National League South Central Series – Men’s Week 4
SELWYN UNITED vs WELLINGTON PHOENIX
Last week we got a top of the table clash in the Team Welly Derby, this week we got a bottom of the table clash between two winless teams. The best chance that either the WeeNix or Selywn would get to put three points on the board being when they played each other. Only one more game left after this week too so absolutely nothing to lose.
There were some exciting appointments to the WeeNix staff during the week. Rory Fallon is back living in Aotearoa for the first time since he was a teenager and he’s signed on as the new Head of Youth Development within the academy. He begins that role in the new year sometimes, same as U17s men’s goalkeeping coach Ruben Parker (most recently seen as a player for Hawke’s Bay United a two seasons ago) who will soon be doing the same role with the Nix academy. Which, considering there are two U17 goalkeepers at the WeeNix getting regular minutes this SCS, seems like a clever progression.
The Phoenix academy’s gotten a fair bit of shuffling around recently with Paul Temple moving from coach to technical director and Chris Greenacre moving from first team assistant to reserve team coach. It’s been a successful time for the academy and this tweaking and realignment feels like a product of that.
Everyone’s a winner under Chris Greenacre, who has made it clear that this season is all about blooding the next wave of academy talent. As such he gave top scorer Oskar van Hattum a rest along with Finn Surman and Manny Achol. Marco Lorenz ducked out too while Alby Kelly-Heald alternated back in for his second start at keeper in place of Henry Gray. In fact both Kelly-Heald twins were in the starting line-up: Lukas bringing the tall timber into central defence alongside Isaac Hughes against a very good set piece team. Josh Rudland (who got sent off as a sub in week one) and Kaelin Nguyen were the others who came in. Henry Hamilton, Luis Toomey, Adam Supyk, and Joseph Chiari are the only fellas who’ve started all four for the WeeNix.
By the way, there was a very good reason for some of those dudes dropping out. It turns out Finn Surman, Jackson Manuel, and Oskar van Hattum had been tapped on the shoulder for a trip to Aussie to make up some numbers with the first team squad. With an FFA Cup tie coming up they’re even a decent chance to sneak into a match day selection at some point. Good work if you can get it.
As for Selwyn... Jack Allatt was back in defence but Oliver Scholz was missing – the two first choice CBs passing each other at the gate heading in opposite directions. However instead of having Jayden Booth in the backline again, Luke Pritchard slid infield with Isaac Topham at right back. Booth at CDM where he’s at his best. Dan Ede was the only other change – United’s top scorer finally available to start (Joe Arnott dropped to the bench to accommodate him).
Jamie Carrodus almost picked out Dan Ede with a chip over the top in the first minute. Then Nguyen almost got Rudland in but Pieter-Taco Bierema closed him down. Both teams trying to attack from the start. Rudland then played a nice give and go with Charlie Beale which led to Rudders striking a low shot against the far post and remember that thing about him getting sent off as a sub in week one? Apparently he’s a dude who doesn’t mess around. Fourth minute of this match, the WeeNix one another high energy venture forward, Joseph Chiari got up on the overlap where Beale picked him out – Selwyn already leaving too much space on their left defensive side – and his chip into the middle was calmly volleyed in from five yards out by Josh ‘Got Places To Be’ Rudland. What a start!
Rudland almost got goal-side of Allott soon after, as well as nudging another Chiari cross wide at the near post. Toomey also had a shot saved cutting inside to unleash one at PTB. Then Allott got in some trouble trying to play out as his lob forward was blocked off by the head of Henry Hamilton and Rudland ran onto the loosie in the space that Allott had vacated, turning inside and causing Luke Pritchard to slip, thus making it a simple finish for 2-0. A mere 10 minutes played. Josh Rudland was absolutely all over this match.
Nguyen then tackled Allott on the press but couldn’t get back on the ball in time to slot into the empty net. Chiari flipped in another cross after getting around his man but Toomey headed it straight at Bierema. The way that the WeeNix midfield was operating was the key. By moving the ball quickly between Hamilton, Beale, and Finn Conchie they were getting in behind the Selwyn middle and running at the defence with pace, bringing in the fullbacks and strikers. Rudland poked one wide off a Beale feed after this exact scenario – Rudders could easily have had a twenty minute hat-trick there.
The whole thing was overwhelming. The WeeNix can be a funky team to play against because unlike most amateur clubs out there they get to operate like a pro team with regular trainings and a fully employed coaching set up and all that. Their youth does make them physically susceptible and they tend to suffer from individual errors at the back (finishing can be loose too) but they’re a very slippery team to face. The Central League teams all know that. Cashmere Tech knows that too given their large Canterbury United presence. But Selwyn United have never had that opportunity before and it showed. The changes to their back four did not help either with Pritchard and Topham’s spacing at LCB & LB getting pretty messy with Joe Chiari reaping some benefits there. In fact Jack Allott only lasted 21 minutes on his return from injury before Joe Arnott was on in his place. Rushed back too soon amidst other injuries, it seems.
Selwyn needed to slow it down somehow. String a few passes together, win a few set pieces and give the WeeNix something to worry about. They did that on 24’ when Dan Ede’s dead ball delivery was headed beautifully home by Dorian Grault... but the flag was already up for offside. Guts, went too early. Then it was back down the other end again where Bierema closed down Toomey for a great save as he got around the left edge in transition. Toomey blasted another shot over the bar. Nguyen did the same when he should have really squared it to Rudland. But he learned his lesson. 34th minute it was Nguyen beating Booth for pace and lasering a ball across to where Rudland was able to tap it in. Hints of offside? Maybe. But it’s not as though the goal came from out of the blue. 3-0 to the WeeNix and Rudders did get that first half hatty.
Rudland missed a chance for four when he couldn’t get a strike off from a Chiari cross. Then Toomey’s follow-up was deflected off target and from the corner kick Nguyen had a header cleared off the line by Grault. The WeeNix then began the second half by getting caught offside a few times, before Henry Hamilton got caught in possession by Calum Murdoch who didn’t show a copiousness quantities of composure when he tried to quickly get a shot off with Kelly-Heald a little off his line and missed comfortably. Dan Ede had a few words of ‘advice’ given the ball should really have come his way in space on the right.
Can’t even say it was more of the same coz now the WeeNix were actually pushing higher and doing the pass-and-move stuff around the Selwyn area. Not attacking in transition as much but trying to break them down from set formation. Kaelin Nguyen had a crack parried away by Bierema after Adam Supyk (a Canterbury native, apparently) had found him in a pocket in the area. Then on 60’ it was four. Luis Toomey – wearing the armband today btw – angling a mint run across the defensive line, difficult to track, and Henry Hamilton saw it coming with a through ball from around halfway. Toomey then slid it past the keeper for his first of the campaign.
And they weren’t about to settle there. Rudland rattled the crossbar on the end of a Chiari feed, although the offside flag went up again. Toomey had an effort deflected wide after some ducking and weaving. At which stage it was time for some subs with the WeeNix swapping out both fullbacks. Jonathan Sims and Blake Chandler on in their places for Natty League debuts. It mighta been a tad confusing with the fella holding up the subs sign upside-down but we got there in the end. Also the game clock there was frozen, also confusing, it was the 66th min when those changes happened. For some reason that keeps happening in English Park games but at least there’s a large digital scoreboard at the ground to help.
Nguyen side-footed a Beale cut-back wide. Same bloke smashed a shot into the bar after dashing in behind. In fairness, Dan Ede did show a little of what he’s capable of too, using his deceptive speed and obvious strength to get into a couple good areas. Pumped one over the top late on. But then a mistake at the back from Selwyn allowed Toomey to pounce for his second, finishing nicely against a very good goalie. 5-0 the final score. Who saw that coming?
Fantastic from the WeeNix, who it turns are are kryptonite for a team like Selwyn who want to defend compactly. Still reckon they could have had a big advantage on attacking set pieces but Selwyn hardly ever had any set pieces considering they played so much of the game in their own half or out of possession.
Such a sight to see guys like Henry Hamilton and Luis Toomey operating with space around them. The interplay of the WeeNix was a major highlight here, while Rudland’s movement was crucial in setting the tone and he was dutifully rewarded with three goals. Didn’t miss Oskar van Hattum at all. Also didn’t miss Riley Bidois who hasn’t featured in the South Central Series. Either he’s injured or just taking time off – regardless, Rudland’s speed and directness and hunger for goals was more than a little reminiscent of the team’s top scorer from the last National League season. Team was solid at the back too, gotta say.
As for Selwyn well they certainly would not have rocked up to a home game against a fellow winless team expecting to be on the wrong end of the biggest defeat of the competition. Shows how slim the margins can be. A couple injuries and a team whose style doesn’t mesh too well with their own and that’s what can happen. One for the flush-the-dunny-and-move-on approach. Still got one more game against Miramar Rangers next week.
WELLINGTON OLYMPIC vs WESTERN SUBURBS
Just got through a game with a couple (previously) winless teams, now it was semi-final time. Not literally of course but if Wellington Olympic won then there’d be no catching them for a place in the final whereas Western Suburbs pretty much had to win to stay in the hunt themselves despite winning their previous two but if they did then it’d all be in their control coming into their final match against the WeeNix. It was the same situation in the third game of the weekend as well. Two teams on 7 points (Olympic & Miramar) playing two teams on 6 points (Wests & Cashmere). Every game matters in such a short competition.
Wellington Olympic made two changes from the thriller against Miramar Rangers. One enforced and one not. Tor Davenport-Petersen was suspended following his red card so in came Sam Mitrakas in midfield alongside Theo Ettema. Jaga Scott-Greenfield also swapped in for Lukas Halikias at right wing-back having mostly had to cover in the back three this South Central Series. Otherwise as per. Western Suburbs also had a man out with suspension thanks to Mike Faber’s jazz hands last week. No Birhanu Taye return yet either. But they were pretty good with ten men (as were Olympic) so no need to change too much. Robi Sabo slid into CB from the start alongside the day’s captain Ben Stroud and Ollie van Rijssel moved to left back – same as their ten-men adjustments vs Selwyn. That allowed Bruno Penney to have a start in midfield.
Suburbs got straight into their work with some slick passing and a couple of clockwork switches of play... but Olympic kept it tight. Ben Mata made a good block from a Wan Gatkek shot. Then after the corner Otto Ingham had a crack denied by Scott-Greenfield stepping in and Robi Sabo’s follow-up was saved by Toby Hunt. A minute later he made a more difficult stop off a Will Gillion whack. Gatkek put one in the back of the net after a lovely chest down and finish off the OVR feed although he was pretty clearly offside.
Dig that from Wests... but the Greeks are a team who are well versed in the art of defending and one thing they were doing especially nicely was staying physical. Not a lot going forwards but a couple times Gianni Bouzoukis might have done more if he’d had a better touch and Rory McKeown did smash one on target after 20 mins which Kees Sims saved well. Also Gould struck wide after a misplaced Sims pass. Olympic slowly beginning to build into the game off the back of that defensive foundation.
But just as Olympic were getting going... Wests went and scored. Mean little goal too, Alex Clayton doing some wonderful right back things before pulling it back to Ihaia Delaney who did the rest. Quality lurking from the striker, slightly awkward finish amongst the crowd too. But mate how about the assist from Clayton? About time he got himself a showreel moment from this National League campaign. Fantastic player, that dude.
The rest of the half was all end to end but without a lot of end product. Most notable bit being an ankle injury suffered by Theo Ettema which caused him to have to go off, Alex Palezevic replacing him. Olympic then made another change during the break with Nati Hailemariam on for Bouzoukis. An extra attacking midfielder to try wrestle a bit more control back in their favour, made sense.
And it worked. Hailemariam played in the front three but is someone who naturally looks to drop and link up. Combine that with some more excellent defending – Justin Gulley was a standout in his battle with Wan Gatkek – and the effects of that midfield physicality coming through and now the Greeks were moving the ball just as swiftly and confidently as Wests had been earlier. Martin Pereyra Garcia’s team have shown a knack for in-game adjustments throughout this Series and this was another great example. Crosses were coming in. They looked a handful off set pieces. A few long shots. Just gotta work some better chances from it all because with an hour gone they were still trailing... and Wests were definitely still offering a major threat.
Then this happened...
Fella runs onto the pitch in a dress, dribbles away with the ball as Kees Sims was about to take a free kick, and carries it all the way to halfway through a crowd of disinterested footballers before Harry Chote took it upon himself to end the madness by stepping over to make the covering tackle. Pretty easy tackle in the end, dude may have had his boots on – appreciate that, they do say you need proper footwear before entering the turf – but an actual National League defender was a bit much of a challenge. Still, it looked like he kept on running out of the camera frame and over to the other end of the pitch where he presumably got away. Not exactly a huge security force working these games. Very weird.
Olympic had a shout for a handball penalty declined straight after. Then Otto Ingham showed some tekkers to skip past a couple dangling feet before firing over the top for Wests. Best chance of the half so far, if that one had pinged top bins then Suburbs would have been in a golden position. Gillion also had a proper crack from the very next phase of play which Hunt palmed to safety, good save that.
Then some hassling Olympic pressure won them a penalty. Kaelin Gould and Jack-Henry Sinclair rushing Clayton, with Sinclair taking the ball away and going down as he tried to weave past Ben Stroud. Wouldn’t say there was a heap of contact but there was enough. Doesn’t take much to trip a player moving at speed. Ben Mata, for the fourth time in four games, stepped up to take the penalty... and for the fourth time in four games he scored. 1-1 after 69 minutes.
Lukas Halikias came on for Mitrakas in the aftermath of the equaliser... and about the first thing he did was cop a stray arm from Stroud which required some physio treatment. Also Sinclair, who was now as prominent as he had been all arvo, got utterly smashed in a challenge by Stroud. Stroudy having a busy time of it trying to match the physical treatment from the Greeks. Meanwhile the concession gave Wests a bit of a spark up and Stroud was able to win a couple headers off corner kicks, albeit both were cleared away by defenders. Nicely poised last ten minutes, would we see a winner?
Yup. We would. It was almost the combo from the first goal, Alex Clayton getting in behind and sliding a ball across to Ihaia Delaney... but Toby Hunt made a quality stop at close range. Then Sims made a low diving denial of a Palezevic shot that was headed for the bottom corner and later managed to block a powerful downward header on the goal-line from Mata off a Sinclair corner before Van Rijssel did the same as Mata got up to win the next corner too. This game was there for the taking for both teams. Bodies all over the place. Pure carnage.
Olympic were the team going closest though. The pathway almost opened up for Gould in stoppage time but not quite, his angled shot able to be parried clear by Sims at his near post. Gould slammed the ball away in frustration... but he needn’t have worried. All the injuries meant we played well into a fifth added-on minute where Gould won a corner and Mata kept it alive after Sims came out to punch. This time it wasn’t a header at goal from Mata though, it was a nod back towards Rory McKeown in space and the Northern Irishman thundered it through the crowd off his trusty left peg.
Wellington Olympic with the 94th minute equaliser last week and the 95th minute winner this week. Play to the final whistle, as they say. Olympic have scored six goals after the 80th min this SCS (the two Christchurch teams have scored five goals combined). Suburbs played a great first half and had the chances to win it with some sharper finishing and let’s not forget they were also doing this with a slightly understrength defence – Faber’s strength would’ve been very handy here as Olympic regularly won the first contact at set piece time (most of that via Ben Mata).
But that’s how it goes. Olympic are a team with some very clever veterans and in the end that got them the dramatic late win. Gulley was brilliant. Mata was right up there too and was involved in both goals – gotta be enough for a man of the match award, you’d think. Both goalies had excellent games. A fun contest which could have gone either way... in the end Olympic book their place in the final while Suburbs were left sweating on the result the following day.
Of course, we all know where this game turned: Wests were up 1-0 when Drag Guy ran onto the turf. They then went on to lose the game 2-1. Just as the scripture foretold, the angel of doom came dressed in discount Cotton On.
CASHMERE TECHNICAL vs MIRAMAR RANGERS
Three games and three 1-0 results, one way or the other, for Cashmere Tech. They’ve been the one team going against the grain of high scoring matches. Would this be the same? Or would Miramar Rangers book a place in the final to join Wellington Olympic? Or would it be a draw to keep both teams and Wests in the hunt going into the final week? Only one bloody way to find out.
These two teams may well meet in the Chatham Cup final early-ish next year. Cashy are already there while Miramar Rangers have a semi-final to play against North Shore United. One more wrinkle to this clash. Cashmere Tech made one change from their 1-0 win over the WeeNix with Lyle Matthysen getting a start. Miramar Rangers were obviously without Jorge Akers after his awful injury last time so Haris Zeb swapped sides to play Akers’ spot with Aaron Spain at RWB instead of through the middle. Liam Wood with his first start of the SCS in the back three. Also Hugo Delhommelle got a go in place of Andy Bevin who was on the bench, Ollie Whyte playing further forward as a result.
Rangers knocked it around. Tech set up deep with a couple stacked defensive lines. Later, rinse, repeat for the opening stages of this one... although Lyle Matthysen did drift forward and crack a shot a little high for CT on one occasion just to keep it funky. Rangers were really trying some things. Great tempo to what they were doing, searching and probing for cracks in the armour. There tend not to be any of those with Cashmere Tech but any team can be broken down by enough sustained pressure... the trick was to not dig a hole by conceding first which they very nearly did in the 17th min as Coughlan had an effort saved by Zac Jones and then Matthysen was beaten to the loose ball by a foot from Taylor Schirjvers before Declan Tyndall’s shot was blocked by Spain. Triple whammy but no zinger.
Haris Zeb used to play for Canterbury United so he knows most of these dudes and is familiar with the English Park turf. He blitzed past Luke Tongue for sheer speed at one point but his low square ball, which made it all the way across to Aaron Spain at the far post, was punted over the bar. Then Sam Mason-Smith had a shot deflected wide by a lunging Tom Schwarz after Owen Barnett had picked him out. A few Ollie Whyte sighters too. Miramar doing well to move the ball early to the wingbacks to stretch that Tech defence, Cashmere doing well to get forward in numbers when chances arose despite their compact defensive shape.
Spain got another shot away after Miramar moved the ball swiftly to his edge following a midfield turnover but it was parried away for a corner by Danny Knight in goal. Definitely too many of those midfield turnovers for the Cantabs to be happy – it was those scenarios which were causing them the most grief. That and Spain’s cut-backs to Mason-Smith, who didn’t quite get hold of two in a row on 32’ or else Rangers would have had the lead. Also Hugo Delhommelle gave the crossbar a shake on 41’ with a deep rocket. Still no splitting the sides at half-time.
Both teams made a swap at HT: Haris Zeb had seemingly rolled an ankle pretty badly just before the break and he wasn’t able to recover so on came Andy Bevin with Barnett dropping out to Zeb’s left wing-back role. Yuya Taguchi also came on for Cashmere Tech so there was an extra dollop of guile on the pitch for each side... and it certainly worked for Techical. They came out looking more incisive, getting Coughlan on the ball in good areas, and in the 55th minute they took the lead. A set piece, naturally. Matthysen with the delivery, Schwarz with the header back across goal, and Sam Field playing the role of the six-yard box sniper with the final touch off his own head. 1-0 to Cashmere Tech. No game they’ve been involved in had seen a second goal yet. Would that one be enough?
Well, Delhommelle almost equalised immediately after only to get the wrong contract on his volley so the points were gonna be hard earned for the home side if they were gonna hang on. Frantic footy, Miramar trying to speed things up and Tech very keen to counter. Exhausting too. Some big man defending from both sides. But there’s not a whole lot you can do about a bearded Frenchman going top bins. Super technique, super strike, super goal... Hugo Delhommelle, ladies and gents. Finally we had a Cashy Tech game in which both teams scored.
Quick shout out to Scott Midgley for this spontaneous long snap to get rid of a stray ball that had found its way onto the turf without compromising his defensive positioning...
Granted this move did lead to Coughlan whipping a shot close past the far post. Just after Mason-Smith had curled one wide down the other end following some tricky short passing from Rangers. Very much in ‘could go either way’ territory. Tom Schwarz took a knock with quarter of an hour to go but was able to continue. Then another a moment of magic from Rangers – and from Hugo Delhommelle in particular – busted this thing wide open. Fantastic ball from Hugo to find SMS peeling off his man and then just a wonderful finish from Mason-Smith despite a tricky angle. That’s what he does.
Technical threw the kitchen sink at Rangers the rest of the way but with no particularly clear chances emerging from the fog. Miramar with the lock-down defensive closer efforts. Ball went into area, ball was repelled from area. The back three of Wood, Schrijvers, and Midgley all had strong games. Zac Jones didn’t have too many saves to make but he commanded his penalty box especially well. It’s always close when Cashmere Technical are involved but this one ended 2-1 to Miramar Rangers.
Hugo Delhommelle has rarely been this influential in National League footy. Really got to stretch his legs from midfield and he delivered a goal and an assist against maybe the stingiest defence in the nation. Ollie Whyte didn’t score a hatty this week but he still went good – playing much more expansively in a more advanced role where he needed to take those risks. There’s no way he should be playing amateur footy. Aaron Spain had fun at wing-back, particularly in the first half. And note down that Sam Mason-Smith has three goals in the SCS and all three have come in the last fifteen minutes of games.
It was a game without reward for Garbhan Coughlan yet he always looked like he could create something at any moment. Matthysen and Taguchi were sharp. And throw ‘em up for Fraser Angus too, the first man to three yellow cards this Series. No prisoners were taken. A scrappy game between two strong teams who matched up like white and black on a chess board. There was never going to be much between them but ultimately Rangers had the extra bit of magic dust that was required. Thus Miramar Rangers punch their ticket to the final where they’ll face Wellington Olympic. Can’t argue with that.
Also, here’s a thing...
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