MATCH REPORT: Round 01 vs Ngaruawahia United
NRFL Men's First Team Round 01 Match Report - East Coast Bays v Ngaruawahia Utd, North Harbour Stadium Domain # 4 – Saturday 25th March 2023
Bays cruise to comfortable first up win with Jack at the Double
After a mixed bag of results in pre-season the eagerly awaited new season started with an opening day game against newly promoted Ngaruawahia Utd. With the upgrade to the changing rooms at Bay City Park not fully completed, the game was played at one of the North Harbour Stadium outer fields with a decent crowd in attendance. All four of Bays new signings – Jack Caunter, David Brown, Taeho Kim (Leo) & Moses Akimana were in the starting line-up, and it was a return to action for Dylan Stansfield after a year off from playing.
Bays started off brightly and after 5 minutes a ball down the right by Callum found Nicolai. His shot was blocked for a corner and from that corner Leo also had a shot blocked for a corner. Moses linked up with David and his cross from the left was comfortably held by the Ngaruawahia keeper. Nicolai then crossed for David to set up Dylan whos’ shot was saved at full stretch. After only 8 minutes Bays opened the scoring when there was a scramble in the Ngaruawahia box and after a first shot came back off the foot of the post the rebound was tucked away by Jack Caunter. Bays 1 Ngaruawahia 0.
Three minutes later a fast break away down the Bays right by Darkwa lead to a shot wide by Ross Nkoy. A minute later a ball by Leo down the right found Nicolai who cut inside his defender and his left foot shot found the side netting. Another ball down the right by Leo saw a cross and Nick Gaze had his shot saved for a corner. Nicolai took the corner from the right and with no marking at the back post Jack headed home from close range for his second goal of the game. Bays were already two in in the first sixteen minutes. Bays 2 Ngaruawahia 0.
Four minutes later David found Leo on the right and his cross right across the face of the goal found Dylan beyond the back post but he couldn’t control the cross. Bays were in complete control of the game for most of the first half. A corner from the left was headed wide by Dylan and a ball in from Callum was also headed wide by Dylan. Ngaruawahia had a rare corner taken by Ross Nkoy and M Brown had a left foot shot go wide of Louie’s goal. A minute later frustration got the better of Ross Nkoy as he was shown a yellow card for punching the ball out of Jack’s hands as he was about to take a throw in. Leo made another break down the right and his cross was turned behind by Vhavha. Nicolai’s corner to the back post was cleared away by the defence. A long throw by Jack found David who set up Moses for a shot that went wide. Just before half time Leo played in Nicolai who was one on one with the keeper, who made a fine save.
Half time and the score was EC Bays 2 Ngaruawahia 0. Bays were in complete control of the first half and probably should have been leading by a few more. Some fine saves by the Ngaruawahia keeper kept the score down. Apart from a couple of quick breaks by Ngaruawahia, Louie didn’t have any saves to make in the first half.
Straight after half time it looked like Bays had switched off for a bit and Ngaruawahia stepped it up a gear. Louie had his first save to make when Nkoy was through and shot straight at the Bays #1. The ball was cleared down field and Dylan tried a long range shot that just cleared the crossbar. On 52 minutes Henderson made a charge through the middle of the bays defence and was brought down just outside the Bays penalty area. Henderson took it himself and curled the free kick over the wall and into the net for a great finish. Bays 2 Ngaruawahia 1.
Ngaruawahia had a great spell for the next 10 – 15 minutes so it was time for some changes. After 62 minutes Oscar Garcia replaced David Brown and Declan Sweeney replaced Nick Gaze. Leo then picked up a yellow card for a foul on Mendovic and the free kick was cleared from danger. Then a Bays fast break lead to Nicolai being fouled just outside the opposition penalty box. Callum’s floated free kick reached the back post and was headed just wide by Moses. Oscar then played in Dylan but his shot was saved by the keeper before the flag went up for offside. Declan was then fouled just outside the box and Jack’s free kick went well wide. Declan played Thomson clean through down the middle but as he closed in on goal it looked like he was held back by a defender. Instead of going down Thomson protested to the referee to no avail. This would be one of a few decisions that Thommo and the referee would have intense discussions about!!
Ngaruawahia then made three changes as McCracken, Marden & D Ngungambili all came on. Henderson then had a shot deflected wide for a corner. The corner was palmed away by Louie and the next shot from Henry was comfortably saved. Then a cross came in from the right and Henderson shot over. After 80 minutes Ngaruawahia made another change with Le Han coming on. Three minutes later Nicolai made a break down the right, cut inside the defender and sent a left foot drive into the bottom right hand corner of the goal. Bays 3 Ngaruawahia 1.
Two minutes later Dylan made a break, Moses crossed from the left and the cross was just a little bit too high for Oscar in the middle. With 5 minutes to go Sam Wilson replaced Thomson, who had had a frustrating day. Two minutes later Mikey Kolston replaced Nicolai. M Brown was then booked for a late tackle. Bays could have been further ahead when Declan was clean through but just as he was about to round the keeper the ball bobbled and was cleared by the goal keepers feet. Just before full time Oscar was clean through but his shot was also blocked for a corner.
The full time whistle went and Bays had won 3-1 to start off the season with a very good result. The win was reasonably comfortable apart from the fifteen minutes just after half time. All the new players had very good debuts and Jack at the Back was Bays Man of the Match for his two goals.
Next Saturday is an away game at Riverhills Park, in Pakuranga, against Fencibles.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 3 vs Ngaruawahia Utd 1
East Coast Bay: L Caunter, T Kim, J Edgeler, J Caunter, C Simmonds, M Akimana, N Berry (S Wilson 85), N Gaze (D Sweeney 62), T Nkoy (M Kolston 87), D Brown (O Garcia 62), D Stansfield
Ngaruawahia: S Heuberger, D Vhavha, R Henderson, M Henry, C Campbell, M Brown, R Nkoy, M Mendovic, G Darkwa, S Nahna, E Ngungambili
Subs: K McCracken, J Marden & D Ngungambili 70, L Le Han 80, Z Pringle 85
Goals: East Coast Bays: J Caunter 8 & 16, N Berry 83
Ngaruawahia: R Henderson 52
Official attendance: 48,189