MATCH REPORT: Round 4 vs Onehunga Mangere Utd
Round 4 Match Report – East Coast Bays vs Onehunga Mangere Utd, Bay City Park, Friday 15th April 2022.
Finally, a win for EC Bays after Onehunga Mangere goal lived a Charmed Life for most of the second half.
Match day Four saw a clash between Bays and newly promoted Onehunga Mangere on a beautiful sunny Easter Friday afternoon. The Bays line up saw Bailey return from Covid to replace James who was in isolation from Covid, Zane come in for the injured Daewook, and Cody come in for Oscar. Promoted from the Under 23’s to the bench were Dan Morgan and Matt Beaton.
Bays started off quickly and after three minutes a through ball was played into the box by Declan but was cleared. Four minutes later a Bays free kick from Nicolai to the back post was also cleared. An excellent long ball from Louie found Liam whose cross reached Codey but he fouled in the process of trying to get the ball. Then a long range shot from Judd was saved and a cross by Cody from the left was met at the back post by Liam who headed down but into Judd. A long range shot from Manko turned into a daisy cutter. A Nicolai run down the left flank & cross was cleared behind for a corner. That corner was then cleared and led to a deflected shot out for another corner.
Against the run of play Mikey K blocked a cross from Macumi for a corner. An Onehunga free kick directly out from goal was also cleared and a further shot from Rastagar was comfortably saved by Louie. Then a cross by Callum was just missed by Keegan. In the 29th minute Codey made a weaving run into the box and seemed to be brought down. The referee played a good advantage as the loose ball fell to Judd and his left foot shot went under the keeper for 1-0 to Bays. Bays kept up the pressure with Declan having a shot after a Callum free kick and Zane going on a run & beating a few defenders before being brought down. Khalil was then booked for a bad foul. Nicolai then had a couple of shots and free kicks saved.
Down the other end Codey blocked a cross from Macumi and the resulting corner cleared everyone in the middle. Bays then had a free kick that Liam headed straight to the keeper. From an Onehunga free kick Bays had a four on three counterattack that was cleared for yet another corner. Another Bays corner was headed wide by Judd and a shot by Ogawa-Bracey from outside the area was comfortably saved by Louie. The score line at half time read EC Bays 1 Onehunga Mangere 0.
Bays attacking started up straight after the resumption of play with a cross by Codey blocked out for another corner. Two minutes later Louie made the save of the match pushing the ball around his post after a point-blank shot by Manko. The next cross was headed wide, and Louie was fouled trying to catch the ball from the next Onehunga corner. 13 minutes into the second half a fine cross by Codey was headed against the post by Keegan. Zane then had a long-range shot saved by the keeper. A fantastic long ball by Declan found Nicolai whose cross was missed at the back post by Judd & Keegan. After 66 minutes OM made their first change with Macumi being replaced by M Stevens. Two minutes later an OM through ball found Manko who blazed over. A minute later a cross from the right was touched on by Nicolai and the keeper made a great save to push the ball past his post.
After 70 minutes OM made their second change when D Knight came on for Khalil and at the same time Oscar came on for Judd who toiled all afternoon. In the space of two minutes OM had tow more shots wide of the Bays goal. After 77 minutes the Macca Attacker & Dan Morgan replaced Zane & Nicolai. A minute later a ball by Dan was played to Keegan whose shot went past the keeper but came back off the foot of the post. A very unlucky roll of the ball. In an almost identical play Liam burst down the right and his shot beat the keeper but not his posts as it also came back out. Two minutes later a fast break by Dan lead to a cross from the left side which Keegan cut inside & his shot also hits the right post and go’s out.
The Onehunga Keeper certainly had a charmed life in that 5-minute period where Bays should have been 3 or 4 up. Liam had another run down the right side & shot saved by the keeper. After 84 minutes Matt Beaton came on for Keegan who had run himself into the ground. 5 minutes later Onehunga had a rare chance when a left foot shot by Knight went wide. An Onehunga long throw then lead to a foul on Bailey. Just before full time Liam had another shot saved by the keeper and another Bays free kick lead to the ball being played into a corner.
Relief for Bays when the final whistle went shortly after with the score reading EC Bays 1 Onehunga Mangere 0. Bays should have won by a bigger margin but saves by the keeper & him also being saved by his goalposts made the game look a bit closer than it was score wise. A first up win of the season for Bays and now a trip to old foes Albany on Easter Monday.
Final Score: East Coast Bays 1 vs Onehunga Mangere Utd 0
Line Ups: East Coast Bays: L Caunter, B Stevenson, K Kelly (M Beaton 84), C Simmonds, D Sweeney, J Baker (O Garcia 70), N Berry (D Morgan 77), M Kolston, L Anderson, C Phoenix, Z Olla (J McKeown 77)
Onehunga Mangere: L Stubbings, G Lewis, H Muller, R Ogawa-Bracey, V Hakim, J Chems, S Lewis, O Rastagar, A Khalil (D Knight 70), B Macumi (M Stevens 66), M Manko
Scorers: EC Bays: J Baker 29