Match Report: Round 02 vs Birkenhead United
Northern League Round 02 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Birkenhead Utd, Bay City Park, Saturday 29th March 2025.
Slow start sees Bays slip to a disappointing Derby defeat.
After the last gasp draw at Western Springs the week before Bays were at home for their first home game of the season, at Bay City Park, in front of a big crowd and in very hot conditions. The eagerly anticipated match was against local rivals Birkenhead Utd who Bays beat on the last day of the previous season. Bays made one change with Adam coming into the back four for his starting debut and Devon dropping back from midfield to the left back position.
Birkenhead started brightly and Bays were lucky not to be one down after only a few minutes. A cross in from the right from Richards saw Suski turn sharply, and his left foot shot only just sailed past the post. The ball was won by the Birkenhead midfield Rostron, who played a long ball down the left wing to Suski. He went outside his defender and placed a left foot shot right across the face of the goal & out for a goal kick. Rostron played a number of long balls forward bypassing his midfield and it worked well for Birkenhead. From another of these Suski played in Richards in behind the Bays defence but his ball right across the penalty box didn’t find any of his own players.
Bays were guilty of playing a bit too far forward and getting caught on the quick breaks after they lost possession. The closest Bays got to the Birkenhead goal was a long throw by Jack on the right that the Birko keeper claimed comfortably. Birkenhead continued their relentless attack and Suski played in Van Den Hoven who volleyed straight down into the ground & straight to Louie. Bays should have been behind when a mix up in defence saw Jack head the ball past Louie as he was coming out and Connor-Mclean saw his shot saved by a great block on the line by Adam. A minute later Bays were behind when Birko played from left to right and after a goalmouth scramble the ball fell nicely for Suski to fire home straight down the middle in the 14th minute. EC Bays 0 Birkenhead Utd 1.
Billy made a great break down the right and his cross was picked off by the Birkenhead keeper with Guy & Ryusei waiting to pounce at the back post. Liam was then shown a yellow card for bringing down Suski from behind. A ball right down the middle saw Liam away but when he was getting ready to pull the trigger he tripped, and the chance was gone. Birkenhead were then given a free kick for a push by Matt. Chung played the ball into the Bays box, but Connor-McLean’s free header went straight down into the ground and straight to Louie.
Ryusei then won the ball and passed forward to Billy. He played in Matt whose left foot shot went high & wide over the goal. Ryusei & Devon then had a mix up on who was supposed to clear the ball which led to a shot by Richards being blocked. The follow up corner saw a free header Rostron go over. Devon & Liam then combined which led to Matt putting in a cross that sailed across the face of goal before being cleared. Birkenhead were forced to make a change in the 39th minute with captain Dino Botica forced off the field due to an earlier collision & injury and he was replaced by Basiri. Suski then played in Rawale who’s wild left foot shot went well over.
Bays equalized with a well-built team goal. Lots of build up play & passing down the left wing saw Devon play a great ball into the box for Billy to run onto. Billy weaved his way past one defender before placing his left foot shot into the far corner past the Birkenhead keeper in the 43rd minute. EC Bays 1 Birkenhead 1. A minute later Suski was in on goal again but another great sliding tackle by Adam saw the ball cleared behind for a corner. The follow up corner was headed away to safety by Jack. Rawale was lucky to stay on the field after following through in taking out Devon in a dreadful foul where he didn’t even attempt to play the ball. The half time whistle went, and the score was EC Bays 1 Birkenhead Utd 1. After a very slow start and playing far too high which led to a number of lightning counter attacks, Bays had got back into the game and were looking a bit more settled just before half time.
Bays made an immediate change at half time with James Elder coming on for the second half in place of Matt. The Bays defence hadn’t fully switched on and a dreadful clearance saw the ball cleared into another defender. The rebound dropped to Suski who squared the ball to Hughes who shot past Louie into the far corner. EC Bays 1 Birkenhead Utd 2 after 46 minutes. Good link up play between Liam and James saw a shot straight at the keeper. Cam made a great break down the right, played the ball into Billy who found Liam, but his left foot shot rolled tamely along the ground to the keeper. A moment of controversy came when Guy’s flick header saw James through. In a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge James went past Basiri and shot past the keeper. The goal was disallowed by the referee which was odd considering the referee had let a lot of shoulder-to-shoulder challenges & shirt pulling by Birkenhead go throughout the game.
The next piece of controversy came shortly after when one of the Bays players was away down the left and Richards launched a studs up foul from behind to bring him down. A very poor challenge and a professional foul but Richards was only shown a yellow card. In the 58th minute Bays scored their second equalizer when Liam broke down the right. He played in Ryusei and his square ball across the box saw Guy slide home into the back of the net. EC Bays 2 Birkenhead Utd 2. A throw in down the right saw Liam scamper away and he played in James who saw his shot saved at point blank range. Van Den Hoven was then booked for one of the many fouls he committed in the game. The game was getting a bit feisty at this stage as it usually does during the local derbies.
Hughes broke into the box and with a 50/50 challenge by Cam clearly dived. Again, no caution. A cross in by Chung was headed away by Billy who was having a busy game in midfield. The goal of the game came in the 70th minute when a cross in from the right by Richards saw Kawale step away from his defender and volley the ball home on the full. Great finish but Kawale was afforded way too much free space in the box by the Bays defence. EC Bays 2 Birkenhead Utd 3.
Birkenhead reacted to taking the lead by making two changes in the 71st minute with Philip & Newbould coming on for Richards & Connor-McLean. Bays reacted a minute later with Nathan & Damion coming on for Cam & Ryusei, which meant a switch to right back for Devon. Damion was into the action very quickly with a great run through the Birkenhead defence before being shouldered off the ball. In the 80th minute Bays were down to ten players when they had a number of defensive players up front for a corner. The corner was cleared and Suski was away. First, he beat Devon but was then brought down from behind by Nathan. With Nathan being the last line of defence, he was rightly shown a straight red card.
The Bays defence was now under severe pressure. Van Den Hoven played in Newbould from a free kick and his cross was deflected behind by Liam. Birkenhead then made another change in 82nd minute with Hameedi coming on for Suski. A Bays free kick was chipped into the box too far by Devon and easily collected by the keeper. Another ball played in saw Liam tripped but again no foul was given. The loose ball saw Devon’s shot off balance go way over the goal. In the 87th minute Joaquin came on for Orlando. James then robbed the Birkenhead defence, and his right foot snapshot went just wide of the post. Possession was lost in midfield by Joaquin which led to a snapshot by Van Den Hoven blocked by Adam.
As the game was drawing to a close Devon was pushed over just outside the box. The free kick was played into the penalty box but Adam was called for a foul. This led to another fast break down the right wing and with Bays a man short Birkenhead took full advantage as Van Den Hoven broke away and squared the ball across the penalty box to the far post where Hughes tapped home to seal the win for Birkenhead. Shortly after, the final whistle went and in a highly entertaining match the final score read EC Bays 2 Birkenhead Utd 4. Player of the day for Bays was Adam who put in a great shift in his first full appearance for Bays. Next week Bays are away at Olympic Park, New Lynn, against Bay Olympic with a 3.00pm kick off. See you all there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 2 vs Birkenhead United 4
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, R Ishibashi (D Kim 72), A Huskic, O Thorpe (J Julve 87), G FE Penda, B Jones, D Slingsby, L Andersen, C Brown (N Maisey 72), M Matanyayire (J Elder 46), J Caunter
Birkenhead Utd: K Smith, D Botica (H Basiri 39), L Van Den Hoven, A Connor-McLean (H Newbould 71), C Hughes, E Richards (S Philip 71), M Suski (I Hameedi 82), R Kawale, S Khan, N Rostron, Z Chung
Goals: East Coast Bays: B Jones 43, G FE Penda 58
Birkenhead Utd: M Suski 14, C Hughes 46 & 90, R Kawale 70
Red Cards: East Coast Bays: N Maisey 80
Unofficlal attendance: 55,998
Photo credit: Simon Harmer
