Match Report: Round 14 vs Fencibles Utd
Dettol Northern League Round 14 Match Report: Fencibles vs East Coast Bays, Riverhills Park, Saturday 21st June 2025.
Late, late goals rescue 3 crucial points for Bays
Bays returned to league action after the weekend off last weekend. An away trip over to Pakuranga for a game against Fencibles on the Astroturf at Riverhills Park. Billy moved into central defence and James Elder returned from injury. It was welcome to new signing Adam Paulsen who was playing against his former club and young Ben Hooper was on the bench ready to make his first team debut.
With a 7.00pm kick off it was a cold chilly night to watch footie under the lights. Damion broke forward early on into the box and after a smart turn he looked like he was brought down. No penalty given. Down the other end a ball down the left wing saw a cross in and a snapshot saved smartly low down by Louie. A Fencibles corner was cleared, and the second corner came back off the crossbar before being cleared by James Elder. A Bays counterattack saw Orlando play the ball forward to Matt. He played the ball back to Jack who returned it to Matt who had a long-range shot go over.
Billy played a long ball down the right wing to Liam. His cross was blocked for a corner. Jack’s corner was curling in but was headed away just before it reached Matt. At the Bays end Burns did a smart turn and then shot well over the crossbar. Liam won a battle in midfield and played the ball inside to Adam Paulsen. His left foot shot went just past the far post. Bays had a lucky escape when a break down the right wing saw a cross into the middle that was missed by the Bays defence, & it hit Laing-McConnell rather than him shooting and the mishit went past the post.
Fencibles resorted to a number of holding fouls when Bays tried to break quickly. One of these on Adam saw James Elder away and he shot over the bar. The play was brought back to where the foul took place. Jack’s free kick in saw Liam head into the body of a defender before being cleared. Then a long range shot by Jack hit a defender and was cleared. Bays early escape unfortunately was not repeated in the 28th minute when a similar move saw the ball across from the right wing and Purkiss drilled a low shot home to make the score Fencibles 1 East Coast Bays 0.
Bays almost equalised straight away when a mistake by Rahming saw Adam Paulsen pick up the errant back pass. Then Adam P shot straight at the keeper who deflected the ball away. Damion then had a shot saved under the crossbar by the Fencibles keeper. Billy & Jack changed sides and one break by Billy down the left saw James chase a lost cause down and cross into the middle over the Bays attackers. Good link up play between Damion & Adam P saw James through and a Fencibles defender was forced to toe poke the ball past his own goalpost. Orlando’s corner was punched away. Matt played the ball forward to Adam P and his shot deflected off a defender before landing on the roof of the net.
The half time whistle went, and the score was Fencibles 1 East Coast Bays 0. Bays were guilty of not controlling possession better but there was also a lot of misjudging the bounce of the ball off the turf. Lots of giving the ball away cheaply and they were probably a bit lucky not to be two behind at the break. Bays started off brightly in trying to get back into the game. Orlando’s corner from the left saw a Bays player brought down in the box but no foul given yet again. Orlando then twisted & turned in the box to get a low right foot shot away that was saved low down. Fencibles were quick on the break with a ball down the right wing that saw Laing-McConnell square the ball to Stoychev to shoot at Louie who pulled off another smart save.
Bays made a change in the 60th minute with Moses coming on for Damion. Burns made a break down the right wing and his cross was headed behind by Jack for a Fencibles corner. Stoychev was then shown a yellow card for a late tackle on James Elder. Bays made two more changes in the 67th minute with Chase & Cameron coming on for Nathan & James E. Jack played a long switch ball from left to right that saw Adam P play Cameron through. His shot on the run was blocked. Jack then tried his luck from long range with a left footed drive that went wide. Down the other end a corner by Purkiss was punched away by Louie and after the ball was hooked back into the fray a snapshot was saved low down by Louie, before the offside flag was raised.
In the 77th minute Fencibles made a change with Rooney coming on for Stoychev. A quick break by Bays down the left wing saw Chase’s chip sail over the players in the middle. In the 84th minute Ben Hooper came on for his first team debut as he replaced a flagging, Adam Paulsen. Brocklebank was then shown a yellow card for a late tackle on Orlando. Just when things were looking dire for Bays a free kick to the back post saw Liam’s header cannon off a defender for a Bays corner. From Orlando’s corner Adam Huskic bundled the ball home for the equaliser and his first goal for Bays. At the 87th minute the score now read Fencibles 1 East Coast Bays 1.
There was still plenty of injury time and instead of protecting their point Fencibles resorted to some time-wasting tactics and some silly fouls. Liam had a long range shot that was deflected wide for a corner. Fencibles then made a very late change in the 90th minute with Holder coming on for Laing-McConnell. Bays kept going and the perseverance paid off when a long throw on the left side was played back to Jack by Billy. Jack took the ball forward and crossed into the box where Adam Huskic powered a downward header into the back of the net for a very late winner. Bays fans were both in shock as well as celebrating what looked like for a very long time what was going to be a poor loss on the road.
The winner came in the 93rd minute and there was still some more injury time for Matt to break down the right wing. He set up Ben to cross into the middle where a totally unmarked Orlando scuffed his shot into the ground. A couple of minutes later referee Ashley final blew the whistle for full time. Bays had done a Harry Houdini act and the final score read Fencibles 1 East Coast Bays 2. Some of the game was a hard watch at times (especially in the first half) but the finish was certainly full of unbelievable drama. Congrats to Adam Paulsen on a promising, lively debut game and to Ben on his 1st team debut. Congratulations also to Adam Huskic for not one but his first two goals for Bays.
Bays remain unbeaten on the road this season and next Saturday it’s back to Bay City Park for a night game against Auckland FC Reserves with a 5.30pm kick off. See you all there.
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Final Score: Fencibles 1 vs East Coast Bays 2
Fencibles: N Burke, J Grubjesic, K Nicol, J Brocklebank, A Burns, C Rahming, D Laing-McConnell (E Holder 90), J Moosbally, X Maddox, N Stoychev (N Rooney 77), A Purkiss
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, N Maisey (C Brown 67), A Huskic, J Elder (C Taylor 67), O Thorpe, D Kim (M Akimana 60), B Jones, A Paulsen (B Hooper 84), L Andersen, M Matanyayire, J Caunter
Goals: Fencibles: A Purkiss 28 East Coast Bays: A Huskic 87 & 93
