Match Report: Round 10 vs West Coast Rangers
Northern League Round 10 Match Report: West Coast Rangers vs East Coast Bays, Fred Taylor Park, Saturday 18th May 2024.
Controversial penalty decision in last minute robs Bays of first win of the season
After a disappointing end result in the previous weeks game against Auckland Utd, Bays travelled to West Auckland to take on West Coast Rangers at Fred Taylor Park in what was dubbed as a must win six pointer game between two struggling sides at the wrong end of the table. Bays made a change to their formation playing a back four with Thomson playing right back and Hayat replacing Moses in the starting line-up. In the Rangers line up were ex Bays players Josh Jones and Chase Taylor.
Rangers were first to attack with Armitt breaking down the right, but his cross was cut out by Louie. Almost the same move down the other end saw Guy’s cross go straight to the opposition keeper. After 10 minutes a pass down the right wing by Thomson found Malcolm. His cross into the centre was bundled home by Billy but in the process he had used his arm and was shown a yellow card for hand ball. Rangers played a long ball just over Billy’s shoulder and Burfoot volleyed well over. A cross in from the left was missed in the centre but was shot way over by Armitt. Down the other end a throw in was knocked on by Ryusei to Malcolm but his left foot shot went just wide.
Completely against the run of play Rangers took the lead in the 18th minute when Louie misjudged his clearance which went to Burfoot. He gleefully accepted the gift pass by clipping the ball back over Louie into an empty net to give Rangers the lead. West Coast Rangers 1 East Coast Bays 0. A fast break down the Bays left saw Straffon cut inside and shoot straight at Louie. Malcolm crossed to Hayat at the back post, but his shot was charged down for a corner. Jack took this and from the clearance Callum’s ball back in was collected easily by the keeper. Another break down the right by Gaughan saw another shot by Straffon go straight to Louie. Another long ball down the right-hand side of the Rangers defence saw Malcolm turn and his left foot shot was well saved by the keeper.
A long throw in from the left-hand side by Jack saw the ball cleared just before Billy could get his head to it. Thomson played an excellent ball down the right to Guy. He turned and his right foot shot went straight to the keeper. Rangers skipper Jones was injured in this play and couldn’t continue. He was replaced by Kay in the 40th minute. Nick then had a left foot shot deflected into the path of the keeper and then a ball from Guy to Hayat just ran out of play before he could get the cross in. From Jack’s corner Guy tried a partial bicycle kick that just went wide. Bays should have equalised just before half time when a long ball down the left saw the keeper come right to the edge of his box. Malcolm got to the ball first and probably should have shot first time or lobbed the keeper. Instead, he cut into the box where the ball and the chance was lost.
The half time whistle went and the score read West Coast Rangers 1 East Coast Bays 0. A half of very open football with both sides creating a number of chances. The second half started with Bays hot on attack. Nick was fouled and Jack sent the free kick in that was easily caught by the keeper. At the other end a long throw by Kay saw a volley by Armitt deflected behind for a corner. Bays equalised in the 52nd minute when a long ball down the right was picked up by Guy. He took the ball to the by-line and crossed to the back post for Ryusei to tap home for his first Bays goal. The score now read West Coast Rangers 1 East Coast Bays 1.
Bays should have taken the lead shortly after when Jack sent in a cross from the left that was met by a Guy header. With the keeper rooted to the spot & well beaten the ball came back off the far post to safety. The next cross in from the right was deflected into the path of Hayat but he sent his shot well over the goal. Guy set up Hayat again who cut across goal before shooting far & wide. In the 56th minute with their side under the cosh Rangers made three changes with Dwamena, Pahl & Stewart coming on for Burfoot, Taylor & Straffon. McDowall then set up Armitt who shot wide. Guy crossed in from the left to right and Thomson hit a volley way over the crossbar. Hayat was then booked for pulling back one of the Rangers players. McDowall was then shown a yellow card for dissent. As the game went back & forth it opened up even further. Jack then had a long-range shot go wide. Rangers almost took the lead when a turn & shot by Armitt was saved brilliantly by Louie low down. In the 73rd minute Bays made their first changes with Mikey K & Orlando replacing Thomson & Hayat.
Guy did really well to chase down a long ball and earn a corner. Jack’s corner to the back post clipped the post and went out for a goal kick. Bays then replaced Ryusei with Moses in the 81st minute. Rangers brought on Foulds for McDowall a minute later. Then a great through ball found Nick free but before he pulled the trigger the ball was put out for a corner. The corner went to the back post. Firstly, James headed the ball back across goal. Billy then headed into the area. The ball was cleared to the edge of the box where Jack was waiting to smash a shot past the keeper & defence into the back of the net in the 84th minute. The score now was West Coast Rangers 1 East Coast Bays 2.
Rangers then upped the ante as they chased the equaliser. Kay put in another long throw and Stewart volleyed just wide. Guy was then booked for supposedly delaying the game at a throw in. Just as it looked like Bays were heading for a very crucial win a very long ball down the left wing was chased down by Dwamena. He cut into the box and as James was tracking him they were side by side. From where we were it looked like Dwamena clipped James first and then he tripped & fell. Referee Nick Waldron gave Rangers a penalty and booked James when the foul should have gone the other way. Pearce stepped up to take the penalty and blasted the ball high to Louie’s right. Louie got a hand to it, but the power of the penalty took it into the net. The score was West Coast Rangers 2 East Coast Bays 2.
There was still enough time for a horrendous tackle from behind by Stewart on James that saw a straight red card for the Rangers player and James had to go off injured to be replaced by Logan. Pahl was then yellow carded for a foul. A ball to the back post saw a left foot volley go wide. Logan made a run down the right-hand side that led to a corner. The corner was cleared and the final whistle went. A very end to end game finished with the final score West Coast Rangers 2 East Coast Bays 2. Both sides would probably be disappointed with only a draw with where they are in the league. Next week Bays return to Bay City Park for yet another must win game against Melville Utd with a 3pm kick off. See you there.
Final Score: West Coast Rangers 2 vs East Coast Bays 2
West Coast Rangers: M Nevin, J Jones (J Kay 40), M Wood, S Burfoot (A Stewart 56), J Armitt, D McDowall (C Foulds 82), D Straffon (K Dwamena 56), C Taylor (E Pahl 56), A Pearce, B Gaughan, D Buckingham
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler (L Archer 90), R Ishibashi (M Akimana 81), C Simmonds, H Ali Tobita (O Thorpe 73), N Gaze, T Nkoy (M Kolston 73), M Young, J Caunter, B Jones, G Essome Penda
Goals: West Coast Rangers: S Burfoot 19, A Pearce 90 penalty
East Coast Bays: R Ishibashi 52, J Caunter 84
Red Card: A Stewart 90 (West Coast Rangers)
Photo credit: Ian Overton and West Coast Rangers AFC
