2023 Men’s National League – Week 8
Christchurch United vs Cashmere Technical
They’re all big games when it comes to National League football but some are even bigger than others. When we’re talking about Christchurch United against Cashmere Technical under lights on a Friday night, with United hanging by their last thread in trying to make the final and Technical very keen to be the ones to snap that thread... big becomes massive. A Christchurch Derby with even more on the line than usual. CU may have knocked CT out of the Chatham Cup and also beaten them in the English Cup final but it was Tech who won 3-1 on the last day of the Southern League phase to bust up the Rams’ undefeated campaign at the very last hurdle. It’s never going to be a gentle one when this pair lock horns. Nor would we ever want it to be.
This was therefore the fifth and final meeting of 2023 between these two rivals, with United having won two, Tech having won that one, and there also being a draw earlier in the Southern League. It came at a time when the Rams did appear to be running out of gas, though. Player unavailabilities had run rampant with their squad, especially in defence, where Mason Stearn was elevated to start at fullback for the first time this term. Irish import CB Aaron O’Driscoll was the oldest player in the back four at the ripe old vintage of 24 years of age. They also had Frewan Watts debuting in goal, the 19 year old, with Scott Morris allegedly over in England having a trial with Stoke City, according to the livestream commentary. Stoke City is where Jonathan Gould is currently employed as goalkeeping coach so that would make sense. At least CU’s midfield and front four was unchanged from the last few weeks.
Cashy Tech were also without their previously ever-present National League goalie because Matt Foord is busy wearing the gloves for the NZ U17s at the World Cup. So Alex Boomer, their Dunedin City loanee, made his second appearance. They also brought in Jordan Spain at left back however there wasn’t anything else that needed altering after a Garbhan Coughlan inspired 4-2 comeback win against Napier City last game so, dutifully, nothing else was altered. Meanwhile United were coming off a 5-2 defeat against 10-man Wellington Olympic.
United Sports Centre had to wait all of two minutes and forty-five seconds before the first foul was committed upon Garbhan Coughaln. He’s the most fouled player in the league for a reason (only Jack-Henry Sinclair can rival him at that) and having just scored five goals in two games that attention was going to be even rougher than usual. Note the Irishman vs Irishman duel of O’Driscoll vs Coughlan here. It was nice start from Technical. Yuya Taguchi and Lyle Matthysen were doing some tricky things – those two on the short corners is always exciting. Then United had their turn with Eoghan Stokes trying one that flashed off target. We sorta went back and forth in little forays, occasionally broken up by fouls in the midfield, with neither team willing to raise above a slow and deliberate tempo.
Until Cashmere Technical scored after 20 minutes. It came from a turnover on the sideline, with Spain wasting no time in sending Matthysen running up that wing with a through ball with United’s fullback out of position. Matthysen took it into the penalty area and sent a superb pass across to the middle of the goal where you don’t need to be told that Garbhan Coughlan was lurking to tap home. Five goals in two weeks wasn’t enough for him. That was only the appetiser. Even the ball boys were getting amongst the celebrations.
The Rams were maintaining more possession yet they weren’t finding much to show for it. In contrast, Technical were happy to sit and counter if they needed to and that was working beautifully for them. Coughlan had Grover tied in knots after half an hour, though Watts was able to make a sharp save with his foot before Zander Edwards’ follow-up was deflected gently onto the post. However Christchurch Utd kept searching and they appeared to have drawn level after 35 mins. Sweet glancing header from Sam Philip after some Eddie Wilkinson work at the byline... problem was they ruled the ball had already gone out for a goal kick. Generally speaking, referees tend to give anything close as out in those situations. The camera angles are always deceptive but this sure looked pretty bloody tight...
Other than that, the Rams couldn’t find much space to shoot. Andrew Storer was winning plenty of headers. Cory Mitchell had saved his best CDM performance for this occasion. Tech are able to condense their shape so well in defence and if you want to break them down then you’ve got to drag them out. Jago Godden flipped an awkward one over from a corner. Tough but it was a rare chance for CU. Then the deficit very nearly got doubled when Coughlan carried forward on the counter and whipped an outside of the boot switch towards Edwards... though Watts made the save as ZE tried to angle it past him. 1-0 to Cashy Tech at HT.
There was a weird instance at the beginning of the second spell when Coughlan tried to squeeze between two defenders on the dribble and he rolled his ankle in the process. It was enough of a worry that he required a few minutes of physio treatment before he could continue... all the while the referee was shadowing over him waiting to hand out a yellow card for diving. Bit rude. Then again, considering what Coughlan did during the rest of the game, perhaps it was really was just the world’s most elaborate ever ruse to (unsuccessfully) avoid a booking.
The adjustments from United seemed to have an effect as they began to cause a few more scrambles. We ticked past sixty minutes and it was still 1-0. Aaron O’Driscoll was doing the hard yards against the aerials, plus he cut out a key Coughlan pass otherwise destined for Edwards in behind. Coughlan was dropping into pockets and dictating things but the Rams had their threats too. This was getting frisky. Then, right on cue, Christchurch United equalised. Eddie Wilkinson ran onto a chip over the top down his right wing and this time there was no doubting that he’d gotten to his cross with the ball still in play. Sam Philip, being the goal-scorer that he is, was able to contort himself with the ball slightly behind him, dangling a leg backwards and simply allowing the ball to hit it and divert into the net. Just like a snooker player using the cushion. Expertly done.
Now, when you’ve worked that hard to get back level, especially in a derby game, what you really want to do is make sure you hold the fort for the next few minutes as the other side tries to rally. What you really don’t want to do is concede a penalty more or less instantly. Sadly that’s exactly what the Rams did with Declan Tyndall caught by Watts in the area. The ball was gone but there was some slight contact. Frankly it was a harsh call, though there’s no argument that Watts didn’t catch a trailing leg there. Plus the whole move itself had unfolded so easily for Tech as though United were hanging back and letting it happen. Way too passive. Needless to say, Garbhan Coughlan made no mistake from the penalty spot. Straight down the middle.
We still had twenty more minutes of this madness to follow and the home side were not going down without a fight. Pretty soon Philip had pumped a header off the crossbar after a tidy cross from Dan MacLennan. Stokes had a shot blocked. On and on we sailed... until Jonty Bidois was subbed on and scored with literally his first involvement. More great work from Wilkinson at the byline. Stokes wasn’t able to score from the first attempt, that got blocked, but it rebounded to Bidois who took one touch to control and one to finish (via a deflection). 84 minutes gone. 2-2 was the scoreline.
Wouldn’t you know it, within five minutes Cashmere Technical had scored again. And the scorer was: Garbhan Coughlan... nah jokes. This time he only assisted it with a spectacular dink over the top to Zander Edwards, the 18 year old taking the ball down nicely and finishing with a classy touch.
However there was still time remaining for Coughlan to score a runaway fourth goal in stoppage time to complete his second consecutive hat-trick. This was a damn near perfect individual performance in a massive local derby, 10.0 on Sofascore (if that were a thing). A hat-trick and an assist in a 4-2 win. Only blemish was the yellow card for diving... United shoulda kicked his other ankle and seen if they could get him a second one.
With that result, Cashmere Technical actually jump ahead of Christchurch United on the table thanks to the goal difference swing. The 2023 series is thus tied at two wins apiece with a draw each. Break that one down into goal difference and it’s still even as both teams scored 10 goals each in direct meetings. The year that seemed to see Christchurch United pull away wasn’t actually the case in the head to heads. Although, say it quietly now, CU with that inexperienced backline might well feel they lacked the rub of the green with that disallowed goal in the first half and the penalty later on. It’s funny how what feels like a completely deflating defeat might have done so differently with exactly the same performance and a little more luck.
Yet, to a pretty significant extent, you earn that luck. So if you want to argue the difference between these two teams it was blatantly obvious what the answer is: one has the best striker in the country in prime form. Simple as that. For all their stoic defending, Tech could not have done this without Coughlan’s mahi. That’s eight goals in three games. He has 10 overall for the outright golden boot lead heading into a final round in which that race, Coughlan vs Bouzoukis, is now the most fascinating storyline – since this result officially meant we’ll be getting a rematch of Auckland City vs Wellington Olympic in the grand final. And while we’ll have to travel the great deserted expanses of the offseason before these two clubs meet again... this rivalry just got pumped full of a whole new dosage of motivation heading into 2024.
Christchurch United 2-4 Cashmere Technical
Goals (Assists)
21’ | CT | 0-1 | Coughlan (Matthysen)
68’ | CU | 1-1 | Philip (Wilkinson)
71’ | CT | 1-2 | Coughlan [p] (Tyndall)
84’ | CU | 2-2 | Bidois
88’ | CT | 2-3 | Edwards (Coughlan)
90+3’ | CT | 2-4 | Coughlan (Tyndall)
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Napier City Rovers vs Eastern Suburbs
After five weeks, Eastern Suburbs’ return to the MNL stage was looking like a horrendous failure. They hadn’t managed to win a game despite being runners’ up in the Northern League (undefeated and everything). But then Luis Toomey helped inspire a sudden turnaround and they hit this game up on the back of scoring eight goals across consecutive wins and another victory down in Napier at Bluewater Stadium would all of a sudden send them within one point of third place on the ladder. Not so shabby after all. Kane Wintersgill’s side returned to their 3-4-2-1 formation for this game. No Aaryan Raj so Francis De Vries joined Stephen Hoyle and Adam Thomas in the back three with Kelvin Kalua and Jackson Jarvie as the wing-backs. Ernest Wong also got a go between the sticks with usual keeper Joe Knowles missing his first match. Otherwise all familiar faces, including a second start for Finn McKenlay in midfield.
On the other side, Napier City Rovers wandered into this one after three straight defeats including back to back losses down in Christchurch. Three of their five previous losses had included them getting a red card (as such Jack Albertini was suspended for this match). One of the other defeats included their opponents, Manurewa, getting a red card. Not their favourite colour, that’s for sure. 17 year old Harry Huxford made his first National League start in place of Albertini (Huxford in a midfield role, with Liam Schofield filling in at fullback). That was the only alteration... meaning plenty of attacking threat from the likes of Deri Corfe, Jonny McNamara, Cam Emerson, and Ry McLeod who scored his first MNL goal last match.
Before we began, there was a guard of honour for Stephen Hoyle. A former Hawke’s Bay United fella from when he first moved to Aotearoa, he’s actually returning to the region next year to take up a role with Central Football. This game was a Hoyle Family Derby with brother Jim Hoyle at centre-back for Napier. In fact, get this: they both wore the captain’s armbands. Just like we had in the women’s comp a couple weeks ago when Sarah and Rose Morton captained against each other. NCR also gave a pregame presentation to team manager Greg Wall who is stepping down after seven years in the role. Lots of great people in this fine sport of ours.
Nothing much doing to begin with. The defensive shapes of the respective teams had things framed as the rival midfields surveyed the lay of the land. Good organisation and plenty of help from the attackers dropping back meant that every half-decent passing move would soon get broken up by an intercept or a hard challenge. Rovers had Corfe and Suburbs had Toomey, two blokes capable of slipping past a tackle. But the first twenty minutes passed by without a notable chance to speak of. Then Stephen Hoyle showed some flashbacks to his former life as a striker with a sneaky near post run to head in the opener from Toomey’s corner kick and just like that we were underway.
The goal was just what the Lilywhites needed to take control, although not to where Napier’s workrate and physicality wasn’t still disrupting them. Several more corner kicks kept Suburbs down the attacking end – except for one big chance on the break for Jonny McNamara which he put slightly wide - but way too many free kicks stopped there from being much of a flow to proceedings. Toomey, an ex-HB United fella formerly of Napier Marist prior to his WeeNix tenure, got himself booked for persistent fouling. Still 1-0 at half-time.
Let’s just say it did not stay at one for much longer. There’s a fatigue toll both mental and physical which comes along with working that hard as disruptors and this second half saw Napier City melt into a hefty defeat. Beginning in the 49th minute when a Campbell Strong tackle in his own half sparked a transition attack that saw Luis Toomey hold off his marker on the dribble and pick out Jackson Jarvie who drove into the area and squared for Kingsley Sinclair. The pass was behind him so Sinclair simply touched it back for Toomey to convert. Yet another goal contribution for Tooms. Within five minutes those two had combined for another. Long ball from Hoyle. Wicked backheel flick from Sinclair. Toomey was through on goal from halfway and you can shut the gate at that point.
Toomey tried to return the favour but Sinclair’s strike was blocked by Schofield. Similar one soon after when Toomey sent Jarvie through on the left and his low cross found Ryan Verney but again the shot was blocked. This was getting rather slippery for Rovers, who finally got back down the right end only for McNamara to get booked for diving. NCR threw on Sam Lack and Tom Speers, figuring they’d at least get some more U20s experience out there. Suburbs went further with a triple change that introduced Tyler Lissette, Jake Mechell, and Malcolm Young.
Emerson went into the book for hauling back Toomey after getting ‘megged so the substitutes clearly weren’t affecting the course. Nah, they merely picked up where the others left off... with Young setting up a Mechell tap-in after Toomey’s crossfield switch. Mechell then bounced an open header wide from an FDV corner. On came Jayden Scott and Ralph Rutherford for the Lilywhites. Young smashed a free kick slightly high. He also had an attempted finish denied by a tight save from Oscar Mason. Eventually Hoyle stepped out of defence to win the ball and then kept on going. Slipped pass towards Jake Mechell. Make that 5-0 as the final score.
Pretty good first half from Rovers. Terrible second half. They’ve now lost four on the trot... but at least there weren’t any red cards this time (although Emerson had to limp off late with an ankle injury so there was still some lingering damage). They’ll finish things off away against Auckland United next week so maybe they’ll be able to find a happy note there. After five goals in the first four games, Deri Corfe has been scoreless in the next four. More because of the team’s struggles than anything else.
No struggles on show for Eastern Suburbs. Luis Toomey was again fantastic with two goals and an assist. You run out of superlatives with this bloke. He purely and simply needs to be playing at a higher level. Kingsley Sinclair bagged a couple assists too, while Stephen Hoyle had one of each from central defence. Also had Campbell Strong doing great things in midfield and there were fine impacts from their substitutes as well – particularly Jake Mechell with his first two goals of the season. He had the chances for three or four... nothing like coming on with fresh legs right as the game is opening up. That’s now 13 goals in three games, all wins, for the Lilywhites. Won’t ask where this form was prior because we already know: things changed the moment that Luis Toomey was subbed on in game three.
Napier City Rovers 0-5 Eastern Suburbs
24’ | ES | 0-1 | S.Hoyle (Toomey)
49’ | ES | 0-2 | Toomey (Sinclair)
53’ | ES | 0-3 | Toomey (Sinclair)
67’ | ES | 0-4 | Mechell (Young)
85’ | ES | 0-5 | Mechell (S.Hoyle)
Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Petone FC
Time now for a bit of lower-table funkiness with the Wellington Phoenix Reserves (6 points, -4 goal difference) hosting Petone (1 point, -14 goal difference) at Fraser Park. A couple of Central League comrades each searching for rare victories – in Petone’s case their first at National League level. They were up against probably the strongest WeeNix side of the season to date. Alby Kelly-Heald, Jackson Manuel, Fergus Gillion, and Isaac Hughes all jetted back from sitting on the A-League bench Friday night against Melbourne Victory. Manuel even got a few minutes in that one. Plus Fin Conchie made his first appearance of the term, while fellow first-teamer Oskar van Hattum got another start. Some front four as in the 4-3 win over Auckland United a week ago.
Petone were once again missing Matt Brazier. They did have Jack O’Connor back amongst it after he missed the Auckland City match last time out. He was the only change from that day – a game in which Petone defender very well but just didn’t have the attacking weaponry to threaten the defending champs. The WeeNix have conceded in every game, while Petone were still chasing their first goal in a first half, so this one was poised to be a different kind of battle.
It looked a typically windy one there in Wellington and the WeeNix did have some initial hiccups trying to play through the Petone press. Also Petone had some hiccups against the counter attack having over-committed to said press. These are the two youngest teams in the league so hiccups were to be expected. Lots of back and forth. Josh Rudland miss-hit a lefty snapshot after 14 minutes for the first genuine chance before, moments later, a very tasty O’Connor cross for Petone looked destined for Luke Grindlay’s noggin only for McKay to come to the rescue. Later on McKay got caught out by that press, with Grindlay’s sudden effort saved by a scrambling AKH then LG couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet for a second attempt. These lads don’t stop running so end to end we went and then Oskar van Hattum scored a blinder...
Yeah that’s a fella who’s getting itchy to be amongst the A-League stuff again. Having said that, Petone almost levelled up straight away. Another of those O’Connor crosses from the right wing, absolutely devious, and Grindlay laid a touch for Oliver Pickering who couldn’t beat AKD from about eight yards on the angle. Good keeping, to be fair. Kelly-Heald has improved as much as any of these WeeNixers this year... and his brother’s going alright too.
But Petone weren’t slowing down. O’Connor side-footed an effort onto the crossbar after being given too much space on the right. Isaac Snell couldn’t get a hold of the rebound. Defensive solidity has not been a trait of the Phoenix Reserves lately so they weren’t going to hang on much longer at this rate. Nor did they. Minute 35 and we were level again as Petone went from defence to attack down their left edge with Luka Grindlay tapping in from a Jamaya Shearer cross to complete the transformation. Finally a first half goal for Petone! This means Christchurch United now have the unwanted record for scoring the latest earliest goal (quickest they’ve gotten came in the 40th minute).
Whether it was a WeeNix response or Petone taking their foot off the gas though, that Petone goal was the end of that bright spell. They weren’t able to dig in and sustain it. Instead they went back to relying on their excellent goalie Oscar Boyce with a superb save after Rudland had cut back to Tollervey. Kaelin Nguyen also smacked one into the side-netting in stoppage time. Should mention that Fin Conchie only played the first half hour before Charlie Beale took his place in midfield – didn’t look injured so let’s assume that was a pre-designed substitution as Conchie builds his match fitness up again after his long suspension. 1-1 was the half-time scoreline.
The Nix got going again quickly, Manuel with a shot on target, until Van Hattum took a knock on the ankle and needed some treatment which slowed things down again. And they remained slow into the hour when both teams splashed out with the substitutes. Tze Xuan Loke, Noah Karunaratne, and Daniel Makowem on for the Nix (with Manuel, Tollervey, and Van Hattum off). Dei Gatkek and Matthew Jones came on for Petone. Pretty soon Luca Barclay, Ashnarvy Mustapha, and Mick Reid all joined them while Ryan Watson was sent on for the Nix. Had to list ‘em all because those substitutes were to play a crucial role in the conclusion of this bad boy.
This was genuinely a game that was ready to tip in either direction. Sam Wall went close with a shot for Petone. Boyce made another good save to keep Matt Sheridan off the scoresheet for the Nix. After seven winless games, Petone were desperate for that first win and they knew that this was their big chance. So you can picture the scenes when Ashnarvy Mustapha did this...
Alas, that lead didn’t even last 120 seconds before Boyce fumbled a cross from Sheridan, a rare error from the rookie glovesman, and Makowem was there to slip home the equaliser. Second week in a row that he’s scored as a substitute. And they didn’t let up from there. Watson had a header. Dangerous crosses followed. Nguyen had a strike. A yellow card popped up for the Petone bench. Credit to them because Petone were taking risks in order to chase a winner, with Snell testing Kelly-Heald’s reactions with a stinging shot deep in stoppage time. But not as deep as Ryan Watson’s 90+5th minute winner for the Phoenix Reserves.
Great transition mahi from Noah Karunaratne in there, carrying forward at pace to draw the attention before feeding Watson to score. WeeNix made it consecutive wins and with that they condemned Petone to the wooden spoon with a week to spare. Devastating for Petone after they were 2-1 up with a dozen minutes remaining... but they left themselves vulnerable and got busted for it. You can call it ambition. You can call it bravery. You can call it naivety. They had themselves within range and couldn’t see it through... it’s all a learning experience for a team with as many juniors as this one. They were at least able to score their first two goals without Matt Brazier on the pitch so that’s something.
The Phoenix Reserves have now conceded 10 goals in three games yet they’ve also scored 10 in those matches to have won the two most recent. They were shaky at the back, no doubt, and it could get scary if Wellington Olympic take next week seriously. But they’re competing. They’re scoring goals. Oskar van Hattum looked sharp while the two Josh’s, Rudland and Tollervey, are becoming pretty effective at this level. Six of their goals have been scored by substitutes which is bonkers.
Wellington Phoenix Reserves 3-2 Petone AFC
24’ | WP | 1-0 | Van Hattum (Rudland)
35’ | P | 1-1 | Grindlay (Shearer)
78’ | P | 1-2 | Mustapha (O’Connor)
80’ | WP | 2-2 | Makowem
90+5’ | WP | 3-2 | Watson (N.Karunaratne)
Manurewa AFC vs Auckland United
The ups and down and the ravaging twists of a nine-week season have harmed these two sides more than most. Each has experienced a losing streak of three games. Each has experienced an unbeaten streak of at least three games. Manurewa and Auckland United are the only two clubs who can say both of those things. For Rewa, it went loss loss loss followed by win win win but then they got dropped 3-0 by that resurgent Suburbs team in week seven. This was their chance to bounce back... although they had to do it without coach Paul Marshall who was home with covid. One change from last week and that was the return of Aidan Price for the absent James Hoyt.
For AUFC, what initially looked like a very strong defence had suddenly copped it to the tune of three straight defeats in which they’d conceded ten times. In order to combat that downward spiral they switched to a back four with Everton O’Leary and Codey Phoenix as fullbacks and Hideto Takahashi and Semi Nabenu in the middle. That meant captain Ross Haviland was only on the bench. Jose Figueira also found room for Zachary Chung and Benji McCarthy in his midfield. Dre Vollenhoven was back fit enough to join the substitutes. Funky mix of youth and experience in there as United walked out at Memorial Park.
Rewa have also switched to a back four recently so there were fresh vibes on display in both directions. Didn’t stop Chung showing his sheer pace early on for AU, who were keen to get the ball wide and go from there. Nor Rewa’s Boon Ozawa who whacked a close range volley on target which Mack Waite pushed over the top with one hand. Monty Patterson drew a save after a very rare occurrence: a Takahashi giveaway. Rewa’s press was causing problems for United, whose starting shape at the back was a bit unfamiliar with some unfamiliar players amongst as well – although the way they rotated with their fullbacks meant it often wasn’t much different to a defensive trio in practice.
There was some scrappiness. Not gonna lie. Neither team quite had things clicking, with the best chances stemming from defensive inefficiencies more than anything. McCarthy drilled a snapshot wide for AU. Patterson lifted a bouncer over the top for M. Patterson also had one or two other moments, he was the most dangerous man on the park and Rewa definitely had the higher shot count. But there was nothing to separate the teams after forty-five minutes.
Daniel Atkinson got the second spell going with a couple of strikes at goal, one on target and one not, after running those channels for AU. Pretty soon Tino Contratti was literally punching the ground after mistiming a header up the other end. He was also at risk of combusting when he failed to get a toe on a clever outside-boot cross from Ronaldo Munoz. Sean Leadley ducked into the area but sliced his shot off target. If it were true that both defences were a wee bit vulnerable then it was also true that neither attack was very well-suited to taking advantage of that.
Many times this season we’ve gotten to the stage where a game needs a goal. Every other time they’ve gotten one but as this game reached its final quarter it was foul after foul and the occasional substitution and not much else. Amidst that, United gave season debuts for Bronson Brown and Alexander Hale, while Vollenhoven only got the last five mins (on at the same time as Hale, while Brown got about 25 mins). Price absolutely ripped a long shot towards goal which Waite saved two-handed on the dive. Atkinson let out a yell after lifting a chance onto the roof of the net in trying to lob Regan Diver. Rewa were convinced they should’ve had a penalty for handball with seven minutes to go. A couple other half-chances each way.
In the end the committed defenders were too much. Sammy Khan was in top form for Rewa and Contratti wasn’t far behind. Conor Probert did some good stuff in midfield too. Semi Nabenu showed why he’s getting these starts – big dude who wins his challenges on the turf and in the air. We’ve now had eight weeks of National League action, both men and women, and this was the first nil-all draw in either side of the comp. It was not a classic contest. United got some minutes for a few youngsters. Rewa had the better of the chances yet weren’t able to take advantage. But given where each team was they’re probably satisfied withs avoiding defeat and keeping a clean sheet each, and honestly there’s nothing else to say. Moving on now.
Manurewa AFC 0-0 Auckland United
Auckland City vs Wellington Olympic
That result in the Christchurch Derby on Friday night made this game (and all others if you’re only focused on the final) irrelevant. These two teams will be meeting again in two weeks to decide the champions of Aotearoa. There was still a chance that Olympic could squeak into first ahead of City with a win here plus corresponding results in week nine but that doesn’t really matter either since there’s no home field advantage in the decider. Nah, this was a dress rehearsal. Nothing more. A chance to get a looksee at each other and devise a few plans for when it really matters.
Auckland City don’t lose at Kiwitea Street but they did put that record at some risk with a team that was almost identical to the side that didn’t exactly impress in the win against Petone in the previous round. Only two changes from them. Young keeper Joe Wallis got another start. NZ U23s winger Joe Lee also returned. It was the same makeshift midfield trio again although Cam Howieson and Mike Den Heijer were at least on the bench this time. That was how the Croats lined up.
The Greeks also made two changes and, based on last week, they were probably injury enforced with neither Ben Mata nor Jack-Henry Sinclair in the side following a few recent hobbles. William Vincent got his first start after a debut off the bench last week. Isa Prins retained his starting spot. Nati Hailemariam came into the midfield with Theo Ettema covering Mata’s spot in defence. No Justin Gulley again. Hamish Watson was on the bench after serving his suspension. Neither team was at a hundy percent for this one. You just knew it wasn’t going to make the game any less feisty though.
Sure enough, a couple of hard challenges punctuated the early stages. Caution was to be expected otherwise but there were some sneaky Olympic set pieces, including one that Tor Davenport-Peterson headed brilliantly into the net... only problem was it was the net of the mini goal on the training pitch beside the clubroom where some kids were having a kickaround. Wrong one, bruv.
That 3-2-4-1 formation that Olympic use is a rare one for a reason: the only wide players take up very high starting positions and that can leave them stretched at the back but it also gives them crazy numbers with which to press high (plus aggressive ball-winning defenders help mitigate the worries). Hence City had trouble trying to pass through that bloated Greek pressing approach and it took them about ten minutes before they began moving forward. Some sharp feet from Joe Lee led to a drilled shot that Basalaj was able to collect. Curious to note that AC had Angus Kilkolly on the left wing with Dylan Manickum instead through the middle, while WO let Prins do much the striker stuff with Bouzoukis deeper where he could influence the build-up more.
Gianni Bouzoukis had catching up to do after his golden boot rival Garbhan Coughlan went wild the other night. He smacked an opportunistic shot on target from outside the area. No trouble for Wallis though. Adam Mitchell also made a heroic block against a Joel Stevens strike. These two teams were both largely able to string the short passes together with clarity... yet the long ones tended to drift away or get covered by defenders. It was a cautious game and that’s kind of how it went for the rest of the half. Heavy tackles. Half-chances. Turnovers. Lee and Stevens were the biggest threats each way however it was going to take something else to bust open this stalemate.
Joel Stevens curled a long strike just past the post in the dying moments of the first half. Tong Zhou did similar in the opening minutes of the second. A wonder goal never goes astray... alas, ‘twas not to be. One ball did sneak behind the Olympic defence so Lee smashed it towards goal. Basalaj made the save. Both teams had elite quality on the bench if they wanted to really go for it... and Albert Riera was the first of the managers to pull the parachute cord by sending on Den Heijer and Howieson after 58 minutes. One minute later Rupert Kemeys called that bet with Hamish Watson and Kailan Gould introduced. It had taken almost an hour but now things were finally heating up.
But we still needed a few goals to reach a boiling point. Thankfully there was a bloke out there who specialises in those, playing for a team that scores more than anyone. This was the first game of this MNL season in which Wellington Olympic didn’t hit the net inside of 25 minutes so suffice to say they were overdue when Joel Stevens ran onto a Gavin Hoy switch, shaped up his marker, then hit Gianni Bouzoukis at the near post whose delicate flick worked exactly as intended. There was some controversy over whether Tam Dimairo had committed a foul in the build-up but the ref had a good view and, to be honest, had been pretty lenient with those ones all afternoon. The tendency had long been established. Wellington Olympic led 1-0 after 63 minutes and Auckland City were going to need another late comeback.
Except that this time City seemed rattled. Kilkolly was booked for a needlessly late shoulder into Jack Cawley (AK had copped a few rough ones himself including being on the end of that Dimairo claim). On came the magic man Emiliano Tade... and he was fouled almost straight away by Hoy who earned a yellow. Joe Lee had a huge chance with space in the area only to narrowly miss the target. Yet right when things seemed to be swinging back towards the home side, some sharp work from Gould in digging a low cross towards GB ended up with Hamish Watson hacking the ball over the line from close range, unbothered by the prone shape of Jordan Vale lying at his feet. 74 minutes gone and now Auckland City were two down. Was this really happening?
We’ve seen City escape from these scenarios before. The Houdini acts that end up feeling inevitable. Also Wellington Olympic haven’t kept a cleanie all season so it wasn’t a shock when Jordan Vale skipped inside and slid the ball to Dylan Manickum who slotted that sucker into the bottom corner, as he does so well.
But this was not going to be one of those escape acts. Olympic dug in to limit the chances from there and then, in the 89th minute, we bore witness to a wonderful run from Hamish Watson which began deep in his own half, carrying on up the right wing, turning Christian Gray inside out, then putting in an early cross for Gianni Bouzoukis to do the rest. Astonishing. Wellington Olympic rocked up to Kiwitea Street and won 3-1. If the purpose of this game was to set up the final in a fortnight’s time then it could not have gone better. The narratives are overflowing. Both teams should be stronger by then. A few grudges might just carry over. These two served up a classic in the 2022 final and we’re all set for them to do the same again.
This was Wellington Olympic’s first ever win against Auckland City. It was only Auckland City’s second defeat of the entire calendar year, following a Chatham Cup loss to Western Springs. But the most incredible stat is that it was the first time that ACFC had lost at Kiwitea Street since 16 October 2016. For sixty minutes these two teams got by without any excessive risks... then the substitutes followed and things got extremely funky.
Fair to say that despite the seven previous wins in a row, City haven’t played to their capacity yet and here they finally found a team capable of punishing them for it. In order to do so it required powerful defensive shifts from folks like Cawley and Davenport-Peterson with their hard tackling and leaping headers. It required some faultless goalkeeping from Basalaj. It required brilliant and timely attacking flourishes from the likes of Stevens, Bouzoukis, and Watson. Let’s see if they can do it again in two weeks.
Auckland City 1-3 Wellington Olympic
64’ | WO | 0-1 | Bouzoukis (Stevens)
74’ | WO | 0-2 | Watson
79’ | AC | 1-2 | Manickum (Vale)
89’ | WO | 1-3 | Bouzoukis (Watson)
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