Central (2) 4 (Ivan Vicelich, Riki Van Steeden, Emiliano Tade, Adam Dickinson (pen)) Bay Olympic (1) 2 (Kyosake Kitano, Maksim Manko) Match review by Admin - SWGB Ok, to the second game of the Sunday double header. The trip from New Lynn to Sandringham is a short one, so I explore the neighbourhood. It seems a nice, quiet area, hardly the hotbed of football. Still, there is a nice French café if you want some decent food pre match. To the ground, I am glad that unlike the last I visited the venue (back in the season that Sean Hird’s side won their last title); I did not have to pay to enter the ground. Maybe, the bill for the grandstand had been paid off. Anyway, it is a nice, compact little ground, but I do prefer the stand at Manurewa’s ground. Ditto, the match programme (which leaves Birko still on top of that league), but I do admire the compact, no-nonsense approach taken in the match programme. What stood out was the recent form of Central. Obviously the return of their National League players has had a big impact on the home team. It was clear that if we were to repeat our win over them earlier in the season, it would take a much greater effort as the home team was full of stars. The first half saw Bay Olympic attacking the Southern goal. We produce the first real chance of the game as a Craig Wylie cross on the Eastern flank finds a diving Chad Coombes in the Western side of the penalty area. Unfortunately, his header goes wide of the Eastern post. The home team then take control of the game. First, a Greg Uhlmann run on the Western flank ends with a shot from him being saved at the near post by Roy Bell. Emiliano Tade has the next chance as his shot is saved on the Western side of the goal. 1-0: we are punished from a set piece. From a free kick floated in from the Eastern side of the pitch by Mario Bilen, Ivan Vicelich heads in the opening goal on the Westerns side of the goal. 2-0: next, we get punished from some sloppy defending. Our defence gives the ball away in their penalty area and Riki Van Steeden duly accepts the invitation to shoot. His low shot goes across our keeper from the Eastern side of the goal box into the Western corner of the net. Not resting on their lead, Central produce the next chance as a pass by Mario Bilen on the Western side of the pitch finds Emiliano Tade. He hits a shot from the Eastern side of the penalty area. However, his near post shot is saved by Roy Bell who pushes the ball around the post. 2-1: we halve the deficit. A Chad Coombes through ball from the Western flank creates panic in the home team’s defence and penalty area. The ball falls free on Eastern side of the penalty area for Kyosake Kitano after it was played back to him. Kyo hits the loose ball home from the edge of the area into the Western corner of the net. The home side is convinced that there was a handball before the shot by Kitano. To be honest, I did not spot it, but I had the sun in my eyes in the first half due to the position of the stand. That was resolved in the second half by standing on the Western side line. So, it was 2-1 to the home team at half time, and to be fair I was glad that we were only a goal down. One other thought, for a club of this standing, where was the ball boys or girls, especially for a ground of this type of configuration? Anyway, the main concern was could we come back into this game? We did create the first chance of the second half. A Kyosake Kitano cross from the Western side of the pitch found Maksim Manko in the penalty area. However, Max’s header at the Eastern side of the goal area is saved by the home keeper. 3-1: Emiliano Tade finishes off a nice passing move. The ball was initially played to the Western side of the penalty area. Then an angled pass finds Emiliano on a run on the Eastern side of the penalty area. He duly shoots to score for the home side. This time we complain about a goal, was it offside? Again, I am not in the best position. So, I will take the word of the officials. So once again we need to chase the game. The next chance is created by our captain, Craig Wylie, who sends in a cross from the Western flank. The home goal keeper can only parry the ball to Joe Edwards on the Eastern side of the area. Unfortunately, he shoots wide of the Western post. 3-2: we keep bouncing back. Byron Paulus gets free on the Eastern flank and hits in a low hard cross into the penalty box. Maksim Manko times his run perfectly into the heart of the goal box and taps into the middle of the net past the keeper. This is exactly the type of attacking ball that we need more of….good to see it in simple, beautiful and brutal action. We nearly get back on level terms after Byron Paulus makes another run on the Eastern flank. This time he hits a long range cross shot. The keeper manages to tips the shot on to the top of the crossbar. Agonisingly for us, the shot grazes the top of the round crossbar before going out of play. 4-2: our resistance is finally broken. The home side win a controversial penalty. Well, from my point of view, I have seen them not given for this type of tackle. The ball was won, but as I overheard Ivan (the Don) from the sideline, it was for a two footed tackle (foul on Mario Bilen). Adam Dickinson finishes the task by putting away the last minute penalty into the Western corner of the net. Roy made the task slightly easier by diving in the opposite direction. So our mini slump continues…..but this time I have to admit we were outplayed. This Central team look like the real deal and they may have a say as to who wins the league. For us, next week offers a return match with Ellerslie. This should give us a chance to stop the slump and to earn some more points this season. One final observation, cheers to the travelling Bay Olympic fans. Again we turned out in decent numbers. I hope the players appreciate our support….. Post = 5th
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 04:53:07 +0000
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