MATCH REPORT: Round 19 vs Onehunga Mangere Utd
NRFL Men's First Team Round 19 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Onehunga Mangere Utd, Bay City Park # 2, Saturday 12th August 2023.
Bays dazzle under lights in second half after first half arm wrestle
EC Bays returned to their proper home of Bay City Park and played their first ever night game at the ground making use of the new field & floodlights left behind as a legacy of the USA Women’s soccer team using them as their training base. Therefore, in a first 5.30pm kick off under lights. Two changes to the starting line-up saw Mikey K and Nathan start in place of Leo, who was injured, and Moses who was suspended for two games.
Bays looked like they starting well with a right foot shot by Nick going over the top. However, a clumsy give away by Logan almost let O Mangere in. Luckily, Callum was there to cover at the expense of a corner. The corner from Mohebbie was headed clear by David. Down the other end a knock down saw Nick shoot straight at the keeper. Mikey K made a break down the right and found Nathan. His cross was cleared just before Dylan could reach the next pass. David then played in Thomson and his shot went into the side netting. Callum’s corner to the back post found Nathan and his left foot shot was saved low down by the keeper. David then crossed from the right and Dylan had his shot blocked before being flagged as offside.
The Bays defence went to sleep as Khalil was in behind the defence, he played the ball past Louie and Louie brought him down. Penalty awarded. Manko stepped up to take the penalty and Louie anticipated correctly saving the penalty low down to his left. Logan then played a long ball down the left, Nathan crossed into the centre, but it was just out of reach of Dylan. Good interplay between Nick & Thomson lead to a cross being cut out as danger loomed. From a Bays free kick, Liam headed the ball against a post & then it was cleared away. O Mangere opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when the Bays defence did not pick up the run from Manko from a corner and he placed a diagonal header in the far corner to make the score EC Bays 0 O Mangere 1.
O Mangere had their tails up. A ball down the middle saw Logan play the ball against an O Mangere striker but a corner was given by mistake. Bays levelled up things in the 27th minute when Callum’s corner made its way to the back post via some deflections. The ball rolled out to Dylan and he expertly dispatched it into the bottom corner to make the score EC Bays 1 O Mangere 1. James gave away a free kick but redeemed himself by heading away the free kick. Callum played the ball down the right flank. Liam found David and his cross was punched away by the keeper. Logan was yellow carded for a tackle from behind. At the other end a Callum free kick was brought down by Liam but his shot went well over the goal. James then tried his luck with a long ball that found Thomson. He played it through to Nathan and his cross was blocked for a corner. The corner went right across the box and a cheeky back heel went just wide.
The whistle went for half time and the scores were all tied at one a piece. A good combative game and some good chances created by both sides. Luckily, for Bays Louie’s penalty save made sure the score read EC Bays 1 O Mangere 1 at half time. It was only two minutes into the second half when Bays took the lead from an unlikely source. Liam made a break down the right and his cross was cleared by the defence to just outside the box. Callum stepped forward and hit a sweet right footer, with a little bit of swerve, into the bottom corner for his first goal of this season. Now the score read EC Bays 2 O Mangere 1. Thomson then made a break down the right skipping past a couple of players before setting up Dylan. His snap shot beat the keeper but also the near post. Liam then had a cross from the right that Stevens saved on the line.
Bays had turned up the tempo and were attacking from all angles. Thomson was fouled just outside the box. Dylan hit his free kick over the wall but just over the goal as well. Mikey K then had a long throw headed away and a couple of minutes later the same player had a pop shot from long range that went over as Mikey looked for just his second league goal for Bays. Dylan was having a great battle with the O Mangere defenders. He battled for one ball and scored but was adjudged to have fouled the defender. In the 62nd minute Bays further increased the margin. There was late tackle on Nick and while that was happening, the ball rolled through the O Mangere defence. Dylan was quickly on to the ball and placed his shot under the advancing keeper to make the score EC Bays 3 O Mangere 1.
Thomson went down with what looked like a nasty head injury but recovered soon after. Bays brought on JS Chang in the 64th minute to replace Dylan who had been crook during the week. Another through ball down the left saw Thomson cross to the back post and the cross was only just cleared by Hakim, as David was poised to strike. Liam was again down the right and his cross was blocked for another corner. James met this at the far post with a header straight at the keeper. A through ball right down the middle found JS Chang. After a smart turn, the keeper saved his left foot shot low down. O Mangere made their first change with M Dias replacing Soffe.
5 minutes later Bays made a triple change with Bailey, Mikey G & Orlando replacing Nathan, Logan & David. Thomson made a great run down the left. His dancing feet saw him travel just inside the goal line and his cross was met by Nick who had his shot blocked. O Mangere had a rare break down the Bays end that lead to a left foot shot saved low down by Louie. Bays continued their relentless pressure seeing Bailey & Liam having shots saved on the line before an offside call halted things. O Mangere made their second change with C Smith replacing A Vaz.
JS Chang then played in Thomson and his right footer sailed just past the post. Orlando was putting himself about but just a little too much for the referees liking as he received a yellow card. O Mangere made a third change with Thomas coming on for Lewis. A Bays corner by Callum was then cleared. Just into injury time, Mikey G made a break down the right. He passed forward to Thomson who dummied one defender before placing his left foot shot into the far corner to put the icing on the cake. The score now read EC Bays 4 O Mangere 1. There was still time for Bailey to make a burst down the right and his cross into the centre was cleared by Watkinson. Stevens was booked for a pullback foul and not long after the referee blew the whistle for full time.
The final score was EC Bays 4 O Mangere 1 in what was a well-deserved win after relentless attacking play in the second half. After a nervy first half Bays stepped it up big time in the second half helped by such an early goal from Mr Reliable. A good showing after last week’s poor result and a big turnout of supporters showed a match under lights was a good choice for the team’s return to Bay City Park. Next up is a trip to McFetridge Park to take on local rivals Northern Rovers in a run of three consecutive away fixtures with just four games to go until the end of the season. See you there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 4 vs Onehunga Mangere United 1
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Edgeler, N Maisey (M Gaze 77), C Simmons, N Gaze, M Kolston, T Nkoy, D Brown (O Thorpe 77), D Stansfield (JS Chang 64), L Andersen, L Archer (B Stevenson 77)
Onehunga Mangere: T Francis, M Stevens, U Hakim, S Lewis (C Thomas 88), A Vaz (C Smith 82), M Manko, A Khalil, T Watkinson, M Mohebbie, K Zulaika, M Soffe (M Dias 72)
Goals: EC Bays: D Stansfield 27 & 62, C Simmonds 47, T Nkoy 89
Onehunga Mangere: M Manko 23
Official Attendance: 105,745 plus Gordy Ross and his Blue Bucket Oompah Band
