Flying Kiwis – March 11
Ben Waine - Port Vale (English League One)
Ben Waine loves a dose of cup footy. Always has. But none of his past exploits compare to what he did over the past week. Having resurrected his Port Vale career over the past few months, he’s become one of the team’s most reliable players and he proved it in two separate, and legendary, FA Cup ties within the space of five days. Starting with a Tuesday night at Vale Park where he scored the extra time winner that sent his PVFC side – currently last in League One – into the fifth round at the expense of Championship club Bristol City – tenth in the Championship. Bristol City are 38 places above them in the league standings but they didn’t have an answer to this...
He’s sure come a long way since being an unused substitute when Port Vale thrashed amateur club Maldon & Tiptree 5-1 in the first FA Cup round back in November. He was back in contention a month later when he pocketed the winner in the second round as Vale won 1-0 against Bristol Rovers - meaning he’s scored FA Cup winners against both Bristol clubs in the same season, the brother is the scourge of the entire city! No doubting that PVFC caught Bristol City on a bad day (and on a bad surface – though as Waine said afterwards, the Valiants play there every second match so they’re more used to it than anyone else and have been able to turn that into an advantage). But Port Vale have had plenty of their own bad days this season. This wasn’t one of them.
If anyone was going to win it, it was Ben Waine. He had four big chances during the first half. One was a glancing header that he put past the post. Another came from a ball over the top which he did brilliantly to get onto, holding off his marker, but he hesitated on the shot and lost his angle and was saved at the near post. There was flick followed by a saved second attempt as he tried to sneak onto a bouncing ball ahead of the keeper. Then another glanced header, this time aimed at the other post but with the same result.
His second half, and much of extra time, was spent doing tireless defensive work without much opportunity. He almost got through when Andre Gray rushed his through ball and couldn’t get it where it needed to go... but the same bloke made up for that with eight mins left when he threaded in Waine for the decisive goal. Good awareness to get around the keeper. Sneaky finish putting it on the other side of the retreating defender (and then getting lucky with the tired attempt at a clearance off the line – this was 112 minutes into a midweek cup game on a rotten pitch... Waine had the energy to win it, Bristol City’s defenders did not). And thus Port Vale strode into the FA Cup fifth round for the first time in thirty years.
Ben Waine: “Amazing. The team thoroughly deserved that, we worked so hard and so well together. It’s not a surpirse that we got a nice result there but it feels so good. We were organised, we worked really well as a unit. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been building some real momentum and there’s a bit more confidence in the group. I’m glad we could keep that rolling and you saw it tonight.”
But hold on a minute, don’t hang up that phone, because that was only the opening act. That Bristol City game was supposed to have been played a few weeks ago, only for Vale Park to get flooded and the match postponed. So that Tuesday nighter was a catch-up played in order to be ready for the fifth round on Sunday local time where they came up against... drum roll... Premier League side Sunderland. At home. And in case that wasn’t juicy enough already, Ben Waine happens to be a boyhood fan of Newcastle United, the archrivals of Sunderland. That explains why he whipped out the Alan Shearer hand-in-the-air celebration when he scored...
Amazing footballing activities, what a world we live in. This was immediately after he’d almost sparked an own goal which would have rivalled the one witnessed in the NZ A-League derby a few weeks ago. Waine pressured a defender out on the wing with a bobble off the infamous pitch causing a miss-hit that nearly lobbed the goalie from forty metres out on the angle. But whereas Josh Oluwayemi headed into his own net for the Wellington Phoenix, Melker Ellborg of Sunderland made an almost unbelievable backtracking headed clearance. Couldn’t keep out Waine-o’s beautifully placed header from the resulting corner kick though.
There were no other goals in this game. Sunderland did hit the post a couple of times (one was offside) but they also looked wonky against the counter attack the entire way through... and were a tad fortunate that Ellborg wasn’t red carded when the VAR took a look at a challenge he made outside his area. Sunderland had lots of the ball but they didn’t have much imagination against a team that had played 120 minutes in the midweek. Massive shift from the Valiants, Ben Waine included – playing on the right wing and doing heaps of defensive mahi whilst making his only serious goal-scoring chance count. It was a pretty strong Sunderland side too, definitely not full strength but every one there had started in the Premier League this season. Port Vale held on for the 1-0 win and now they’re into the quarters.
This is crazy stuff. Port Vale have won six league games all season... yet they’ve won 5/5 in the FA Cup. The past four rounds have all been 1-0 wins and Ben Waine has scored in three of them. This is only the second time in PVFC history that they’ve made it to the last eight in the FA Cup and the other instance was 72 years ago (1953-54 season, when they made it to the semis – they were a third tier club back then as well). The last time they beat a Premier League opponent in this competition was a 2-1 replay win against Everton in 1995-96 (five years before Waine was born). Sunderland are 57 places above them in the EFL pyramid. The Bristol City win was special but this one blows even that result out of the water.
Ben Waine: “That was unbelievable, I mean look at this place. I’ve never seen it like this. I don’t know what to say. Oh my gosh, we’re on a bit of a roll at the moment. I know it wasn’t pretty to watch but we dug in so hard and I think we deserved it. We stuck to the game plan and simple as that. I’ll take that [goal], a little poacher’s one in the box. I hope the family were watching back home.”
Back in November, Ben Waine couldn’t even find a spot on the bench. It looked like his time in England was coming to an end, that perhaps he’d need to seek a loan to get some minutes ahead of the World Cup. Back then it wasn’t even clear that he’d be in that World Cup squad... but that’s not something he’s gotta worry about now. His season revival started under Darren Moore and he’s had an even greater presence since Jon Brady came in as coach. It began in the cups. It’s probably just peaked in the cups (although who knows what the quarter-final will bring). However, the goals have been flowing in the league as well. It’s genuinely remarkable how he’s been able to flip his fortunes from the toughest stretch of his career to the most magnificent.
Ben Waine pre-December:
L1: 5/18 appearances | 0 goals in 184 minutes
Overall: 7/25 appearances | 0 goals in 364 minutes
Ben Waine December onwards:
L1: 14/16 appearances | 3 goals in 548 minutes (182 m/g)
Overall: 21/23 appearances | 8 goals in 1105 minutes (138 m/g)
Port Vale in the 2025-26 FA Cup
1R: Won 5-1 vs Maldon & Tiptree (Paton 15’, 18’, Hall 16’, Cole 24’, 56’)
2R: Won 1-0 vs Bristol Rovers (Waine 47’)
3R: Won 1-0 vs Fleetwood (Shipley 45+2’)
4R: Won 1-0 [AET] vs Bristol City (Waine 111’)
5R: Won 1-0 vs Sunderland (Waine 28’)
And in the next round they will face... Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. First away tie of this run for PVFC, moving even higher up the standings. To be fair, Port Vale did beat Chelsea 1-0 the last time these two clubs met... granted, that was in 1929. Chelsea progressed to the quarters by beating Wrexham 4-2 after extra time. With Libby Cacace still injured, Wrexham were on the brink of a massive upset leading 2-1 with only a few minutes to go but then George Dobson tried to spin onto a loose ball outside his area and got overrun as Josh Acheampong scored an 82nd minute equaliser. Dobson then got sent off in stoppage time before Chelsea rolled them over in extras. Dobson had been excellent up until then but yeah, tough breaks. That leaves Ben Waine as the last remaining New Zealander in this season’s FA Cup. The last kiwi to play in the quarters was Max Crocombe with Grimsby Town in 2022-23, a record setting run in which Grimsby became the first club to knock out five teams from higher divisions in the same season.
Also helpful was that while PVFC were busy with their cup activities, the three teams immediately above them in League One all lost: Leyton Orient, Rotherham, and Northampton. Port Vale are eight points adrift in last place but they now have multiple games in hand on everyone else thanks to all these cup priorities (and a few postponements for waterlogged pitches). Plus they’ve gotta be brimming with confidence after turning over a Premier League club.
Up Next: Thursday at 8.45am they host Bradford City, then Sunday at 4am they host Huddersfield... lots of games in a hurry and they’re all important (NZT)
Max Mata - St Patrick's Athletic (League of Ireland Premier Division)
It took a couple weeks for Max Mata to announce himself at St Pat’s. He was signed early in preseason, raring to go after an injury spoiled his comeback chances at Shrewsbury Town and led to him seeking an early release. Now he’s back in the league where he had the best (individual) successes of his career... but the injuries haven’t quite released him so he missed the opening two rounds with a minor knock. St Patrick’s Athletic didn’t win either of them.
Mata returned to the bench for a 4-0 win over Dundalk but didn’t get on the park. He then debuted getting quarter of an hour in a 1-0 win against Galway and he got another fifteen minutes as a substitute away against Dublin rivals Shelbourne FC, where St Pat’s had been 2-0 up only to concede immediately before and then immediately after Mata stepped onto the pitch. But not to worry...
That’s the bloke we know and love. Great header and a hard-out celebration that led to a yellow card for taking his shirt off. If ever a booking was worthwhile, getting one right after scoring a stoppage time winner in a derby is probably that moment.
Max Mata: “It’s a pretty special feeling. When the corner came about, the game was swaying with momentum for ninety minutes. I’ve come on and we were kinda under the pump so it felt like hopefully we could turn something around. Got the corner and thought, I’m just gonna go for it here, and got on the end of it and scored, so stoked. I’ve never taken my shirt off before, I don’t even know where that came from. It was just exhilarating.”
It’s interesting that when St Pat’s signed Mata, they made a big deal about reuniting him with his old Sligo Rovers strike-partner Aidan Keena... yet so far those two have only been reunited on the bench after Keena also picked up an injury. That’ll happen at some stage, possibly even next week now that Mata’s let everyone know that he’s back in town. This was a third win on the trot so good things are happening – despite that slow first fortnight, St Pat’s are up to second on the ladder (the team ahead of them is Bohemians, whom they drew with in the first gameweek).
Stephen Kenny, St Pat’s coach, last week: “I think [Mata] needs more training under his belt because we've got to look after him as well. We did need him against Galway and he showed his quality. He had a serious hamstring injury that ruled him out from the summer to our pre-season. He arrived in January and wasn't able to train fully. He had a cross and finishing drill, had a little setback, so we had to slow him down again. I think it’s one step at a time for Max but of course it's his ambition to try and go to the World Cup and we used that as a driving force in bringing him here. Before we even think about the World Cup it's just a matter of getting a prolonged run of training over the next couple of weeks, then bring that into the game.”
Somehow, this is the second stoppage time winner scored by a kiwi in the LOI Premier Division already this season because Jago Godden did the same on debut for Drogheda United. Since then, Godden has continued to get 20-30 minutes off the bench in that Drogs midfield every week though he hasn’t yet cracked the starting team. He was only signed a few days before the season began so hardly got any training prior to his debut – but the fact he’s played at least twenty minutes in all five games suggests a starting berth may not be too far away.
It’s unclear about whether the same is true of Norman Garbett. The Dundalk winger has been perennially injured over the two-and-a-bit years that he’s been in Ireland. He did feature pretty prominently in the Leinster Senior Cup during January... but has not been included in a matchday squad since the serious stuff kicked off. Needless to say, that’s injury related. It was said that he’d be having a late fitness test prior to week one. Obviously he failed since the messaging soon changed to him being out for a couple more weeks. It’s now been a couple more weeks so fingers crossed we see him soon.
Up Next: St Pat’s vs Drogheda at 8.45am on Saturday (NZT)
Alex Paulsen - Lechia Gdansk (Polish Ekstraklasa)
Hey so remember how Alex Paulsen had only kept one clean sheet all season? Yeah well now he’s got two... and this one was something special. Lechia Gdansk won 3-0 against top-of-the-table Jagiellonia, taking the lead shortly before the break through captain Rifet Kapic making a great run into the box from midfield and then slipping a clever finish in off the post. No less than they deserved after creating several good moments throughout the first half. The second spell, predictably, was very different as Jagiellonia made a few subs and ramped up the energy. And yet... Paulsen only had to make one proper save all evening.
That save came with quarter of an hour to go, dropping to his left to parry away a volley from about eight yards out. The save was relatively routine but it was the way he slapped the rebound away from a lurking striker that was most crucial about it. Quick hards and even quicker awareness, improvising to deter the danger at a time when the match was in the balance.
Having kept that one out, Lechia then scored twice more from direct transitional attacks. Once with ten to go and then another with almost the last kick of the game. 3-0 against one of the championship contenders. That’s without doubt the best result of the season for Lechia... who all of a sudden are only three points off fourth place and European qualification (albeit having played an extra match). Alex Paulsen kept 12 clean sheets in 29 games for the Wellington Phoenix in his last season there and then kept 13 in 28 games for Auckland FC so this has been an odd season for him. Just 1/14 clean sheets in Ekstraklasa action prior to this one doubling the count. However, it’s also still true that the team has improved heaps since he stepped into the line-up, clawing their way up the standings.
Lechia coach John Carver: “The final result was fantastic for us. The first 45 minutes was probably the best I’ve seen from this team. We were very aggressive on the press, had great structure out of possession, and I thought we had good composure on the ball on a difficult surface. Obviously the second half, we knew that Jagiellonia would throw things at us and make it difficult. And they did. But we defended really well and off the top of my head I think Alex had one save to make. I know there’s been criticism about how we’ve defended recently but I was absolutely delighted with how we defended today.”
Up Next: GKS Katowice vs Lechia on Sunday at 5.30am (NZT)
Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
There was good news with Boxy’s injury from last week: as suspected it was a poke in the eye rather than a concussion and he hasn’t had to go into protocols. Having said that, he still had to skip out on training anyway due to an adductor issue which ended up ruling him out of the weekend’s game away against Nashville.
Cam Knowles: “Boxy will be out for the weekend. The adductor thing. He’s day to day and hasn’t really trained while he’s been here, the two days in Nashville, and we just want to be cautious with it.”
They also didn’t call up Troy Putt this week, having already cashed in two of his four short term agreements for the year. Instead he stayed with the Next Pro squad and played ninety minutes in a 3-0 loss against Saint Louis City FC 2 – notably playing as an attacking midfielder rather than as a converted fullback as he did for most of last year with this team (there were also starts for Thomas Raimbault and Codey Phoenix at their respective Next Pro clubs but all three of the kiwis lost so we’ll park that corner for now).
This is Putt’s proper position – he’s an attacking player. It’s where he played for the NZ U20s and for Birkenhead United. Coach Knowles used him as a winger off the bench for his MLS debut though he was utilised centrally here. Realistically, we may not see him in MLS for a wee while now that this early season window has wound down and a few wider squad members are returning to availability (they haven’t even unleashed James Rodriguez yet)... but his promotion should set him up to be a big player for the MNUFC 2 squad, especially if they’re letting him play in his best positions.
Without Boxy or Putt, the Loons didn’t get up to much. They lost 3-1 away against Nashville SC with the only salvation being that Aussie-Greek midfielder Nector Triantis did score another belter. First defeat as a head coach for Cam Knowles, interim or permanent, coming in his sixth match in charge. He remains undefeated when paired with iron man Michael Boxall who will hopefully be available again next week, albeit he’s still not back in training so that’s touch and go.
Up Next: Vancouver vs Minnesota at 9.30am on Monday (NZT)
Finn Surman - Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Sorry, that should read Captain Finn Surman. Club legend and oldest player in the MLS this season, Diego Chara, was out injured so Finn Surman strapped on the armband as he did on three occasions last year. Always a big deal, especially for a 22-year-old foreign player. But there is a downside to this because Portland yet to win a game under Captain Surman with that streak extending after they got whupped 4-1 at home by Vancouver Whitecaps.
Surman had a different centre-back partner for this game: Kamal Miller was recalled due to Alex Bonetig also missing out through injury. That Surman/Bonetig ANZAC duo has been a point of conversation as the two A-League exports figure out their combination – Bonetig had a messy turnover last week which Surman was able to make up for with a wonderful recovering challenge. Surman was asked about it pre-game and he spoke about how took ten games for he and Miller to get fully comfortable as a CB pairing, that it’s always going to be that way. And it’s also complicated by having a new right-back this year.
But that more familiar Surman/Miller duo wasn’t any better than the ANZAC duo. Vancouver picked that Portland defence apart with some soft goals, the only consolation was that 18yo youth team debutant Eric Izoita did pull one back with a wonderful curling strike outside the box to become the club’s new youngest ever scorer. For what it’s worth, Surman was the best of the back four as he has been in all three games (with 26 defensive clearances, he’s third on the list as he seeks to retain his Clearance King crown)... but his bros keep losing the ball and runners are going untracked outside him.
Trying to explain the thrashing, PT coach Phil Neville said that his team needs to “play like men, not boys”. Neville has a tendency to place accountability on the players rather than himself which doesn’t hold up so well when you realise that his Timbers are on a five game winless streak against rivals Vancouver (2 draws, and 3 losses) which includes another 4-1 home loss last season and a 5-0 wildcard playoff loss in 2024. Surman came off the bench in the latter, it was only his second appearance for the Portland. The Timbers have allowed multiple goals in all three games – eight goals against is the worst figure in the Western Conference and tied-second worst across the whole league. But they did win 3-2 against Columbus in week one and it’s early days yet.
Up Next: Houston vs Portland at 1.30pm on Sunday (NZT)
Ben Old - AS Saint-Étienne (French Ligue 2)
Even the Ligue 2 account is on board with the Ben Old Left-Back transition, giving us a great little compilation there of why multiple ASSE coaches have seen a future for him in this position. They guy he replaced at LB due to injury, Ghanaian international Ebenezer Annan, has been available again for two months and during that time he’s only played one measly minute. Seven unused substitute stints and one very late cameo. That’s where we’re at with this - it isn’t a project or an emergency stopgap any longer. Ben Old is, plain and simply, the club’s best left-back option.
And what do ya know they won again this week. Fifth victory in a row under the coaching of Philippe Montanier, pity they didn’t make that swap earlier. This time it took a little longer to get ahead but goals for Kevin Pedro (65’) and Lucas Stassin (80’) eventually earned them the three points with a 2-0 result against Red Star FC. Troyes won again so St-Etienne remain two points back in second place but everyone below them has dropped points over the past fortnight so Troyes (51 points from 26 games) and ASSE (49 points from 26 games) have begun to stretch it out. There’s now a five point gap between second and third. Obviously ASSE want to lift the trophy but second place means automatic promotion and that’s the main target.
Up Next: Grenoble Foot 38 vs ASSE at 8am on Sunday (NZT)
Elijah Just – Motherwell (Scottish Premiership)
Motherwell lost. It’s been a long time since those words could be uttered with truth, more than two months since they fell 1-0 to Rangers. Prior to the Rangers defeat they’d gone ten league games unbeaten. After the Rangers defeat they went another nine games unbeaten. But they were tripped up 2-1 away against Dundee this week, levelling the game up through Callum Slattery after 78 minutes only to concede again five mins later. Slattery’s goal was a brilliant free kick which Elijah Just had also been standing over. They had a pretty good shout for a penalty straight afterwards which didn’t go their way. One of those days where the scoreline could easily have been flipped around with a bit more luck... the Steelmen have been on the other side of those ones more often than not this season so perhaps they were due a clunker.
That was actually the only Premiership game played over the weekend. Everyone else took a break for the Scottish Cup quarter-finals, where Rangers and Celtic kicked lumps out of each other for a 0-0 draw with Celtic progressing on penalties. That means Motherwell have cashed in their game in hand without getting anything for it, though at least they didn’t lose any ground. Still ten points off top, five off second, and four behind third (and seven ahead of fifth). They can take a bite out of that deficit when they face Celtic next.
On that topic, you know how there’s often a spike in key players from in-form clubs being linked with transfers to bigger clubs immediately before those teams happen to be meeting? Check out who’s been getting them “let’s see if we can distract them” treatment ahead of Celtic vs Motherwell...
Herald Scotland: “Celtic are interested in Motherwell winger Elijah Just and Hibernian midfielder Miguel Chaiwa. The Parkhead club are preparing for an overhaul of the first team squad after an unsettled season on and off the pitch... While the identity of the next manager has yet to be established, Shaun Maloney has begun work with the recruitment staff on identifying potential targets ahead of a reconstruction of the first team. Scouts have placed New Zealand international Just under scrutiny after six goals and the same number of assists in turbo charged Motherwell’s late title challenge. Under contract until May 2027, the Fir Park side retain an option to add another year to the left footed right winger’s contract. Celtic have already been linked with manager Jens Berthel Askou and top scorer Tawanda Maswanhise in the summer and, speaking in a March update to fans, chairman Kyrk McMillan warned that the Steelmen will only allow players to leave if the price is right.”
Thing is, Jens Berthel Askou has already coached EJ at two different clubs and tried to sign him at a third so if he does end up taking the Celtic job then Just would absolutely be high on his wishlist and you’d imagine the feeling would be mutual. It’s a genuine possibility. But in the meantime they’re probably only trying to unsettle an important player ahead of a crucial game.
Up Next: Celtic vs Motherwell at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Marko Stamenic - Swansea City (English Championship)
Marko Stamenic returned from his two-game suspension (for yellow card accumulation) in a 3-0 loss away to Ipswich Town last week so happy to report that the last seven days were much more prosperous. First he played 80 minutes in a 2-0 win against Stoke City. Then he was rotated back to the bench for the trip to Portsmouth but they subbed him on soon after conceding so that he could help them hold on for a 2-1 victory. Which, of course, they did. Two wins on the trot and with Wrexham losing to Hull City midweek... the Swans are suddenly only five points outside of the playoffs. And guess who they’re playing next?
Sheffield United will join them on 52 points if they can win against Norwich tomorrow morning in their game in hand. Tyler Bindon’s boys had a 1-1 draw with West Brom on the weekend in a strange circumstance where the same bloke scored both goals. WBA defender George Campbell turned an OG into the Baggies net after 53 minutes and then scored an absolutely thumping equaliser in the 83rd minute to make amends.
As for Max Crocombe at Millwall, it ain’t good news because Anthony Patterson’s shaky debut in that loss against Portsmouth has turned out to be an anomaly. Since then the Lions have won four games in a row with Patterson keeping clean sheets in three of them. Crocombe was doing similar things... but as much as we might argue they didn’t need to make that move, the fact remains that Patterson is a slight upgrade. He’s more decisive off his line, his distribution is less erratic, he’ll make most of the same saves as Crocombe while being the safer presence in the box, he’s played at this level for way longer (despite being seven years younger), and the manager has worked with him before so he’s already got his trust. Harsh situation, although there’s no reason to think Alex Neil would hesitate to put Crocombe back out there if AP were to get injured. By the way, all these wins have Millwall only on point outside automatic promotion with nine games remaining (granted the two teams above, Coventry and Middlesbrough, do have an extra game left).
Finally, gotta roll through all the injured jokers over in England. Peterborough were supposed to be playing Port Vale this weekend but that game had to be pushed back due to PVFC’s FA Cup stuff. That’s very good news for Matt Garbett who was due to miss that game with his ongoing foot injury management but has long been pencilled in to return for the following fixture against Leyton Orient. Sounds like things are progressing to plan. What’s more, with a few striker injuries at the club, there’s a chance that Garbs could get to play a bit further forward as a central attacking midfielder or second striker rather than out on the wing or in a deeper midfield role where he’s mostly been seen this season.
Chris Wood’s targetting a return for Nottingham Forest some time next month, that’s been the case for a wee while. Give him another 4-5 weeks. As for Libby Cacace’s hamstring, there were a few hints he’d be having a fitness test prior to the Chelsea FA Cup tie to see if he was ready for a return. He didn’t play that game but that tells us he’s close. Keep an eye on those Wrexham team lists because his name is bound to pop up again soon.
Up Next: Wrexham vs Swansea City at 9am on Saturday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Considering his long and tortured history of injuries, Ryan Thomas is always going to be cautious where he can. It’s why he waited so long before returning for the All Whites... it’s also why we shouldn’t expect him to feature in the upcoming window. And that caution probably explains why he was substituted off with a knock against Ajax last week only to bounce back and play a full ninety against Sparta Rotterdam this week. Thommo did miss the game prior to Ajax with an ongoing issue that he’d been playing through with painkillers and perhaps would have skipped the Ajax game as well were it not, you know, Ajax. But he’s fine. It’s all just about managing him through the season. He was given an extra day’s recovery after the Sparta match, for example.
As to said Sparta game... they didn’t win but they also didn’t lose. For most of the way it looked like neither team was going to be able to score, each spurning decent opportunities. Ryan Thomas made a couple of very timely defensive efforts getting back goal-side to prevent shots. He was there doing his best as Sparta took the lead after 83 minutes but there was nothing he or anyone could have done when a shot came back off the post and landed cleanly at the feet of a striker. But less than two minutes later, Thomas stepped onto a deflected pass, picked a great ball to the feet of Younes Namli on the edge of the box, who slipped in Kaj de Rooij for the equaliser. It was Sparta who went closest over the remaining few minutes yet it ended 1-1. Much better point for 13th placed PEC Zwolle than 7th placed Sparta Rotterdam. Three draws in a row for Zwolle still has them firmly, though not yet comfortably, clear of the relegation zone.
Up Next: PEC Zwolle vs Groningen at 8am Sunday (NZT)
Kees Sims - GAIS (Swedish Allsvenskan)
That’s it for the League Cup group stage. GAIS won all three games to cruise into the knockouts, with Kees Sims playing two of those matches. They let new signing Andreas Hermansen have a debut in the middle game (coincidentally the only one where they conceded multiple goals, winning 3-2 against second tier Sandvikens). Sims did the same thing last season so he would have been playing these matches even if main starter Mergin Krasniqi were fit... but he wasn’t so there ya go, no debate. This latest outing was a 5-1 win against Norrköping and they absolutely pumped them (it was 3-0 at half-time) with the only goal that snuck past Kees Sims being a deflected own goal. Sims only conceded once in 180 minutes during the group phase.
There’s another four weeks to go before the Allsvenskan kicks off and by all impressions it seems Krasniqi (who is already back in training) will be ready to go by then. But there will be a League Cup quarter-final on the weekend which Sims is expected to play, keeping him active at a time when he’s competing for All Whites World Cup selection. Despite being the backup to Krasniqi for each of the last two seasons, he’s still managed to make eight league appearances in each of those years and while you can’t always bank on injuries there could also be some extra rotation this season seeing as they’ve got Europa Conference League later in the year.
There won’t be a quarter-final for the other Allsvenskan kiwi, Owen Parker-Price, since his Örgryte team only mustered two draws and a loss from their fixtures. OPP did score in the 2-2 draw against Värnamo though... and he started all three matches so the signs are good for him heading into the top flight season, fresh from promotion.
Up Next: GAIS vs AIK in the Svenska Cupen quarters on Sunday at 0:00 (NZT)
Zac Jones - AFC Fylde (English National League North)
Yeah, they say that a lot. He makes plenty of great saves does old Jonesy. But this one was crucial as Fylde held on for a 2-1 win against Telford United, getting their title challenge back on track after a tricky couple of games where they’d lost to their biggest rivals for that trophy South Shields and then slipped up with a draw away to Leamington. South Shields only drew their most recent game so that Fylde win gets them back within two points of the top.
Those two are running away at the top but only one of them can be promoted automatically with the other dropping into the playoffs. There are ten games to go. Jones has played every minute of this league campaign... had to make sure we checked in with him this week while the ladies are still on international break. Sixth tier in England doesn’t often make the cut but he’s doing big things over there.
Up Next: Sunday at 4am for Fylde vs King’s Lynn Town (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodian Premier League)
The good news is that Moses Dyer scored two more goals over the past week...
The bad news is that PPC lost both games, putting major dents in their hopes of coming away with silverware this season.
The first was during the week when they met their old mates Svay Rieng in the AFC Challenge League. Moses Dyer, you’ll recall, was the top scorer in the competition after the group stage (this is the third tier continental competition in Asia). Well, they were drawn against their compatriots in the quarter-final and Dyer gave the Crown an early lead in just the third minute... alas they were dragged back to 1-1 after half an hour and then capitulated by conceding three more times in the final 25 mins to lose 4-1. This was the home leg too. Hell of a deficit to take into the away rematch on Friday NZT.
Then their woes were compounded by a 2-1 loss against MOI Kompong Dewa in the CPL. This time they conceded the early goal but Dyer levelled up after 20 mins when he ‘megged the keeper. But they shipped another goal ten mins later and never found that second leveller hence were doomed to a 2-1 defeat against the lowest ranked team in the championship rounds, now that the league has split into top six and bottom six. Svay Rieng did draw away to Nagaworld so the damage wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But despite these two Moses Dyer goals, Phnom Penh Crown now need a miracle to stay alive in the Challenge League and are eight points adrift of Svay Rieng in the CPL (with eight rounds to go).
PPC are still in the Hun Sen Cup so at least there’s that. They drew 2-2 away to Dangkor Senchey in the first leg of the quarter-finals and will play the second leg this weekend. No need to throw in the towel in those other comps, miracles do happen, but it’s looking like that cup competition (which they won last season, beating Svay Rieng 2-1 in the final) is their last good bet for a trophy. We’ll see how it goes. Dyer’s personal tally is up to 20 goals and 4 assists in 27 matches for Crown – he’s doing all he can.
Up Next: Svay Rieng vs PPC in the Challenge League quarter-final second leg on Friday at 1am (NZT)
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