut in from the wings they always had numbers forward and later in the half they began to ask some genuine questions. Toomey was the first to roll the dice a couple times and it was he, in the 36th minute, who supplied some smooth operations on the edge of the area before feeding Bidois to put the WeeNix in the lead... not. He was offside so it didn’t count. Probably blown into an offside position by the wind which was wreaking havoc with the crowd and probably didn’t help the game too much either blowing across the artificial pitch. Believe it or not, Bidois had another goal disallowed a few minutes into the second half. Very similar situation.

Clearly things weren’t going quite as planned for the TeeDubs at this point and Scott Hales went to his bench nice and early, making a change in the midfield with Wan Gatkek replacing Alex Palezevic in the 56th minute. Not sure it really helped. By this point the home side were well on top and defying all expectations. Alex Clayton got through behind the defence but couldn’t get a shot off. Substitute George Ott missed a chance from a Jaylen Rodwell set-up. Oskar van Hattum, another sub, had probably the best chance of the lot but he couldn’t hit the target after Bidois has slid him through. Then this happened...

Mate, I mean... devastating for the WeeNix but these are the lessons that you quickly learn at this level. They were the better team in the second half but they didn’t score the goals to show for it. Gotta be more comprehensive than that and despite a pretty poor performance by their standards Team Wellington ultimately had the class when it mattered, Mario Barcia (who had been one of TW’s absolute best, hustling away in the midfield all day) lifting the ball over the top to Jack-Henry Sinclair (who was one of the league’s very best last season) and his finish was superb. The WeeNix will feel robbed... but that’s kinda the risk you take when you leave the door wide open when you pop off to the dairy to buy an iceblock.

The was one late chance for Ben Old cutting inside onto his left foot but he couldn’t curl it on target. Then Scott Basalaj got to partake in some all-time excellent time wasting as the Wellington Wind did it’s thing and refused to allow the ball to sit still on the turf so he could take his goal kick. You couldn’t punish him for it either because it’s not even his fault. The corner flags were basically horizontal. Jose Mourinho would be messing himself.

Speaking of accidental humour...

Between that, reading out the squad lists like they were starting elevens, mentioning Nati Hailemariam a couple times in the first half even though he wasn’t playing, and the usual mispronunciation of player names it probably wasn’t the best outing for Raf de Gregorio as a commentator there, in fairness. But I will say that I reckon the overall standard of the Sky Next streams is improving from a couple weeks back.

Brutal 1-0 loss for the WeeNix but they can take plenty of confidence from the way they played. Most teams don’t have the defensive quality that Team Wellington does and to basically outplay them for a lot of that match bodes well for future match-ups. That front four of theirs is gonna cause some issues: Toomey, Old, Raimbault & Bidois (not to mention Ott and van Hattum off the bench). As for Team Wellington, a win is a win however you get it. For a team who’ll be targetting a championship as per usual, it’s always valuable to be able to win on the off-days. Dropped points here might’ve been something they lived to regret later in the season... instead they’ve got a platform to launch from. The best teams find a way and that’s what Team Welly did here.

While all that was going on, Canterbury United were hosting Waitakere United simultaneously at English Park and let me tell ya if there was one team that I don’t think got enough credit in the Premmy Files Preview it was Waitakere Utd. Which is their own fault because, come on, just name your bloody squad in public ahead of time and we’d all have been able to see the calibre or signings coming in. Alex Greive coming back from college in the States having been dishing out assists for fun over there. Angus Kilkolly as a proven goal scorer in this league. Andrew Cromb a rising defensive talent who broke through with Southern last season. Leon van den Hoven a young midfielder who’s spent time as a pro in the Netherlands. The returning goalkeeping supremity of Nick Draper. To go with most of the other key dudes retained from the squad that surprised folks in finishing third last time. Sam Burfoot, Gerard Garriga Gibert, Dane Schnell, etc.

As such it was a mix of the old and new for the Waitaks. Paul Hobson kept his high-performing goalie and midfield from last season (Draper / Burfoot, GGG & Schnell) but almost completely changed his defence and strike-force. Greive played off Kilkolly up front while the back three read: Sammy Khan, Dino Botica & Andrew Cromb. Khan did play several times last season as a backup though the top choice trio of Flynn O’Brien (Team Welly), Luke Searle (not in the matchday squad) & Robert Tipelu (not in any squad) were cast to the wind. Which meant a very young defence... Cromb is still only 19 years old, man. With Reggie Murati, who started the last three games of 2019-20, at right wing-back and Nathan Lobo on the other side it was an entirely different back five to week one a year (and a bit) ago.

The Cantabs made a bit of an alteration from 2019 as they switched to a back three of Ben Stroud, Stephen Last & Tom Schwarz. Heaps of size and strength in that combo. Pace maybe not so much. Sean Liddicoat was in the right wing-back role with Lyle Matthysen on the left. Luke Tongue partnered Cory Mitchell in midfield with Seth Clark in front of them. Ihaia Delany started at striker paired with Garbhan Coughlan. Danny Knight in goal. So a pretty useful team there, the reliable blokes from last season coupled with a few very handy additions. Coughlan is gonna be huge for the Dragons if they’re to get back to competing for a top four spot again while Matthysen is another to watch out for... he’s playing in defence but he’s a former Mainland Football golden boot winner with Cashmere Tech.

Rightio so how’d this one fare? Slowly at first. Canterbury started slightly stronger but with both teams unfolding with very similar formations they sorta cancelled each other out. Heaps of physical stuff on the turf there – which as always looked absolutely steaming... Aaron Clapham made a point on commentary that there’s a running joke the hottest day of the week in Christchurch is gameday and the turf is never too forgiving with those ones – but a few set piece flutters from the Dragons aside not much was happening. Yet there were hints of future happenings. Little glimpses like when the Waitaks were able to get out on the break, linking up through Alex Greive and Sam Burfoot in particular. And those hints became clear evidence as the half progressed.

Tom Schwarz made this superb block at one point, hurling his body in the way of a shot to preserve the Cantab goal. Then Angus Kilkolly blasted one over the top after Greive had run onto a fantastic ball from Triple G and cut it back perfectly to AK who hoofed it. Not of his usual standards... but it didn’t take much longer before the breakthrough eventuated. 45th minute of the match and Ihaia Delany was picked off trying to hold the ball up for Canterbury. Sam Burfoot fed in Dane Schnell and Schnelly fed it to Alex Grieve whose initial shot was absolutely brilliantly saved by Danny Knight... but Greive scored on the rebound. The first goal of the Premiership season!

Garbhan Coughlan had a couple moments early in the second half, mini-chances which signalled a shift in gears from the home side and they soon made a change as Delany was replaced by Japanese import Yuya Taguchi. But they still didn’t really look like creating much. Meanwhile Alex Greive on the other hand... he looked outstanding. Dude’s got a knack for picking out teammates in little pockets of space in those attacking areas and it’s not a coincidence that he was involved in so many goals at uni. No assist for him when Waitakere scored their second though. That was Dane Schnell combining with Gerard Garriga Gibert with GGG also needing a second effort to bury the goal but he got there in the end. 61 minutes gone and Waitakere were now firmly in control.

And that’s the way it continued. It wasn’t a one-sided game or anything, it’s just that Waitakere always looked like the more likely team to score. They had the link-ups in the attacking third that the Cantabs are still building towards. In the 80th minute they made it three when Greive managed to squeeze the ball to substitute Alex Conor-McClean on the edge of the area and he shook his defender, steadied himself with another touch, then blasted in a fine finish. And then again in the first minute of stoppage time it was Greive who probably should have scored himself but chose to square it to Dane Schnell instead and though Schwarz made another superb block at first... Schnelly put it away at the second time of asking. Three second-chance goals conceded by the Cantabs, not sure there’s anything symptomatic in that but worth a mention. 4-0 was the final score.

An ugly scoreline in the end for the Dragons who are gonna have to find better ways to play further up the field. Gotta get Coughlan involved more... while Seth Clark had a quiet one too. In fairness a lot of this was down to how well Waitakere United played and the way they seem to cover so much ground. Their tactical shape was a key part of their success last time, now it seems like they’ve got even better players to play the same way (definitely the case up front, the back five it remains to be seen one way or the other). On this form Waitakere are going to be a genuine threat to pretty much any team in this competition. That was a hugely impressive week one outing from Paul Hobson’s chaps.

Hawke’s Bay United and Hamilton Wanderers have played some belters over the years... largely because of the limited ability of each footballing enterprise to prevent the concession of goals. So to speak. For HBU in particular the defence had to be a focus and it was immediately obvious that Chris Greatholder/Bill Robertson had abandoned the back three which they employed last time. Didn’t really work as they still conceded the most goals in the comp (44 in 16 matches... almost three per game). Instead it was a back four, albeit a familiar looking one: Jim Hoyle partnered Robbo in the middle with Fergus Neil at RB and Jackson Woods on the left. Woods is the one new face there, a young fella who came up in the Auckland City academy. Then in the midfield they had their new French maestro Hugo Delhomelle (who you’ll recognise for the big ginger beard Tormund Giantsbane stylez) alongside Sam Pickering and the returning Karan Mandair while Gavin Hoy played centrally up top flanked by Jesse Randall and Capital Premiership golden boot for 2020 Kailan Gould. In goal was 19 year old Scott Morris.

For the Tron Wands it looked like a sneaky midfield diamond but that was hard to diagnose as Mark Jones, Xavier Pratt and Josh Signey all rotated around in front of the defensive-minded Brad Whitworth. That’s a lot of midfield talent, plugging an area that had been a weakness in the past. Never a weakness has been the duo of Derek Tieku and Tommy Semmy up front, while Matt Oliver backed it up in goal with Brock Messenger and Tino Contratti in the middle of defence and Adam Davidson and Joe Harris at fullbacks. Pretty sure that’s just the one debutant there in Josh Signey... who actually played for HBU last time (and was one of their best players). Mark Jones hasn’t played for a year or two at this level but he was an inaugural HW Premiership player for HW in 2016 so no fresh daisy there. Compare that to HBU who had at least five club debutants.

That gap in cohesion was noticeable at Bluewater Stadium in Napier (shout out Napier, hope y’all are doing well). In an occasionally scrappy first half, packed full of chippy free kicks and some very good one on one defensive moments from both sides (Bill Robertson, Brock Messenger & Tino Contratti especially) it was always Hamilton who looked that bit sharper, that bit more direct, that bit more organised. It’s a slightly new shape for them but with almost all familiar players and with Kale Herbert having had a preseason this time around the Tron Wands looked like they knew what they were trying to achieve.

Several times they got Tommy Semmy posted up on Jackson Woods... poor Woodsy, though he held his own commendably. A couple blitzes of pace from Semmy and the odd hopeful blast towards goal. Great to see him nice and involved after what’s probably fair to call a down season from him last campaign only scoring four goals. Derek Tieku also had a cut-back that didn’t find a teammate or else it would for sure have been 1-0 while Joe Harris had a strong header blocked by Karan Mandair as well as curling a free kick off the post. At the other end there were a few smaller flashes from Jesse Randall but that Hamilton defence was calling all the shots. Still scoreless at the half though.

Except that Wanderers shoved it up a gear coming out of the break and in the 53rd minute they took a deserved lead when Josh Signey, formerly of the HBU parish, was left open just a split second too long on the perimeter and he thwacked it past a helpless Scott Morris. Then three minutes later Signey had a second. This time it was he and Xavier Pratt (with help from a couple friends) picking passes and running rings around the defence before Signey slotted it. Sumptuous football there... the kind of football which attacking players dream about and defensive players will only ever be furious to concede from because once again those HBU defenders got caught flat-footed and helpless. But that might as well have been the story of the game: Hamilton were the team that won most of the 50-50s, the team that picked up most of the second phase balls, the team that dictated the tempo of the match. Hawke’s Bay never really tested Matt Oliver at all.

Wanderers would add a third late on. They’d already gone close a few more times usually with Tommy Semmy heavily involved however if the fella was begging for a goal he didn’t show it, storming into the box in the 85th minute and instead of shooting he placed it on a gentle platter for Derek Tieku to score instead. There was some drama about that goal as it came about after HBU had taken a quick free kick that was instantly picked off in the other half. Not sure the HW blokes had retreated far enough but the ref waved play on. Either way, it’s not like the third goal flattered Hamilton. They’ll be stoked with a 3-0 win and it’ll be fascinating to see if they can find some of the consistency that they’ve lacked the last two seasons and actually make a semi-final push this time around. Fingers crossed because we all love a playoff race.

For HBU? Defs need some more time to settle into what they’re trying to do. They didn’t seem to have a lot of purpose to their attacks other than trying to get their wingers one on one but on this day those Tron Wands were winning everything and there didn’t seem to be a Plan B. Can’t think of hardly any crosses into the box other than from deep areas and set pieces... they simply didn’t have the ball in those areas enough. But it’s only week one and the learnings doth follow.

Finally it was our televised game as Auckland City hosted Eastern Suburbs in the so-called Gridlock Derby at an absolutely gorgeous Kiwitea Street. That pitch was glimmering on the telly. You could almost smell it. Very typical ACFC x Jose Figueira side here as Adam Mitchell, Mario Bilen & Brian Kaltak set up in defence. Jordan Vale & Alfie Rogers at wing-back. Cam Howieson & Mario Ilich in the midfield with Dylan Manickum playing behind Emiliano Tade & Logan Rogerson up topskees. Must be nice to lose reigning golden boot Myer Bevan and still be like, nah no worries we’ve got Tade. The only brow-raiser here was Cameron Brown given a Premiership debut in goal with Conor Tracey on the bench and Enaut Zubikarai sticking to coaching duties today.

Eastern Suburbs were a little funkier with Hoani Edwards taking charge for the first time and like a few of these other teams it was another mix and match of old and new. Danyon Drake in goal. A defence that read (from right to centre to left): Adam Thomas, Tyler Lissette, Josh Rogerson, Kelvin Kalua. Campbell Strong, Sean Bright & Reid Drake in the midfield. Stephen Hoyle up top with Dan Edwards on the right and Kingsley Sinclair on the left. Rogerson and Bright are two of the new Ole lads in town. Pretty sure Dan Edwards was on Premiership debut too.

It was the strangest thing though... the pitch was as pristine as any you’ll find if you search the whole nation up and down but the story of this first half was all the injuries. Probably a fair point to say that these are two Auckland clubs and the winter leagues in Auckland were ravaged more than most by the pandemic, meaning that at a maximum those players here who played Northern Leagues would have played maybe eight games since March. Then add in a truncated preseason and it’s not an easy task to go straight into full bunger football like this.

Josh Rogerson was the first to go down. He was hurt in a challenge on Cam Howieson which the City chums reckoned shoulda been a penalty (“I’ve got scars for days,” claimed Howieson to the Sky cameras afterwards, lol) and Christian Gray would have to replace Rog in only the eighth minute of the season. Awkward way to mark your Prem debut... albeit no more awkward than the way that Mario Bilen celebrated his 150th ACFC appearance... by limping off hurt five minutes later. Andrew Blake came on for him with Alfie Rogers slipping into the back three.

As you’d expect that took the heat out of the early stages, though Cameron Brown did make one top notch save to deny Dan Edwards after a pinpoint Stephen Hoyle cross while Logan Rogerson got a shot on target up the other end. No surprises that this was quite a tactical battle. Suburbs did have some decent possession but finding space to do much with it proved tricky. Still, they nearly took the lead when Hoyle again crossed for Edwards only this time Brown made an even better save. Two magical crosses from Hoyle... the only problem there is you want him on the end of them as well.

Clearly ACFC needed to get Tade involved more however right when they were starting to do so, Tade and Rogerson beginning to flex a connection, old mate Logan Rogerson made like his namesake and had to trudge off injured. Albert Riera came on for him, Cam Howieson moving into the attacking mid role. Three injured players having to be replaced in the first half. Makes you wonder if NZ Football cocked up by not expanding the allotment of subs for the competition when they had the option to.

Surprisingly the best chance of the first half fell to Adam Mitchell but he scuffed his left-footed volley straight at the keeper with most of the goal to aim for. Safe to say he’s not the first player that Figuiera would’ve chosen that one to fall to. Anyway this game got good in the second half once everyone stopped limping off. Danyon Drake tipped a Tade shot wide then made an even better stop to deny Alby Riera. City were beginning to look like they’d figured something out when suddenly they had themselves a penalty. Handball by Christian Gray. And by ‘handball’ I mean this...

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Umm, yeah, not too sure about that one, chief. There was another angle which was a tad more generous but to sum up that decision in two words: absolute arse. Of course Emiliano Tade scored, sending Drake the wrong way. City 1-0 up.

Tade should’ve then had a second only to inexplicably decide to pass and not shoot when basically one on one with the keeper. He did a lot better soon after when Alfie Rogers dished to him except Kelvin Kalua made an impressive block. ACFC are a team that loves playing from in front, they’re so tough to break down so when teams have to chase the game against them they’re perfectly in their element and they raised the bar after taking the lead. Should really have done better after a sneaky Dylan Manickum short corner routine too, while Riera soon volleyed another one wide.

Yet this Eastern Suburbs team ain’t chumps either and they kept on plugging away. Stephen Hoyle’s challenge on Cameron Brown caused the City keeper to drop a high ball one time which Hoyle hacked at from the ground but the ball dribbled agonisingly wide of an open goal. Surprised not to see a foul called, to be fair. Usually keepers are treated like protected species in those situations. But Brown more than made amends with an absolutely incredible save, the save of the day in a game full of stunning saves, when he somehow tipped a lashing Reid Drake volley away from danger. Gotta say both keepers were magnificent in this game.

Then in keeping with the end to end nature of the last twenty-odd minutes here Emiliano Tade rattled the crossbar with a free kick, before Kelvin Kalua thought he’d scored only for Brian Kaltak to make a superb block on the goal-line (Kaltak was fantastic too). No idea how there was only one goal in this game... a goal that shouldn’t have been awarded either... it deserved a whole lot more but then that woulda been rude to the brilliant goalkeepers so dunno. We’ll take what we get. A really enjoyable game between two high quality teams who, like most clubs, are a few weeks away from mid-season form but they still served up a beaut. 1-0 to Auckland City was the final score.

Next week we’ve got a little Team Wellington vs Hawke’s Bay at 1pm on Saturday. Tricky match-up there for The Bay after how week one went for them. Half an hour later Waitakere Utd kick off against Wellington Phoenix which should be a lovely clash of playing styles. Then on Sunday at 2pm Hamilton Wanderers host Auckland City which has burst-bubble/vindication potential all over it for the Tron Wands and then in the televised game it’s Eastern Suburbs vs Canterbury Utd. 4pm that one starts. Two teams who failed to score a goal in the first round albeit in very contrasting manners. Cannot wait.

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