Match Report: Round 01 vs Manurewa AFC
Northern League Round 01 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Manurewa AFC, Bay City Park, Saturday 23rd March 2024.
Bays taught a lesson in clinical finishing in much anticipated season opener
East Coast Bays opened their first season back in the Northern Premier League with a home game against Manurewa AFC. A big welcome to the club to new signings Ryusei Ishibashi, Hayat Ali Tobita, Malcolm Young & Billy Jones and congratulations to some of the Under 23’s in graduating to the Senior squad.
Manurewa started off the brighter of the two teams with Morris having a shot saved low down by Louie after a swift break down the right. A few minutes later a ball straight down the middle found Malcolm. He turned and was fouled in the process, but no free kick was given. A long ball down the Bays right found Lagos-Giraldo and his cross shot sailed right across the face of goal. Bays had a lucky escape when Morris had a shot that beat Louie, but it also beat the far post. Bays then had a free kick and Malcolm’s cross was headed away and the front post. Good build play between Hayat and Liam saw a shot by Liam comfortably saved.
A great tackle by Malcolm in midfield saw a ball played out to the right wing. Ryusei sent in a whipped cross, but it was just a fraction too far ahead of Liam. Bays almost snatched the lead in the 19th minute when a bad back pass put the Manurewa keeper in all sorts of trouble. As he tried to clear the ball it cannoned off the advancing Malcolm and luckily for the keeper rolled just past the post. A minute later Ledley cut across the defence and let fly with a right footer straight at Louie. A minute later Manurewa were ahead when the ball bobbled around in the box and Ramirez smashed home a shot. EC Bays 0 Manurewa 1.
Liam then had a right footer go wide of goal and a Malcolm corner was comfortably collected by the Manurewa keeper. Another ball down the right side saw another Ryusei cross that Malcolm headed over with an unchallenged header. Lagos-Giraldo was a constant threat for Manurewa with his runs and his link up play with his forwards. Manurewa almost doubled their lead when Echague played Ramirez through, but his shot was saved low down by Louie. Bays had some progress down the left-hand side of the Rewa defence and Malcolm’s low cross was put behind for a corner. Malcolm then had a shot charged down and from the rebound Nick’s shot went well over the goal. Echague was then booked for a late tackle on Nick. Echague then had a shot blocked and Logan had a shot blocked at the other end.
The half time whistle went, and Manurewa were well deserving of their 1 goal lead at the break. They created far more clear-cut chances whereas Bays didn’t really make the Manurewa keeper make any saves of note. Half time and it was EC Bays 0 Manurewa 1.
Manurewa made a change at half time with Van-As coming on. A minute into the second half Manurewa almost doubled their lead when the Bays players stopped playing allowing Ramirez to take aim at Louie’s goal. His right footed curler beat Louie and cannoned off the underside of the crossbar to safety. Manurewa then had a corner that found it’s way through to Ozaki and his left foot shot went over. Moses was then booked for a trip on Lagos-Giraldo. Echague sent the free kick way over the goal.
The second goal of the game came in the 54th minute when a mistake in defence saw James robbed of the ball. Ramirez played a square ball across the box to Lagos-Giraldo who side footed his shot past Louie. EC Bays 0 Manurewa 2. Moses was then fouled and Malcolm’s free kick into the box was comfortably cleared away. The goal of the game came in the 64th minute and was fantastic to watch in its simplicity. A ball was played out to the left-hand side and moved further down the left touch line. A long diagonal ball was played into the space on the right had side behind the Bays defence and Lagos-Giraldo took a couple of strides forward before he smashed a right footer across Louie and into the far corner of the net. This pretty much took the game away from Bays. EC Bays 0 Manurewa 3.
Bays made their first changes in the 66th minute with Sam & Orlando coming on for Hayat & Malcolm. Three minutes later Manurewa made a change with Ali on for Lagos-Giraldo. A moment of controversy in the 71st minute when Liam chased a long ball to the right-hand side of the box. As he was playing the ball past the Manurewa keeper he was taken out as the keeper didn’t even try to get the ball. The Rewa keeper was only shown the yellow card but with him being the last line of defence it could have easily been a different coloured card.
From the resulting free kick Liam put a header over. On 77 minutes Manurewa made another change with Day replacing Probert. Three minutes later Bays brought on Nathan in place of Moses, who had had a torrid time marking the livewire Lagos-Giraldo. In the space of a couple of minutes Morris gave away a couple of silly fouls and was rewarded with his second yellow card of the game that led to his dismissal from the field. Bays then had another free kick that Orlando played into the box. Logan had a close range shot blocked before the ball was cleared to safety. From this Manurewa broke on the counterattack and Ledley was only just wide with a toe poke shot.
There was still time for a couple more substitutes with Bays bringing on YS Chang for Nick and Manurewa replacing Ramirez with Sakashita. Sam made a couple of great breaks down the left-hand side. One of these led to a corner but Bays got too tricky with that and lost the ball. Shortly after the referee blew the final whistle and Bays return to the Northern Premier League ended in a disappointing 3-0 loss to a very good Manurewa side. The difference in the sides was the clinical finishing by Manurewa while Bays missed a number of half chances. Bays player of the day was debutant Ryusei and Manurewa’s player of the day was the classy Lagos-Giraldo.
Next up over the Easter weekend there is a double header of games with an away game against Bay Olympic on Easter Friday and a home game against Eastern Suburbs on Easter Monday. All the best for those games’ lads.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 0 v Manurewa AFC 3
EC Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler, R Ishibashi, C Simmonds, H Ali Tobita (O Thorpe 67), M Akimana (N Maisey 81), N Gaze (YS Chang 89), T Nkoy, L Andersen, M Young (S Wilson 67), L Archer
Manurewa AFC: V Patkevych, K Ozaki, S Khan, J Hoyt, H Echague, E Ramirez (M Sakasita 89), J Lagos-Giraldo (J Ali 69), S Ledley, M Manko (J Van As 46), C Probert (P Day 77), D Morris
Goals: Manurewa: E Ramirez 19, J Lagos-Giraldo 54 & 64
Red Card: Manurewa: D Morris 84
Unofficial Attendance: 85,002
Photos credit: Simon Harmer, Copyright Simon Harmer 2024
