MATCH REPORT: Round 15 vs Onehunga Mangere
NRFL Men's First Team Round 15 Match Report – Onehunga Mangere AFC vs East Coast Bays, Mangere Domain – Saturday 2nd July 2022.
Bays robbed of crucial win by a very poor AR decision that directly leads to very late Onehunga Mangere equalizer
Bays headed over to South Auckland to face Onehunga Mangere buoyant on beating the league leaders the week before. More changes to the starting line up to the week before because of injuries & unavailability and this left a very young substitutes bench. The game kicked off in nice sunny conditions but by half time the wind was quite biting as the sun went down behind the volcanic crater at Mangere Domain.
Bays started off brightly and after two minutes Nicolai played in Oscar who had his shot smartly saved. The first corner was punched out to the opposite side and the follow up corner was headed just wide by James. After 8 minutes Nicolai brought the ball down well, beat two defenders, and shot just wide of the right post. OM then had a corner that was punched clear by Louie and a long throw made its way to the far post before being shinned over the bar by Stevens. Down the other end a long throw by Mikey K was claimed by the keeper under pressure from Todd. After 21 minutes a cross from Callum from the right was headed goal ward by an OM defender and was clawed away by the keeper to avoid a calamitous own goal.
The follow up corner was cleared for another corner and Nicolai shot just wide with a left foot rocket. A minute later great team work saw Oscar turn well & his left foot shot was well saved. Bays then had a corner played by Callum to Oscar and his cross was just out of reach of Todd. OM broke away down the left and a cross by Manko was well claimed by Louie. Then a fast break out led by Oscar who fed Nicolai who drew the keeper who saved for a corner. Bays were well on top and dominating play. Keegan then burst forward and he found Nicolai who had his cross blocked for a corner. Callum’s corner found James in the middle but his firm header went straight to the keeper.
Ten minutes before half time the OM keeper Connolly was trying to play out from the back when he was caught in possession by Keegan. He clearly handled the ball just outside the area to stop Keegan playing it past him but both the referee & AR on our side failed to spot this. Connolly was very lucky not to be booked or even sent off for the fairly obvious hand ball. Manko then had a shot that was deflected wide for a corner. Souza then found himself free on the left hand side. His first shot was saved low down by Louie and his close range follow up shot was pushed over the bar. Mikey K then played a great ball forward and Declan had a long range shot go over. Some nice team play by OM led to a long range pile driver by Rastagar but it was straight at Louie for a comfortable catch. Just before half time some great play between Keegan & Declan eventually saw the ball transferred to the middle to Callum. The ball made its way out to the right where Nicolai put in a fantastic cross right over to the far post where Liam perfectly headed home into the bottom corner. It was no more than Bays deserved for the many chances they created and they led 1- 0 at half time.
For some reason the second half started late but within a couple of minutes OM had stepped it up. Rastagar played in a free kick but Manko was called for a push. Bays weathered the early storm and Liam collected a ball from Declan and his cross was just out of reach of Nicolai who had raced into the middle of the box. Declan & Mikey G then broke up play and Liam was away before shooting wide. Liam then provided a cross that Keegan shot wide. More good play by Declan played in Nicolai. He beat Lewis all ends up but his right foot shot was wide. Bays then had a scare when Stevens broke down the right. He chipped over Louie but luckily Todd was covering to head the ball clear.
Onehunga then made two changes with Habonimana & Chemis coming on in the 62nd minute. Another strange decision came two minutes later when Mikey G was hacked from behind by Ogawa-Bracey. The referee originally gave a free kick to Bays and everyone was wondering what coloured card the offender was going to get. The referee consulted with the AR on the far side who advised to change his decision to a OM free kick to everyone’s disbelief. Chemis then played a ball into the Bays box and Souza had his shot blocked by Mikey G. Louie then made another smart save low down from Manko. Bays made their first change in the 70th minute with Sam Wilson coming on for Mikey G.
Bays then had another lucky escape when a cross by Habonimana was missed in the centre by Khalil. Bays then should have scored when Oscar had a shot saved and from the resulting corner Sam had a header saved on the line. Nicolai then had a shot saved. Bays then made a second change in the 76th minute with a welcome back to the first team for Dan Morgan after 10 weeks out with injury. He replaced Nicolai and was straight into the action. Oscar then played a ball through to Keegan but as he chipped the keeper the flag went up for offside. OM then made two more changes with Knight & Campbell coming on for Manko & Khalil. Liam then made one of his trademark runs down the left & his cross was blocked for a corner. Callum’s corner was headed over by Keegan. Bays then made another change with Nick G coming on for the tireless Oscar. Two minutes later Dan was played in right down the middle but the keeper did well to get down low and smother Dan’s shot. James was then penalized for a foul just outside the box and Rastagar’s free kick just went wide of the right hand post.
With a couple of minutes to go a OM corner to the back post was headed over by Knight. Then Chemis had a smart shot saved well by Louie. Just as it looked like Bays were going to take the three points another piece of strange officiating changed the game completely. Chemis was making his way down the right flank and was leading with his arm as he pushed Mikey K off the ball. The AR on our side flagged for a foul by Mikey when it was very clear the foul should have been given the other way. The resulting free kick was played in from the right and after bouncing around in the box the ball was tucked away by substitute Campbell for the undeserved equalizer. There was just enough time for Bays to launch one more attack and from that Dan smacked a right fight shot against the post & Liam shot wide.
The final whistle went and the Bays team were extremely disappointed with the result as well the decisions that went against them. Some very poor decisions made by the referee and AR on our side of the field. This 1-1 result did nothing for both teams on trying to catch up with the Top 3 teams in the league. Next week Bays have the Bye with no game because of the Chatham Cup. Next game up is against local foes Albany on 16th July at Bay City Park.
Final Score: Onehunga Mangere 1 vs East Coast Bays 1
Line Ups: Onehunga Mangere: F Connolly, U Hakim, G Lewis, H Muller, M Manko (D Knight 80), A Khalil, G Souza, O Rastagar, B Elliott (A Campbell 80), M Stevens (B Habonimana 62), R Ogawa-Bracey (J Chemis 62)
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler, K Kelly, C Simmonds, O Garcia (N Gaze 82), D Sweeney, N Berry (D Morgan 76), M Kolston, T Gibbs, L Andersen, M Gaze (S Wilson 70)
Scorers: Onehunga Mangere: A Campbell 95
East Coast Bays: L Andersen 45
