Match Report: Chatham Cup vs Eastern Suburbs
Chatham Cup Round 2 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Eastern Suburbs AFC, Bay City Park, Saturday 1st June 2024.
Bright start followed by disappointment as Bays exit Chatham Cup in 2nd Round
Bays were back at home, at Bay City Park, to take on high flying Eastern Suburbs in the Chatham Cup 2nd round. A couple of changes to the side saw Moses come in at right back which meant Thomson moved forward to the wing. And on his 18th birthday, Orlando started in place of Nick, who was on the bench. Also, on the substitutes bench it was a welcome back to Nicolai who had been out injured for close to 11 months.
Bays started off well with a number of breaks down the left wing. Malcolm set up Guy, but his shot lacked power as it went straight to the Suburbs keeper. Down the other end Laing-McConnell teed up Galletly but he shot over the goal. Bays opened the scoring in the 9th minute when Jack launched a long ball over the Suburbs defence. Malcolm got clear of his defender and tapped the ball past the onrushing keeper into the far corner of the net. EC Bays 1 Eastern Suburbs 0.
This brought Suburbs back to life as a cross was blocked for a corner by Jack. De Vries put the corner into the near post where it was headed away by Nathan. A diagonal ball from the right side to the left from Thomson saw Nathan play a return ball before his next pass was blocked for a corner. Malcolm took this from the left side and it was cleared behind for a second corner that Jack swung in from the other side. Suburbs equalised against the run of play when a long ball from inside their own half was chipped over the Bays defence to the left wing. Louie initially came for the ball and then stopped. This allowed Metchell to go wide of him and plant a left foot shot past him into the bottom corner. EC Bays 1 Eastern Suburbs 1 after only twenty minutes gone.
A foul by Billy on Laing-McConnell saw a free kick by De Vries played in and Verney’s shot was blocked for a corner. Suburbs then had a good team build up which led to Verney having a left foot shot that was tipped around the post by Louie. The corner led to a melee in the goalmouth and a free kick to Bays for a foul on Louie. Not for the first time in the match Guy played the ball past Billingsley and was elbowed off the ball. No free kick and a strange way of defending that Suburbs got away with a fair bit. Galletly had another shot over the top and then Malcolm was pulled up for hand ball after a cross in from Jack.
Great teamwork from Bays down the right wing saw Malcolm link up with Thomson before a cross in was cleared away. Suburbs then had shots by Galletly & Rutherford blocked and Billy was shown a yellow card for a late tackle in the earlier build up. Karunaratne played a great ball down the right wing and Rutherford powered a shot across goal that Louie did very well to save with his outstretched leg. A long ball forward by Louie found Thomson and he played Guy through. Guy beat his defender, but his long-range shot went wide. Just before half time Bays almost got a second as Malcolm’s shot took a small deflection off the keepers’ fingertips for a corner. The corner was cleared and the half time whistle went.
The half time score read EC Bays 1 Eastern Suburbs 1 and that was probably a fair reflection of how the play had gone. Bays started off brightly but let Suburbs slowly dictate how the way the play went for most of the first half. Suburbs were forced to make a change at half time as Karunaratne had taken a couple of knocks and looked like he was already carrying an injury. He was replaced by Campbell Strong.
Suburbs came out swinging early in the second half. A ball into the corner saw Metchell play in Verney but after shooting wide he was flagged for offside. A free kick for a foul on Moses saw Callum play the free kick into the box where shots were blocked before being cleared away. Jack was then shown a yellow card for a foul on Metchell. Louie lined up the wall, but De Vries expertly curled his left foot free kick over the wall and into the bottom corner for Suburbs to take the lead. Louie dived full length to keep the free kick out, but it was expertly placed. EC Bays 1 Eastern Suburbs 2 after 57 minutes.
Ryusei, who had had a fairly quiet game up to this point got more involved down the left wing. He found Thomson who put in a cross that was blocked for a corner. Bays made their first change in the 61st minute with Nick coming on to replace birthday boy, Orlando. Suburbs should have extended their lead when De Vries crossed for Laing-McConnell who headed over when he was completely unmarked. A long throw from Jack on the left-hand side was headed out and Ryusei had his volleyed shot blocked. In the 66th minute Suburbs made two changes with McKenlay & Boxall coming on for Mitchell and Galletly. Nick made a break down the middle and was sandwiched just outside the box. Yet again no free kick for Bays when there was a clear foul.
In the 73rd minute Bays made two more changes with Logan & Nicolai coming on for Nathan & Thomson. A reshuffle to the side saw Moses moving into midfield. Jack was a bit lucky with a tackle from behind that led to a collision with a Suburbs forward. Having already been booked he luckily escaped a second yellow card but 5 minutes later he was substituted to save any risk of losing a defender. James came on in the 79th minute. Billy intercepted a Suburbs break and with him still being quite a way forward he sent Malcolm down the left flank and his cross was blocked for a corner.
Billy wasn’t as lucky as Jack as he made a rash decision to tackle Rutherford from behind in the 88th minute. A second yellow card was shown, then the red card and Billy was off for the last five minutes. Logan launched a long throw into the box that was flicked on by Guy before being cleared. Nicolai then tried a few of his trademark runs and beating defenders on the right. He turned inside but his left footer went well over the goal. Raj was then shown a yellow card for a foul on Nicolai. Louie pumped the ball forward into the box, but a shot went wide and then the final whistle went.
The final score was EC Bays 1 Eastern Suburbs 2 and Bays were out of the Chatham Cup. Congratulations to Suburbs and all the best for your run in the Cup. A bright start to the game but eventually the better team got the result thanks to a fantastic finish from a free kick. Moses was awarded the Bays player of the day. Next Saturday it’s a return to league action with a trip to South Auckland to take on Manurewa at War Memorial Park, in Manurewa. 3pm kick off, so see you there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 1 vs Eastern Suburbs 2
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, N Maisey (L Archer 73), R Ishibashi, C Simmonds, M Akimana, O Thorpe (N Gaze 61), T Nkoy (N Berry 73), M Young, J Caunter (J Edgeler 73), B Jones, G Essome Penda
Eastern Suburbs FC: R Diver, A Raj, J Galletly (N Boxall 66), N Karunaratne (C Strong 46), F De Vries, N Billingsley, R Rutherford, J Metchell, R Verney, D Laing-McConnell, J Mitchell (F McKenlay 66)
Goals: East Coast Bays: M Young 9
Eastern Suburbs: J Metchell 20, F De Vries 57
Red Card: Billy Jones (ECB) 88
Unoffical attendance: 102,002
Photo credit: Karl Smith
