MATCH REPORT: Round 10 vs Ellerslie FC
NRFL Men's First Team Round 10 Match Report – East Coast Bays vs Ellerslie FC, Bay City Park, Saturday 21st May 2022
Fine Display by Bays in Much needed win
League action returned to Bay City Park with second to bottom Bays taking on high flying 4th placed Ellerslie. One change to the side saw Oscar return to the starting line up in place of Codey Phoenix.
Bays started off with a hiss & a roar. After four minutes a ball down the left found Liam and his cross into the centre found Judd whose shot was cleared for a corner. Two minutes later a through ball to Twigg almost caught the Bays defence out but Louie the sweeper keeper was out smartly to intercept & clear. Two minutes later a through ball by Keegan found Judd and his shot was saved by the keeper before being cleared to safety. Some brilliant link up play between Callum & Judd led to the ball being played to Declan and he swept home a fine right foot shot past the keeper for 1-0 to Bays.
Three minutes later some fine link up play from Liam & Judd found the former in space and Liam’s shot was blocked by a desperate lunge. A great flick on by Declan to Oscar down the right saw Oscar’s cross blocked. Oscar then had a shot over after being teed up by Callum. Ellerslie then had a free kick cleared by Oscar at the back post and then Morrow had a shot that skimmed the top of the crossbar. After twenty minutes Callum played a ball into the box and as he was about to shoot Judd was tackled from behind and a penalty was awarded. Unfortunately, Juddy landed very awkwardly and was down for a full 5 minutes before leaving the field unable to continue.
A full five minutes after the penalty was awarded Keegan stepped up and planted the spot kick in the bottom right-hand corner for 2-0 to Bays. From the kickoff Codey came on to replace Judd. Some great link up play down the right lead to Oscar’s cross to the back post being shot over by Codey. Rezaie then took on Codey down the left. His cross was blocked for a corner and the resulting corner almost sneaked in at the near post. Liam then went on one of his trademark runs down the right, beat a defender and his cross was blocked for a corner. Ellerslie mainly resorted to route 1 football and another ball right down the middle almost found Twigg. Louie was alert again to quickly clear the danger. Poleman then had a long-range shot go well over & a shot by Twigg was saved comfortably by Louie.
The half time whistle went, and Bays were well deserved of their two goal lead after a frenetic but fantastic opening twenty minutes. Just after half time the Bays defence hadn’t really switched on from the half time break. One ball was lost in midfield and Twigg had a shot saved by Louie. Another ball was misplaced, and Morrow had a shot wide. Callum then played in Liam, but his shot was straight at the keeper. Five minutes later a long ball found Liam who turned & volleyed wide with his left foot. A minute later a break down the left saw a cross by Liam blocked for a corner. The corner reached Liam at the back post who miss hit his shot and the follow up shot from Declan went over.
Five minutes later more good link up play between Declan & Liam lead to another Liam shot straight to the keeper. A minute later a clearance from a corner by Callum to the wide left found Keegan but with the counterattack on the ball was mis controlled and lost. Keegan almost redeemed himself when he collected a ball down the middle, but his right foot shot was just wide. A long ball was then played down the right, retrieved by Callum and his pass found Oscar jinking his way into the box before his shot was saved low down. The goal of the game came in the 71st minute when Callum played a ball inside to Keegan. Nothing looked on but Keegan took two steps to his right and let fly with a long-range missile that sailed into the top right-hand corner for 3-0 to Bays.
Matty Beaton then came on for Oscar and Ellerslie replaced Poleman with Ratnam. Matt was straight into the action a minute later when he cut in from the right and his left foot shot was blocked. Three minutes later Bays made two more changes with Nick Gaze replacing Daewook and Todd Gibbs replacing Mikey K. Nick almost made an immediate impact two minutes later when he turned inside a defender and his shot was saved. Ellerslie made their third substitution when Enoka came on for Fusha. Ellerslie broke down the right, but the resulting cross cleared all their players in the middle. Just before full time Alfayed had a right foot shot that whizzed past the right-hand post.
Final whistle then went, and Bays had comfortably won 3-0 in what was probably the most complete performance for some time. Just when a crucial result was needed to get away from the foot of the table a number of players stepped up to move Bays up to 7th in the table. The back three of James, Bayley, & Mikey K were all solid in defence and well marshalled by James. Keegan scored a brilliant solo goal and Declan was man of the match for a superb all-round performance. Thoughts are with Judd this week as he has shoulder reconstruction surgery that will mean he will probably miss the rest of the season. Now on to a midweek catch up game against Fencibles at NH Stadium on Wednesday evening where Bays could move up to 4th in the table with a solid win.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 3 vs Ellerslie FC 0
Line Ups: East Coast Bays: L Caunter, B Stevenson, J Edgeler, K Kelly, C Simmonds, O Garcia (M Beaton 73), D Sweeney, J Baker (C Phoenix 24), M Kolston (T Gibbs 80), DW Kim (N Gaze 80) , L Anderson
Ellerslie FC: K Hansen, J Bresler, A Clark, C Kessell, A Scott, E Fusha (A Enoka 84), R Morrow (A Ratnam 75), S Poleman, R Cobett, K Twigg, S Rezaie (H Alfayed 46)
Scorers: East Coast Bays: D Sweeney 7, K Kelly 25 pen, 71