Match Report: Round 13 vs Western Springs
Dettol Northern League Round 13 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Western Springs, Bay City Park, Saturday 7th June 2025.
Bays taught a lesson in clinical finishing by ruthless Springs
Bays were back at home after the disappointing exit from the Chatham Cup earlier in the week to the same opponents. Guy was injured in that game, so Bays started the game with no recognised striker on the field. James Edgeler and Ryusei were back in the starting line up and it was a welcome back to Cam Brown after being out injured for a month. He took his place on the substitutes bench.
For the first 5 – 10 minutes there weren’t too many highlights to write about as both sides tried passing around each other and working a way through the opponent’s defence. But it was quite disappointing seeing the Bays players not closing down the Springs defenders who just stood on the ball for long spells. A ball down the left wing saw McLeod beat Nathan before his cross saw a shot blocked & then cleared by Orlando. A Springs free kick on the left-hand side saw Drake play the ball to Makimoto who turned & crossed for an unmarked Thomas to head wide. Matt was played through but lost control of the ball before Ryusei had a shot blocked from the loose ball.
A Springs pass was intercepted by Jack who played the ball forward to Ryusei and his cross was cleared away. A Bays corner by Orlando was punched away by the Springs keeper and was picked up just outside the box by Matt. He returned the ball to Orlando, who crossed into the middle, and that saw Adam only get part of his head on it to send a soft header straight to the keeper. Damion & Orlando linked well to send Liam away down the wing. His cross was partially blocked and then cleared. Matt & Jack then combined before Jack’s cross in was too close to the keeper.
Down the other end a cross in from the left wing by Hackett saw a downward header by McLeod go straight to Louie. A Springs free kick by Drake saw Makimoto escape his marker before unleashing a left foot drive that went wide. A foul on Damion saw a free kick in from Orlando that was headed away. Bays were almost caught out on the counterattack when McGavin raced away, beat Damion, and squared the ball to Tayeb who shot wide of the goal. A foul on McLeod saw a free kick by Drake headed away & then cleared away by Damion.
Just when it was looking like it would be all square at half time Bays conceded a poor goal. Billy lost possession in midfield and Makimoto squared the ball to Drake to drive into the far corner past a stranded Louie. A very good first-time finish to make the score East Coast Bays 0 Western Springs 1 in the 43rd minute. There was still time for one more chance as McLeod broke down the right wing before playing the ball back to Tayeb. Instead of crossing Tayeb took aim with a right foot drive that cleared the crossbar. The halftime whistle went and just like Monday Bays had conceded a poor giveaway goal just before the break to be trailing at the break again.
Bays responded immediately by bringing on Moses & Chase for Damion & Ryusei at the start of the second half. Jack played a long diagonal ball from left to right that saw Liam away before losing control of the ball. Springs doubled their lead in the 52nd minute with a pretty simple finish. A ball over the top saw Hackett away down the left wing. He brought the ball a bit closer to goal before squaring the ball across to McGavin to slide home at the far post. The score now read East Coast Bays 0 Western Springs 2. Matt won the ball and after Orlando played the ball off a defender, he saw his shot saved by the goalkeeper’s legs. Liam then had a shot saved low down by the keeper.
Two more Bays changes in the 62nd minute saw Cam & Jack Young replacing Nathan & James Edgeler. This meant Liam changed to the left-hand side. Adam was then shown a yellow card for a high boot on Makimoto. McLeod’s free kick went straight into the wall and was cleared away. A ball down the wing saw Cam drive forward. He found Matt and his cross/shot ricocheted over to the left side of the box. Orlando dummied to shoot and then his left foot shot was blocked for a corner. Hackett then had a shot that was blocked by Adam. Liam took a blow to his head and after a short break he couldn’t continue and was replaced by Yun in the 76th minute.
Bays were punished again for being sloppy on the ball and giving away possession. Jack’s loose pass to Cam was picked off by Hackett and in an action replay of the second goal Hackett squared the ball to Tayeb to send an excellent left foot drive into the top corner. After 79 minutes the score was now East Coast Bays 0 Western Springs 3. With a healthy lead Springs made their first change in the 80th minute with Knox coming on for Normann. Down the Springs end Yun played Matt in down the right wing but his cross was too high for Moses at the back post. A foul on Chase saw a free kick just outside the Springs box but Orlando’s free kick sailed high & wide over the top. Yun sent Cam away down the right wing. His first cross was blocked, and his second cross was cleared away.
With time ticking down Jack Young was shown a yellow card for a shoulder charge on Makimoto. Springs made a second change in the 86th minute with Simons replacing Hackett and three minutes later they made a third change with Davies coming on for Browne. Bays were lucky not to be four goals down when the ball was given away again in midfield. Tayeb played in Makimoto, and he played the ball back to Knox. Instead of placing his shot he went for power and sent his shot way over the crossbar.
Cam got a cross into the middle and Chase saw his header go down into the ground and straight to the Springs keeper. Billy was clearly frustrated with how the afternoon was going and was shown a yellow card for taking a wild swing at McLeod. A shot by Drake was saved low down by Louie. Yun was then clean through but after bearing down on the Springs keeper he dragged his right foot shot wide of the goal. Shortly after, the final whistle went, and the final score read East Coast Bays 0 Western Springs 3.
After a recent run of good form in the league this result was very disappointing in a number of ways. Bays were off the pace in this game and each time there was a mistake they were punished severely by a very clinical Springs attack. With no game this coming weekend due to no further involvement in the Chatham Cup, Bays have next weekend off and hopefully we can get all the players back from injury in time for the next match against Fencibles, on the 21st of June, at Riverhills Park, with a 7pm kick off. See you all there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 0 vs Western Springs 3
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, N Maisey (C Brown 62), J Edgeler (J Young 62), R Ishibashi (M Akimana 46), A Huskic, O Thorpe, D Kim (C Taylor 46), B Jones, L Andersen (YS Chang 76), M Matanyayire, J Caunter
Western Springs: O Mason, J Hackett (D Simons 86), T Makimoto, M Thomas, R McLeod, O Browne (R Davies 89), N Steinmetz, R Drake, C McGavin, D Normann (A Knox 80), R Tayeb
Goals: Western Springs: R Drake 43, C McGavin 52, R Tayeb 79