MATCH REPORT: Round 14 vs West Coast Rangers
NRFL Men's First Team Round 14 Match Report - East Coast Bays vs West Coast Rangers, Bay City Park, Saturday 25th June 2022.
Well Deserved win over High Flying Rangers propels Bays to Fourth in the table
Bays returned to league action taking on Top of the Table West Coast Rangers at Bay City Park. Plenty of changes to the starting line up with Louie returning in goal after his overseas trip and almost a new back line with Bailey & Julyan back in and Mikey Gaze starting a game for the first time this season.
Bays started off brightly with Oscar playing a fine ball down the left channel that was cleared just before Keegan could create any danger for the defence. At the other end Rangers tried a fast break but Mason was caught offside. After 7 minutes a great ball by Declan found Oscar and his right foot shot only just missed the right post + upright. Then a Callum free kick found Logan but his header was straight at the keeper. A cross from the left by Codey was cleared to just outside the box and Declan had his shot blocked. Nicolai then played a great ball into Keegan but just a fraction too far to get a clean shot away.
Bays early good work almost came undone when a poor back pass by Codey was intercepted by Kelly. He fed Pearce who had his shot blocked by Bailey out for a corner. From the corner the first shot was blocked and the follow up header went over the top. In the 19th minute Armitt was booked for two late tackles in the space of a couple of minutes. Five minutes later Nicolai broke free down the right but his cross was too high as it sailed over Codey at the back post. Oscar was then fouled. Nicolai’s free kick was cleared and Callum’s shot was blocked.
Five minutes later Mason was yellow carded for a pull back on Nicolai. The resulting free kick was played in from the right and headed wide by Logan. A long ball down the Bays left lead to Bailey stopping Mason from crossing. Another ball in from Codey from the left found Keegan who had a left footed shot blocked for yet another Bays corner. Rangers then had a shot wide by Pokhrel. In the 42nd minute a fantastic diagonal ball by Nicolai found Oscar. He cut inside the defence and his shot was too close to the keeper. In the 45th minute Drake was booked for shirt pulling on Oscar. Callum’s free kick found Logan at the back post and he planted a header across the keeper into the back of the net for 1-0 to Bays. Pretty much from the restart the referee blew for half time and Bays deservedly led 1-0 at the break. Lots of chances created and narrowly missed. As well as all the attacking flair lots of praise should go to Keegan & Oscar for shutting down the Rangers defence so they couldn’t play out from the back much in a very entertaining first half.
Rangers captain Pokhrel couldn’t continue and was replaced by Green. Rangers also made a tactical change with Alama replacing Wood for the start of the second half. Play went back & forth for much of the first ten minutes of the second half. In the 55th minute Callum played in Keegan but as his shot was blocked the flag went up for offside. Five minutes later a cross from the left by Gallagher found Pearce who had his first shot blocked before shooting wide. Bailey then blocked a shot by Kelly and the follow up corner was punched clear by Louie. Two minutes later a break down the left found Oscar who turned inside and his shot just missed the right post after taking a slight deflection off a defender.
In the 62nd minute Bays doubled their lead when another Callum free kick from the middle of the park found Logan again at the back post and his bullet header went in between the keeper & just under the crossbar. Rangers reacted by making two more changes with Banks & Deegan coming on for Kelly & Foulds. Green tried his luck from long range but his shot went well over. Bays brought on Matt Beaton for Nicolai, who had a great game. Rangers then started bombing the Bays penalty area with long throw ins and one of these found Banks who had a shot blocked. A ball down the Bays left found Armitt and his pass was shot over by Green’s shin mishit.
Five minutes later Julyan was booked for supposed time wasting. Bailey was then booked for a blocking foul. Rangers made their last change with ten minutes to go with Blackwood replacing Gallagher. Another long throw was cleared and Mikey Gaze almost got away on the fast break. Bays then had another free kick for yet another foul on Oscar and Callum’s free kick was cleared away from the back post. With a couple of minutes to go Mikey Gaze was struggling with cramp and was replaced by his brother Nick. With a minute to go Oscar made a break into the Rangers penalty box but a great tackle by Deegan denied him as he was about to pull the trigger.
In the 97th minute another long ball was played into the Bays box. Louie chose to punch away but it didn’t clear far enough away to safety. Armitt’s first shot was blocked but he tucked away the rebound to make the score 2-1 to Bays. The action wasn’t quite finished just yet. Bays attempted to break away in the 99th minute. Mason was last line of defence and after a poor foul on Keegan he followed it up with a bad tackle on Matty that led to a straight red card. Not long after the sending off the final whistle went and Bays had knocked off the top team in the league with a deserved 2-1 win. A very entertaining game where Bays did very well to close down the Rangers game play in the first half and scored from two almost identical set pieces for their best win of this season, so far. Logan was named man of the match for his two goals and all round great display.
Next week it’s a trip over to South Auckland to take on a struggling Onehunga Mangere at Mangere Domain. Fingers crossed for another three points to Bays.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 2 vs West Coast Rangers 1
Line Ups: East Coast Bays: L Caunter, B Stevenson, J Collett, K Kelly, C Simmonds, O Garcia, D Sweeney, N Berry (M Beaton 65), C Phoenix, M Gaze (N Gaze 87), L Archer
West Coast Rangers: M Upton, M Drake, J Jones, M Wood (J Alama 46), J Kelly (M Banks 63), J Armitt, B Gallagher (H Blackwood 80), D Pokhrel (S Green 46), A Pearce, J Mason, C Foulds (K Deegan 63)
Scorers: East Coast Bays: L Archer 45 & 62 West Coast Rangers: J Armitt 97
Red Card: Jamie Mason 99
