Match Report: Round 6 vs Bay Olympic
Dettol Northern League Round 6 Match Report: Bay Olympic FC vs East Coast Bays, Olympic Park, New Lynn, Saturday 18th April 2026.
Battle of The Bays goes EC Bays way in feisty & fiery battle
Fresh off three wins in a row Bays headed confidently over to New Lynn to take on Bay Olympic at Olympic Park. Two changes to the starting eleven saw Harry & Ben return to the starting line up with Ihaia dropping to the strong substitutes bench joining James, Ryusei, Nick, and Nathan. A large contingent of Bays supporters were there to take in this much anticipated battle.
Olympic started brightly with Lopes having a left foot shot palmed down before being collected by Louie. Down the other end Guy set up Louis for a right foot side that was blocked. Guy then set up Marius who saw his shot go wide. Orlando sent a chip over the top to Guy who set up Louis for another shot that was blocked. Guy then made a break and the home keeper saved with his feet. Cam then made a break down the right, passed to Ben and he crossed for Guy. The ball clipped Guy’s hand and a free kick was given against him. A long throw on the left wing dropped into the Bays box with no touches before Louie collected safely.
Ben then intercepted a ball and played it on to Orlando on the left corner of the box. Orlando cut inside his defender and his right foot chip came back off the crossbar. A great team move saw Orlando play a decisive pass down the middle to Marius who shot past the keeper and the far post. A long goal kick forward saw the ball headed on to Tieku who sent a left foot shot wide of Louie’s goal. Guy then beat his man and sent a cross into the middle. This was met by a bullet header by Marius, but it was straight at the keeper who pushed the ball over the post. Marius had a running battle with Jakoubek and was pushed over on more than one occasion.
Ben sent a corner to the back post, and this found Jackson free to send header wide of the far post. A long ball forward by Jackson saw Liam away down the left wing. His attempted cross in was put behind for a corner. Orlando’s corner found Billy free at the back post, but he stabbed his shot into ground straight to the keeper. Liam then gave away a free kick that Gage chipped into the Bays box before being cleared away. From that clearance Cam was away down the right before being pulled back by Grinter who was shown a yellow card after 28 minutes gone. A ball into the box saw Guy knocked to the ground but no free kick or penalty was given.
Down the other end Saxon beat Liam down the right but his poor cross sailed over the goal. Olympic then had a good team move as a ball from left to right saw Saxon play the ball on to Lopes but the ball in hit him and went behind for a goal kick. Ben then made a break to the left byline but his cross in was just a bit too high for Orlando to get to. In the 41st minute McNeill was shown a yellow card for a poor tackle, and the Olympic physio Blake was shown a yellow card for dissent from the bench. Guy was knocked off the ball and so Olympic broke away quickly, but the cross was poor again.
Just before half time Bays made the breakthrough when Jackson played a peach of a ball down the left. Liam skipped over then around his defender before sending a pinpoint cross into the middle for Marius to smash into the back of the net. With 45 + 1 minutes gone the score now read Bay Olympic 0 East Coast Bays 1. Not long after the half time whistle went and Bays carried a very slender lead into the break after a first half when they should have been two or three up at half time.
The second half started off like the week before with Bays guilty of giving the ball away cheaply. A goal kick out saw a shot by Izett go wide. A cross in from the right saw a header by Peredo go straight to Louie. Lopes was then shown a yellow card for fouling Orlando just in front of the benches that lead to a bit of chatter going on. Orlando played a ball forward to Marius who had his first shot saved and then Marius set up Orlando who had his shot blocked. Tieku then turned & shot low by Louie and the follow up shot by Lopes was saved by a combination of Cam & Louie. The corner was played into the middle and cleared by Louis before a shot by Lopes went wide. Orlando was then shown a yellow card after a frustrating afternoon trying to dodge a number of niggly challenges.
Bays made their first two changes in the 57th minute with Ryusei and Nick coming on for Ben and a very frustrated Orlando. Tieku then tried a hooked shot over his shoulder, but it was straight at Louie. With 60 minutes gone Olympic made their first change with Lovelock coming on for Izett. Lovelock was also in the referee’s notebook after only three minutes on the field after a crude late challenge on Guy who had turned & tried to get away from him. Bays then had a sustained attack on the Olympic goal and in one movement two shots back-to-back looked like they hit defender’s hands but again nothing was given. After 66 minutes gone Ihaia came on to replace Marius. Ryusei linked well with Liam on the left and received a return ball before having his shot blocked.
Jackson had a collision with an Olympic player and could not continue as he came off with what looked like an ankle injury. James came on for Jackson in the 72nd minute along with Nathan coming on for Cam which meant a switch over to the right for Liam. Olympic were on a relentless attack. A free kick was headed away by James before being cleared by Guy. Stephan was then shown a yellow card for bringing down Ryusei. A fast break by Bays see Liam clear the ball up to Ryusei who found Ihaia who had his cross blocked. Bays corner by Louis cleared everyone at the back post.
Olympic made three changes in the 82nd minute with Newbould, Marowa and Eng all coming on. Then came a sickening moment in the game as Liam was tackled while attempting a clearance in his own box and got turned funny before going down in a heap with what looked like a dislocated knee cap. Liam was carried off and with Bays having already making their 5 substitutions, they had to play the last eight minutes with one player short. A ball down the left saw Nick link up with Ryusei whose right foot shot bounced off the keeper before he regathered it. Lopes made a break down the left and set up for a shot that was blocked by Billy for a corner. The corner to the back post was cleared to outside the box and was met with a shot by Peredo that went well wide. Newbould then had a long range shot from outside the box that went straight at Louie.
Tieku then tried another hooked shot from the left side that went wide. The Bays defence were under siege for the last five minutes. The ball was played into the Bays box and Tieku attempted another right foot shot from an acute angle and Louie pulled off an amazing save as he pushed the ball over the bar. We were now into injury time so from the resultant corner the Olympic keeper came all the way up for that corner. The corner was cleared from the goalmouth up to Ryusei. As he tried to get away the backtracking keeper pretty much rugby tackled Ryusei and then pinned him to the ground so he could not get away. It was like watching a WWE full press and Jakoubek has shown a straight red card for the professional foul. Stephan went in goal for the last two minutes and then the final whistle went to end a completely crazy last five minutes of the game. Apparently one of the Bay Olympic staff was also shown a red card but I did not see who it was.
In what was an almighty battle the final score read Bay Olympic 0 East Coast Bays 1. Another three points on the board so that Bays stayed second on the table behind Birkenhead but a couple of worrying injuries from the game. Next up for Bays is an away trip to Hamilton this Saturday to take on Melville at Gower Park with a 3.30pm kick off. See you all there.
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Final Score: Bay Olympic 0 vs East Coast Bays 1
Bay Olympic FC: P Jakoubek, S Stephan, N Hrdlicka, C McNeill, G Peredo, P Izlett, F Saxon, L Grinter, G S Lopes, D Tieku, J Gage
Subs: L Lovelock, 60, H Newbould 82, T Marowa 82, W Eng 82
East Coast Bays: L Caunter, J Jarvie (J Edgeler 72), H Mason, B Hooper (N Gaze 57), O Thorpe (R Ishibashi 57), B Jones, M Zabarauskas (I Delaney 66), L Andersen, C Brown (N Maisey 72), L Wicks, GFE Penda
Goals: East Coast Bays: M Zabarauskas 45 + 1
Red Cards: P Jakoubek 90 + 4