Match Report: Round 19 vs Tauranga City
Dettol Northern League Round 19 Match Report: East Coast Bays vs Tauranga City, Bay City Park, Saturday 9th August 2025.
Very Late Winner Seals Fightback Win by Bays
Bays were back at home, at Bay City Park, after the disappointing 1 - 0 home loss to Auckland Utd the Saturday before. Lots of changes to the starting line up after injuries to Jack & Liam the previous week. Jack Young came into the centre of defence, Chase was at right wing back, Cam switched to left wing back, and Adam P came back into the side, in midfield. Jack Caunter was on the bench, as was Ben Hooper in line to make his home debut.
Tauranga started off brightly and after only 2 minutes they had a free kick outside the box after a high boot by Cam. Molloy curled the ball over the wall but also over the crossbar. A good Bays team move saw James link up with Chase who played the ball out to Adam P on the right wing. The ball was played into Guy before being cleared by the Tauranga defence. The Bays defence were fast asleep when a ball was played right down the middle and two defenders left it for each other, but no one cleared the danger. Acebo was up there, and he managed to push the ball past the advancing Louie and into the bottom corner of the net for a very early shock opener. After only 5 minutes gone the score read East Coast Bays 0 Tauranga City 1.
Tauranga almost doubled their lead when a ball down the right found Brennan. He scooted away from the defence and his low shot was pushed around the post by Louie. The following corner bounced around in the Bays box before being hooked over by Fitzharris. Down the other end Adam P went on a run and as he turned in the box but the Tauranga keeper was out smartly to dive on the loose ball. A Bays corner to the back post saw the keeper under pressure punching the ball away in between some attackers and his defenders. Another lucky escape saw a ball clipped in from the right by Davison that dropped over Chase but was headed into the side netting.
Billy played a good ball up to Orlando, who in turn found Adam P. Chase was on the overlap and his cross was blocked for a corner. Another long ball saw Brennan away again, but Louie was out quickly to clear the danger somewhere between his goal and halfway. After a slow start Bays were getting back into the game. Adam P had a shot blocked and a second shot by Chase was also blocked. A Bays long ball down the middle saw Damion away and after turning past a defender his right foot shot was blocked by the heel of a defender. Adam P made a break down the right wing and his cross saw a tame header by James Elder go straight to the keeper.
Another good team move saw Orlando link with Billy & James before Billy’s cross was blocked out for a corner. Two minutes later Bays were level with a route one goal of simplicity. A fantastic long ball by Jack Young from inside his own half went down the middle. Guy shrugged off his marker and was away to smash a right footer right across the keeper into the far corner of the net. After 36 minutes gone the score was now East Coast Bays 1 Tauranga City 1. Bays now upped the tempo and almost took the lead just before half time. A ball down the right wing by Chase saw Guy away. He played the ball back to Damion who had a shot blocked and the keeper just got hold of the ball ahead of Orlando.
The half time whistle went, and the score was East Coast Bays 1 Tauranga City 1. After a very slow start again Bays got back in the game after 20-25 minutes and were in control of the game just before the break. Nice to see plenty of chances created after a very quiet game the previous week. Tauranga had to make a change at half time as Acebo had taken a knock and was replaced by Robinson.
Early in the second half saw a flick on and Orlando was away. He was brought down, and Crawford was shown a yellow card. Billy was able to get forward quite a bit in this game. He found Adam P and he squared the ball to Orlando for a right footer that sailed over the crossbar. Tauranga were still sharp on the quick break and after Hyland had got past Jack Young, he saw his shot saved low down by Louie. Chase made another run down the right wing before Damion’s cross was blocked for a throw in.
Bays made their first substitution in the 61st minute with Nicolai coming on for Adam P. A minute later Tauranga made two changes with Fraher & Rayner coming on for Crawford and Knight. Nicolai was straight into the action when Damion won a ball in midfield and Nicolai let fly with a long range left footer that went straight to the keeper. Damion played a switch ball from right to left which saw James Elder cut in but his hot was a daisy cutter along the way along the ground to the keeper. Bays then made a triple change in the 70th minute with Moses, Jack C & Ben coming on for James Elder, Jack Young & Chase.
Cam was making constant raids down the left wing and one of his crosses was taken easily by the Tauranga keeper. Nicolai beat one defender and his left foot cross to the back post cleared Guy and was just out of reach of Ben as well. A long ball forward down the left wing saw Ben away. He found Guy and he tried a cheeky lob over the keeper that wasn’t high enough to clear the keeper. In a rare attack by Tauranga Vitzharris cut in from the left side and sent a right foot shot over. A poor giveaway by the Bays defence saw Vitzharris away again but his shot lacked any power and went straight to Louie.
A through ball by Damion saw Guy away as he rounded the keeper and slotted home. Problem was he was miles offside and rightly flagged offside. Orlando won the ball in midfield and played the ball through to Nicolai. Nicolai cut inside his marker and his left foot shot was tipped around the far post by a fine fingertip save by the Tauranga keeper. Bays were relentless at this stage. Damion set up Nicolai again and he played the ball off a defender for a corner. Jack Caunter’s corner saw the ball bobble around in the box and saw shots by Orlando & Billy blocked.
Guy was having a running battle with the Tauranga keeper and one challenge on the keeper saw Guy receive a yellow card. Nicolai played the ball down the right wing and Moses cross was headed back across goal by Adam H. Glory was there for Ben to hit home the winner, but he blasted his volley high & wide. Another long ball forward saw Guy away on the left. The Tauranga keeper raced out of his area and clattered into Guy. Nobody could believe that the keeper wasn’t even shown a yellow card and was probably lucky to still be on the field as he was the last line of defence.
From the resulting corner a shot came back off the base of the post and then Billy had his shot blocked. Jack Caunter’s corner saw Billy’s header crash into a defender and from the next corner Orlando’s corner was a bit overhit as it sailed way past the far post. After all the pressure on the Tauranga goal the Bays defence almost gave it away with a free kick given just outside the box for a trip on Molloy. Vitzharris drilled a right footer low around the wall and after seeing the ball quite late Louie did very well to dive full length to push the ball away from goal.
Just when it looked like the game was going to end up all square Bays conjured up the winner in about the 8th minute of injury time. A long ball forward saw the Tauranga keeper out and as he tried to clear he hit his clearance flush into Adam H, and it bounced off Adam and rolled into the net. After a couple of minutes of the referee checking there was no handball the goal was finally given. Shortly after the final whistle went, and after what seemed a 50 - 55 second half, the game was finally over. The final score was East Coast Bays 2 Tauranga City 1. A tough loss for Tauranga who had contributed a lot to the game but a vital three points for Bays in the slight likelihood of qualifying for the National League. A very good result for a quite young & experienced Bays side and good to see the battle going right until the end of the game. Congrats to Ben on his home debut for the Bays First team and to Cam for his Man of the Match award. Next up it’s an away trip to Manurewa next Saturday with a 3pm kick off at War Memorial Park. Get yourself down there in what will be Bays legend Louie’s 100th game for the First Team. See you there.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 2 vs Tauranga City 1
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Young (J Caunter 70), A Huskic, J Elder (B Hooper 70), O Thorpe, D Kim, GFE Penda, B Jones, C Taylor (M Akimana 70), A Paulsen (N Berry 61), C Brown
Tauranga City: C Wellsbury, H Kemp, C Higgins, A Acebo (B Robinson 46), L Molloy, C Brennan, J Hyland, T Crawford (C Fraher 62), L Knight (C Rayner 62), V Fitzharris, A Davison
Goals: East Coast Bays: GFE Penda 36, A Huskic 98
Tauranga City: A Acebo 5