Flying Kiwis – March 17
Elijah Just – Motherwell (Scottish Premiership)
Celtic Park was the destination for Motherwell, where they faced arguably the biggest game of their season thus far. If they could repeat the 2-0 win they served up to Celtic a couple of months ago then their prospective title challenge would have passed its sternest test in maybe the toughest place to play in all Scotland (Rangers fans would disagree). Elijah Just was pretty much the best player on the pitch in that previous meeting so in the weeks leading up to this one they even played the ol’ transfer rumour card to try distract him. But would it work?
The first thing Eli Just did was to nutmeg a bloke with a one-touch pass. Within ninety seconds he’d also copped a clearance to the face which required a pause in proceedings to make sure it was nothing more than a stinger. Five minutes later, he got much worse than a stinger when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain put some springs into a challenge and was booked as punishment. In and around all that, a really fascinating game took shape with both teams going close to scoring – and nobody closer than Oxlade-Chamberlain who hit the base of the post from range and watched helplessly as the ball rolled across the line without crossing. Just would require his third injury stoppage midway through the half, calling on the physio to bandage up his leg where he’d gotten scraped earlier (might need to invest in a bigger set of shinpads next game, bruv). Once that was done, he did this...
There’s that high press again. Same way they picked off Celtic last time. Seventh goal of the season for EJ coming via a sneakily excellent near-post finish. What a season this man is having.
Alas, the lead only lasted five minutes before Celtic gave them a dose of their own medicine by turning the ball over in the box and whacking it home. It remained that way into half-time with Motherwell still in a great position to push for a result... but things got controversial after the break. A second Celtic midfielder was booked for fouling Elijah Just, this time Colby Donovan grabbing his shoulder to stop a counter (after some end to end action including Celtic hitting the post again). Later on it was Just’s turn to be booked when he slid onto a loose ball and caught AOC (let’s call it revenge). By this point it was getting very chippy, lots of afters, which culminated in a VAR intervention awarding a penalty after Evan Longelo held back a Celtic forward. Had to be a penalty... though the double jeopardy red card was rough with twenty minutes still to go. Tomas Cvancara scored from the spot. Both teams made subs following the red but before they could have an impact, Yang Hyun-jun dashed through to score his second of the day (79’) to send Celtic towards victory.
It ended 3-1. Harsh blow to Motherwell who were left feeling like a few of the big decisions went against them. Speaking of harsh blows, there was enough time for one last crunching tackle on Elijah Just with Anthony Ralston this time entering the referee’s notebook – yup, three players were cautioned for fouls on EJ in this match. One too many to walk off thus Just had to be subbed.
Jens Berthel Askou, Motherwell coach: “He's very, very sore. He looks swollen down the leg. It doesn't look good. It looks like he's been at war. You have to take the cuts and the bruises and the knocks and then trust that the referees will do what they need to do to look after him. I can't see why he wasn't called to the monitor in that case, but, done is done. I don't see anything vicious in the tackle, it's just a little bit clumsy, coincidental, but it's still a tackle that almost wipes out Eli's opportunity of going to the World Cup. Thank God he was able to keep playing.”
EJ’s still been named in the latest All Whites squad and coach Darren Bazeley has told kiwi media that he expects to be available for Motherwell next week – nothing’s broken, he’s just a bit battered and bruised. The fact that he got this treatment from Celtic, of all clubs, shows that his threat is being taken very seriously across the Premiership. Might have been a few Celtic folks worried about him coming in and taking their jobs. Might be that they’re right to worry. Here are some glowing words that his captain offered up about him afterwards...
Paul McGinn, Motherwell captain: “He's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. When you look at a player like that, a guy who is diminutive and left footed, you think, ‘He’s a flair player’. But he's not. He's a grafter, he works his socks off. I don't know if the stats will back it this up but he's good at winning the ball back. He's so sharp. He's such a clever footballer. He knows where to be and when to be there. I suppose if you're that height you need to be, which is a shame, but yeah, he's an unbelievable footballer. When we went down to 10 men against Celtic he moved to left-back and he was good, really good. You could see him grow in confidence. He was still going on runs. His goal was not a fluke either - you have seen him do it countless times. He is just absolutely immense. I would hate to lose him but if he keeps playing like that then he doesn't stay at Motherwell. Hopefully it's not soon.”
Results around the grounds mean that Motherwell remain 10 points behind first place but have have lost territory on second and third, probably ending their slim hopes of a title challenge and potentially doing the same to their chances of getting Champions League footy in second. But they remain on course for Conference League qualifiers and four of their remaining eight games are against Hearts (x2), Celtic, and Rangers so they’ll have a massive say in where the trophy ends up... even if it won’t be resting in their cabinet.
Up Next: Motherwell vs Hibernian at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Katie Kitching - Sunderland (English Super League 2)
Swiiiish, top corner. Too good.
Katie Kitching didn’t have the best tour with the Football Ferns for World Cup qualifying, only logging one goal and one assist. Her style of play, involving lots of dribbling and close touches, wasn’t too compatible with the conditions there... but regardless it was a special tour for Kitch as she captained the team in both of her starts. First time she’s walked out onto the pitch as captain of the Ferns. Then, in her first game back at Sunderland after the break, she went and did that.
Only problem was that they weren’t able to hang on for the three points. Sunderland were very good in the first half but increasingly found themselves under pressure by visitors Nottingham Forest as the match progressed. Forest hit the crossbar. Forest won a penalty. Demi Lambourne saved that penalty but then conceded another one deep in stoppage time. She saved that too... only for Aimee Claypole to convert on the rebound for a 1-1 draw. 90+6th minute equaliser conceded by Sunderland. They needed a second goal to make it safe and it never arrived, Kitching going closest with a counter-attacking striker that flew slightly high of the target. So that was a bummer. Nevertheless, that’s a sixth goal of the season for Kitching who has already exceeded her WSL2 tally from last season and last season was her big breakthrough.
That was a catch-up game so Sunderland had to go again a few days later... and they’ll do the same thing again this week – all those “waterlogged pitches” from earlier in the year are adding up in the form of four games in 12 days. That’s some red zone material for Kitch having only just gotten back from playing in the Solomon Islands. Therefore Kitching was rested to begin the match away against Charlton. They subbed her on for the last twenty minutes, trailing 1-0... but then got a red card (Louise Griffiths) and never mounted much of a challenge the rest of the way. Into the books as a 1-0 defeat.
There was some good news over in Durham where Hannah Blake’s strong international window – including a hat-trick against the Solomon Islands – earned her a recall to the starting eleven having barely been able to get on the pitch for the previous two months. She started at right wing-back (with a licence to roam, by the looks) and had a few nice touches in there... though found herself subbed off at half-time (along with Mariana Speckmaier) with Durham down by two goals and struggling badly in transitional moments. Not much of that came down Blake’s side but so it goes. Mickey Foster played a full game in central defence and almost scored with a header from a corner at one stage. But Durham ultimately lost 2-1.
No sign of Grace Neville for Ipswich Town, she’s just disappeared. After being a key player at right-back for Ipswich Town throughout the first half of the season, the Neviller has only played two minutes since the turn of the year and hasn’t been witnessed since January. Surely an injury... although she had already seemed to drop out of the preferred eleven just prior to that. The issue is that they’ve suddenly gotten quite good, with some January additions helping boost Ipswich into a five-game winning streak, so even if it is only an injury she’ll have a tough time getting back into this team. As for Indi Riley at Crystal Palace... unused substitute in a 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest. She’s only played 153 minutes of WSL2 all season. Such a waste when she could be starting for most other teams in the division.
Up Next: Sunderland vs Sheffield Utd at 8am on Thursday; Portsmouth vs Sunderland at 3am on Monday (NZT)
Joe Bell – Viking FK (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Viking won the Eliteserien last year. It was a stunning upset, beating current Champions League darlings Bodo/Glimt to the trophy for their their first Norwegian title in three decades. They’ll have UCL qualifiers later in the year. Joe Bell was their vice captain and one of their very best players throughout. The whole thing was like a dream... but football continues and a new season has now begun where Viking were beaten 2-1 by HamKam in the opening round of their defence.
This was not a good performance. They shipped two fairly soft goals in the space of three minutes (36’ & 38’) and weren’t able to climb out of that hole, not even after NZ Olympian and Aussie international Gianni Stensness pulled a goal back in first half injury time (mere moments after being yellow carded for a shoulder charge... he then got substituted at the break). The closest they came to a leveller was when Joe Bell lined up a dipping volley from twenty metres but struck the stanchion behind the goal as it swerved past the target. Unreal technique, just not quite the right placement.
Yeah so not the best start for Viking, although let it be known that they did lose to a promoted team in week one last year and things went alright from there. From that perspective, they’re on course to repeat. It also was not the best game from Joe Bell who wasn’t able to grab hold of the midfield areas like he usually does. Probably more due to a lack of help than anything he did wrong... Viking were missing a few regulars with injuries. In fact, they were very fortunate to have Bellinho. He actually broke his nose in training a few days out but shrugged it off and played with a protective face mask...
It happened as he contested a header, apparently. Ouch. But not so bad that his name needed adding to the extensive list of injured All Whites (as detailed in our latest newsletter).
This was the league opener for VFK, yet they did play a cup game last week which they won 3-0 away against Bjarg. Bell started that one as the Vikes won easy against a lower-tiered opponent. No dramas there. The cup competition has been altered so that it now runs across the seasons, hence this was a fourth round match-up. They’ll play their quarter-final against Aalesund during the week – a very good draw against one of only two remaining teams from outside the top division. Viking could make the semis without having played a fellow Eliteserien club.
Up Next: Norwegian Cup vs Aalesund at 6am on Thurs; Eliteserien vs Molde at 6am on Sun (NZT)
Tyler Bindon - Sheffield United (English Championship)
The results have gotten skint lately but Tyler Bindon has been absolutely amazing over the past few games. Voted Man of the Match by the Blades fans last week in the 1-1 draw against West Brom... now again in a 2-1 loss to Norwich and 1-1 draw with Birmingham. The Norwich game was reminiscent of his best stuff for Reading FC, winning header after header and lunging into dominant tackles and passing the ball with positive intent. He made a goal-saving block in the first half and that was merely the start of it. If the replay was more accessible you’d be seeing a full Tyler Bindon Defensive Contribution compilation but it’s not so you’ll have to settle for a gif of that crazy long-barrier block...
Sheffield Utd were a goal up nice and early but they botched it in the second half, Norwich turning things around and scoring a couple times to flip the result. They got the winner in the 84th minute, counter attacking as the Blades sent numbers forward in search of a winner. Deserved points for Norwich who were the better team on the whole despite Bindon’s best efforts.
Then came the draw against Birmingham where Sheffield United had the opportunity to jump ahead of one of the teams above them as they try hang onto the coattails of the playoff positions. Those intentions got dashed when Femi Seriki was given a controversial red card after 23 minutes. The decision was that it was a last man challenge (even though Bindon was only like two metres away)... and to make matters worse they conceded from the direct free kick. That was unlucky but they got delivered a penalty on a silver platter later on to balance it out. It was a gift beyond gifts, as a Blues defender collected a short pass from his keeper and, thinking it was supposed to be a goal kick and not ongoing open play, he bent down and did a silly handball. Penalty. Sydie Peck missed the spot kick... but Patrick Bamford found an equaliser later in the first half by running over the top onto a long ball. The Blades offered nothing else going forward but held on with ten men for a battling point.
With Tyler Bindon in such spectacular form, the conversation has shifted towards whether or not Sheffield United will be able to sign him permanently (or even another loan deal) when his current season-long loan expires. Let’s see what the coach had to say about the matter...
Chris Wilder: “Tyler's been good, generally been good. His partnership has been pretty solid with Japh. It's flourished. It’s had it's off afternoons and off nights but for me, at the moment, that's the best partnership. The system's the best system from our point of view... From Tyler's point of view, he's here to the end of the season. Obviously from Forest's point of view, if they stay in the division, which I should imagine they will do, he'll be looking to go out on loan. He's somebody that we would openly be interested in talking to. I'd like to think that he's enjoyed his period. He's still got a bit of football to play. He's still got to stay in the team, which is important for him. He's got a big summer coming up with the World Cup as well, which is a fabulous experience. But he's been great to work with. He wants to learn. He wants to improve. And let's see what happens. But he's doing himself no harm in terms of his attitude at the football club and his performances for us.”
Shifting the focus to other Championship areas, Swansea City had a 2-1 win against Portsmouth and a 2-0 loss against Wrexham (in a Welsh derby) for their week of activities. That required some rotation so Marko Stamenic only got twenty minutes against Pompey, brought on just after his team had conceded to help shore things up. Mission accomplished. Then he started against Wrexham and got 74 minutes, subbed while it was still 1-0 and in the balance before a very late Liam Cullen own goal sealed it for Wrexham. Decent from Stamenic but there’s never a whole lot to say about a defensive midfielder. This loss was a brutal one for their chances of making the top six.
Obviously no Liberato Cacace for Wrexham. Sorry to say there’s bad news on that front with coach Phil Parkinson explaining that Libby’s had a set-back in his recovery...
Parky: “Libby will miss New Zealand's internationals and we've just got to focus on getting him to hopefully contribute for the end of the season. Because he's had a couple of setbacks, I don't really want to put any pressure or time scale on him. But it's not a major injury, it's just he keeps getting slight setbacks, which is obviously not him. We just do everything we can to get him to contribute.”
Bummer. Max Crocombe’s still sitting on the bench for Millwall, who had a 1-0 win against Derby in which keeper Anthony Patterson had almost nothing to do... and then a 2-1 loss to Blackburn in which they copped a red card after 54 minutes (lots of red cards in games involving NZers this week). They were 1-0 up at the time and ended up shipping two late ones to lose. Nothing there which Crocombe would have saved that Patterson didn’t but who knows, maybe a dumb loss might get Crocs slightly closer to a recall. Or at least a keep-busy appearance or two before the season ends.
Down in League One, Ben Waine started both games for Port Vale. He only played the first half of a 2-0 loss to Bradford, coming midweek after he’d just played over 200 minutes of cup footy in the seven days prior. That was uneventful but he backed up again with a hard-working 63 minutes as PVFC ground out a 0-0 draw against Huddersfield a few days later. Both were home games on that horrendous Vale Park pitch which even their own coach is now being openly critical about. Good point against a promotion-challenging team in the second game though. They need wins to have any chance of staying up themselves, yet defensive shifts like that should maintain some of that FA Cup confidence. And although he didn’t get to add any goals to his tally, that’s now five consecutive starts for Ben Waine across all competitions during March. Very nice, very nice. He will miss some games for All Whites duty coming up but ought to be back in time to face Chelsea in the FA Cup quarters – don’t be surprised if he only plays the first game for New Zealand and jets back early for that reason.
Nik Tzanev is on the books for that Huddersfield team now where he is the third-choice keeper and has only been on the bench for one cup game since he joined in January. Haven’t seen him in the league at all. Moving on, it had been suspected that Matt Garbett would return to the Peterborough side for their match vs Leyton Orient this weekend. They lost and he wasn’t there. Turns out that was a tad too optimistic because he’s not even back in full training yet...
Posh coach Luke Williams: “Matty has some pressure in his heel and he is having injections to combat that. We need to see how his body reacts to those so we can start building him up to full training. It’s like trying to play with a nail in your boot. Matty played with it for three games before the pain became unbearable. He’s been very proactive about it and he will be playing football for Peterborough in the very near future.”
Up Next: Sheff Utd vs Wrexham at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Henry Gray - Harrogate Town (English League Two)
And then there’s this guy. Harrogate Town lost 1-0 to Salford City but Henry Gray made five saves and without him that would have been a whole lot more. Might have been out of sight at half-time without him. Harrogate remain last with nine points to go, albeit only three points adrift of safety... but other than a 4-1 loss to MK Dons last week they’re giving themselves a chance in games they weren’t competing in earlier in the season (before Gray arrived on loan).
Gray’s now been there long enough that he’s played more games than Nik Tzanev did before getting dropped by Newport County, with almost identical minutes thanks to Gray going off injured once. The comparison is rather interesting for All Whites depth purposes...
Nik Tzanev for Newport:
990 Mins | 21 Goals Against (1.91 per90) | 56.1 Save% | 0 Clean Sheets
Henry Gray for Harrogate:
984 Mins | 15 Goals Against (1.37 per90) | 75.0 Save% | 2 Clean Sheets
Tzanev did have a +0.9 goals prevented mark which is decent (goals prevented is how your actual concessions rate against the expected goals per shots on target that you’ve faced)... but Henry Gray blows that out of the water at +4.6. That’s the eighth best mark in the whole division. Still a ways to go but it looks like Henry Gray’s proving himself at another step up the English football ladder.
Up Next: Tranmere vs Harrogate at 8.45am Weds; Oldham vs Harrogate at 4am Sun (NZT)
Katie Bowen - Inter Milan (Italian Serie A)
First leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final and it was Inter Milan versus Roma, the two main challengers for the Serie A championship. Roma regained control of that league duel with a 1-0 win over Inter prior to the international break and now, in their very next match, the pair was at it again.
Roma were at home on a very rainy evening and were on the way towards a first leg lead. They’d hit the post and drawn good saves and close misses before finally breaking through after 52 minutes when Katie Bowen tried to shield a bouncing ball in the area for her goalkeeper... who wanted none of it and a striker swooped in to punish them. Whoops. However, Inter’s overall doggedness was rewarded when they were awarded a pretty convenient penalty with six minutes left, Tessa Wullaert converting it for a flattering 1-1 draw in the away leg. They’ll try capitalise on that in the return match in two weeks.
Afterwards, there was a Serie A match away to Sassuolo to play but Katie Bowen was rested for that one so that Elisa Bartoli (their fourth choice CB) could have a go. They’ve occasionally been rotating like this throughout the season, maybe once per month kinda thing, so hopefully that’s all this is and not punishment for KB’s mistake in the cup. Caroiline Pleidrup got a short dash off the bench too – she’s the fifth choice CB and hadn’t played since January. She did appear a fair bit at the start of the season but since they got knocked out of Europe it’s become clear that the Ivana Andres/Maria Milinkovic/Katie Bowen back three is the preferred crew.
Up Next: Inter vs Napoli on Sunday at 4.15am (NZT)
Kate Taylor - Dijon FCO (French Première Ligue)
Look at that, a 2-0 clean sheet victory for Dijon with Kate Taylor playing ninety minutes. Believe it or not, that hasn’t happened very often this season. Partly because they haven’t been winning as many games. Partly because she’s been a little all over the place due to injuries and competition for places. This was only the second such instance of a clean sheet win with a KT full game. Good stuff. Next we’ll see if she and the team can repeat the dose against Paris Saint Germain in the cup.
Meanwhile, the Saint-Etienne men’s team spoiled their five-game winning streak when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Grenoble away. But that was still a clean sheet and Ben Old was excellent at left-back again. Not a disaster, simply a wee stumble. They have fallen four points behind leaders Troyes but they play them next month so the Ligue 2 title race remains firmly on.
Up Next: Dijon vs PSG in the Coupe de France quarters at 5am on Thursday (NZT)
George Stanger - Kilmarnock (Scottish Premiership)
Do you think it’s a coincidence that George Stanger was recalled out of the wilderness, making his first appearance since mid-December and first since Neil McCann was hired as manager, ending a 12-game hiatus (during which Killie only won two games)... and all of a sudden they were able to ground out a 1-0 victory against the top-of-the-table team? It’s another slip-up for Hearts whose title challenge is starting to really wobble but damn what a result for Kilmarnock.
This came after they’d shipped 17 goals in their previous five fixtures, including a 5-1 loss against Falkirk in their previous match. Not sure why Stanger fell so drastically out of favour when the coaching change happened (his last appearance was Stuart Kettlewell’s final game in charge) but something had to change and with Lewis Mayo only fit enough for the bench after a recent injury that meant it was time for some Stanger Danger. Finally. And after Michael Schjønning-Larsen gave Killie the lead after 17 minutes, it was like a whole new Killie team that knuckled down for the shutout victory. Their keeper made a bunch of saves. Midfield worked their arses off. Recalled George Stanger made nine clearances (from a team total of 43... whopping numbers) as well as blocking two shots in an excellent display. First game for three months and it was one of his best. Let’s go!
Up Next: Killie vs Livingston at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Finn Surman - Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Away against Houston Dynamo. The Portland Timbers lost but damn did Finn Surman have himself an eventful evening. There was action at both ends, there were penalties, and there were goal contributions.
Diego Chara was back in the midfield so Surman passed the captain’s armband back along. That was his only concession to the spotlight. Late in the first half, with the game still scoreless, he almost bagged his first MLS goal with a powered header that was excellently saved from a corner kick situation. Another one of those situations led to Surman getting dragged down, rugby tackled basically, with VAR getting involved and giving the Timbers a penalty. Kristoffer Velde missed but Gage Guerra was on hand to smack home the rebound.
Fast forward to the last dozen minutes with Houston now leading 2-1. Portland had a long throw aiming to cause chaos on the box. They did just that... leading to an equaliser as Surman teed up Velde to make it 2-2. Houston were then reduced to ten after a striker left a boot in on the POR keeper for a second yellow. Spurred on by the advantage, the Timbers went on a mission to find a winner which included a gentle flick from Surman (another scrappy set piece moment) that was cleared off the line way deep in stoppages. But a slip from the Portland fullback allowed Houston to snatch it at the death instead. 3-2 to the Dynamo.
On the plus side, that was Surman’s first goal contribution in Major League Soccer (it only took him 41 games) plus he still found time to get out and about in the community during the week to do his bit for the literacy crisis...
On the minus side, this was a hugely frustrating way to lose... and it puts further pressure on a team that has now lost four games in a row, conceding eleven goals in the process. That’s almost as bad as Minnesota United who lost 6-0 to Vancouver Whitecaps this week with Michael Boxall still out injured. They conceded three times in 168 minutes with Boxy and have conceded nine times in 192 minutes without him.
Up Next: Portland vs LA Galaxy at 9.45am on Monday (NZT)
Grace Wisnewski – FC Nordsjælland (Danish A-Liga)
Here’s a bonkers game of football for you. FC Nordsjælland were 3-0 up after 50 minutes away against HB Køge. Their hosts had missed a penalty while it was still 1-0 but other than that... complete control. They’d scored some wonderful goals and were on course for a big victory in the A-Liga championship rounds but then conceded after a poor clearance from Grace Wisnewski. Then they conceded another. Then they got a red card. Then HBK made it 3-3 with ten to go. And by the end of it they were exhausted just to have held on for the draw.
Køge are the league leaders so it’s a matter of perspective here. On the one hand, FCN blew a 3-0 lead. On the other hand, the fifth-placed team took a point from the leaders on their own pitch. Nordsjælland have had a tendency towards these kinda goal bursts as we saw in attacking and defensive ways during their European exploits earlier in the season. They’ve been inconsistent, having drawn more games than they’ve won to leave them a long way out of the trophy hunt. Full game for the Wiz though. This after making a couple of starts for the national team in the Solomon Islands. No sign of post-ACL Malia Steinmetz yet but she’s back in at least some form of training so hopefully not much longer to wait.
Down in the promotion/relegation rounds, there was a perfect start for FC Copenhagen who were 2-0 victors against Odense. Ally Green got on for the last couple minutes to mark her debut for her new club. Hasn’t been there long but she already knows the team song...
Up Next: FCB vs Kolding at 0:00 on Saturday (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Guess who limped off early again? Ryan Thomas skipped a game a few weeks ago to try and get on top of a niggling injury issue that’d led to him playing with pain killers. The club has been giving him extra days off for recovery after games. We’re deep into a season where he’s played huge minutes followed several years of injury dramas so it makes sense that he needs a little extra management... and Thommo himself is very diligent about his fitness. So much so that now he’s been voluntarily subbed off in two of the past three matches to avoid flaring anything further.
This latest one sounds like a tight hamstring. He walked off without any obvious struggle and has still been named in the All Whites squad for the upcoming window, hence nobody seems too worried. Could be that he withdraws from the national team squad, it’s happened before, but don’t panic we’re not dealing with a serious injury here. Fortunately PEC Zwolle were able to bag a 1-1 draw against Groningen without him, even if the locals do seem convinced that there’s a Ryan Thomas shaped hole in that midfield any time he’s not around. They’re not winning a lot of games at the moment but they are managing to scrap out draws to keep their points tally rising.
Up Next: PEC Zwolle vs NAC Breda at 9am on Sunday (NZT)
Thomas Raimbault - Carolina Core (American MLS Next Pro)
Good from Tommy, there. Two assists in his second Next Pro appearance.
Raimbault was born in France, raised in Wellington, and then moved to Canada with his family before going to university in the USA so he’s very well travelled... but he was involved in wider training camps for both NZ U17s and NZ U20s when he was working his way up. Never played a competitive game for either but he’s eligible and on the wider radar. At 24yo now, he’ll probably need to hit the ground running to progress beyond Next Pro and it’s so far so good on that count after this effort. Only drama was that after helping his team to a 2-0 lead... they ended up losing 3-2 against Orlando Pride 2.
In the other games at this level, Codey Phoenix started again for Tacoma Defiance but unfortunately pulled up injured in a 0-0 draw against the San Jose Earthquakes affiliate. And Minnesota United 2 lost 2-1 to the equivalent Vancouver Whitecaps team with Troy Putt played 73 minutes on the left wing.
Up Next: Carolina Core vs Virginia Dream in the US Open Cup first round on Friday at 11am (NZT)
Moses Dyer - Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodian Premier League)
The goal that Dyer scored came in the second leg of the AFC Challenge League quarters. They were 4-1 down against Cambodian rivals Svay Rieng after the home leg (Dyer scored in that one too) and needing a miracle comeback to progress. They had a few chances in a tight first half before Dyer broke through in stoppage time to make it 4-2 on aggregate... if they could score the next one then it’d be game on. Instead they conceded on 51’ and 60’ and that was the end of that dream. 2-1 loss on the day. 6-2 loss overall. The continental efforts end at the quarter-final stage of Asian’s third tier competition.
The Challenge League is regionalised for most of the way so there was a likelier chance of drawing their CPL buddies within the Eastern Region. It also means that the Western Region games (featuring teams from Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, and Kuwait) have not yet started their quarter-finals due to the dangers present in the region at the moment. They’re going to try play those games in a couple weeks but it’s all up in the air for the time-being.
Focusing back on Moses Dyer, he scored seven goals in his team’s five matches with at least one in each of them. He was leading scorer after the group stage and he’s still the leading scorer as it stands... with Svay Rieng’s Kwame Peprah next on six goals (and still in the competition – he scored a hatty against PPC in the first leg). Also on the deeper list is Japanese forward Riku Ichimura played for Paro (Bhutan), the club he joined after scoring a bunch of goals for Christchurch United in his previous stop.
Speaking of National League heroes, Moses Dyer then went directly up against Myer Bevan back in the Cambodian Premier League... and lost. Bevan didn’t get a goal but he toiled away well up top. He’s only scored one goal in 11 matches thus far, though has been starting regularly and getting hefty minutes. MB’s club Boueng Ket scored in each half to go up by two goals before Phnom Penh Crown pulled one back and went frantically in search of another. Dyer whacked a long-range shot on target to force a good save but in amongst that franticness he then picked up a second yellow and was sent off. Right at the very end. PPC lost 2-1 to compound their recent slump – including the Challenge League stuff that’s now four defeats in a row. They hadn’t lost four games all season up until then. Suddenly, Crown are 11 points back in second place.
Up Next: PPC vs Dangkor Senchey at 0:00 on Thursday in the Hun Sen Cup... their last chance for silverware (NZT)
Tommy Smith & Matt Dibley-Dias – Braintree Town (English National League)
At a time when so many All Whites players seem to be injured, two of the most injury prone across this season have conveniently returned to fitness. Matt Dibley-Dias only joined Braintree Town a few weeks ago as he chases senior football after a knee injury spoiled his previous loan at Cheltenham Town. He had to sit on the bench for a few matches before they finally unleashed him and his debut last week didn’t go so well, scoring an own goal in a 4-1 loss against Wealdstone.
But his second appearance was a little more prosperous as Braintree Town recovered from conceding an 87th minute penalty away against Morecambe to equalise five minutes deep in stoppage time with the assist coming via their goalkeeper who’d gone up for a corner kick. Crazy stuff. Better yet because Tommy Smith played ninety minutes for the first time since November, following on from three substitute appearances in a row to end his three-month absence. Dibley-Dias got the last quarter of an hour so both kiwis were out there for the fun stuff...
That was a crucial 1-1 draw because it keeps Braintree level with Morecambe on points (and also level with Gateshead) as they scrap it out to avoid relegation. Good time to be able to inject Smith and Dibs into the side. Eight games to go and they’re two points from safety as it stands. Would have been a big blow had they lost this match.
Up Next: Braintree vs Scunthorpe at 4am on Sunday (NZT)
Zac Jones - AFC Fylde (English National League North)
They posted the last-minute save that Zac Jones made to preserve Fylde’s 2-1 win against Telford United and it was every bit as good as advertised...
Since then Fylde have also won 4-1 against King’s Lynn Town... while their rivals South Shields have had a draw and a loss over the past week which means that Fylde have leapt back up to top spot by a one-point margin. Nine games remaining for each of them. There’s then a further 15-point drop to third so it’s a two team scrap for the National League North championship. Where it gets extra tricky is that only the winners get automatic promotion – second place will have to go through the playoffs. This is the division directly below Braintree Town so if Zac Jones gets promoted and Tommy Smith gets relegated then they’ll be swapping places.
Up Next: Hereford vs Fylde at 8.45am Weds; Worksop Town vs Fylde at 4am Sun (NZT)
Get involved on Patreon, Substack, or Buy Me A Coffee if you appreciate the yarns on TNC and want to support our mahi so that we can keep on delivering
Also helps to whack an ad, share our stuff, and tell your mates to do so too