Match Report: Round 08 vs Auckland City
Northern League Round 08 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Auckland City, Bay City Park, Saturday 4th May 2024.
Two late goals sink very brave effort by Bays against quality Auckland City team
EC Bays were back at home after a couple of away games with a tough assignment against high flying & current champions Auckland City. Both the goal scorers from last week were in the starting line up in place of Sam & Mikey K. And it was welcome back to Hayat after being injured early in the season. This game also saw Nick Gaze bring up the milestone of 50 games played for the Bays first team.
City started brightly with lots of attacks down the left flank. One of the balls over the defence was headed back by Moses and Ukich crossed into the middle before the ball was cleared. Moses put in a cross down the other end that Guy tried to back heel towards goal before the danger was cleared away. Howieson chipped a ball into the middle, but Louie was out smartly to collect. City had a free kick on the left that Zhou sent to the back post. Mitchell headed down but wide of the goal. Another run by Ukich down the right saw a cross that Zhou shot straight into a defender. Ukich was adept at falling over from even the slightest of touches and after a foul by Moses a cross in from Howieson was punched away by Louie.
Bays had done well to keep City out for the first twenty minutes, but the pressure told in the 22nd minute when yet another cross in from the right by Garriga was met by the studs of De Vries boot to direct the ball past Louie for the opening goal of the match. This turned out to be De Vries 100th goal for Auckland City so congrats to him on that milestone. Bays 0 Auckland City 1. Nick played a ball straight to Ukich who set up Gillion for a left foot shot curling over the goal. Zhou then set up wing back Garriga whose cross was just over De Vries at the far post. Zhou whipped in a free kick that Billy headed away. Bays were lucky not to go two down when a corner from the right was played forward off an attacker’s stomach and a close-range header clipped the bar as it went over.
Ukich was giving Moses a bit of a torrid time down the right and after beating his man the crossover was blocked by Billy. The follow up corner was then headed away by Nick. A rare break by Bays saw Moses send the ball to Thomson and he in turn played the ball into Guy. He looked for a run by Malcolm that didn’t happen, and the move shut down quickly. This was the closest to a chance that Bays had in the first half. An Auckland City cross was headed across goal and headed behind by Moses. The next corner was headed behind by Ilich. Bays were a bit under the cosh and just before half time another City cross was headed over by Mitchell. Half time arrived and the score read EC Bays 0 Auckland City 1.
The second half started off pretty much as the first half ended with City on the constant attack. Lobo played the ball down the left wing and Gillion played it back to him to shoot. Luckily James was in the way to block the shot and the resulting corner was punched away by Louie. City then had a quick break and a shot by Gillion smashed into James’s face. After a short injury break the big man was back at it. Another fast break by Ukich saw the ball move from the right side to left but a great sliding tackle by Thomson stopped the danger. A Bays corner taken by Jack was cleared away by the City defence. Bays did have one quick break down the left that led to a close range shot by Guy saved at point blank range by City keeper Tracey.
Bays made their first change in the 63rd minute with Hayat coming on for Malcolm. Two minutes later City responded with Manickum coming on for Ukich. City was making great strides down the left-hand side of the Bays defence. De Vries broke and passed to Lobo. His first time shot hit the Bays crossbar and went over for goal kick. Gillion then broke away and had his shot blocked. City made another change in the 74th minute with J Lee replacing City skipper Howieson. A minute later Bays made two changes with Orlando & Hwi Chang coming on for Ryusei and Thomson.
It was hard enough holding on to the ball but at times Bays were their own worst enemies with giving the ball away cheaply. Jack lost possession and Lee broke through to the right-hand side of the penalty box. He set up Gillion who blazed over the goal. Bays were bravely holding the City attack out, but this broke down in the 83rd minute when Manickum broke through on the right. Unfortunately, Louie’s attempted clearance cannoned straight into one of his own defenders and the ball fell right into the path of De Vries who passed the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the match. EC Bays 0 Auckland City 2.
Down the other end a Bays corner by Callum to the back post found James but his header went wide. In the 86th minute there were multiple substitutions with Nathan & Mikey K coming on for Jack & James. Auckland City also made two changes with Murati & Rogers coming on for Lobo & Garriga. Just when it looked like the game was meandering towards an end City scored a third in injury time when Gillion shot home after a goalmouth scramble. EC Bays 0 Auckland City 3. There was still time for Hayat to go on a run before shooting straight at the keeper and then from a knock down Moses had a shot blocked.
The referee blew for full time and after a gallant effort unfortunately the score read EC Bays 0 Auckland City 3. Bays had played very well in patches and especially in the first 15-20 minutes of the match. City were very slick and they certainly made Bays pay for a couple of defensive mistakes. Jack was named Bays player of the day and De Vries was City’s player of the day for his two goals. Next Saturday Bays are away against Auckland Utd at Keith Hay Park with a 3pm kick off. If he plays, James Edgeler will bring up his milestone of 50 games for the Bays First team. See you over there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 0 vs Auckland City 3
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler (M Kolston 86), R Ishibashi (O Thorpe 75), C Simmonds, M Akimana, N Gaze, T Nkoy (HS Chang 75), M Young (H Tobita 63), J Caunter (N Maisey 86), B Jones, G Essome Penda
Auckland City: C Tracey, M Ilich, A Mitchell, C Howieson, G Garriga, R De Vries, N Lobo, L Gillion, T Zhou, M Den Heijer, S Ukich
Subs: D Manickum 65, J Lee 74, R Murati 86, A Rogers 86
Goals: Auckland City: R De Vries 22 & 83, L Gillion 90
Unofficial attendance: 94,562
