Match Report: Round 08 vs Tauranga City AFC
Dettol Northern League Round 08 Match Report: Tauranga City AFC vs East Coast Bays, Links Avenue, Saturday 3rd May 2025.
Much Improved Second Half sees Bays take all 3 points with great away day display
After a mixed bag of results over the congested Easter / Anzac period Bays we are on the road with a trip down to the Bay of Plenty to take on table toppers Tauranga City. Changes to the side after Cam Brown’s injury last week saw Liam and Guy as attacking wing backs.
On a nice sunny afternoon Bays were the first on attack when Billy played in Liam down the left wing and his cross was put behind for a corner. Orlando’s corner was sailing in under the crossbar until the keeper tipped the ball over the crossbar. The second corner was headed wide by Adam. Billy then headed the ball through to James Elder and his left foot shot was along the ground straight to the keeper. Tauranga’s 1st attack saw a ball played through to Brennan, but Louie was out quickly to intercept. Liam then tried to play through Damion, but the ball was just a bit overhit for Damion to get to. Tauranga resorted to long balls forward to Brennan, but Liam & Jack were alert to this and cleared comfortably.
Guy then played a square ball across to Billy who strode forward and let fly only for the shot to be deflected behind for a corner. Orlando’s corner had too much curl this time and ended up on the top of the goal netting. At the other end Wellsbury played in Fisher but Louie intercepted at the second attempt after initially dropping the pass. Orlando combined with James Elder and his shot was saved by the keeper. Orlando had a cross blocked for a corner and from that James Edgeler headed wide. Acebo then played a long ball down the right wing and Liam gave away a free kick as he pushed Brennan off the ball. Fitzharris played in the free kick that was initially cleared before a long range shot over the bar by Fisher. Fitzharris then beat Guy down the right before putting his shot into the side netting.
Bays were guilty of giving away some silly fouls. Billy was guilty of this, and Fitzharris’s free kick was headed wide by Wellsbury. Adam was shown a yellow card in the 31st minute for a tackle from behind on Wellsbury. Molloy hit the free kick into the wall before it was cleared away. Good link up play saw Billy link up with Liam who tried to play in James Elder, but the last pass was just too far ahead, and the keeper collected it. Orlando then played in Guy down the right wing but his cross in was cleared just before it could get to Ryusei and Damion at the near post.
Not long before half time we saw the interesting sight of a pass down the left wing that was way too high for Liam. But he made a valiant attempt to reach it by flying through the air like Hong Kong Phoey. A cross in from the left by Jack was cleared in the middle and then Liam had a left foot shot flash just wide (Gordy could be heard shouting shoot to Liam). Another cross in from the left wing by Jack saw a James Elder snapshot go straight to the keeper. Billy then played in Guy down the left wing but his cross in was cleared away.
The half time whistle went and the score line read Tauranga City 0 East Coast Bays 0. Bays had more of the play and created a number of half chances. Tauranga were very quiet in the first half which was a surprise considering they were top of the table. Bays were a little bit guilty of giving the ball away cheaply too many times in that promising first half.
Only a few minutes into the second half and Liam was shown a yellow card for a shirt pull on his opponent. Wellsbury then turned & shot into the side netting. Wellsbury then went on a long run and was just about to pull the trigger when James Edgeler put in a great block tackle that resulted in him getting injured. The corner into the box was eventually cleared after a goalmouth melee where Tauranga were appealing for a hand ball infringement. The next corner was punched away by Louie into a Tauranga player and behind for a goal kick. Wellsbury then broke down the left wing and crossed for Brennan to shoot low & wide.
Good team play saw Guy down the right wing. His cross in was picked up by Ryusei who played the ball back for Orlando to strike on goal. But his shot was blocked for a corner. The breakthrough came in the 60th minute when a one two saw Liam break into the box on the left side and he was brought down for a penalty. Jack stepped up and comfortably put the ball into the bottom right corner to make the score Tauranga City 0 East Coast Bays 1. Tauranga reacted with a quick break by Fisher but his cross in sailed over all his players in the middle. Tauranga made a change in the 61st minute with Hawkes coming on and Bays made two changes in the 63rd minute with Jack Young coming on for an injured James Edgeler and Matt coming on for Ryusei.
Tauranga were getting closer to getting back into the contest. First up a knock down by Brennan saw a volley go over from Molloy. Damion was then shown a yellow card for pulling back a Tauranga player. In the 72nd minute Tauranga equalised from a corner with Wellsbury heading home from a Fitzharris cross. The score was now Tauranga 1 East Coast Bays 1. Tauranga were only level for less than 90 seconds. James Elder saw his cross into the middle put behind for a corner. Orlando’s corner to the back post was cleared to outside of the box on the left side. Billy couldn’t have hit his shot any better when he hit a sumptuous volley into the far corner to give Bays their lead back very quickly to make the score Tauranga 1 East Coast Bays 2. I think Billy surprised himself with that strike.
Orlando then gave a free kick away for a trip on Molloy and Bays were lucky to get away with no goal conceded when Fitzharris’s free kick curled over the wall and crashed into the right had post before being cleared away by Jack. A long throw in by Fisher was headed out of the box and volleyed over the top by Acebo. In the 80th minute Bays made a third change with Peter coming on for Damion. Matt then went on a great run down the left wing and his cross was blocked before being cleared. Bays increased their lead in the 86th minute when a miskick by the Tauranga keeper saw the ball miscued to between halfway & the Tauranga goal. Guy latched onto this, played the ball forward to Orlando, and he found James Elder free on the left wing unmarked. James steadied himself and placed a great shot across the keeper into the far corner to make the score Tauranga 1 East Coast Bays 3.
Tauranga responded to going further behind by making a triple change in the 86th minute with O’Donohughe, Hyland and Rayner all coming on. The game was opening up now and Bays were hungry for more goals. Matt made another great break down the right wing and his cross in saw Orlando stab a shot wide of goal. Liam then played in James Elder who set up Orlando for a left foot shot that went wide. Down the other end Hyland beat Jack Young down the right before a great block tackle by Adam saw the ball out for a corner. The corner was confidently punched away by Louie. Another free kick by Fitzharris saw Guy head the ball away and shortly after the final whistle went.
The final score read Tauranga City 1 East Coast Bays 3. An excellent second half by Bays saw an excellent team display & result and three points in the bag against the league leaders. You could see how much it meant to the team as they acknowledged the Bays supporters in attendance at the end of the game. Now, if we can finally get off the mark at home this coming weekend that would be awesome, as all our points this season have come in away games. Fingers crossed for that as we take on Manurewa at Bay City Park on Saturday with a 3pm kick off. See you all there.
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Final Score: Tauranga City 1 vs East Coast Bays 3
Tauranga City: R Foord, H Kemp, L Chadwick, A Acebo, M Wellsbury, L Molloy, B Fisher, C Brennan, J Daly, V Fitzharris, A Davidson
Subs: C Hawkes 61, E O’Donohughe 86, J Hyland 86, C Rayner 86
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler (J Young 63), R Ishibashi (M Matanyayire 63), A Huskic, J Elder, O Thorpe, D Kim (P Harrison 80), GFE Penda, B Jones, L Andersen, J Caunter
Goals: Tauranga City: M Wellsbury 72
East Coast Bays: J Caunter 60penalty, B Jones 73, J Elder 86