Match Report: Round 07 vs Tauranga City
Northern League Round 07 Match Report: Tauranga City FC vs East Coast Bays, Links Avenue, Mount Maunganui, Saturday 27th April 2024.
Bays rescue a precious point in a real ding-dong battle after a very slow start
It was road trip time with a trip down to the Bay of Plenty for Bays to take on fellow promoted side Tauranga City, at Links Avenue. A beautiful day greeted us there, but a cold breeze kept the temperature down. James returned to the starting line up in place of Logan and Sam started in place of Orlando. It was welcome to our new signing Guy Essome Penda who joined Bays from Takapuna and he started on the bench along with Malcolm, who was back from injury.
To say Bays started slowly and took time to settle was a sure-fire understatement. Brennan had a shot from just outside the box that went wide and Wellsbury had a shot blocked by Billy before the ball was collected by Louie. A through ball down the other end by Thomson was just out of reach of Nick. Tauranga launched a ball down the right flank and Brennan was away. His shot was saved comfortably by Louie. Tauranga took the lead in the 9th minute when they broke down the left flank and a cross from Maddox headed down at the back post for Brennan to smash home. Tauranga 1 EC Bays 0.
Brennan was then set up by Wellsbury, but his left foot shot went way over the goal. Bidios was then played through. His right foot shot was pushed away & behind by Louie. Down the other end Thomson had left his shooting boots at home with one soft shot and then another straight at the keeper after a rebound. Jack crossed from the right to the far post but again it was fractionally too far in front of Nick to get to. Brennan then had another shot go wide. Bays could have equalised when a cross into the box was cleared poorly but Nick’s left footer was blocked. The Tauranga keeper then cleared poorly but Thomson’s shot ricocheted away off a defender.
Bays were very lucky not to be two down when Jack lost possession. He was robbed of the ball by Brennan who scooted away and smashed his shot against the post & away to safety. The Tauranga captain, Higgins, was then booked for a tackle from behind on Thomson. Tauranga continued their attack and Brennan was a constant menace to the Bays defence. After a goalmouth scramble the ball was cleared off the line by Mikey K. Bays almost equalised just before half time when Sam broke into the area on the left-hand side of the box and his left footer was saved. The follow up shot was blocked and Callum’s corner was cleared. Shortly after, the half time whistle went.
So, at half time the score read Tauranga City 1 EC Bays 0 and to be honest Tauranga could & should have been one or two more goals to the good. Bays made immediate changes at half time with Malcolm & Guy-Frank coming on for Mikey K & Sam. The subs immediately gave Bays some more forward momentum. First up though James had to head away a cross from Molloy. Bays then broke down the left flank. Moses played the ball down to Guy and his cross was mishit by Thomson. Tauranga almost scored again when a cross by Brennan to the back post saw a shot by Fisher-Vanderveen saved low down by Louie. Guy played in Malcolm but as he was preparing to shoot he went down in the box and was shown a yellow card for diving.
A corner from the right-hand side was headed away by Higgins with James right behind him if he had missed. Bays were level in the 63rd minute when a cross came in and Malcolm hit a sweet first timer into the bottom corner for his first Bays goal. Tauranga City 1 EC Bays 1. Tauranga reacted by bringing on McMullen in place of Wellsbury. Bays were leading for 3 or 4 minutes when a quick break down the right saw Brennan pass inside to Molloy. He in turn found Rostron unmarked at the far post and he placed his shot in the opposite corner to regain the lead for Tauranga. The score now read Tauranga City 2 EC Bays 1.
Guy tried a partial bicycle kick from a cross from Malcolm but didn’t make enough contact for it to trouble the Tauranga keeper. The funniest moment of the game happened mid-way through the second half when the referee was called over to the far side by the assistant referee after hearing something he didn’t like from the Bays assistant coach. Kimmy was shown a yellow card for dissent from the touchline. Bays made a change in the 80th minute with Orlando coming on for James. Orlando was straight into the action sending a cross over from Thomson, but it was easily caught by the keeper.
Both teams continued to attack each other for most of the second half. Molloy was then booked for a high boots challenge on Callum. Ruyishi kept on going down the right wing as Bays continued to search out the equaliser. Bays made another change in the 86th minute with Nathan replacing Moses, who had battled hard all day. A bad clearance by Louie was picked up & played back down the right wing. Brennan was away again and his cross was met by Molloy who shot wildly over. Down the other end a cross by Malcolm was punched away by the Tauranga keeper. Ruyishi was then booked for a late tackle.
Just as it was looking like a poor road defeat for Bays a few chances started stacking up. First of all, there were a few shots and ricochets going on in the box and Orlando had a shot blocked for a corner. Hawkins was then booked for dissent. Jack started launching some long throws in from the left-hand side and one of the clearances lead to a mis hit shot by Callum. In the 93rd minute the ball was cleared out to the left-hand side where Jack whipped in a low cross to the near post. Guy got in front of his defender and stooped low to place a great header into the bottom corner with the help of a tiny deflection. Now the score was Tauranga City 2 EC Bays 2.
Shortly after, the final whistle went, and Bays had battled back to get a crucial point at a venue where they didn’t have a very good record at. Well done to the lads for the great fightback after a very slow start to the game and congratulations to Malcolm & Guy on their debut Bays goals. The point proved crucial with Hamilton & Melville both losing to move Bays two places up the ladder because of goal difference. The first win of the season is coming soon lads. This week Bays are back at home against league leaders Auckland City with a 3pm kick off at Bay City Park. If he plays, Nick Gaze will play his 50th match for the Bays senior team. See you there.
Final Score: Tauranga City 2 vs East Coast Bays 2
Tauranga City FC: C Glover, S Hawkins, C Higgins, N Rostron, X Maddox, J Bidios (T Kawana 82), L Molloy, B Fisher-Vanderveen, C Brennan, R Barr, M Wellsbury (J McMullan 65)
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler (O Thorpe 80), R Ishibashi, C Simmonds, M Akimana (N Maisey 86), N Gaze, M Kolston (M Young 46), T Nkoy, S Wilson (GF Essome Penda 46), J Caunter, B Jones
Goals: Tauranga FC: C Brennan 9, N Rostron 67
Goals: East Coast Bays: M Young 63, G Essome Penda 93