MATCH REPORT: Round 11 vs Hibiscus Coast AFC
NRFL Men's First Team Round 11 Match Report: Hibiscus Coast FC v East Coast Bays, Stanmore Bay Reserve, Saturday 10th June 2023.
Crucial win for Bays extends lead at the Top of the League
It was a quick return to league action for Bays after the exit from the Chatham Cup last Monday with a trip up to Whangaparoa to take on Hibiscus Coast at Stanmore Bay Reserve. First vs third in the table, so a lot was riding on this game. On a rare dry and sunny day, Bays made changes to the starting line up with Nick Gaze in midfield & Mikey K starting in defence with the news that Jack is out for the rest of the season. It was also a big hello to former Bays players Nate Canton, Emmanuel Darkwa and Ethan Usher.
Hibiscus started quickly and after only a couple of minutes Dickinson was through on the left but his attempted cross was sliced wide for a goal kick. Browne then had a long range shot go well over. It took Bays a little while to get into the game and the first chance came when Nicolai played in Nick only for Nick to tread on the ball, before it was cleared. Sam made a break down the left and his cross into the middle was touched on by Nick but straight at the keeper. Usher was booked in only the tenth minute for a late lunge on Nicolai. Shortly after a Hibiscus free kick went straight down the middle and has headed behind by James. The resulting corner to the back post found E Man who headed against the post with quite a bit of force meaning the goal had to be moved back into place.
Bays took the lead in the 16th minute when Thomson sent Nicolai down the right wing. His cross right across the goal face found Sam at the back post to tap home. Hibiscus Coast 0 East Coast Bays 1. Another ball from the right flank to the left side Sam free again and after breaking into the box Sam’s shot was saved by a combination of the goalkeeper and a Hibiscus defender. Down the other end, Hibiscus resorted to hoofing long balls out of defence. Nicolai’s corner was glanced just wide by Moses in the middle. Bays almost doubled their lead when Nick played in Dylan who turned & shot. His shot hit the base of the post and Nicolai smashed the rebound well over the goal. Hibiscus best chance in the first half came when a great piece of individual skill by Usher saw him beat a couple of defenders before setting up Stevenson. Louie anticipated really well to come out of goal and block the snap shot with his chest. A Hibiscus long ball was called for by Louie, who dropped the ball, but luckily it was behind Stevenson & cleared.
A foul on Nick led to a free kick from Dylan that went just wide of goal. Nicolai then had two corners headed behind and the third one was blown up for a foul by James. A defensive blunder by a Hibiscus defender led to him being robbed of the ball by David. Nicolai turned and hit a left foot curler into the top corner in the thirty sixth minute. Hibiscus Coast 0 East Coast Bays 2. Agiovlassitis was booked for a bad lunging tackle from behind on Callum and Canton joined him in the book for a trip on Nicolai. Dylan’s free kick beat the wall but not the keeper. Nicolai then headed a long ball on to Dylan but his right foot shot went well wide. Russell was then booked for a very crude blocking foul on Nicolai, who kept the Hibiscus defence very busy in the first half. Bays almost made it three when a break down the right by Dylan saw his cross into the middle find Sam. He played the ball back to Callum and his cross back into the middle was just too far in front of Nicolai.
The half time whistle went and the score read Hibiscus Coast 0 East Coast Bays 2. A well-deserved two-goal lead that probably should have been a couple more with the many chances created. Tribe had the half time score as Hibiscus 1 EC Bays 54 !!!!, Nobody saw Bays Super Sub Gordy put his pint down for a minute and pop in 52 goals at the break !!!!! Bays went further ahead in the 47th minute when a ball in from the right found Sam on the left. He played the ball back across and after it was missed by Nicolai, Dylan shot home from close range. Hibiscus Coast 0 EC Bays 3. Only a minute later, a defensive mistake down at Bays goal saw Dickinson left free and he hit his shot low under Louie to give the home side a little bit of hope. Hibiscus Coast 1 EC Bays 3. Nicolai made another break down the right and his cross across the face of goal was just out of reach of Sam.
Bays then had a corner on the right. Nicolai played the ball into Dylan at the front post but the ball ended up being cleared to safety. The most controversial moment in the match came when one of the Hibiscus forwards broke into the box on the right hand side. Sam seemed to shoulder charge the striker off the ball, which sent the local crowd into an uproar. But, no penalty and just a corner given. Another Bays corner by Nicolai to the near post was caught by the keeper but carried out. The next corner to the middle was cleared away. Nicolai then played in Thomson and his cross to the back post found Nick who shot just wide. Hibiscus then made two changes with Russell & Browne replaced by C Martin & Newman. The Hibiscus keeper then dropped Callum’s corner but he recovered quickly to reclaim the ball. Bays made two changes in the 69th minute with Oscar & Liam replacing Dylan & Thomson. Moses was treading a thin line when a silly push led to an Agiovlassitis free kick going just wide.
Nicolai then made another break down the right and just as he was about to pull the trigger he was dispossessed of the ball. Bays made two more changes with Logan & Orlando replacing Moses and David. This was Orlando’s first league start for the Bays first team and he had a lively last twelve minutes on the park with a number of great touches. Liam took over the right flank from Nicolai and on one of those mazy Junior runs, he played Oscar in. Unfortunately for Oscar there was a little bit of a heavy touch and the ball was shepherded out for a goal kick. The game went off the boil a bit in the last ten minutes as the sun went down as well as the temperature. One last chance for Bays came when Sam played a ball in from the left but the bounce wasn’t very kind to Oscar and the keeper eventually collected the ball. The final whistle went and EC Bays had deservedly won 3-1 against a good, battling Hibiscus side. Congrats to Orlando on his league debut and to Sam as player of the day before he heads off to Spain for his sabbatical. With no involvement in the Chatham Cup next weekend, Bays do not have a game for a fortnight with the next match away to high flying, Ngaruawhaia. See you all there.
Final Score: Hibiscus Coast 1 vs East Coast Bays 3
Hibiscus Coast: J Precious, T Bracken, N Canton, E Usher, A Dickinson, D Cyra, M Russell (C Martin 62), T Agiovlassitis, M Browne (Z Newman 62), E Darkwa, J Stevenson (J Brown 78)
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler, S Wilson, C Simmonds, M Akimana (L Archer 78), N Berry, N Gaze, M Kolston, T Nkoy (L Andersen 69), D Brown (O Thorpe 78), D Stansfield (O Garcia 69)
Goals: Hibiscus Coast: A Dickinson 48
EC Bays: S Wilson 16, N Berry 36, D Stansfield 47
Official Attendance: 76 plus Gordy Ross doing the MC role without a microphone