MATCH REPORT: Round 07 vs North Shore United AFC
NRFL Men's First Team Round 07 Match Report: North Shore Utd v East Coast Bays, Allen Hill Stadium, Devonport, Saturday 29th April 2023.
Bays Wasteful in front of goal leads to shock first loss of the season.
East Coast Bays travelled to Devonport to take on local rivals North Shore Utd with former players in their ranks like Ryan Singh, Jack Anderson & Jason Hicks. Two changes to the Bays side saw Leo & Liam start in place of Sam and Nick.
Bays started well and after only a couple of minutes Nicolai won the ball and passed to Declan, his shot ballooned off a defender into the keepers arms. Next up Nicolai & Liam, combined well leading to Nicolai’s shot over. Nicolai then played a ball over to Thomson and he shot over. Liam made a break down the left and his cross into the middle was met by Declan who shot straight to the keeper. Thomson cut inside a defender and his right foot shot went well wide. Moses cut out a pass out of defence by Shore. He set up Nicolai who cut into the penalty box but the keeper was out smartly to claim the ball at Nicolai’s feet.
North Shore were quite content to defend for most of the first half. Moses broke down the right and crossed into the middle. Liam was unable to control the cross but the ball bounced up to Declan who shot well over. Nicolai then had a shot saved low down by the Shore keeper. Moses then set up Nicolai again and after one of his trademark weaves he cut inside & let fly with a left footer that went well wide. A foul on Moses led to a Bays free kick. Callum floated this in and James shot wide. In a rare attack down the other end, Rotimi crossed from the left and the cross came off a Bays defender and went straight to Louie.
A ball forward by Liam found Thomson and his cross was blocked for a corner. North shore then had another attack down the left with Singh playing in Rotomi and his cross was blocked for a corner. Nicolai was tormenting Shore left back Romero and after robbing him of the ball he set up Liam for a left foot shot that went wide. David was then yellow carded for a foul on Singh but later on, it was revealed the card was for delaying the game. Shore could have taken a shock lead when Anderson was free on the right side of the penalty box. However, Louie saved his smart snap shot low down. Liam played a great diagonal ball from left to right and Nicolai’s shot came off Romero for a corner. From the corner, Liam planted a header into a Shore defender for another corner. Jack made a break down the left, passed to David and he set up Liam for another shot that was saved low down. Declan was forced to leave the field just before half time with an ankle injury and was replaced by Nick Gaze. Just on half time, another Shore counter attack saw a cross by Anderson from the right followed by a cross from Rotimi from the left and the ball was cleared just out of reach of Marowa before he had a chance to shoot.
The half time whistle went and the score was North Shore 0 East Coast Bays 0. The half was totally dominated by Bays as Shore decided to play defence first and counter attack on a few occasions. Bays should really have been ahead by three or four goals but some wasteful & poor shooting put paid to that. Straight after half time Bays were back on attack as Nicolai & Liam combined and a cross came off J Choice for a corner. Nicolai’s first corner saw Liam’s header saved and Jack’s follow up header went over. A rare mistake by Louie saw his long ball intercepted and Hicks had a left foot shot wide. Anderson passed to Marowa and his shot was saved by Louie low down. Moses played in Nicolai and his left foot shot went straight to the keeper.
Shore surviving the Bays onslaught saw their confidence in attacking play increase. Marowa played in Hicks but a crucial block by James led to a Shore corner. Shore made their first change in the 62nd minute with Peredo replacing Anderson. Shore’s goal continued the live a charmed life as Nick set up Moses. He stepped forward and let go with a long-range drive. With the Shore keeper well beaten, the ball came back out off the foot of the post. Romero was then booked for a follow through challenge on Moses. James followed him into the referee’s notebook for a foul on Singh. Nicolai crossed to the back post and from point blank range; David managed to head on to the crossbar & away.
Shore made a second change with Taylor coming on for Hicks in the 67th minute. Only three minutes later, a very quick counter attack saw Taylor play the ball forward to Peredo and he managed to get a slight touch on the pass to put the ball under the advancing Louie to break the deadlock. Just like that, Shore had taken the lead well & truly against the run of play. Bays then had a corner on the left and the keeper flapped the ball away for a corner. Bays made a triple change with Sam, Oscar & Dylan replacing Leo, David & Liam in the 72nd minute. Dylan was immediately into the action as he received the ball from Thomson and the very busy Shore keeper saved his right foot shot. Unfortunately, the Bays defence went to sleep in the 77th minute. The ball was lost on the left side and Marowa hit a right foot cross/shot that sailed into the top corner past a startled Louie.
Shore were now leading 2-0. They made a third change with Kelly replacing Bolton-Roberts in the 79th minute. A minute later, the Shore goal had another couple of amazing escapes. Nicolai’s corner to the back post found Jack completely unmarked but his free header went wide. Bays brought on Mikey K for James at the back. Kelly was then booked for a leg trip on Thomson. From the free kick, Nick had his shot saved and as the ball ballooned up in the air, Sam managed to smash the ball against the underside of the crossbar from point blank range. It certainly was not Bays day with the posts saving Shore on three separate occasions. Dylan then turned just outside the box and his left footed drive was saved full stretch by the Shore keeper. Nick played the ball down the right to Nicolai but the keeper claimed his cross comfortably.
Two minutes later the full time whistle went and Bays had lost their first game of this season 2-0 to a determined Shore side who definitely rode their luck for most of the game. Bays were punished for not putting any of their many chances away and in the end beaten by a couple of very well taken counter attack goals. Next Saturday Bays are back home to face Northern Rovers as we welcome back Bays record appearance maker Jason McKeown as well as a couple of former players Tom Damon & Kris Carpenter. Fingers crossed for a bounce back result. See you all there.
Final Score: North Shore United 2 vs East Coast Bays 0
North Shore Utd: F Dockerty, R Singh, O Rotomi, A Cowell, H Lissington, J Hicks (J Taylor 67), H Bolton-Roberts (B Kelly 79), J Romero, T Marowa, J Choice, J Anderson (J Peredo 62)
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler (M Kolston 81), C Simmonds, D Sweeney (N Gaze 45), M Akimana, N Berry, T Kim (S Wilson 72), T Nkoy, D Brown (D Stansfield 72), L Andersen (O Garcia 72), J Caunter
North Shore Goals: J Peredo 70, T Marowa 77
Offical Attendance: 42.5 plus Gordy Ross