Match Report: Round 20 vs Manurewa
Dettol Northern League Round 20 Match Report: Manurewa AFC vs East Coast Bays, War Memorial Park, Saturday 16th August 2025.
Bays Hit Manurewa for Six in best performance of the season
Bays travelled over to South Auckland for their penultimate away game of the season against Manurewa at War Memorial Park. Nathan & Jack C came back into the starting line up in defence which meant Jack Y & James E were on the bench. Bays captain Louie was playing his 100th game for the Bays first team and what a great milestone to reach.
A long ball down the right wing was chased down by Guy who earned a corner when his cross went behind off a defender. Jack C played the corner short to Orlando and his right foot curler went straight to the keeper. Manurewa had some good moments in the opening twenty minutes. Mandizvidza had a shot on the left wing go straight along the ground to Louie. A ball behind the Bays defence saw Baird tee up Foo and his left footer was pushed around the post by Louie. A ball down the right wing and after Adam P beat a couple of defenders, he earned a corner. Jacks first corner was put behind and the follow up corner didn’t make it past the near post.
Bays took the lead against the run of play when Manurewa took a throw in on the right-hand side. The ball was given away and ran to Guy about 30 yards out. Guy decided to have a pop from long range and the shot picked up pace off the damp surface to rocket into the corner along the ground. After only 16 minutes gone the score was Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 1. Damion made a break into the box, and it looked like he was brought down. But the referee waved play on and no penalty. Chase was shown an early yellow card for a swing at his opponent from behind. Billy played a long ball down field and Adam P was away to earn another corner. Jack’s first corner curled under the crossbar and the keeper did well to push it over for another corner. Orlando’s corner was punched away and as he went to retrieve the ball Orlando was fouled. Jack’s free kick was headed wide by Billy.
Bays doubled their lead when Chase played a long ball through for Guy to chase after. Guy got the ball, went around the keeper, and was brought down by the keeper. Penalty awarded and Jack stepped up to send the ball to the keeper’s left and into the net. After 29 minutes gone the score was Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 2. Manurewa should have equalised when a ball across the box by Baird was only just out of reach of A Singh. Billy played another long ball through to Guy and Guy’s shot came back off a defender and was gratefully caught by the home keeper. Mandizvidza was away and saw his shot blocked by a fine sliding tackle by Adam H. Dougherty then saw his left foot drive end up on the roof of the net. A mistake by a Manurewa defender saw Guy square the ball to Chase and his shot hit the keeper and went out for a corner. Jack’s corner caught the breeze and ended up on the roof of the goal.
The half time whistle went, and the score read Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 2. After an early barrage on the Bays goal that the defence did well to repel, Bays took control of the game thereafter. Chase wasn’t risked for the second half after his early booking and was replaced by James Elder. Manurewa started off the second half well with a ball in by Rodriguez which led to a shot wide by A Singh. Bays extended their lead further when Guy played the ball forward to James Elder. James cut in from the left wing and lined up a long range shot for outside the box that picked up pace off the grass and fired into the far corner. After 50 minutes gone the score was Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 3.
Bays were now running rampant. A break down the left wing saw Guy square the ball to Adam P but the ball was cut out just before he was about to shoot. Damion then had a shot that was deflected wide for a corner. One of Manurewa’s few chances in the second half saw a Rewa corner to the back post and a free header that was cleared away by Orlando. From another Manurewa corner Baird had a powerful header pushed over the bar with a fine reflex save by Louie. Manurewa made their first change after 60 minutes played with J Singh coming on for Foo. A great team move saw Guy through. He played the ball on to Damion and on to Adam P who toe poked his shot past the post.
Another Bays change in the 62nd minute saw Ben Hooper come on for Adam P. Three minutes later Manurewa sent on Van-As in place of Baird. A fast break away by Bays saw Orlando send the ball through to James Elder. His shot was saved by the Rewa keeper but the rebound feel nicely for Guy to tap home. After 67 minutes gone the score now read Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 4. Before the restart Bays brought on Jack Young for Damion which led to Billy moving forward into midfield. The Bays forwards were now carving the Manurewa defence apart with a number of through balls going straight down the guts. A long ball forward saw James Elder turn and his shot came back off the foot of the post. The rebound fell to Orlando and as the Bays supporters urged him to shoot, he couldn’t get enough power into his shot to trouble the keeper too much.
Manurewa made a third change in the 69th minute with Blakeman-Smith coming on for Paez. As well as being under immense pressure the Rewa defence were also making a few mistakes. One of these led to a shot by Ben being saved by the overworked keeper. Orlando was away and his first shot was saved by the keeper’s feet and the second shot was too close to the keeper. Another long ball forward saw Ben away and he sent a left foot shot into the corner to make the score Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 5, after 73 minutes gone. Congratulations to Ben for his first goal for the Bays First team.
Guy was through again and crossed the ball from left to right to Ben. His shot was saved low down by the keeper. Another defensive mistake saw the home keeper pick up a back pass and a free kick was awarded to Bays. Manurewa set up the wall just in front of the goal line and it did the job as Jack C’s free kick was blocked on the line. Day was then shown a yellow card for bringing down Orlando when he was away. In a rare second half attack Blakeman-Smith had a rather lacklustre right foot shot go well wide of Louie’s goal.
With 80 minutes gone Bays made their last two changes with Matt & Ryusei coming on for Nathan and Orlando. A cross in from the left wing was sliced over his own crossbar by Day. This came back to haunt Day because from Jack C’s corner the ball was flicked on, and Guy headed home into the far corner of the goal to complete his hattrick and make the score Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 6 after 83 minutes played.
Bays weren’t happy with just six goals as they continued to pour forward in the last five minutes of the game. Ben sent James Elder through, and his right foot drive was pushed up & over the crossbar by the home keeper. Ryusei was straight into the action and after winning the ball in midfield he set up James Elder for a shot that beat the keeper but also beat the post narrowly. Billy then played in James again and his shot was saved low down by the keeper. Ryusei then combined with Cam, and they set up Ben for a shot straight at the keeper.
The final whistle went, and the final score was Manurewa 0 East Coast Bays 6. A well-deserved win after a second half of complete dominance. Bays probably should have won by more but after a lot of low scoring games this season it was nice to see a few goals put away. Congrats again to Louie on keeping a clean sheet on his 100th appearance, to Ben for his debut goal, and to Guy who was Bays player of the day for his impressive hattrick. This Saturday Bays is at home against West Coast Rangers with a night game kicking off at 6.00pm at Bay City Park. See you all there.
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Final Score: Manurewa 0 vs East Coast Bays 6
Manurewa AFC: Y Alhamdan, P Day, J Baird (J Van-As 65), N Blasson, E Paez (J Blakeman-Smith 69), K Mendizvidza, R Dougherty, A Zara, C Rodriguez, E Foo (J Singh 60), A Singh
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, N Maisey (R Ishibashi 80), A Huskic, O Thorpe (M Matanyayire 80), D Kim (J Young 67), GFE Penda, B Jones, C Taylor (J Elder 46), A Paulsen (B Hooper 62), C Brown, J Caunter
Goals: East Coast Bays: GFE Penda 16, 67, 83, J Caunter 29 penalty, J Elder 60, B Hooper 73