Match Report: Round 11 vs Melville United
Northern League Round 11 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Melville Utd FC, Bay City Park, Saturday 25th May 2024.
Tight game in must win match settled by two clinical strikes by Bays for 1st win of the season
After back-to-back away games it was a return to home turf for yet another must win match against Melville Utd. With James injured Jack moved into the centre of defence to partner Billy and Nathan came in at left back. The rest of the side remained the same from last weeks entertaining 2-2 draw with West Coast Rangers which meant Malcolm played up front for what he said was the first time.
Bays had a slight fright early on when Lawrence turned & shot way over the goal. Down the other end Malcolm broke down the left and his cross into the middle led to a scuffed shot into the ground that was cleared away. Ryusei played a neat ball through to Hayat and his right foot shot was saved low down. That save saw the ball roll past the post for a corner. Bays were well & truly in control for the first 20 -25 minutes with constant attacks but unfortunately not many shots at the end of it. After 15 minutes Knox was injured and couldn’t continue. He was replaced by Ranui, for Melville. In another Bays attack Callum played Malcolm through but his right foot shot sailed way over. Jack put in a long throw from the left and even after a collision between two defenders the ball still ended up safely in the keepers’ arms. That’s the way things were going.
Another throw in saw Ryusei away. He sent Guy through, but the keeper was swiftly out to collect the through ball. Bays then had a free kick on the right that Malcolm sent to the near post that was cleared away. Jack crossed in from the left for a corner. The corner reached the back post and Nathan’s shot was blocked for another corner. Bays deservedly took the lead in the 32nd minute from this next corner as Jack’s corner to the back post found Nathan free to head home back across goal into the bottom corner. And would you believe it, but Nathan was the ninth different scorer for the Bays First team this season. Score now read EC Bays 1 Melville Utd 0. In a rare attack Lim had a right foot shot from long range go all the way along the ground but wide of Louie’s goal. Just before half time Malcom was free at the top of the box but his left foot shot went straight at the keeper.
The half time whistle went and the score was EC Bays 1 Melville Utd 0. A thoroughly deserved half time lead for the number of chances created but only the one goal to show for all the possession. This might have been the first time Bays had led at half time for all of this season so far. Melville made another change at half time with D Williams coming on for Cave. The second half carried on pretty much how the first half had gone. Nick was fouled and the free kick was sent into the box before being cleared. Then from a corner from the right Nick tried an audacious bicycle kick. Malcolm then sent Thomson through and his cross was blocked for a corner. Jack swung the corner to the back post again and Nathan’s header clipped a defender for another corner. In a rare Melville break Brown was fouled by Billy but Melville’s free kick was cleared away by Jack.
Rather than keep the pressure on Bays let the pressure off and the Bays forwards didn’t help by trying some fancy flicks and losing possession of the ball far too much. A simple throw in routine saw Lawrence skip away from Jack and his right foot shot from long range was deflected away for a corner. Melville made a third change in the 64th minute with England coming on for Mitchell. A long ball forward saw Williams left foot shot go just wide. On 69 minutes Bays made their first change with Orlando coming on for Hayat. Melville were now on the ascendency as Lawrence played Williams through. His right foot shot was well saved by Louie as he parried the ball away before it was cleared from danger. A cross in from the left by Brown was cleared behind by Billy and the corner was then cleared away.
In the 75th minute Bays doubled their lead a bit against the run of play. A long ball forward saw one header back across goal by Orlando and a second header by Nick. The ball broke outside the box on the right and was met by a powerful half volley that Guy smashed past the keeper. Up to that point Guy had had a fairly quiet game but it was a very smart finish to make the score EC Bays 2 Melville Utd 0. And with that goal Guy was the first Bays player to score more than one goal this season. Almost straight after the Bays second goal Melville nearly had one of their own as a cross in from the right to the back post saw England outjump Thomson and send a powerful header goal ward. Louie was in the right place again to claw the header away with a brilliant save.
Bays made their second change in the 77th minute with Moses coming on for Nathan. Melville continued to attack to get back in the game. England played a ball over from the left to Lim who was free on the right flank. His shot was blocked and cleared away. Bays made two more changes in the 84th minute with Mikey K & YS Chang replacing the flagging Malcom & Guy. Mikey had an instant impact by heading down the right wing before playing the ball to Orlando. We played the ball off Panzer for another corner. In the 90th minute Bays had a break away with a clearance finding Jun & Thomson in the clear. With a clear numbers advantage unfortunately the cross was deflected behind for a corner. While this was about to be taken Moses was shown a yellow card for time wasting and then Noon was shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Ryusei.
There was just enough time for Nick to turn & shoot over and to the relief of both the Bays players & supporters the final whistle went for Bays first win of this Northern League Premier Division. The final score read EC Bays 2 Melville 0. A crucial win and a crucial three points as Bays leapfrogged Melville in the table. Just a shame that West Coast Rangers beat Western Springs later that night. In a game of not that many clear-cut chances Bays converted a couple to take the win. Nathan was named Bays player of the day and congratulations Nathan on your first goal for the club. Next up we change from league action to the Chatham Cup with a home game against Eastern Suburbs at Bay City Park with a 2pm kick off. See you all there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 2 vs Melville United 0
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, N Maisey (M Akimana 77), R Ishibashi, C Simmonds, H Ali Tobita (O Thorpe 69), N Gaze, T Nkoy, M Young (M Kolston 84), J Caunter, B Jones, G Essome Penda (YS Chang 84)
Melville Utd: M Tommy, C Brown, R Noon, I Bates, R Lawrence, L Lim, T Cave (D Williams 46), E Panzer, J Oakman, M Mitchell (J England 64), R Knox (C Ranui 15)
Goals: East Coast Bays: N Maisey 32, GFE Penda 75
Unoffical attendance: 36,752