2023 Men’s National League – Week 3
Cashmere Technical vs Wellington United
Week three began with a clash between the two highest scoring teams in the MNL. Very early days there but Wellington Olympic just put seven past Napier City looking unstoppable on attack while Cashmere Technical took a five-for against Petone for the win. Jack-Henry Sinclair and the lads against Garbhan Coughlan and the lads. Neither team has kept a clean sheet yet. Had to be another high-scoring bonanza on the way, right?
Quick sidenote: The combination of the words ‘Christchurch’ and ‘sporting facilities’ has tended to provoke negative emotions in recent years, particularly when stadiums are involved. But this game was held at the Ngā Puna Wai sports hub (“home to Canterbury athletics, hockey, tennis and rugby league”) and it looked gorgeous, gotta say it. Most National League footy in Christchurch tends to be played on the artificial surface at English Park or at Christchurch United’s home turf (ironic for the Garden City that games are being played on plastic). But this was lush, soft, beautiful green grass at a flash new facility. It warms the very soul to see it. Having borrowed their ground, Cashmere Technical were hoping to also borrow some of the shine from Canterbury Rugby League (with their growing plethora of NRL players, as well as St. Thomas of Canterbury College winning the national secondary schools championship this year).
Two changes for Cashmere Tech. Lachlan McIsaac was back from suspension at left back in place of Sam Richards but there’s gotta be a bloke named Richards in the CT team somewhere so JJ Richards also came in for Declan Tyndall on the right wing. Strong team with plenty of experience as is always the case with this lot. You can also say similar things about Wellington Olympic, to be fair. They made one change and it was a tasty one: Hamish Watson in for Oli Davies. Watson couldn’t hardly turn up and push everyone else around when they’d just scored seven in a National League game... so the bro settled into a left-sided number ten role in support of main striker Gianni Bouzoukis, mirroring Kailan Gould on the right side.
You know how the Greeks like to operate. Same old thing here, getting the ball to their wingers early and trying to get that current surging forward. But that does have the tendency to leave them sparse at the back sometimes and Aidan Barbour-Ryan had already let loose a couple warnings with his dribbling prior to Richards chipping a deep one over to Lyle Matthysen in the area, who brought it down and flicked it past Justin Gulley and drilled his volley beyond Scott Basalaj for 1-0.
Olympic weren’t having that so they went directly back on the attack, pretty miffed when one obvious corner kick decision was missed, but then earning another from which a thumping header from Cawley was brilliantly tipped over by Tech’s young keeper Matt Foord. Except then Cashmere won a free kick in a promising area and Matthysen’s in-swinging delivery was nodded home by Tom Schwarz for a 2-0 lead after 13 minutes. Stunning stuff... and it almost got stunninger when Coughlan slipped a wicked pass for Barbour-Ryan on the break whose shot was deflected up onto the crossbar. Jeepers.
You don’t withstand Wellington Olympic forever and on 23’ it was time for Joel Stevens to do his thing, getting to the byline for a low cross which was cut out but he regathered and was able to rip a snapshot away through the crowd that zipped past Foord for 2-1. Although that was nearly cancelled out immediately as Lyle Matthysen scored one of the all-time great disallowed goals, collecting the ball slightly offside but then chopping inside and curling a magical shot top bins only for the heartless officiating crew to slap the big red DENIED stamp on his application.
The Technical counter attack continued to claim territory. Coughlan slashed a shot wide, running onto a pinpoint pass from a charging Tom Schwarz (who was trying to add an assist to his goal). Then it was Coughlan’s turn to put food on the table as he made a dash down the right wing and squared all the way for Lyle Matthysen at the far post. Tap in. Goal. Was Coughlan onside? At first it looked like there was no chance but the replay does show Gully stepping up as Coughlan began his run and the linesman was in a perfect position. Gotta trust the judgement... NZF’s livestreaming isn’t exactly pristine technological precision so let’s not even think about them adding VAR into the equation. Bottom line is that Matthysen got the goal that was taken from him ten minutes earlier and Cashmere Technical led 3-1 against last year’s finalists.
The Greeks were rattled... but they weren’t counting down the seconds for half-time. Sinclair whipped a deep one over towards Bouzoukis whose bouncing shot was tipped over by Foord with another slick save. This dude is 17 years old if you didn’t know. Half-time came and went and WO coach Rupert Kemeys swapped Watson and Bouzoukis around. Foord did well to hold onto a Stevens shot as Bouzoukis bore down upon him. Then again from a hard-hit JHS free kick. Same once more off Stevens a bit later. But he couldn’t get enough of a punch on Sinclair’s wide cross in the 58th minute and that led to Hamish Watson tapping home from inside the six yard box. Cashmere responded with a succession of corner kicks that ended with Coughlan glancing a header just past the post. But then Sinclair lifted one over the top for Watto again and the big man went bang.
Suddenly the game was there to win for Olympic with nearly half an hour still remaining. Cashmere Tech had gotten into trouble in week one sitting deep for too long and eventually losing despite having held a 1-0 lead against Auckland United. Admittedly they’d copped a red card in that one. Here they had double the lead and weren’t at a man disadvantage... yet they also were up against the most ruthless team in the comp. Having lost their lead they did manage to stretch things back out so that it wasn’t all one-way traffic... in fact they even had a couple major chances to retake said lead: both running attempts from Coughlan angling in from the left. One was saved near post, the other hit that near post. Meanwhile it took another diving stop from Foord to keep Gould from the scoresheet and Ben Mata was inches away from an 86th minute winner when he got his head onto a corner kick. Inches, we tell’s ya.
Up, down, and all around... the game ended with a 3-3 final score. What an exhausting game of football. Both teams will feel like they threw points away there, with Olympic more likely to feel the consequences of it as they challenge for another grand final place. But the ball don’t lie. Lyle Matthysen produced a few moments of class before Hamish Watson matched the output. We got that high-scorer that the stats suggested.
The Greeks will need to tighten up this defence if they’re going to challenge for the championship yet the goals flow ever onwards and this was still an impressive comeback – the fifth time this season that they’ve found themselves in a 0-2 hole and they’ve won two of those (crucial Central League wins vs Petone and especially the WeeNix), drawn this one, forced extra time in the Chatham Cup vs Eastern Suburbs before going on to lose, whilst getting dropped by Petone in the other. So five 0-2 holes and only one of those was a defeat within ninety. If it weren’t for some super stops by Matt Foord in goal then the Greeks may well have won this with a goal or two to spare.
Cashmere Technical 3-3 Wellington Olympic
Goals (Assists)
8’ | CT | 1-0 | Matthysen (J.Richards)
14’ | CT | 2-0 | Schwarz (Matthysen)
23’ | WO | 2-1 | Stevens
35’ | CT | 3-1 | Matthysen (Coughlan)
58’ | WO | 3-2 | Watson (Sinclair)
62’ | WO | 3-3 | Watson (Sinclair)
Auckland United vs Christchurch United
Here was a game that beamed off the fixture list and it certainly delivered on that anticipation... although in a week stacked with wild games of football that was nothing out of the ordinary. Auckland United had kept things close in both previous games, unlucky not to win last week but for a late deflected equaliser from Eastern Suburbs. Christchurch United had won 1-0 and 2-0 in similarly close matches and were yet to even concede a goal. The odds were on a tight one at Keith Hay Park.
Auckland United made one change from last week with Everton O’Leary, NZ U20s rep picked up from Birkenhead for the MNL, starting at right wingback. That meant Daniel Atkinson switched to the left and Xavier Green moved up front. Christchurch United returned to their usual 3-4-1-2 formation with Haris Zeb coming in as one of the wingbacks. First man off the bench in the other two games now he got his chance to start. There was no Eddie Wilkinson this time around... however they did have a fresh signing on the bench: Tauranga City striker Jonty Bidois, younger brother of former Welly Nix and current NZ U23s striker Riley Bidois. RB scored 22 goals for a comfortable golden boot title as Tauranga got promoted to the Northern League with the NRFL Championship championship. Sneaky addition to the Rams ranks (he’d get about twenty mins off the bench here).
These two teams had matching formations with excellent defensive trios. They both pushed their wingbacks high and therefore both went looking for that space out wide. Neither team really pressed too much. To a large extent they cancelled each other out although Auckland United did have more possession and Oliver Middleton did ping a shot over the bar before Green forced the first save. Dre Vollenhoven offered a couple of hints of his abilities. AU were getting some incision through the midfield... the problem was that Aaron O’Driscoll and his defensive mates were eating.
Hideto Takahashi went even closer on 26’ with a header that he couldn’t keep down. Close enough that he smacked the net in frustration. The ball was high on him, not easy to control, though he did have an open goal to aim for. Going the other way, the Rams lacked a lot of their counter attacking punch without Wilkinson... yet they did have Eoghan Stokes. As this game found its rhythms it became clear that the number tens, Stokes and Vollenhoven, would go a long way towards deciding its outcome. And it was advantage Stokesy after this belter of a goal...
Matt Todd-Smith had a shot diverted wide off Sione Fa’apoi as well or else it coulda been twos at the break. Auckland Utd had played quite well yet they hadn’t found a way through the brick wall (make that 2.5 games without conceding for Chch Utd) and the Rams had produced a moment of magic whereas they hadn’t (yet). But Yousif Al-Kalisy had a mind to change that which he made clear as soon as the second half got underway, trying to light things up from midfield. Unfortunately for him and his team a great bit of work from Sam Philip in getting to the line and cutting back led to an own goal as Atkinson’s clearance hit Fa’apoi and ricocheted into his own net for an oggie.
Well now. 2-0 to Christchurch United after 51 minutes. Jose Figueira retaliated by chucking on a couple of strikers: Josh Redfearn and Ishveer Singh-Dhillon... though before they could have an impact their team shoulda been down by three except Haris Zeb dragged a wonderful chance wide aiming for the near post with only the keeper in his path. That Zeb chance could’ve put this stroppy child of a football match to bed. Instead this happened...
Me oh my yes boy. Vollenhoven had been subbed so it was up to his bro Al-Kalisy to match what Stokes had done earlier. Twenty to go and it was game on. Redfearn had a goal disallowed for an offside. Zeb missed a trickier one for CU. Noah Billingsley made his 2023 MNL debut off the bench for Auckland Utd against the club he played for last year. You may recall a certain Chatham Cup final not so long ago in which the Rams blew a 2-0 lead? On that day it was a goalkeeper who scored the stoppage time leveller in the Chatham Cup final, shout out Max Tommy. This time the strikers got it done. Singh-Dhillon took a pop that was saved but Xavier Green pounced on the rebound. 86th minute. Green seems to have that very useful trait of staying active within the play, always hunting for an opportunity just like this. Mark it in the books as a 2-2 draw.
Massive battling comeback from Auckland United against such a strong defensive team. Xavier Green was nice. Yousif Al-Kalisy is in the early season MVP conversation. Hideto Takahashi led a really solid defensive group, Fa’apoi’s own goal aside. They conceded an 86th minute leveller last week and scored an 86th minute leveller this week and thus United remain undefeated... a phrase which works both ways. Points dropped by Christchurch United, annoyingly so given where they were after 70 minutes, but they’re still on course to push for a grand final place. Notable that they’ve managed to find timely bits of attacking class from different sources in each game: Eddie Wilkinson in game one, Sam Philip in game two, Eoghan Stokes in game three.
Auckland United 2-2 Christchurch United
31’ | CU | 0-1 | Stokes (Lindsay)
51’ | CU | 0-2 | Own Goal
71’ | AU | 1-2 | Al-Kalisy (Atkinson)
86’ | AU | 2-2 | Green (Singh-Dhillon)
Napier City Rovers vs Auckland City
Typical Auckland City, aye? Just grinding out clean sheet victories even without looking all that flash. They win on their off days and they for damn sure win on their on days and for week three they were away against a Napier City team that shipped seven against Wellington Olympic last week. Don’t say Bill Robertson isn’t a loyal coach though: the only change he made from that 7-1 defeat was the enforced one with Jonny McNamara suspended and Cameron Emerson taking his place in the line-up.
Different story for ACFC... four changes there with youngster Joe Wallis given his second start in goal (same deal for Rayan Tayeb retaining his spot on the left wing) plus Takuya Iwata and Regont Murati made their first MNL appearances for the year at fullback and right wing. No Ryan De Vries which is always a bummer. Angus Kilkolly took his spot. But there was room for Emiliano Tade on the bench for the first time since the NL phase began. That midfield trio of Mike Den Heijer, Cam Howieson, and Mario Ilich... unreal.
Rovers got this one going with some defensive touches. Then Auckland City took their turn. Not a lot of action until Liam Schofield picked up a tenth minute yellow card for clattering MDH and then Rovers coach Bill Robertson got one too for disagreeing, which nearly bent him over backwards...
Bookings aside, NCR had to have been pretty happy with how they were going. They were outworking City, forcing them to play slower than they wanted, with only a pair of off-target Den Heijer shots to speak of in the first twenty. Then Deri Corfe did this and they were feeling even brighter...
Wonderful hit from the Englishman, who’d won the free kick himself. Suddenly there was some funkiness to this game with tempers rising as the free kick counts doing the same – Jordan Vale got a yellow card for a high boot on Corfe then immediately committed another foul to get the home crowd wound up. Jim Hoyle lashed a shot across the face of goal after Wallis had only shallowly punched a free kick cross. City’s natural response to such things is to regather control via their passing game but that went awry when an Adam Mitchell ball to Ilich in midfield was picked off by Liam Schofield who saw Wallis off his line and chipped the fella from about 35 metres out. Make that 2-0 for Rovers... not sure there’s been a louder roar from any crowd this season than the one that accompanied that goal. Pretty different from last week when they were 4-0 down at the same stage. A major upset was brewing.
Beware the sleeping beast. At 0-0, City were in their own pockets. At 0-1 they made a point of not panicking. At 0-2 they realised they had to get proactive about this predicament and the tempo visibly rose. Before half-time they’d already got one back: Reggie Murati with a bursting run to the line and a square ball across the six yard box for Angus Kilkolly to take care of. Simple tap-in against one of his old clubs.
That meant 2-1 at half-time and Auckland City emerged from that with a bit of fire in their eyes, moving the ball around with purpose albeit still having some issues breaking down the Rovers backline. Ten mins into the half they subbed on Gerard Garriga, taking off Christian Gray with Den Heijer dropping into defence. Rovers offered one or two occasional threats, like Atkins going for a spectacular volley after Wallis had again underpunched a set piece or McLeod taking a heavy touch when a shot was otherwise on, but most of their mahi came without the ball. Like a brilliant Oscar Mason save to deny Kilkolly – immediately after which Emiliano Tade was thrown on. Liam Gillion would follow before much longer. Albert Riera was playing his cards... yet Rovers kept ticking off those timely milestones as they made it halfway through the second stanza with their lead in tact. Could they really...?
Yeah nah. Rovers withstood 76 minutes and then the wheels fell off in a hurry. Cam Howieson equalised with a sweetly placed strike through traffic, touch and shoot from just inside the area. Less than two minutes later, Howieson charged forward from midfield and was tripped from behind by Cam Emerson. That was his second yellow card. Maybe it was a foul that he had to commit... but that’s why getting an earlier booking for complaining was such a waste. Rovers would have to finish this thing with ten men... again. For a short while that went okay thanks to a determined boost of energy, pressing from the front despite the numbers, but then Kilkolly bundled in from close range after a corner kick for the lead. Then to make sure of matters, ACFC scored a fourth from a trick set piece. Michael Den Heijer did the honours and that was that.
So Napier City were leading 2-1 with 15 mins remaining and they ended up losing 4-2 with ten men. That escalated quickly. It was a rough game in slippery conditions so some yellow cards were par for the course but this the second week in a row that they’ve had a red card. Got to be careful about that discipline – particularly when there are cards for dissent in there. Ain’t no need. However don’t let that overshadow what was a really gutsy performance in which they gave themselves a real chance to do something that only one team has done all year in any competition and beat Auckland City. Deri Corfe has scored in all three games. Only player to do so. And while they have conceded 11 goals in two games that’s admittedly against the two grand finalists from last year.
Auckland bloody City, they’re just never out of it. Haven’t looked close to their best yet and they’re the only team with a perfect record after three weeks. Good to see Kilkolly getting a couple in RDV’s absence. That elite midfield trio also all had a goal or an assist each – it was Howieson, like so many times before, who sparked the comeback. Gillion also offered some brightness on the right wing and it’s a head-scratcher how he’s not started any of these three games... perhaps Riera’s just doing the Pep Guardiola thing of rotating in the early rounds so they can storm home in the latter rounds. If that’s the case then... yikes for the rest of the league.
Napier City Rovers 2-4 Auckland City
24’ | NCR | 1-0 | Corfe
37’ | NCR | 2-0 | Schofield
43’ | AC | 2-1 | Kilkolly (Murati)
77’ | AC | 2-2 | Howieson (Iwata)
78’ | NCR | Red Card for Emerson
85’ | AC | 2-3 | Kilkolly (Ilich)
89’ | AC | 2-4 | Den Heijer (Ilich)
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Manurewa AFC vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
Not sure what the story is behind it, but both home games that Manurewa have played at their club ground Memorial Park have unfolded with this homemade sign propped up by the halfway line...
Gonna assume it was made by some local school kids but even it that’s Monty Patterson’s own home handiwork it’s still a lovely DIY touch. Rewa were more than solid in a 1-0 loss to Auckland City last week after defeat to the other 2022 grand finalists in their opener, making them the first club to get that one-two punch out of the way with (NZF always does a pretty basic draw involving repeated patterns so most teams have to do the Olympic-City back to back at some stage). The stream was a no-go against ACFC but some very stuttering highlights did suggest that Rewa had a few chances down the stretch to possibly get something. So just the one change for them, with Italian Eric Ziu getting a start at up front after playing off the bench in both previous games.
Rewa’s opponents were the Wellington Phoenix Reserves who finally had a contracted first team player in their line-up... that being 17 year old striker Luke Supyk who only made his reserves debut this year. He was the top scorer at the U16 Oceania champs back at the start of the calendar. Younger bro of Adam Supyk, formerly of the WeeNix. Luke earned himself the club’s final senior A-League contract on offer to some standout preseason mahi which included a debut in the Aussie Cup. Elsewhere Josh Rudland got a start on the wing while the prodigy Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues kept his spot. GSR and Supyk are both likely to be at the U17 World Cup in November. Dan McKay returned to the team but he did so as a makeshift central defender with no Marco Lorenz. Fergus Gillion played alongside Anaru Cassidy (another potential U17 WC fella) in the midfield duo, Gillion making his first appearance of the term.
Monty Patterson reckoned he shoulda had a penalty after ten minutes, while Aidan Price was also getting into some good positions up the right edge for Rewa. Not a lot else going on as these two teams tested each other with cautious jabs and feints. That’s when the caution ended though because out of next to nothing the WeeNix scored, Rudland slipping a pass in for Charlie Beale who swung his foot through it for 1-0. Rewa hit back straight away as Price bunted in a flick-on from Patterson but the flag was quick to rise, presumably against Patterson though it must’ve been a close one. Then Dylan Morris made a crucial intervention to keep Sloane-Rodrigues from tapping in before Sammy Khan made up for his own mistake by blocking a Supyk shot to send it off target. It that sounds exhausting then know that this was only the beginning of the madness.
He may have missed that other one but Luke Supyk has already proven his goal scoring credentials at youth level so when a half-clearance fell his way in the penalty area on 25’ there was no need for a controlling touch. He just went bang and sent that sucker flying into the net, first time. And before long it was threes, once again because of a poor clearance that this time fell for Josh Rudland to clinically dispatch it into the bottom corner. There ya go. Half an hour gone and Manurewa were digging their own proverbial graves.
Yet there were signs that they were far from buried... like when McKay cleared a Price header off the line and then AKH made a sharp save against James Hoyt’s follow-up shot. Patterson was running hard and winning free kicks. Ronaldo Munoz almost scored from one of them. It was 3-0 at the break so they subbed on Hayat Ali Tobita and Boon Ozawa... and five minutes into the second old mate Tobita had slammed in a goal overlapping from the right side.
Except then Josh Rudland scored again straight away. Supyk had made a great run only to be tackled as the Rewa CBs condensed around him... but Rudland ran onto the loosie and slammed it bottom corner from distance no dramas at all. Within minutes Luke Supyk had also scored his own second, taking an extra touch to be sure of Sloane-Rodrigues’ early ball across goal. Make that 5-1 to the WeeNix.
Some luck swung back the other way when Patterson drew a penalty out of Alby Kelly-Heald sliding out. It was raining fairly steadily so slipperiness was an issue but it didn’t look like there was much contact there, to be honest. Then again, Patterson had a better shout denied earlier. Rewa’s main man took it himself and scored. No surprises there.
The home crowd (and many of their players) were baying for a blood-coloured card when substitute Hayden Thomas lunged in on Munoz. It was a pretty bad tackle – Munoz made five full body rolls after hitting the deck – although not as bad as the reaction suggested so the yellow card he got was probably sufficient. Anyway, the crowd soon had something else to focus on when Dylan Morris made up for his mistake for the second Nix goal by charging forward and punting in a third for Rewa. His first attempt was blocked. His second attempt was perfect. Dare we begin pondering a comeback? For a few minutes, sure, but then Josh Tollervey scored perhaps the best of the lot with a rocket that beat Regan Diver at his near post. Rewa did score one more via a Boon Ozawa thumper to keep things funky into stoppage time hence it finished with the ridiculous scoreline of 6-4... if there’s a higher scoring game this season then someone needs to reboot the simulation.
The funny thing is, the WeeNix aren’t normally known for being clinical. Yet maybe that reputation doesn’t apply when Josh Rudland and Luke Supyk are both starting – the two guys since Ben Waine who’ve shown the most impressive knack for scoring goals. Here we saw a fair bit of what that looks like as they popped up in good areas and showed a ruthless edge for punishing mistakes. The Nix Reserves hadn’t even scored a goal coming into this round... now they have as many as Auckland City. Defending was optional in this game and that awful stretch in the middle of the first half ultimately cost Manurewa dearly, who now sit last without a point despite having scored as many goals as Auckland City. It did make for quite the spectacle though. Can’t deny it.
Manurewa AFC 4-6 Wellington Phoenix Reserves
18’ | WP | 0-1 | Beale (Rudland)
25’ | WP | 0-2 | Supyk
29’ | WP | 0-3 | Rudland
50’ | M | 1-3 | Tobita (Bobadilla)
52’ | WP | 1-4 | Rudland
55’ | WP | 1-5 | Supyk (Sloane-Rodrigues)
57’ | M | 2-5 | Patterson [pen]
67’ | M | 3-5 | Morris
74’ | WP | 3-6 | Tollervey (Thomas)
84’ | M | 4-6 | Ozawa (Bobadilla)
Eastern Suburbs vs Petone FC
Bit of Sunday arvo footy at Madills Farm, yeah why not. Eastern Suburbs were hoping it’d be third time lucky after failing to win either of their first two games and they had company there as Petone were also drinking in the winless saloon. Suburbs kept it steady from last time but did move Daniel Bunch to striker with Ryan Verney getting a start. Petone gave it a third CB pairing in three games with Luca Barclay joining Brynn Sinclair. Cameron Healy also got his maiden National League start. Steady as she goes.
Right from the outset you could see a very physical Petone team, as if they were deliberately ramping up the tackles to figure out exactly where the line was going to be drawn. Matt Brazier was making an absolute menace of himself by clattering into anyone he could – he hadn’t been nearly as involved as he nor his coach would like in the first couple rounds so he was going to make sure he left a mark this time, one way or another. It took Brazier ten minutes to earn a yellow card for persistent fouling. That’s got to be a record.
Eastern Suburbs play some nice football. Aaryan Raj is a wonderful passer from deep. Campbell Strong knows how to link up in midfield. Jackson Jarvie gets into some great forward positions... and those are just a few of the current age grade internationals, let alone the guys with professional experience in their group. But finishing things off has been a problem for them so far and that trend continued against Petone as they controlled most of the ball yet, other than a couple of Daniel Bunch strikes and one good save from Oscar Boyce against Strong, there wasn’t too much to show for their possession. It’s not gone unnoticed that they’ve used a different centre forward in each game – that’s the one thing they seem to lack. Chuck Matt Brazier amongst those guys (instead of chucking him into those guys) and see what happens.
They don’t have a Brazier or a Coughlan or a Watson... they do have a De Vries but he’s a left-back not the Northern League top scorer. They’ve lost Martin Bueno (10 goals) to a Romanian club since the winter season and haven’t really replaced him. So it remained nil-all as these teams hit the sheds, granted it had begun to get kinda frisky for Petone by then. Boyce needed to make diving stops against Ryan Verney and Kingsley Sinclair, each of whom also had another good chance that went over the top (long shot from RV, header from KS). All the stats would have favoured the Lilywhites... except for the stat that goes on the scoreboard.
Petone subbed on Sam Wall for Eglinton at HT. Gotta keep the legs fresh since they now had to play into the wind for the remainder. Abdallah Khaled would need to replace an injured Brynn Sinclair ten mins later but Petone’s renewed energy to start the second half proved useful, stopping Suburbs from picking up where they’d left off and as we hit the hour mark it was time for Kane Wintersgill to make a triple substitution: on came Jake Mechell while Kelvin Kalua and Luis Toomey made their first appearances of this MNL (as would Adam Thurston later on). That turned out to be a pretty shrewd move because, perhaps two minutes later, Toomey showed his perseverance to battle through contact and then his awareness to spot Francis De Vries in space outside him. Toomey slipped the ball through. FDV cut back and curled in. 1-0 to Eastern Suburbs as they finally found that cutting edge.
Petone’s only goal so far had come from the penalty spot and now they had to find a way to flip the script in the last half hour against one of the best defences in the country. To be frank, they hadn’t looked like scoring at any point. A second goal for the home side was a far more likely bet, hell maybe even a third where that came from. FDV had a shot cleared off the line after a Kalua cross had evaded multiple players in the six yard box. Strong did put the ball in the net on the end of an FDV free kick but he was adjudged offside due to a flick-on. Strong also fizzed a spinning volley over the top, super skill but not quite getting it on target. Toomey had a shot deflected onto the inside of the post. So close.
Then, like a bolt from the blue, this happened...
Stephen Hoyle had been superb dealing with Matt Brazier all afternoon but this one time he and his goalie got mixed up and collided and Brazier was flawless hitting the roof of the net from a tight angle with a bloke in front of him. One chance. That’s all he got, that’s all his entire team gpt. One chance and they scored it. Eastern Suburbs had about a hundred chances but only scored one of them and thus these teams had to share the points (after a couple goalmouth scrambles that didn’t go the way of the Lilywhites in stoppage time).
What an odd game. Bottom line is that Petone are on the board, leaving Manurewa as the only team without a point after three weeks. It wasn’t always pretty but they defended with plenty of courage and they had a gun striker to help them to the smash and grab plus a goalkeeper who did played his part commendably as well.
Eastern Suburbs went undefeated in their regional league but have yet to win after three games of the Nats. All close contests. They’ve scored two and conceded three – and to be fair they did get a fortunate 84th minute equaliser last week so what goes around comes around. However there’s a glimpse of sunlight through the clouds in the impacts of Kelvin Kalua and Luis Toomey off the bench in this game, giving them some of that incision they’d been searching for. The Lilywhites should have won this, no doubt about it. Small tweaks might be all it takes – but they’ll basically need to win out from here if the grand final is still the dream.
Eastern Suburbs 1-1 Petone
61’ | ES | 1-0 | De Vries (Toomey)
86’ | P | 1-1 | Brazier
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