Match Report: Round 03 vs Bay Olympic FC
Northern League Round 03 Match Report: Bay Olympic FC vs East Coast Bays, Olympic Park, New Lynn, Saturday 5th April 2025.
A Game of Penalties and Non-Penalties sees an entertaining game end all square.
After the disappointing loss at home against Birkenhead the previous week Bays travelled over to New Lynn to take on Bay Olympic, at Olympic Park. One change to the Bays starting line up saw Liam drop to the bench carrying a slight injury and James Elder was promoted to the starting line up for his full debut in the Bays First team. Peter & Yun came on to the bench for their 1st appearances for the First team this season.
Bays were quickly into their stride with James winning the ball up front and finding Matt who was fouled. Orlando’s free kick caused chaos in the Bay Olympic box before Adam was called for a foul. Ryusei made a break down the right wing and Cam on the overlap crossed in but straight to the home keeper. James made a break forward and linked with Guy on the right-hand side. Guy cut in and shot across the box but wide of goal and out for a goal kick. A foul on Orlando saw his free kick played in but again it was way too close to the keeper. A long diagonal ball from the left wing by Devon saw the ball transferred to the right flank. Guy cut in again and his left footed cross didn’t find any Bays player.
A long throw on the left into the box by Jack, saw Billy pushed to the ground with the first foul and as the ball reached the edge of the box, James was tripped for the second foul straight after. Bays could have had a penalty for either of the transgressions, but the referee didn’t give either of them. As this happened a long ball was played down the Bays right side. Tieku latched on to this, beat Cam on the inside, and placed a left foot shot into the bottom corner past Louie. Olympic had taken the lead against the run of play with their first shot of the game with a goal that shouldn’t have even stood. After 13 minutes gone in the game the score read Bay Olympic 1 East Coast Bays 0.
Bay Olympic had their tails up and a ball down the right wing saw Hall cross to the back post but not to any of his fellow players. Billy tried to thread a pass through to Orlando, but it was just a little bit too far in front and collected by the keeper. Guy was shown an early yellow card for a tackle from behind on Swain. Olympic were having some traction down the Bays right and another cross from Hall saw a turn & shot by Perez Baldoni go over. Bays equalized in the 24th minute when Matt went on a run into the box on the left flank and was brought down for a penalty. Jack stepped up and calmly put the penalty into the top right corner to make the score Bay Olympic 1 East Coast Bays 1.
A run right down the middle of the park by Orlando saw a right foot shot take a slight deflection off a defender for a Bays corner. Orlando’s corner was collected right under the crossbar by the home keeper. Hall was finally booked for a number of fouls with a pour challenge from behind on Matt. Another break down the left saw Matt pass on to Devon, but he couldn’t get the cross in before the ball crossed the goaline. Another ball in from Hall saw Tieku receive the ball in the box. Unfortunately, Billy took a wild swing at Tieku and brought him down for another penalty. Tieku’s penalty to the bottom right corner was saved by Louie. Louie also saved the next two shots from rebounds, but the next rebound broke kindly to Tieku to tap home, in the 32nd minute. Bay Olympic 2 East Coast Bays 1.
Eng was then shown a yellow card for a trip on Devon. Olympic also used the long throw to good effect with Milliicich launching one in from the left that was headed away by Adam. Bays had a fast break and could have had yet another penalty when a shot was blocked by the hand of a defender. But yet again the referee turned a blind eye to it. Olympic had another chance when a ball out to the right side saw a shot by Kaiser go over the top. Bays almost equalized when a long throw in saw a back header from Adam tipped over from under the crossbar with a very good save by the Olympic keeper. Orlando’s corner was played short back to him but unfortunately the cross in was overhit & went out for a goal kick.
The half time whistle went, and the score read Bay Olympic 2 East Coast Bays 1. The score in no way reflected how the first half had gone and not many decisions were going the way of the away team. Bay Olympic made a change at half time with Lovelock coming on for Peredo. Bays were quickly back into the game with Guy sending Cam away down the right wing but his cross to the back post was cleared to safety. Matt & Cam then combined to get in the ball into Guy and his snapshot on the run went just past the right post. Olympic then had a quick break that involved Duffy, Tieku & Kaiser but a timely intervention by Billy saw the cross turned behind for a corner. A Bays free kick for hand ball saw Orlando’s free kick in that was headed across the box by Adam before being cleared. Olympic made their second change in the 56th minute with Saxon replacing Hall who was lucky to still be on the field after a number of fouls. Good play by Matt saw the ball out to the right to Ryusei and his cross was headed away from danger. Kaiser was then shown a yellow card for a poor tackle from behind on Billy. Devon & Matt then linked well down the left wing, but another cross was sent in way too hard. Jack had a good win in defence and Matt was away. He cut inside one defender, but the shot was wild & well over the top. Down the other end Tieku played in Kaiser but his cross across the box didn’t find any of his teammates and was cleared to safety.
In the 66th minute Bay Olympic made another change with F Junior coming on for Eng. Bays equalised two minutes later when a ball in from Cam found James who shot low & hard under the keeper for his first goal for the Bays 1st team. After 68 minutes the score was now Bay Olympic 2 East Coast Bays 2. Olympic then had a shot by Swain that was blocked by Adam. An Olympic corner was cleared to outside the box to James who set off on a run right down the middle of the park. His progress was brought to halt by a crude professional foul by Duffy but yet again no foul given and not even a booking for the bad foul.
A long throw by Jack on the right flank saw two clearing headers and in the next attack James had a shot saved and from the rebound Billy’s shot was palmed away. From the corner Adam was kicked in the face but no foul called yet again. Olympic made their last outfield change with Marowa coming on for Perez Baldoni. Bays reacted by bringing on Liam & Peter for Orlando & Cam. Louie pulled off a fantastic save when Lovelock strode forward and hit a powerful long range shot that was headed for the top right hand corner. Louie dived full stretch to push the shot around the post. Billy played a long ball down the right wing that saw Liam chased after, but the defence cleared for a corner.
Bays made two more changes in the 90th minute with Damion and Yun coming on for Matt and a clearly battered James. Damion was straight into the action, but his corner sailed out behind the goal. Billy played the ball to Peter. An excellent turn by Peter saw the ball played forward to Yun. He cut inside his defender, but his right foot shot was a daisy cutter that rolled all the way along the ground to the Olympic keeper. Yun was then shown a yellow card for blocking a quickly taken free kick illegally. There was almost a mouth in hands moment right at the end of the game when a long throw into the box by Millicich was claimed & then dropped by Louie. The ball found its way to the edge of the area where Lovelock shot over the crossbar to the relief of the Bays keeper & defence.
Shortly after that, the final whistle went, and both sides shared the spoils in a very entertaining end to end match. Final score read Bay Olympic 2 East Coast Bays 2. Congratulations to James on his first goal for the 1st team and just a shame his game was marred by what looked a serious shoulder injury. James was named Bays Player of the Day. Next up is a home game this Saturday against Fencibles at Bay City Park with a 3pm kick off. Fingers crossed for our 1st win of the season against the newcomers to this division. See you all there.
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Final Score: Bay Olympic 2 vs East Coast Bays 2
Bay Olympic: J Gardner, L Hall (F Saxon 56), C McNeill, O Duffy, A Perez Baldoni (T Marowa 79), M Kaiser, W Eng (F Junior 66), G Peredo (L Lovelock 46), N Millicich, K Swain, D Tieku
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, R Ishibashi, A Huskic, J Elder (YS Chang 90), O Thorpe (L Andersen 81), G FE Penda, B Jones, D Slingsby, C Brown (P Harrison 81), M Matanyayire (D Kim 90), J Caunter
Goals: Bay Olympic: D Tieku 13 & 32 Penalty
East Coast Bays: J Caunter 24 Penalty, J Elder 68