2024 Men’s National League – Week 7
Wellington Olympic vs Western Suburbs
Way back during the Central League, Western Suburbs were the only team to beat Wellington Olympic as the Greeks marched towards their fourth regional championship in a row. It was a 5-3 win in April with Lucas Meek scoring a hatty for Wests. That feels like a long time ago now. Since then Olympic have also won the Chatham Cup... but their National League had been pretty disappointing so far, something they shared in common (relatively speaking) with Western Suburbs.
The Greeks have been beaten by Auckland City and Birkenhead United and held to draws by Coastal Spirit and Cashmere Technical. They’re not entirely out of the hunt for the grand final but that MNL title defence ain’t looking likely, bruh. Wests, meanwhile, did draw with Birkenhead... yet have lost every other game. They’ve somehow managed to concede multiple goals every single week. What’s more, Lucas Meek was again absent after also missing the previous game (a 2-0 loss to Wellington Phoenix Reserves in which they played quite well but blatantly lacked their import number nine to polish things off).
Wests made two changes with Malcolm Young getting his second start in attack and Alifeleti Peini returning to the back three. Olympic also made two changes: Jack-Henry Sinclair was back after a week off, while Hamish Watson started only his third game of the seven. Oddly, the Greeks didn’t score a goal in either of Watto’s other two starts. He himself was yet to register a goal or assist. Eddie Wilkinson sat this game out but at least the emerging hero Isa Prins continued his presence on the left-wing.
Wellington Olympic hadn’t yet found their full flow for anything beyond a couple of good halves. And if it didn’t happen for a Friday nighter at Martin Luckie Park against the worst defence in the competition then it probably wasn’t going to happen at all. But the signs were promising (or terrifying if you’re coming at this from a Wests perspective) when Hamish Watson ran onto a ball over the top after a minute of action and lashed a lefty volley. Moreso in the third minute when Watto put a snapshot onto the post after Prins laid the ball off, just inside the area, amidst ongoing pressure. Joseph Hopper set up Prins shortly after with IP burning his marker but seeing his shot parried out for a corner by Quillan Roberts. Then Hopper had a header cleared off the line from that very same corner. Five minutes into the game at this stage, people. Ominous as the heavy ML Park wind.
Fair play though, Wests hung through that spell and then had a couple of surges of their own. Roberts did have to scrape away a chance for Bouzoukis after quarter of an hour, and then again with a bouncing Mata header, but it was Western Suburbs who scored first when Malcolm Young prevented Gavin Hoy from being able to clear the ball just outside the Olympic penalty area and then the Youngster gave it a rip with his left peg and curled one straight into the top corner. How about that?
Wests stayed busy with a few attacking corner kicks until Roberts was called back into action to save a first-time strike from Sinclair overlapping down the right. Unfortunately for Roberts, there was nothing he could have done when Sinclair played a tasty cut-back into the area (after Prins dinked a clever switch his way, using the wind like a wizard) and the initial contenders all missed it allowing the ball to roll to Watson a little deeper. Watto put his boot so far through that thing it’s a wonder it didn’t explode. What it did do was thump into the top corner at a speed beyond the sound barrier. 1-1 after 29 minutes. An injury break slowed things up for a bit, sadly leading to Malcolm Young needing to be replaced. Then the game got back underway and, before you knew it, Watson had brought down a chip into the area with his chest and punted it into the bottom corner.
That was it until the break. Olympic lost a bit of fluency after taking the lead – in part because Wests do have a strong counter-press. There were similar vibes early second half as Olympic tried to play at that breakneck pace that they love but the passes were disrupted just enough. Watto smashed a low long shot on target looking for the three-bagger... though Connor Wilson was also threatening for Western Subs and it took a sliding block from Ben Mata coming in clutch to shut down one of those ones.
Bit annoying for Olympic who were in control but couldn’t get that third goal to seal the deal. Watson maybe should have when he and Hoy combined, a drop of the shoulder giving HW all the space he needed in the area, but he scooped the lefty shot miles over. Kaelin Nguyen took Bouzoukis’ place after 65 mins, haven’t seen a whole lot of the ex-WeeNix winger during the Nats so this was an opportunity for him. Hoy tried to flick a cheeky touch past Roberts at close range by the Guyana international’s reactions were too slick. Plenty of half chances from the abundance of corners. Eventually one of those corners did meet the most valued target: Ben Mata. There it was. A header, of course.
And one more for good measure, with Nguyen flipping in a fouth after some messy stuff around the area allowed Jonty Roubous to sneak the ball over to him with room to do whatever he wanted. Unselfish from Watson to let Nguyen have the shot when he could have nicked it off him. Watto did have a free kick for one last chance at the hatty but he whipped it over, no dramas. 4-1 to Wellington Olympic matches their biggest win so far to keep those teams above them on their toes to begin round seven.
Wests were bullied by the physicality of Watson to begin with but full credit because they grew to meet the challenge. Finn Diamond was never going to get pushed around but Cameron Brown and Alifeleti Peini matched it too. Across the board they were jumping on passes early and effectively. The Greeks were too good to get caught out like that but it did slow them down for a long time and it was only from a set piece that they finally got that third goal... though a fourth did follow. Four more goals conceded by Wests making it 24 from seven games... and another loss to boot. Oh well. No blame on Roberts though, he was great again. Particularly enjoyed the time late-1H when a wild backpass went his way and he just casually took it down on his chest and kept things moving.
Hamish Watson was excellent, roughing things up and setting the tone, the only drawback being that he missed a few chances. Jack-Henry Sinclair was sharp out wide and got amongst the assists. Ben Mata scored a goal and had a few great defensive contributions with those sliding blocks. And Joe Hopper was really good in the midfield again, the Englishman really making this into a breakout campaign for himself. Wouldn’t say the Greeks got into full flow but they got close a few times and that was enough to win this one handily.
Wellington Olympic 4-1 Western Suburbs
Goals (Assists)
21’ | WS | 0-1 | Young
29’ | WO | 1-1 | Watson (Sinclair)
33’ | WO | 2-1 | Watson (Gulley)
76’ | WO | 3-1 | Mata (Sinclair)
90+1’ | WO | 4-1 | Nguyen (Roubos)
Western Springs vs Cashmere Technical
You know it’s going to be a good game when the bouncy castle is up. Western Springs hosted Cashmere Technical in the second game of a club double-header, their WNL side having earlier beaten Central 6-0, and they also spent the occasion fundraising for mental health charity Chatterbox. Coincidentally, these were the only two teams to have taken points off Auckland City through the previous rounds, with Tech having drawn 1-1 at Kiwitea Street in week three while Western Springs had that remarkable late comeback victory last week (inspired by a few ex-ACFC stalwarts).
The home side were unchanged from that eleven. They rarely make any changes anyway so no surprises they’d stick firm after a glorious win. Eight different players have started all seven games for the Swans. In contrast, Cashmere only have four such players (Declan Tyndall, Danny Kane, Alex Ballard & Yuya Taguchi). Used to be six except that neither Tom Schwarz nor Benjamin Lapslie started here. Schwarz was on the bench but didn’t play. James Brittain took his spot in central defence while Sam Richards started at LB for Lapslie. Pieter-Taco Bierema also returned for a fourth match in goal and both Jack Hallahan and Aidan Barbour-Ryan returned to the starting line-up as well. Neither side is pushing for the grand final but they both did very much want three points to glisten over the inconsistencies.
It didn’t take long before Oscar Browne slipped past Tyndall up the left wing for Springs and his shot was looking good value for that bottom corner until Bierema got a big mitt on it. Emiliano Tade was left in some pain after an early challenge, leading to a hint of niggle between the two number eights: Jackson Manuel and Alex Ballard. Tade soon recovered to ping a half-volley on target from a corner cut back to him lurking outside the area. Bierema used two hands this time to flip it over the bar. Plenty of action as the sides traded spells of possession.
There was nearly a freaky one the other way when Taguchi charged down an Oscar Mason clearance only for the deflection landed clear of the net. Taguchi was on the WSAFC keeper again moments later - to less effect this time but it showed that the Springs build-up was going to be subjected to instances of high danger despite Technical mostly being happy to sit deeper and allow them room. When the moments were picked, they were picked properly. That was the pattern: Springs patient with the ball, Tech patient without the ball. Springs hectic without the ball, Tech hectic with the ball. Finn Caughey lashed a shot over the top from an ABR set-up while Kane’s timely close-out deflected a Browne shot wide. Then Western Springs took the lead. Bierema did well to punch a nasty corner kick delivery from Tade and then he punched away a Kurtis Mogg header from the next phase. But he couldn’t get his third punch clear and Aidan Carey pounced for 1-0. Timely attacking reward for the man who has been Springs’ most consistent defender this year.
Oscar Browne was looking like a menace from minute one, he had another moment mid-1H bursting around his marker to get into the area but whipping his attempt over. Next it was a stunning pass underneath from Wan Gatkek to pick out Matt Ellis dashing in... but Bierema read it and smothered the shot. Lovely to see Manuel and Gatkek pulling strings. If Tech were going to get back even, it was probably going to have something to do with those trigger presses. Conveniently, that’s exactly what happened after 30 mins when Mason miss-hit a clearance under pressure and Alex Ballard wasted no time in passing that ball first-time to Garbhan Coughlan wide open in the middle of the goal for quite possibly the easiest goal he’s ever scored. And you really don’t need to be making it easy for that guy.
Can’t say the warning signs weren’t there. Tade then curled a free kick into the lap of Bierema after Kane had been booked for the foul. Western Springs seemed to be getting back on top of the arm wrestle but then, out of nothing, Jack Hallahan collected the ball out wide, surged past a couple of defenders with sheer speed and directness, then beat Mason down low to put Cashmere Tech into the lead. Both goals with a shot of Irish.
Granted, it only took three minutes for Western Springs to cancel that out when Matt Ellis put a low cross towards the near post where Reid Drake ghosted in with a confident dink to make it 2-2. Unlike Tech to score so late in the half then fail to see it out until the break – usually they’re so good at negotiating those situations within games. Actually, they were lucky not to be losing as oranges were served because Ellis was barged over by Sam Richards trying to get into the area. Free kick given, no penalty. Contact definitely began outside the box but it sure looked like it continued into it.
Crazy half of footy... and there was plenty more where that came from. Within two minutes of the second stanza getting underway, Western Springs really did take the lead. Brittain lost his bearings trying to deal with a long ball up the right line by Patrick Tobin allowing Reid Drake to rush around him bearing down on the keeper. Pure composure from Drake to cut the ball back with Bierema committed. Emiliano Tade said “much obliged” and swept home his first goal of the 2024 National League.
This time the Swans knew what not to do when playing with a lead so they shifted their build-up further from their own goal. But there were still transitional moments of danger, usually involving Taguchi, like when Taguchi nicked the ball from Carey after an hour. Carey recovered but Taguchi flipped it back to Coughlan whose shot was well saved by Mason. Springs seemed equally, it not more, likely to find another goal themselves. Drake was unlucky to be flagged offside as he ran through and rounded PTB... though Kane blocked him on the line anyway. Tade had played the ball through that time. He also played the ball through for Matt Ellis a couple mins later. Backheel to meet the inside crossover, genius from a man who epitomises the word in this competition, and Ellis was too fast to be stopped. 4-2 to WSAFC after 67 mins.
Hard to come back from two goals down with barely twenty minutes left away from home. Cashmere Tech didn’t travel all that way not to give it a go though. Coughlan stung one into Mason’s hand again and had another effort deflected over. From the subsequent corner, Hallahan’s delivery was diverted off a Springs player and onto the post, rebounding into the middle of the goal where Finn Caughey only had to lower his head to make it 4-3. He nearly got a kick in the face for his troubles but fortunately his head is a long way off the ground so it was a goal and it was game on with fifteen to go.
That’s about when Kurtis Mogg began throwing himself in the way of everything. Then Mason made a massive save closing down Coughlan after a sloppy touch by Carey had allowed, guess who, Yuya Taguchi to sneak in. Five more minutes were added on. Five minutes weren’t enough. Coughlan lined up a direct free kick from about twenty metres that clipped off the crossbar. Big cheer from the balcony as Western Springs emerged from the chaos with a 4-3 victory.
Finally the Swans win consecutive games. It was loss-win-loss-win-loss-win now they’ve added a win to throw out the pattern. Fantastic game of football in which Emiliano Tade showed his evergreen ability to move to a different beat than everyone else. Oscar Browne was great to begin with then Reid Drake and Matt Ellis took over. There were sketchy moments both ways in defence, there had to be in a game with seven goals, but Aidan Carey and Kurtis Mogg and Danny Kane were all immense.
Fair play to Cashmere Tech for pushing it close – on another day Coughlan might have scored three, even if these were mostly tough ones it’s unusual to see him missing as many chances as he did here. Nevertheless, his goal here sends him clear top of the Golden Boot ranks as he seeks his third in a row. Yuya Taguchi’s energy was huge for Cashy Tech. Sadly for the Techies, they’ve now gone six games winless since beating Western Suburbs 4-0 in week one (Wests now being firmly entrenched in last place). Not been great for them, nope. Hard not to think they blew it when they failed to take that 2-1 lead into the half. Also, gotta save a shout out to the respective midfields. It was a wild game with ups and downs so it wasn’t flawless from any of them but Jackson Manuel (21) and Wan Gatkek (24) vs Finn Caughey (19) and Alex Ballard (19) was a great battle between a quartet of locally developed young ballers. Crucial area of the pitch and not a veteran, import, or battler in sight.
Western Springs 4-3 Cashmere Technical
18’ | WS | 1-0 | Carey
30’ | CT | 1-1 | Coughlan (Ballard)
42’ | CT | 1-2 | Hallahan (Ballard)
45’ | WS | 2-2 | Drake (Ellis)
47’ | WS | 3-2 | Tade (Drake)
67’ | WS | 4-2 | Ellis (Tade)
76’ | CT | 4-3 | Caughey
Coastal Spirit vs Napier City Rovers
After six rounds of footy, two-thirds of this season, Coastal Spirit and Napier City Rovers had exactly equal records. Three wins, two draws, one defeat. 15 goals scored and 10 goals conceded. They were also matched in third place in a league where only the top two progress... so lock it in as a must win for both sides at Linfield Park in Eastern Christchurch. Time to bring that cup footy mentality to the party (remembering that Coastal went all the way to the semis of the Chatham Cup this year).
Following an excellent won against Eastern Suburbs, there was only one difference in the Coastal Spirity line-up and that was Matt Bergin returning at right-back with Riley Grover sliding back to the middle. Napier City Rovers were quite substantially different than the 2-1 win against Cashy Tech though. They went back to the 3-4-1-2 formation they tried a few weeks ago (in a win vs Wests), with Matthew Jones as a hybrid left wing-back and Adam Hewson as a much more attacking right wing-back. The Hoyle Bros and George Andrew at CB. William Tønning was back after his suspension so he wore the gloves. Ethan Richards replaced his brother in midfield. Max Chretien played deeper as a ten with Jordan Annear back to partner Oscar Faulds up topskees. Annear who’s previous MNL start was in that Wests win where he got a goal and two assists then spent the second half as a makeshift goalie after the red card (genuinely making like three or four impressive saves).
This was a slippery match-up with both preferring those counter attacks, deeper defence, transition out of structure. Bit end to end. It may have appeared impatient but that’s just because both sides like to put their running shoes on, this is how they play every week. And what better example of that could you possibly imagine than the opening goal of this game, when Dan MacLennan almost leapt on a loose ball over the top only for William Tønning to come sprinting way outside his area to get there first. Tønning was swiftly up and challenging Hoole from the next phase to prevent him getting a clean shot away from around 30-35 metres with the keeper very obviously not there to guard the penalty area. Crazy scramble there... and before anyone could catch a breath, Adam Hewson had already sent the ball high into the channel for Faulds who took it into the area and squared for Jordan Annear to score. Tønning was too far off his line to call that an end-to-end goal but it was the next best thing. Scramble defence into sudden attack with nothing in between.
Napier started quite well with Faulds and Annear regularly involved. Danny Boys had already needed to make one lunging block and he was on hand to hack away another big chance five mins after the goal when Annear’s low cross was touched by Faulds at the six-yard box. Hare-Reid partially snuffed it and Boys cleared the rest of the danger off the line. Cleared it straight into teammate Bergin – ouch - but they got rid of it from there.
Otherwise, there were a few blazing shots off target but Coastal were having trouble getting past the repelling presence of Steve Hoyle. David Yoo almost did it, shimmying onto his left as he does so well and lashing one towards the goal where Tønning made a great one-handed denial. Then again leaning with two hands this time as Yoo threw in a couple of stepovers before doing the same move infield to shoot. This man’s in his Arjen Robben bag and there’s nothing anyone can do about it... aside from Will Tønning’s saves. Because guess what the bro was at it again when closing Yoo down as he ran onto a chip over the top, saving the shot with a trailing leg.
Gotta keep that variety, so next time it was MacLennan that WT renounced. Superb goalkeeping yet again. However, the pressure was mounting as the home side steadily grew into the ascendency... and Rovers didn’t manage to cling on until the half. Dan MacLennan with the cross from wide. Alex Steinwascher with the rising header. Great cross, great finish. NCR had been worthy of the lead on top of a very sturdy beginning but Coastal Spirit forced their way back into the match, initially thanks to David Yoo’s individual stuff and then more generally as his teammates followed the example.
There were a couple hints of Faulds Funkiness as NCR try to recalibrate early in the second half, though NCR still required some more Stephen Hoyle bravado at the back. And with Tønning continuing to be aggressive in rushing out, a few more Coastal chances emerged and they spoiled them both. First it was Hoole not wanting to shoot with WT off his line, instead trying to work a better shot only for the move to fizzle out with a couple of underhit passes. Then a super one-two between Steinwascher and Yoo sent the former through where he rounded the Rovers goalie only to lift his finish over the crossbar. He’d been forced wider than he’d have liked but bloody hell. Of all the players on the pitch you’d have had to put Steiny second only to Faulds in the Most Likely To Score That rankings.
Not that Fauld can say much... it wasn’t long afterwards that he shot into the crossbar after Annear squared for him with the keeper out of the picture. Neither were completely open goals but they might as well have been for strikers of that quality. Faulds must have been shook because the next time the ball came his way he was in pass-not-shoot mode, nodding a high ball across to Emerson despite having space to bring it down. Turned out that was a smart move. Cam Emerson struck it first time low into the net and there ya go. Rovers spent most of the time in between their goals stuck on the back foot but here they were winning again after 65 minutes.
Chretien and S.Hoyle both had shots blocked from a corner kick, MC’s being a wonderfully-struck volley from deep. Coastal had to find another response and Joe Hoole might have provided it with a strike from inside the area but Mr Tønning got in the way yet again. This had been a game with elements of scrappiness the whole way and the chippy fouls only got chippier with NCR trying to hold a lead and Coastal trying to make them let go. That suited Napier City. They could keep that set base and then try to pounce in broken play or set pieces. Coastal’s response: to sub off striker MacLennan and bring on defender Alex Meaclem... with Weston Bell going from LB to LW so it wasn’t actually a negative move, don’t worry.
David Yoo sent a corner kick up into orbit with five to go... eventually dropping onto the head of Steinwascher before Liam Cotter flicked it onto the crossbar. Closest that Spirit had come for quite a while. Rovers had another opportunity to shut the gate when Faulds was blocked by Meaclem. Then they had another another opportunity and this time a couple of subs combined with Ben Stanley giving it a burst to the byline then cutting back for Harry Mason who swept it over for 3-1.
That, quite frankly, was a superb victory for Napier City Rovers. One which rises them up to 14 points and with a game against Auckland City next week and into a position where they will make grand final if they can win their last two games (starting with next week against Auckland City). This comes after finishing eighth and ninth in the previous two MNL seasons. Brilliant mahi. They’re enthusiastic, they’re robust, and they’re extremely balanced. Powerful defenders, workers in the midfield (Cam Emerson getting a starring role in this one) and creative dudes like Adam Hewson, Max Chretien, and Jordan Annear who all impressed against Coastal. Plus of course they’ve got the Scandi Connection with Oscar Faulds and William Tønning. Two assists for Faulds in this match. Countless saves for Tønning.
Dunno how they do it but every year this club recruit high-level impactful overseas players (Faulds is half-kiwi but he came to them from overseas – and he signed with Rovers, he didn’t sign with Auckland City). Bill Robertson’s got them working as hard as anyone but there’s timely class in there too. They proved that once again in this match by capitalising when the going was good and knuckling down when it wasn’t so good. Own those big moments, withstand the tricky times... any team that can do that is a contending team. Napier City Rovers have gotten themselves into this position. Now they’ve got two, maybe three, weeks to make the absolute most of it.
As for Coastal Spirit, owning those moments is probably something they haven’t always managed to do. The National League does take some adjustments. There are no easy games. Hard not to feel this fixture swung when Steinwascher failed to convert that chance at 1-1, though he did have a decent game otherwise. As did guys like Joe Hoole, Dan MacLennan, Ellis Hare-Reid... and of course David Yoo whose rapid lefty stylings have quickly made him a fan favourite with Spirit fans and non-Spirit fans alike. In a way, Napier City are the perfect example for what Coastal should be aiming to become next season. The styles fit nicely. The underdog status is there, for Rovers it’s from being outside the main three cities, for Coastal it’s for not being Cashmere Tech or Christchurch United. The difference is the stuff that led NCR to win this game, much of which can be explained in one word: experience.
Coastal Spirit 1-3 Napier City Rovers
15’ | NCR | 0-1 | Annear (Faulds)
41’ | CS | 1-1 | Steinwascher (MacLennan)
65’ | NCR | 1-2 | Emerson (Faulds)
90+2’ | NCR | 1-3 | Mason (Stanley)
Eastern Suburbs vs Birkenhead United
The Auckland Derbies are always filled with intrigue and this one pitted potentially the most disappointing team of the 2024 MNL with the most pleasantly surprising. Eastern Suburbs won their first game, then drew, then lost four in a row. They’ve got a huge number of young guys having seen their squad evolve heaps during the year, not to mention losing their coach, and it’s had a heavy impact on results in a way that the Lilywhites faithful can’t be too stoked about - though they’re very clearly building into something for next year which is healthy consolation. Birkenhead Utd have had the opposite run. A loss, then a draw, then four wins in a row. They’ve played awesome football, high energy with pressing and transitional attacks with an aggressive backline to carry the weight. No need to think about next year... Birko are still trying to make the most of this one with grand final qualification absolutely within reach.
Righto, what were we dealing with here? Well, Eastern Suburbs brought Riley Dalziell into their backline for his first start as they reinstated the back three formation (after three losses in a row with a four). Luke Mitchell was the other change to the personnel. The switch was probably a ploy to counteract Birkenhead’s usual back three – and there were no shockers in Paul Hobson’s line-up with the same eleven selected for the third week in a row. They’re peaking with finals in sight. The lads can rest when the season ends.
There were hectic scenes as this match got underway thanks to a near-militant intent from both teams towards one/two touch passes, leading to lots of contested ball leading to some statement challenges. Also leading to Monty Patterson tapping the ball into the net from an offside position in the second minute after Jake Mechell had already been flagged at the other end - so an offside each way within 100 seconds, that’s what we were dealing with. That and a bit of tumbling rain at Madills Farm to slicken the surface.
Competitive though the game may have been in the midfield, it was Birkenhead forging the early chances. Haris Zeb hit a volley looping over the bar, Monty Patterson went super close with a reverse header off a curling Dylan Connolly delivery, and Luke Jorgensen saw his low drive diverted away by Aaryan Raj. So, the National League being what it is, of course it was Eastern Suburbs who took the lead after 16 minutes when Aarjan Raj made a near post run for a Ralph Rutherford free kick which he flipped inside the far post with a guiding touch with the side-foot. Cleverly done from a clever player. Extra credit because he’s the first Suburbs player not named Jake Mechell to score since week one.
With that one in the pocket, the Lilywhites looked much calmer and more deliberate, allowing them to use Birko’s intensity against them like a matador waving his towel at the bull. Birkenhead were showing signs of frustration. With the final in sight, they’ve gotta win win win and not only had they conceded one against the run of play, it was also a game that leant itself to complaints due to the physicality. Reffo’s never gonna please everyone in a situation like that. Also, Vadym Patkevych already playing the ol’ wait-for-the-press-before-I-pick-this-ball-up trick in the 30th minute was a wind up as well. And the rain was getting heavier.
Luke Jorgensen could easily have scored a few mins before the break when he got on the end of a superbly worked counter involving Patterson and Connolly. But Jorgo pushed it wide with only the keeper to beat. Patkevych then scraped away a near-post effort from Patterson with the last kick of the half. Birkenhead didn’t need to panic but they did need to sharpen it up with the final product. Meanwhile, Eastern Suburbs had the chance to lay down some defensive foundations having not kept a clean sheet since week one. Lots of good individual defenders in this team, including a strong goalkeeper and a literal Strong defensive midfielder, but the combined effect hadn’t yet achieved the sum of those parts.
Mechell could have doubled the lead running in from the right only his shot was too close to Silvio Rodic who slapped it away. However, the Lilywhites were doing a great job resisting the Birko press. As good as anyone besides Auckland City this season. They also weren’t going to get drawn into the craziness if they could help it... though unfortunately, they couldn’t help it. Given the game flow it was probably inevitable that Birkenhead would score eventually, so on 62 mins Haris Zeb did the wise thing and got the ball to Monty Patterson’s feet, back to goal, edge of the area. Patterson rolled his man and then fired, his shot taking a slight deflection on the way into the roof of the net. It was always going to be him.
And yet that goal didn’t really change anything. There were a couple of subs each way but the biting fouls, the intensity, the counters, the resistance... that all continued. Bodies flying in all directions. Set piece opportunities for both teams. Troy Putt whipped one slightly wide from distance with five to go and Patterson had a couple of hints at repeating his earlier antics. To be honest, the game also descended into some pretty petulant areas due to all the physical stuff.
Since there hadn’t been enough drama already, Dylan Connolly went streaming up the right wing on an overlapping run and cut the ball back to Luke Jorgensen arriving in the penalty area. Boom. 2-1 to Birkenhead United. Excellent comeback in tough conditions to rally from a goal down like that and... oh damn Eastern Suburbs have already equalised. After the Birko celebrations finally settled down, Dylan Laing-McConnell scored almost immediately when he jumped on a Daniel Atkinson nod across and smacked that thing past Rodic for 2-2. Smart finish. Okay then, fellas. Gotta settle for a draw after all.
The draw doesn’t send Birkenhead to the top of the ladder like a win would have done but the point could yet come in handy with six teams finishing this round within three points of first place (you’ll see why with the next game’s write-up). They showed plenty of character to hang around and almost win this match... then left a little lacking not to close it out. Monty Patterson was outstanding with his hold-up play, deservedly getting a goal – his fifth of the campaign. Dylan Connolly continues to look the goods at right-back, especially with that crossing – he’s got four assists this term while LWB Haris Zeb has three. Luke Jorgensen is probably in MVP consideration given how crucial he is to his side’s style of play.
Cool to see Eastern Suburbs get some reward for what was probably their best performance so far. Defensively they withstood buckets of trouble, with Aaryan Raj standing out as he usually does, though Kelvin Kalua was also fantastic and we saw the best of Campbell Strong’s midfield sweeping here as well. Don’t forget 20yo keeper Vadym Patkevych who is young enough to fit within the prospect category for the Lilywhites yet plays like one of the stars. If they can get Noah Karunaratne going as that link between Jake Mechell and everyone else then this side has goals in them.
Eastern Suburbs 2-2 Birkenhead United
16’ | ES | 1-0 | Raj (Rutherford)
62’ | BU | 1-1 | Patterson (Zeb)
90’ | BU | 1-2 | Van den Hoven (Connolly)
90+1’ | ES | 2-2 | Laing-McConnell (Atkinson)
Auckland City vs Wellington Phoenix Reserves
It’s not often that Auckland City get rattled but conceding two late goals to lose at home against Western Springs definitely counts as a rattling. The Navy Blues had enough points on the board that they didn’t have to be worried, they just had to regroup and beat the U20s team that were visiting Kiwitea Street this week... although they did to be careful about it because if they didn’t win then the grand final spot they seemed to be striding confidently towards would all of a sudden not be such a given thing. Albert Riera took some risks with that. They’ve toyed with back threes this year, sometimes outright and sometimes in a hybrid in/out of possession manner. Here they were all in with Nathan Lobo joining Adam Mitchell and Mike den Heijer in the middle. Ryan De Vries returned to the starting eleven for the first time since week two in another statement of intent... while Riera also chose this game to rotate in backup goalie Nathan Garrow and to rest Stipe Ukich. Mario Ilich made his 150th appearance for the club in midfield. Joe Lee and Jerson Lagos were two attack-minded wing-backs.
The risks were amplified when Chris Greenacre’s teamsheet emerged because get a load of this WeeNix eleven: Dublin Boon; Tze Xuan Loke, Dylan Gardiner, Jayden Smith, Lewis Partridge; Finn Roa Conchie, Fergus Gillion, David Ball, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues; Luke Brooke-Smith, Luke Supyk. Three fully contracted A-League players plus four scholarship players (only scholar missing Corban Piper who was on the bench for the first team in Central Coast). Six of them have debuted in the ALM already - ranging from Jayden Smith with three minutes to David Ball with 124 appearances - while another has made matchday squads. The Phoenix Reserves predictably do not have a good record against Auckland City, getting one draw and seven defeats from the past eight meetings, but they didn’t hold anything back with this team.
No kidding. Two-and-a-half minutes gone and they were leading. Loke won a corner kick running aggressively at Manickum (who made a good challenge). Roa Conchie lobbed that thing into the danger zone and the big man Jayden Smith – standing 1.9m tall at 17 years of age – simply jumped higher than anyone else and headed it in.
As cool as it always is to score a goal, Smith was very quickly in the action again at the other end tussling with Myer Bevan and throwing his weight around. This man has studied the ancient scrolls of defending. His CB partner Gardiner has been wonderful this season toom although he was sighing with relief when he accidentally turned an ACFC corner kick onto his own post. Two commanding defensive headers within the next ninety seconds showed he wasn’t going to be daunted by the almost-error though. Then, tell ya what, Smith wasn’t far off scoring again when the WeeNix won a corner from the other side.
Lagos was running hard. Manickum and De Vries linked up gorgeously around the area. Garriga volleyed wide from a Lagos chip into the middle that incorporated all of those things. It’s not like Auckland City weren’t at the races in soggy Sandringham. It’s just that the WeeNix were on it even more so. It wasn’t always the the case, the but WeeNix produced some slick stuff playing through the counter-press. GSR invovled in a lot of that with his slippery dribbling and smooth touch. Luke Brooke-Smith showed some strength on the ball. They had another chance to go two-up when David Ball took some inspiration from the juniors and started jinking past challenges in the penalty area only to thump his shot over the top... barely.
In the 32nd minute, a quick free kick from Gillion went up the line to David Ball. He fed Luke Supyk on the outside edge of the box who cut the ball back for Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues. First time shot. Bottom corner. A brilliant goal encapsulating so much of what they’d been doing well already in this game. So brilliant that they did it again straight afterwards. LBS spun out of pressure deep in his own half and promptly ran forward on the counter, feeding GSR streaming forward. Sloane-Rod switched the play cleverly to Ball whose shot was parried away by Garrow. GSR collected the rebound. Shaped up his man. Shot bottom corner... and beat Garrow at his near post to make it 3-0 after 35 minutes. At Kiwitea Street. Who, pray tell, could ever have foreseen it!?
David Ball lined up a long shot before half-time which had Garrow diving full-stretch to puts his fingerprints on that one, skidding along the slippery surface. That slipperiness came to City’s rescue when GSR wasn’t able to make the most of another counter-attacking runaway – shocking how often the WeeNix were able to run at a broken ACFC backline. You could tell the Navy Blues were getting worried because they were appealing for handballs left, right, and centre. One of those appeals was upheld. RDV flicked the ball into the arm of Smith and Myer Bevan had that ball on the spot before the whistle had stopped whistling... but Dublin Boon made a superb save with his trailing leg and at the halfway stage the unbelievable scoreline remained: Auckland City 0, Wellington Phoenix Reserves 3.
That had Albert Riera (rightfully) frazzled enough to make two half-time changes by subbing on Kailan Gould and Stipe Ukich, though sticking with the back three. This was Gould’s first MNL showing this season – his last game was in the Club World Cup. Gould and Ukich are two tenacious attackers so they were quick to try and grab this thing by the scruff with charging runs and driven crosses. Myer Bevan also whipped a header onto the roof of the net. But 60 minutes had elapsed and they still hadn’t fixed anything so on came Kentaro Ozaki and Angus Kilkolly. Instead it was the WeeNix who nearly made it 4-0 when GSR threw in some jaw-dropping stepovers then LBS dummied the square ball so that it rolled to Ball... but his shot was blocked by Lobo.
Gould and Ukich both had penalty appeals turned down. Those two really did give the Navy Blues a shot in the arm, though it was fellow sub Kilkolly who finally put the ball in the net. Guiding it home with his head after a nod across from Ozaki. 3-1 after 72 minutes. That goal sparked a double change for Chris Greenacre who removed the double-barrelled boys, probably with game management in mind. Probably a good idea because Kilkolly headed over from eight yards and then, in the 78th minute, Ukich fed Gould into the area (rare lapse by the WeeNix allowing that much space) and the bulldog flipped it back stick to where Myer Bevan slid it over the line from close range to make it 3-2.
David Ball got himself a yellow card chopping down Ukich on the run. Had to be done, veteran move. Gould nearly caught Boon out at his near post. One thing the Nix kept doing very well was trying to get out in transition, with Luke Flowerdew keeping the movement going, but perhaps a slower pace would have been more fruitful whilst nursing a lead. Particularly in the 88th minute when Gould dinked one deep for Angus Kilkolly who smacked in the equaliser. Astonishing stuff. Auckland City with a three-goal comeback in the space of twenty minutes. Yet again this team refuses to acknoweledge defeat.
Or so they thought. Because there was one more freakish twist when Lachlan Candy and Lewis Flowerdew tried to link up in the area but only served to get in each other’s way... though then by getting in each other’s way they confused Mike den Heijer enough that the seas parted for Flowerdew to shoot. And he did. Right into the bottom corner past Garrow to make it 4-3. Unreal. The Phoenix Reserves couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead but they ended up winning 4-3 anyway. Second loss in a row for ACFC once again it was a stoppage time goal that doomed them.
Absolutely superb from Dylan Gardiner and Jayden Smith at the back for the Nix. The headers they won, the blocks they made, the positioning they held. There have been times where it’s been worth wondering if the Phoenix spend so much time working on technique and playing out from the back that they’ve lost the dark arts of defence... Finn Surman was a counterargument, now these two lads are showing the same tendencies. Tall and powerful and courageous. But still with that passing touch as well.
Additionally, we got to see Sloane-Rodrigues and Brooke-Smith doing the double-barrelled link-ups for real and it was sublime, both of them showing lovely signs not just with the creative skills but also their muscle on the ball and their tracking-back without it. Can’t forget Dublin Boon’s penalty save which somehow wasn’t even one of the five most memorable parts of this game but which in the end proved massively important (his save staying big to block out Kilkolly in the final seconds was even more memorable). This was quite honestly one of the greatest ever WeeNix results. They were humming beautifully for 70 minutes and Auckland City didn’t have an answer, then when they did find an answer the WeeNix rebutted it.
The answer they found was sitting on the bench so Albert Riera might secretly regret trying to rest Stipe Ukich (Gould’s coming back from an absence so that’s more understandable). Two assists for Gould. Two goals for Angus Kilkolly off the bench too. In his post-game chat with the ACFC crew, he stressed how “terrible, unacceptable, too soft” the first half was. Bemoaned the on-pitch leadership. He wasn’t holding back, including blame on himself. Mentally they seemed to get caught off-guard by a strong WeeNix team (including a few guys they won’t have seen before), tactically the wing-back formation left them constantly exposed in the wide areas in transitional moments. Bottom line is that Auckland City have lost two games in a row. Both at home. Their other dropped points, the draw vs Cashmere, was also a home game. Strange days.
Because of this result they’re now outside the top two with two rounds remaining (Napier City and Coastal). They can fix that by beating Rovers in a week, it’s away so that helps the cause, but bloody hell mate. This wee slump has thrown the entire competition wide open. Not team has more than four wins from seven. Even the seventh placed WeeNix aren’t out of the finals hunt just yet (assuming they’re allowed to play, there used to be a rule that they couldn’t though that was in the previous format).
Auckland City 3-4 Wellington Phoenix Reserves
3’ | WP | 0-1 | Smith (Roa Conchie)
32’ | WP | 0-2 | Sloane-Rodrigues (Supyk)
35’ | WP | 0-3 | Sloane-Rodrigues
72’ | AC | 1-3 | Kilkolly (Ozaki)
78’ | AC | 2-3 | Bevan (Gould)
88’ | AC | 3-3 | Kilkolly (Gould)
90+1’ | WP | 3-4 | Flowerdew (Candy)
Standings
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napier City Rovers | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 14 |
| Birkenhead United | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 5 | 14 |
| Auckland City | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 13 |
| Western Springs | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 12 |
| Wellington Olympic | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 11 |
| Coastal Spirit | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 11 |
| Wellington Phoenix | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| Cashmere Technical | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 16 | -2 | 6 |
| Eastern Suburbs | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 5 |
| Western Suburbs | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 24 | -17 | 1 |
Top Scorers
| PLAYER | TEAM | GOALS |
|---|---|---|
| Garbhan Coughlan | Cashmere Technical | 7 |
| Daniel Bunch | Birkenhead United | 6 |
| David Yoo | Coastal Spirit | 6 |
| Alejandro Steinwascher | Coastal Spirit | 5 |
| Monty Patterson | Birkenhead United | 5 |
| Adam Hewson | Napier City Rovers | 4 |
| Jake Mechell | Eastern Suburbs | 4 |
| Oscar Faulds | Napier City Rovers | 4 |
| Myer Bevan | Auckland City | 4 |
| Angus Kilkolly | Auckland City | 4 |
| Matthew Ellis | Western Springs | 3 |
| Luke Flowerdew | Wellington Phoenix | 3 |
| Reid Drake | Western Springs | 3 |
| Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues | Wellington Phoenix | 3 |
Top Assists
| PLAYER | TEAM | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|
| Jack-Henry Sinclair | Wellington Olympic | 5 |
| Matthew Ellis | Western Springs | 4 |
| Daniel MacLennan | Coastal Spirit | 4 |
| Dylan Connolly | Birkenhead United | 4 |
| Oscar Faulds | Napier City Rovers | 4 |
| Alejandro Steinwascher | Coastal Spirit | 3 |
| David Yoo | Coastal Spirit | 3 |
| Daniel Atkinson | Eastern Suburbs | 3 |
| Haris Zeb | Birkenhead United | 3 |
Cheers for reading, if you rate the yarns then consider helping the cause over on Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee – every little bit helps The Niche Cache keep on serving up the good stuff
Also helpful are likes/shares/comments, whacking an ad, and telling your mates about us
Keep cool but care