Flying Kiwis – August 20
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 1)
Not so long ago, Ben Old was battling through recurring injuries for the Wellington Phoenix just trying to stay fit for long enough to show what he’s capable of. Now he’s New Zealand’s second-ever French Ligue 1 player. Football moves quickly sometimes. It’s incredible that he’s found himself at Saint-Étienne... but it was no surprise when he walked onto the pitch as an opening game starter. He’d been starting games throughout preseason, making all sorts of positive impressions upon his new employers (a goal and an assist in friendly action always helps). And, to their credit, ASSE’s scouting team has clearly done its homework on Old’s strengths as a player and how best to unlock them. One of the main reasons why he’s been able to slide directly into French footy like this is that his club have kept as much continuation as they could with the role he was playing at the Wellington Phoenix.
So it was that Ben Old joined Bill Tuiloma as New Zealanders to have played Ligue 1 footy. Tuiloma did so with a pair of substitute appearances for OL Marseille in February 2015 under the tutelage of manager Marcelo Bielsa. One against Stade Rennais, one against Stade Reims (he was also an unused sub on 12 occasions that season). Meanwhile, Ben Old got his break against AS Monaco. Straight in there against last year’s runners-up on what was not only a special occasion for him personally, making his debut, but also for his club as they returned to the top flight after two tough years in the wilderness.
There’s actually not a whole lot to say about the game. Old worked hard and covered plenty of grass but he didn’t get many touches as Monaco bossed Saint-Étienne around. He fizzed one shot miles off target from distance. Made a few slick dribbles. Completed most of his passes. Showed some promising defensive improvements, getting stuck into some tackles. But it just wasn’t much of a spectacle that he found himself in amongst, with Takumi Minamino’s 29th minute goal the difference in a 1-0 win for Monaco. The former Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg forward snuck in behind and lifted the ball over the keeper on the bounce. Both teams had goals disallowed for offside in this game however this particular instance saw Minamino remain ever-so-slightly onside to decide the day. Old played 68 minutes. There will be much more favourable match-ups than this one as the season gets deeper into the forest.
In the meantime, here’s a glimpse of Oldie embracing the biffo...
Up Next: ASSE vs Le Havre at 7am on Sunday (NZT)
Matthew Garbett - NAC Breda (Dutch Eredivisie)
This bloke just loves the big occasion. Three years ago he was called up to the Olympics as a teenager, originally as an alternate player then he ended up starting games. When he returned to the Olympics in 2024, it was as captain of the Aotearoa side. He’s scored crucial goals for the senior national team – the winner against China, the equaliser against Ireland. Garbs may have had an injury-afflicted season with NAC Breda last time out, and there was actually this gnarly trend where the results were better when he was out of the starting eleven (as was the case for most of their incredible promotion playoff run)... but there was no doubt he’d thrive under the Eredivisie spotlights. If anything, the faster tempo and higher intensity of the Dutch top flight might even suit him better.
Tell ya what, it’s so far so good on that count...
Nothing like a goal against Ajax to get things rolling – Ryan Thomas once used that formula to perfection with a double in PEC Zwolle’s KNVB Cup final heroics of 2014. Garbett wasn’t even an expected starter. He’d come off the bench last week after missing much of preseason due to his Olympic commitments, plus it’s not like he was an established first eleven dude before that. And they’ve signed new midfielders too... including Max Balard from Central Coast Mariners. It was Balard who played that raking switch of play over to Elias Mar Omarsson for the layoff into Garbett’s bursting underlapping run. Then again, changes were always likely after a humiliating 4-1 defeat against Groningen in week one when they were 3-0 down and reduced to ten men after 31 minutes of their return to the top flight.
As a consequence, expectations weren’t exactly high against Ajax – even if Ajax certainly aren’t the team they were a few years ago, having only finished fifth last season (and only getting that high thanks to some resurgent late form). Granted, it did help that Ajax had been taken to an incredible penalty shootout in their Europa League qualifier against Panathanaikos a few days earlier, in which each team took seventeen attempts before Ajax finally claimed it 13-12 to advance to the playoff round. Ajax made eight changes from that UEL tie. NAC made five chances of their own – including 3/4 of the backline and a switch in formation. Eight of the starters were with the club in the second division, Garbett being one of those.
There may well have been some emotional (and physical) fatigue from Ajax but if so it wasn’t clear from the 75% of possession and the abundance of chances that they had. To be fair though, the chances they created weren’t often clear-cut. Ajax left their shooting boots at home against an NAC team that very clearly wanted to make amends for the last outing. Breda thought they’d taken the lead on 50’ only for an offside to deny them – an incident that proved to be a tipping point for Ajax who made a triple-sub after 55 minutes to try and swing things back in their favour. Instead Matt Garbett scored.
Ajax did swiftly equalise, Jorrel Hato heading in from a Steven Berghuis corner kick, and that set up a frantic last half hour... but Garbs was subbed off after 66 mins (replaced by new signing Raul Paula) so he missed all that. Suffice to say that there were probably twice as many chances after Garbett’s goal than there had been before it and it was the packed out 19,000 strong home crowd that went home celebrating after Jan Van den Bergh popped up with a 90+1st minute winner, heading in from a whipped free kick delivery. 2-1 to NAC Breda. How good?
Matthew Garbett: “It is a fantastic victory. NAC wins as the underdog against Ajax. We’ve immediately given the home supporters something to cheer for, especially since we hadn’t started the season well. To win against a historic club like Ajax in our first home game is really great. We are here in the Eredivisie to surprise people.”
Up Next: NAC vs Utrecht at 7am on Sunday (NZT)
Chris Wood - Nottingham Forest (English Premier League)
That didn’t take long. Barely 22 minutes of the new campaign and Chris Wood was already on the board, following up after a Ryan Yates effort had been saved. He was quick off the mark last season too, scoring the winner as a substitute in the second match of the term (against Sheffield United) which flowed on into arguably his best ever Premier League campaign – with 14 goals in just 1812 minutes. He began that term as Taiwo Awoniyi’s deputy then by the end they’d switched around, hence in this match against Bournemouth it was Awoniyi who subbed in for Woodsy for the last twenty minutes (there are strong rumours that Forest are looking to buy another striker so hopefully that attempt fails miserably).
Other than the goal it was only a so-so kinda game from The Woodsman He had a peek at a tasty free kick delivery from Anthony Elanga soon after the goal, though couldn’t reach it hence the goal proved to be his only shot of the afternoon. He also, whilst on defensive corner duty, saw a ricochet off his shins get whalloped into the net for a temporary equaliser until the VAR could confirm an earlier offside. A couple of clunky touches in there but he did stay involved enough to remain a presence throughout and he scored the all-important goal.
Unfortunately, Bournemouth went and grabbed an 86th minute leveller through Antoine Semenyo which meant the teams had to share the points with a 1-1 draw. Failed clearance and an easy finish... a preventable goal. Bournemouth could say the same about the other one too. The draw was a fair reflection, though Forest did have chances to have scored a decisive second. The important thing is that Chris Wood scored.
Chris Wood: “Let's hope that continues. I want to keep contributing and keep scoring goals. We were good in phases today and we need a more complete performance.”
Nottingham Forest versus Bournemouth, you know what else they had in common? They’re the two Prem clubs who bought New Zealand players during this transfer window... although Marko Stamenic and Alex Paulsen were both then loaned out - Stamenic even got to play against Nottm Forest in preseason (more on him later). Good to know the future-proofing is in place because Wood just ensured the extension of a proud undercover fact: there has now been at least one New Zealander to feature in 21 consecutive English Premier League seasons. Fingers cross that dudes like Paulsen, Stamenic, Matt Dibley-Dias, and Henry Gray can keep that streak going long into the distant horizons of time.
This goal against Bournemouth was Wood’s 70th in the EPL from 228 appearances. He has 12 goals in 17 matches under Nuno Espirito Santo’s management, has scored in each of the past eight in a row (with 10+ goals in five of them). By the way, Forest have been drawn at home against Newcastle United in the EFL Cup second round. That might be more of a Taiwo Awoniyi game since Woodsy seems to be the main starter in the league but remember he did score a hat-trick against his old club last time he played them.
Up Next: Southampton vs Nottm Forest at 2am on Sunday (NZT)
Andre De Jong – Stellenbosch (South African Premier Soccer League)
After finishing third in the PSL last term, the Stellies earned themselves continental footy for the first time in their history. That reward took the form of some CAF Confederations Cup qualifiers where they were drawn against Nsingizini Hotspurs of Eswatini... not the longest trip they could have gotten and as it turned out they didn’t even need to leave the country because there wasn’t a stadium in all of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) that was up to CAF requirements thus they played the game in Durban instead. Anyway, get a load of this...
Andre de Jong did what he usually does in cup competitions for this club. Doesn’t seem that the game was televised at all so you’ll have to imagine what the goal looked like as Kyle Jurgens picked out ADJ at the back post for a tap-in after 35 minutes. The Stellies then scored again soon afterwards through Devon Titus (43’) before Fawaaz Basadien (70’) converted a penalty for a 3-0 victory.
This was only the first leg too so they’ll get another look at Hotspur back home before the first preliminary round is complete. Stellenbosch are also into the MTN8 semis on the domestic scene and that two-legged tie against Mamelodi Sundowns will follow a few days later (away leg on Thursday NZT, home leg the following Monday) hence there will probably be some rotation for the other Hotspurs game.
ADJ scored five of his seven goals in cup comps last year. He’s already got two goals this season before the league has even begun. He joins Jeremy Brockie and Michael Boxall in having played in the CAF Confederations Cup, which is basically the Europa League of Africa (i.e. a second tier continental comp).
Up Next: Stellies vs Nsingizini Hotspurs at 1am on Sunday in the second leg (NZT)
Ben Waine – Plymouth Argyle (English Championship)
One of the fun things about these early few weeks of the season is that we’re still learning. The patterns of performance and selection haven’t emerged yet, even more so when there’s a new manager... as is the case with Wayne Rooney at Plymouth Argyle. It didn’t look good for Ben Waine when Argyle went through an entire preseason playing a lone-striker formation with Ryan Hardie and new signing Muhamed Tijani exclusively alternated up the top (yet never sharing the pitch together) – all while Waine was away at the Olympics. But then came an EFL Cup tie against Cheltenham and Waine was picked in the starting eleven anyway. Not as the striker, that was Hardie’s job, but instead out on the left as an inverted winger/ten.
This role didn’t require the same physical hold-up play that striker demands but, with fullbacks instructed to get forward, he was still allowed to drift infield into striker-adjacent situations. That led to several examples where he dropped in slightly to collect the ball, then took it on the turn to roll his marker. That’s a new trick. One such turn earned a free kick in a dangerous position. Here’s what happened from that free kick...
Hurray, hurray. First goal of the Wayne (Rooney) Era scored by (Benjamin) Waine. He didn’t last much longer before he was subbed off, with Hardie (81’) and Mustapha Bundu (84’) going on to add a couple of late goals that blew out the scoreline for a 3-0 Argyle win, though the multitude of chances created by the Pilgrims meant that margin was far from unreasonable. 32 total shots with 70% possession. It took them far too long to find the opener but luckily they had the Waine Train docking into the station when it mattered.
The fact that it was a wide open finish from about three centimetres off the line is irrelevant. A goal is a goal is a goal is a goal. That’s the reward for being in the right place. This was Waine’s seventh goal for PAFC and the fifth of those to come in cup competitions. He scored a double against Leyton Orient in the same round of this competition a year ago (and then also scored against Crystal Palace in the second round).
Ben Waine: “That's probably a little bit more of an unnatural position playing in that kind of role. I was getting coached a little bit through it. I always like to be on the move, and it feels wrong to just stand still, but I’m learning to actually stand still in those pockets and the ball will eventually come to me. It's a bit different, but I'm enjoying learning it. The gaffer gave us the freedom - Me, Cal, Ry and Freddie - just to switch around, but making sure we all filled those individual positions at some stage.”
“I think you'd say it's pretty much a free goal but, at the same time, a striker could follow up that chance a hundred times and the one time you don't do it, it happens. That's just about consistency following up; it's good habits, so not as simple as you would say, I guess. It's always nice to score early on. I didn't appear at the weekend so this was my opening game for the season. It's always nice to get off the mark in the first game.”
Plymouth Argyle then had a much more acceptable Championship performance in a 1-1 home draw against Hull City. Ibrahim Cissoko scored the goal after 52 mins, though Hull’s Lewie Coyle retaliated ten mins later. There was no Tijani in the squad for this match, he was out injured, therefore Hardie started up top and Ben Waine was rewarded for his goal with eight minutes in place of Hardie at the end. His first Champo cameo of the new season. The Pilgrims have been drawn away to Watford in the second round of the League Cup – that one takes place next midweek.
Up Next: QPR vs Plymouth Argyle at 11.30pm on Saturday (NZT)
Indiah-Paige Riley - Crystal Palace (English Super League) / Macey Fraser - Utah Royals (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Spot the two kiwi player hanging out for the group photo. Utah Royals have been hosting Crystal Palace during the NWSL break and WSL preseason, sharing facilities and having a few events leading up to a friendly game to cap things off. Utah won the friendly 3-0 thanks to two Ally Sentnor goals (54’ & 70’) and a Kaleigh Riehl effort (81’) but the bit we care about is that Indiah-Paige Riley was subbed on for Palace for the last half hour, getting her first game for her new club. And although she didn’t end up being involved, the fact that Macey Fraser was kitted up and on the bench for Utah is a promising sign after her recent ankle issues.
Riley subbed on at right wing, entering the game during an injury break which gave time for fullback Molly-Mae Sharpe to offer some advice to the debutant. IPR’s first involvement was to win a free kick competing for a header. Other than that: lots of running trying to close down passing lanes, a couple of nice touches, also lots of stoppages as tends to be the case late in friendly games. Palace are still signing players so things could look different when the real stuff begins in a few weeks but this was a good indication that IPR should have plenty to do for CPFC... though we may have to park the Ria Percival hope because if they were going to sign her as a free agent, which they’ve had every opportunity to do, then they’d surely have done so before going away on a preseason tour.
Up Next: Still a little while to go for Palace, but the NWSL resumes next week with Utah vs Bay FC at 1.30pm on Saturday (NZT)
Alex Greive - Bohemian FC (League of Ireland Premier Division)
Yeah, that’ll do. You’re always going to get pesky and tireless effort from AG but he’s probably suffered at his previous couple clubs from not scoring enough goals to ease the pressure. Good to get one fairly early in his time with Bohemians and hopefully he can get a roll on from here.
Greive’s goal came just before half-time to restore Bohs to the lead against Kerry in the FAI Cup. He’d been lurking on the keeper as James Clarke popped one home from close range on 22’. Kerry tied things back up on 43’ but Greive responded right away to have Bohs ahead at HT. However, they conceded on 52’ when Ryan Kelliher scored his second of the day for the home side and the goals dried up from there despite Bohs being up against a lower-tiered opponent.
AG was subbed off just shy of the hour mark and perhaps they missed his poaching presence the rest of the way as a heavy onslaught was withstood throughout regulars and then throughout extra time as well. 2-2 was the final score... but Bohs managed to win the penalty shootout (4-2) to clinch a place in the quarter-finals. More than could be said for Nando Pijnaker’s Sligo Rovers who named a pretty strong side for their match against UCD only to concede twice in the last quarter of an hour and slump to a 2-0 defeat that ends their cup run for this year. Norman Garbett’s Dundalk were already eliminated so they got the week off.
Up Next: Shelbourne vs Bohs at 6.45am on Saturday (NZT)
Marko Stamenic – Olympiacos (Greek Super League)
Marko Stamenic has, incredibly, won consecutive league and cup doubles in different nations. One in Denmark with FC København. One in Serbia with Crvena zvezda. Now he’s got the opportunity to try make it a threepeat in Greece with Olympiacos... where he debuted this past weekend in a routine 2-0 win at home against Volos with a solid 33 minutes off the bench, the second substitute used (after an attacking switch at HT). Olympiacos scored early through Rodinei (13’) before Volos picked up a red card after only half an hour (two yellows for Lucas Villfanez in the space of barely two minutes). That made it even more comfortable... though it wasn’t until the 73rd minute that Giorgos Masouras finally scored their second goal. Gelson Martins set up both of them. Stamenic won the intercept that led to the second goal.
Bit rusty from Olympiacos overall, though they still claimed a clean sheet victory so no dramas there. The highlight of the game was probably when a dog ran onto the pitch near the end and decided it didn’t want to leave, bouncing around and yapping and having the time of its life until a security fella managed to get a leash on it and guide it away.
Up Next: Tuesday at 6.30am, Olympiacos vs Kallithea (NZT)
Vic Esson - Rangers FC (Scottish Premier League)
Nothing to worry about in round two of the SWPL. It wasn’t quite the 11-0 win that they had in round one but Vic Esson got another start and another shutout as Rangers beat Partick Thistle 4-0. Katie Wilkinson scored a hat-trick after scoring four last time. Seven goals in her first two matches for the club, can’t argue with that. Meanwhile, Esson’s back-to-back clean sheets have been achieved without actually needing to make a single save yet. Neither RFC opponent has had a shot on target. With Esson, it’s more the point that she’s been selected both times and appears to have emerged as the undisputed number one keeper.
Up Next: Rangers vs Queen’s Park on Thurs at 7am; Montrose vs Rangers on Mon at 3.10am (NZT)
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
Aaaand it was back to the bench for Liberato Cacace. One of the best on the pitch as a left central defender in the Coppa Italia win against Catanzaro but he didn’t make the cut for the Serie A opener against Monza. To be fair, they had rested a few blokes for that first game. Luka Marianucci also started in defence at 20yo so only Mattia Viti, a 22yo on loan from Nice, retained his spot for the league match.
At least we’ve learned that Cacace is an option to play at LCB when needed. Sebastian Walukiewicz, Ardian Ismajli, and Mattia Viti were the back three against Monza in a 0-0 draw and Cacace only got a tiny cameo at the end in place of Giuseppe Pezzella at wing-back, subbed on in the second minute of injury time. It’s not much but it’s another Serie A appearance. Also, it might not have been the worst game to mostly miss because the pitch was in such a shambles that Empoli had to put out an official apology, promising that it’ll be in a much better state when they host Juventus in a couple weeks.
Up Next: Roma vs Empoli at 6.45am on Monday (NZT)
Ava Collins - Kolding IF (Danish Kvindeliga)
There was a cool moment roughly 35 seconds into Kolding’s game against AGF where Ava Collins collected the ball on the edge of the area, chopped into space, and smacked a left-footed shot slightly wide and into the side-netting. That turned out to be the highlight of the week for the Kvindeliga Kiwis. Collins kept on slugging away but was subbed off at half-time of this match, with Kolding eventually winning 2-1. And none of the other New Zealanders even played. Ally Green (AGF) and Malia Steinmetz (FC Nordsjælland) still appear to be easing back slowly after the Olympics... and Claudia Bunge was an unused sub as Steinmetz’s team beat HB Koge 2-1. Maybe next week Ava Collins will get some company. Or maybe there’ll be transfers, who knows?
Up Next: Kolding vs B93 at 11pm on Sunday (NZT)
Dalton Wilkins - Sønderjyske (Danish Superliga)
See now that’s a quality of spontaneously creative slapstick that Jackie Chan or Buster Keaton would be proud of. Use what you’ve got within reach and get the job done. That he also got out of there without a booking makes it even funnier.
The other thing about that clip is it tells you that Dalton Wilkins started for Sønderjyske after a couple of games riding the pine. You already know how that’s been going for Sonders. Sure enough, with Wilkins in the side they were able to recover from finding themselves a goal down to win 2-1 away to Randers with Mads Agger scoring both goals (28’ & 48’). Good enough for a first win of the season. Wilkins played the whole thing, providing excellent left-back activities in both halves.
Sønderjyske with Dalton Wilkins on the pitch this season:
157 minutes | 3 goals scored | 2 goals conceded | +1 goal difference
Sønderjyske without DW on the pitch this season:
293 minutes | 0 goals scored | 7 goals conceded | -7 goal difference
Wilkins has started two games and they had a win and a draw from those matches. The three games he hasn’t started in have all been defeats. He’s the only player in the entire squad who has a positive goal difference from his overall minutes played and his team have yet to score without him being out there.
Speaking of being out there, Callum McCowatt was not. Despite rushing back ahead of schedule for a bench cameo last week, his name was back in the physio’s appointment diary this week, missing both matches that Silkeborg played. One of those was a 4-1 win against Nordsjælland that sent them top of the Superliga table after five rounds. Pretty cool. The other was the second leg of their Europa Conference League qualifier against Gent of Belgium and that didn’t go nearly so well.
To put it bluntly, it went terribly. Needing to win to advance, Silkeborg were 2-1 up and not really under much pressure, handling the situation well, until the second minute of stoppages when their left-back forgot to step up in time with the rest of the defence and played three dudes onside at once, one of whom controlled a chipped pass over the top and then scored to send the tie to extra time. Suddenly SIF found themselves battling against momentum, hanging on for potential penalties only to again concede with finish line in sight. 118th minute winner from Omri Gandelman. Same bloke who also scored the equaliser for Gent. Silkeborg were on the verge of progressing to the playoff round, instead their European sojourn is over after consecutive defeated ties. Callum McCowatt was unable to play any of it otherwise the outcome would have been completely different, no doubt about it.
Down a division there was weirdly no sight of Elijah Just as AC Horsens lost 1-0 to Kolding. Not even on the bench despite having been a key player for them these last couple games... and it seems as though he’s played his last game for the club with that transfer he’s been seeking finally about to happen. No news yet but surely next week ought to bring something. Also, over in Sweden it’s a relief to report that Mergim Krasniqi recovered to play for GAIS in a 3-1 win against Halmstad which means that even if Kees Sims hadn’t been suspended, he wouldn’t have played anyway so nothing to worry about. GAIS are up to fourth place with that win.
Up Next: Midtjylland vs Sønderjyske at 2am on Sunday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
The sombre mood. The speaking in English. You know the signs and those signs mean a disappointing result for Viking Fotballklubb. They lost 2-1 against Rosenborg, conceding twice in the first half and then not quite being able to recover from that despite Sander Svendsen’s 80th minute goal. Bell shrugged off the idea that the changes in the midfield around him were a factor but he did have two relatively fresh faces alongside him in Simen Kvia-Egeskog and Hampus Finndell, with the latter having only joined the club a month ago (in preparation for Aussie Patrik Yazbek’s departure to MLS). SKE has been more of a regular yet he’s only 21 and had played just 185 minutes of Eliteserien prior to this year. Joe Bell leads this Viking team in minutes played, no surprises there.
There was a sweet dummy from Bell that helped create the space for Svendsen to score the goal. Lovely curling finish from outside the box. And Svendsen had a couple more chances to maybe steal a draw from it all. But nah the poor first half doomed them and they lost 2-1 in a blow to their title hopes. Not too much of a blow though. Bødo/Glimt didn’t play because they’ve got Champions League qualifiers against Crvena zvezda coming up... they remain in first with 41 points. Brann had a big win so they’re ahead of Viking and into second on 36 points. But Fredrikstad were the team that Brann smashed 4-0 so they and Molde remain on 31 points. Viking are in third place with 11 matches left. Top three get European qualification. Everyone’s dropping points so they can afford a slip-up like this as long as doesn’t become a regular thing.
Up Next: VFK vs Strømsgodset on Monday at 3am (NZT)
Tyler Bindon - Reading (English League One)
To recap, Tyler Bindon played 44 times for Reading last season as a teenager in his first professional season. He then spent his first professional offseason starting all four games for the All Whites at the Nations Cup and then all three for the OlyWhites at the Paris Olympics, returning just in time to go straight into the starting line-up for Reading’s League One opening draw against Birmingham. Lots of minutes in the legs for a bloke who doesn’t even turn 20 until late January.
The midweek offered some League Cup action where Bindon was finally given some rest... but only about thirty minutes of it because the bloke who started instead of him, Abraham Kanu, committed three early fouls and was already on his last warning with a yellow card to his name so the manager had to haul him off. Nightmare debut for Kanu... who is only six months younger than Bindon, who replaced him and immediately solidified the RFC backline like a veteran many years beyond himself.
Reading were already 1-0 down after three minutes. They’d concede a second from the penalty spot ten minutes into the second half. But goals from Charlie Savage (65’) and Lewis Wing (73’) earned Reading a 2-2 draw against Colchester United and therefore forced a penalty shootout to determine who’d advance to the next round. Despite being a central defender, Tyler Bindon was amongst those tapped to take one and he buried his with absolute assuredness...
Alas, two of his teammates did not and thus League Two’s Colchester United advanced at the expense of League One Reading FC. So it goes. At least we got to see another string get added to the Bindon bow. Proceedings were far more acceptable a few days later when they shut Wigan out for a 2-0 victory. Charlie Savage (7’) and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan (57’) with the goals. Tyler Bindon and 22yo Senegalese defender Amadou Mbengue again looking like seasoned vets in that centre-back partnership. A convincing result. And after this they get to feature on the Disney Channel.
Up Next: Wrexham vs Reading at 2am on Sunday (NZT)
Matt Dibley-Dias & Nik Tzanev – Northampton Town (English League One)
That there is Matt Dibley-Dias making his senior debut... unless you count his Fulham U21s games in the EFL Trophy where they did play against senior teams so maybe it was only his club debut for Northampton Town. Either way, he’s gone on loan to get games and, after missing the first one through illness, he was able to get a smooth half hour off the bench in an EFL Cup defeat against Wycombe Wanderers. Nik Tzanev also made his club debut in that game. Good to see, good to see. But NTFC were pretty poor and were deservedly knocked out of the League Cup with a 2-0 defeat so we’ll move on quickly.
A few days later they faced Exeter City in League One action. Tzanev went back to the bench while Dibley-Dias was given his first start. First of many, if things go to plan. It wasn’t a very eventful one though. MDD was subbed after 57 minutes with his team trailing 1-0 before they went on to score a couple goals without him and win 2-1. He’s looked classy on the ball so far but also clearly needs more time to settle in, which is to be expected. Remember he’d been ill too – according to his manager, Dibs hadn’t trained all week prior to the League Cup debut.
Up Next: Barnsley vs Northampton Town, Sunday at 2am (NZT)
Max Crocombe - Burton Albion (English League One)
Yeah so you know how Burton Albion dropped their reigning Player of the Year last week? This is how he responded...
Got to love some midweek EFL Cup to set the record straight. Even though Burton were awful and had to play most of the game with ten men after a defensive handball on the goalline (immediately after a magnificent Crocs save tipping the ball onto the crossbar with a trailing leg), the goalkeeper emerged with his reputation not so much enhanced as reinforced. Blackpool won 4-0. Max Crocombe won his starting spot back for game two of the League One campaign.
Where... he almost immediately made a complete howler to cost his team the first goal. Hesitated trying to play the ball through the press and ended up just giving it away. This was pretty much why they dropped him in the first place, because of his messiness in possession. But he kept his head back up and his team equalised almost immediately and Crocombe actually ended up having another strong game full of impressive saves and decent-enough passing. Alas, he was beaten by an own goal late in the first half then conceded from the penalty spot on 90+7’ after one of his defenders got too grappley at corner kick time. 3-3 was the final score. Should have been a win. The highlights are very eventful...
Hopefully Crocs still retains the starting spot, though nobody’s safe when the team has conceded 10 times in three matches. Crocombe’s made 11 saves in two games and had to face a penalty in each of them (one save, one not-save) so we probably oughta look towards the defence if we’re being honest about it.
Up Next: Burton vs Leicester City U21s in the EFL Trophy at 6am on Weds; then Burton vs Stevenage at 11.30pm on Sat (NZT)
Ali Riley - Angel City FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Some lovely advice in there from Ali Riley speaking to a room of youngsters... also happening to mention off-hand that: “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to play soccer again, that’s the nature of the injury that I have right now”. Not a huge shock given her age and the extent of this nerve injury she’s been dealing with, having barely played all year, but still a bummer. She also says that she’s first to training and last to leave as she tries to overcome it so we’ll see how it goes. Hopefully she’s able to finish on her own terms. If you want some cleansing chat after that news then here’s Riley interviewing Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott after the Olympics ended, with all three happening to be more than a little dusty at the time.
Up Next: See now that depends...
James McGarry - Aberdeen (Scottish Premiership)
Aberdeen sold their top goalscorer, Bojan Miovski, to Girona for a record fee during the week. They then managed to beat Queen’s Park without him, dropping them 1-0 in the second round of the League Cup with a debutant forward providing the crucial late goal. James McGarry hasn’t played in either Premiership game so far (both wins) but he did get a dozen minutes off the bench in this match, earning a yellow card and getting to celebrate the stoppage time winner scored by Topi Keskinen. Into the quarter finals. Sweet as.
Up Next: Aberdeen vs Kilmarnock at 2am on Monday (NZT)
Henry Gray - Ipswich Town (English Premier League)
Here’s a sneaky situation. Henry Gray remained with the Ipswich Town first team throughout preseason. He was named in the NZ Olympic team but never travelled, though did remain on call if needed. Last season he had a blinder of a time in a non-league loan with Chelmsford City then finished the campaign as the third-choice keeper with the Ipswich first team. No matchday squad selections but manager Kieran McKenna has a policy that they always have three goalies with the team for any game and injuries elsewhere had cleared the path for Gray to make up those numbers.
Nothing’s really changed since then. Number one keeper Vaclav Hladky left on a free to Burnley which turned out to be an unofficial swap deal when Ipswich then bought Burnley’s Arijanet Muric to replace him. But that doesn’t affect Gray’s situation. Christian Walton remains at the club, as does Cieran Slicker whose injury it was that cleared the path for Gray to return from Chelmsford. Curiously it was Walton who got the start in their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in week one of the Premier League, his first start in over a year. Muric was out injured so Slicker was the man on the bench. Muric will surely be the starter when he’s available therefore the hierarchy is basically the same as it was before with Henry Gray hanging out as number four.
As such, he was free to rip in with the U21s in their first game of the new season, a 6-1 win against Birmingham U21s. East Anglian Daily Times mentioned Gray as one of several standouts, stating that: “It was solid defensive performance too, with Henry Gray making some top saves and centre-backs Jacob Mazionis and Harry Barbrook leading from the back”. He then may or may not have played the 3-3 draw with Burnley U21s in which the Wee Tractor Boys twice blew leads. There was a trialist on the bench behind him in the Birmingham game and some bloke called Curtis was listed as starting in goal vs Burnley according to the Burnley website. Maybe the same dude, dunno. Thing is, Burnley’s website also listed Curtis as being on the bench so who bloody knows.
Gray could yet go out on loan – there are still a couple of weeks of transfer window remaining plus the emergency loan market is always there. Or he could hang back and get some reps with the U21s, train with the first team, and wait and see if any injuries happen to shoot him up the ladder. Or there could be a transfer for one of the other goalies. Most likely Slicker who has been linked with a possible loan to Scotland.
Up Next: Time shall tell
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