MATCH REPORT: Round 04 vs Metro FC
NRFL Men's First Team Round 03 Match Report – Metro FC v East Coast Bays, Albie Turner Field, Phyllis Street, Mt Albert, Monday 10th April 2023.
Bruising Second Half Battle after Bays Dominate One Sided First Half
EC Bays travelled over to Mt Albert on Easter Monday to take on mid table Metro FC at Phyllis Street a few days after the Easter Friday win against Ellerslie. Changes to the starting line up saw Sam Wilson & Bailey Stevenson come in to replace Mikey Kolston & David Brown. With Dylan injured Thomson & Nick played up front. Mikey Gaze was supposed to start in place of James but picked up an injury in the warmup, so James kept his place. In goal for Metro was former Bays keeper Liam Anderson.
Bays got into their stride very quickly. Nick played in Thomson down the left & Thomson’s cross was taken by Anderson. Sam made a break down the left and his whipped in cross was punched over the bar by Anderson. Callum swung in the corner that almost sailed in under the crossbar before being cleared by the Metro keeper. Thomson crossed to the back post, but Nicolai was flagged for offside. Louie played a fantastic long ball down the left that found Sam. He passed inside to Thomson who played the ball down the middle where Declan had made a great run. Declan collected the ball and struck his shot past Anderson’s right. Bays were 1-0 up inside 10 minutes.
Jack then had an attempted cross blocked for a corner. The corner was played short to Nicolai, and he had two shots blocked & cleared away from danger. Then a ball down the right found Nicolai who’s cross to the back post was just a little bit too high for Nick to head home. In the nineteenth minute Bays doubled their lead when Jack played a long diagonal ball from left to right. Nicolai raced after the ball, cut inside a defender, and unleased a left foot drive inside Anderson’s near post for 2-0 to Bays.
Around this time the Metro players were bickering & moaning at each other to the amusement of the Bays fans attending the game. It was only going to get worse for them. Firstly, Jack had a left foot shot from just outside the box that was saved at full stretch by Anderson for a corner. Nicolai was then fouled as the Metro defence struggled to stop his runs down the right flank. The third goal came in the thirtieth minute, and it was another wonderful team goal. A ball down the left found Nick and he moved inside before laying the ball off to Thomson who shot under the keeper for 3-0 to Bays.
Then a thrown in down the right was headed behind for a corner. Nicolai’s corner was then sliced behind by Furmenger for another corner. Thomson was flattened as he played a ball to Bailey. Bailey continued with his run before playing the ball out to Nicolai on the right. Nicolai then beat a defender and crossed to the back post where Nick volleyed home for his first league goal for Bays. This made the score Metro 0 EC Bays 4. Sam broke down the left and this led to shots by Nick and Declan. Metro made a rare break down the left and Cain’s cross was headed behind by James.
Metro should have scored from the resulting corner as it was flicked forward with a first header and then headed over from close range. A minute from half time Metro did score when a long ball was misjudged by James as it bounced over him and James clipped Cain’s heel just inside the box. Metro were awarded a penalty that Souza struck home, with Louie diving the wrong way. This made the score Metro 1 EC Bays 4. Bays should have scored again when Sam played in Nick. He turned well and belted a shot just past the post. Down the other end A Smith shot over, from just outside the box. Nick played in Nicolai and his shot deflected off Furmenger’s leg over the goal. Callum then had a free kick to the back post just evade Declan’s outstretched leg.
The half time whistle went, and the score was Metro 1 EC Bays 4. Bays had totally bossed the first half and so much so that the Metro players were still arguing with each other when they left the pitch. Metro returned for the second half and made two immediate changes with M Martin & R Martin coming on. Straight away Metro upped the tempo. Firstly, a free kick by Hong was played through the box but went wide. As well as making the substitutes Metro upped their physical approach to the game with some rash tackles and several niggly fouls. They started lumping the ball forward with the aid of a strong wind behind their backs.
Nicolai continued to wreak havoc down the right flank. After beating a defender Nicolai crossed to the back post but it cleared Nick by some margin. Jack played in Nick down the left, but he was flagged offside. A long ball forward by Metro almost paid dividends when Souza got away. Souza’s right foot shot was saved by Louie and as Lockton was about to shoot the rebound, he slipped over & uttered some choice language. Another long ball led to a Metro corner. This was powered home by Lockton in the sixtieth minute to make the score Metro 2 EC Bays 4. A foul on Nicolai by R Martin gave Bays a free kick. Callum played this into the centre and Probert cleared for a corner. Nicolai’s corner went into the side netting. Nicolai then played in Thomson who set up Nick, but his shot went over. Finally, the first yellow card of the game was shown to Probert for a late tackle on Nick.
Bays made two changes in the 79th minute with Mikey K & Oscar replaced Bailey and Thomson. Bailey had put in a great shift on his first full start and Thommo had taken a bit of a battering up front. A mistake by Mackay led to Nick picking up the stray pass. He clipped it past Mackay and tried to find Oscar before the ball was cleared. Then a mistake by Louie led to a shot by Souza that went straight at Louie for a comfortable save. Bays made further changes in the 85th minute with Josh Coe & Y Chang (making his debut for Bays) replacing Nicolai and Callum (a rare sight indeed but Callum was a bit under the weather). Metro also made a change with McCracken coming on for Souza.
Cain was then booked for a very rash challenge on Nick as things continued to get feisty out on the pitch. Metro made another change in the 90th minute with Sheikh coming on for A Smith. Just before the end Bays should have made it five when Oscar made a break down the right before cutting in and setting up Chang. His first shot was saved brilliantly by Anderson and the rebound was blocked on the line by the defenders from Chang’s second close range shot. Almost a perfect impact & debut for Chang. Shortly after, the final whistle went, and Bays had won 4-2 in a game of two halves. In the end a comfortable win by Bays with a dominant first half followed by a battling & bruising second half. That makes it four wins from four games to be second on the league table on goal difference.
Next week Bays return home to Bay City Park for a home game on Saturday afternoon against struggling Waiheke Utd. See you all there.
Final Score: Metro FC 2 vs East Coast Bays 4
Metro FC: L Anderson, A Duncan, L Furmenger, T Probert, A Smith, M Graham, R Cain, G Souza, A Lockton, H Hong, S Mackay
Subs: M Martin 46, R Martin 46, F McCracken 85, M Sheikh 90
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler, S Wilson, B Stevenson (M Kolston 79), C Simmonds (J Coe 85), D Sweeney, M Akimana, N Berry (Y Chang 85), N Gaze, T Nkoy (O Garcia 79, J Caunter
Goals: Metro FC: G Souza 44, A Lockton 60
East Coast Bays: D Sweeney 10, N Berry 19, T Nkoy 30, N Gaze 38
Official attendence: 17 plus 3 dogs
