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Another All Whites Late, Late Show
by Jeremy Ruane
A late winner from substitute Andrew Barron clinched a hard-earned but deserved 2-1 win for the All Whites against Malaysia at North Harbour Stadium on February 23, much to the delight of the vast majority of the 8702-strong crowd.
Nobody left the ground as the home team pounded away for the goal which clinched their second successive victory, but as in Christchurch against the same opposition four days previously, the All Whites should have had this game well and truly wrapped up well before the final whistle.
While it is pleasing that they are creating so many chances against similarly-ranked international opposition, the need to convert more than the two they managed on this occasion stands out like a sore thumb, especially when one considers that lying in wait for the All Whites later this year are the likes of Chile and Brazil, opponents who will afford Oceania's foremost footballing country far fewer chances than they enjoyed in their first home outings in forty-three months.
Indeed, it was the Malaysians who carved out the first opening of the match, a dangerous angled cross from Chan Wing Hoong just curling beyond Fadzli Saari as he ghosted in behind the defence in the fourth minute.
The visitors played the classic footballing equivalent of basketball's “all court press” early on, allowing the All Whites very little time on the ball and even less space in which to make use of it. It took an enterprising lob from Adrian Webster to prise open the Malaysian rearguard in the tenth minute, but they swiftly shut the door as Shane Smeltz looked to cause havoc in the goalmouth.
Eight minutes later, the All Whites looked to use the full width of a billiard table-like surface much more in keeping with the quality of pitch one expects an international football fixture to be played on.
As had been the case at QE2 Park, Leo Bertos was their principle wide-man, and on this occasion, he cut inside and clipped a cross onto Jeff Fleming's head. The midfielder nodded the ball down to debutant Campbell Banks, whose clinical turn and shot arrowed across Malaysian goalkeeper Shamsuri Mustafa into the far corner of the net.
Within seconds of going 1-0 up, the All Whites had the chance to double their advantage. Bertos was again the Malaysian's nemesis on the right, racing past two players before whipping in a cross for Banks. The striker's impressive debut was marred on this occasion by the reach of Mustafa, who plucked the ball off his head to save the day for the visitors.
The `keeper was beaten all ends up in the 22nd minute, when a delicious through ball from Smeltz - another to consistently catch the eye - rewarded the overlapping run of Noah Hickey, who stormed through in behind the Malaysian defence. The fullback did everything right, but his shot crept a foot past the far post.
It was a let-off for Malaysia, and they made the All Whites pay for it with a crowd-silencing equaliser in the 24th minute. Hardi Jaafar picked out Safee Sali with an astute pass, and the visitors' star turn was afforded plenty of space by Danny Hay in which to turn and unleash a rasping twenty-five yarder.
His effort flew straight at Glen Moss, but the All Whites' goalkeeper inexplicably parried it into the corner of his own net - 1-1, and the sight of a custodian desperately seeking the nearest wormhole in despair over his blunder.
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The All Whites regrouped, with crosses from Webster and Bertos giving Mustafa cause for concern, while the defenders in front of him were similarly challenged by Hickey's long throw-ins.
But after Bertos had seen his 36th minute drive deflected to safety following a partially cleared Webster cross, the visitors had the home team on the back foot in the 38th minute, as they came close to pinching the lead. A dangerous clipped cross from Sali again sought out the blindside run of Saari, but Fleming got just enough contact on his header to direct the ball nearer Moss than the Malaysian danger man.
After Steven Old had directed a header from a Webster free-kick at Mustafa, the half concluded with the sight of Hay feeling an old war wound - not another injury to his troublesome groin, surely? The captain certainly looked troubled as he headed off at the interval, but whatever was in his half-time tonic certainly did the trick, as he returned looking far more sprightly, and went on to see out the match untroubled.
Indeed, Hay it was who sparked the first attack of the second spell, his header forward picking out Tim Brown. A tidy pass presented Smeltz with a chance, but Malaysian captain Zamani Misbah slid in to cut out the threat.
It was the visitors who launched the next raid, a 52nd minute charge led by Amri Yahyah down the left at pace. He cut inside and fired in a cross which Hay completely muffed as he looked to hook clear. Fortunately for New Zealand, Moss was on hand to help out his captain.
The All Whites didn't make as much use of the width of the pitch as they could have done in this match, which disappointed given their change of formation - to 4-3-3 from 4-4-2 - generally allows for greater exploitation of the open spaces around and behind unwilling full-backs. On the occasions they did play with width, they looked a far more dangerous combination, and stretched the Malaysians' rearguard to its limits.
Generally, however, much of the All Whites' attacking play was conducted inside the penalty area lines which parallel the touchlines, thus allowing the Malaysians to get bodies aplenty in between ball and goal and make life rather difficult for opponents who were being buoyed on by the vocal home crowd, keen to see a triumph on home turf rarely trodden by any of the code's national teams.
Ronny Harun blocked a Smeltz header, after Bertos had pounced on a loose ball in the 54th minute. Two minutes later, Smeltz did well to anticipate an opening on the right, and linked with Bertos, who clipped a cross onto Webster's head. Mustafa, who was to have a splendid second half, grabbed the midfielder's header by his left-hand post.
Just after the hour, the All Whites came very close to regaining the lead. Webster's cross picked out Banks, who unselfishly headed the ball across goal to Bertos. A touch put Smeltz in close to goal, but desperate Malaysian defending saved the day, albeit at the expense of a corner. Bertos' delivery picked out Hay's head, but his downward header flew across the face of goal to safety.
Andrew Barron was introduced to the fray soon after, and wasted little time in introducing himself to the action, letting fly with a twenty-yarder in the 67th minute. Three minutes later, Brown's hanging cross was flapped at by Mustafa, but Bertos was unable to get the ball under control with the goal untended
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ahead of him - cue groans aplenty from the masses.
Nineteen minutes from time, Malaysia somehow survived another Smeltz-inspired scare, the striker latching onto substitute Jeremy Brockie's pass and deftly evading three opponents before seeing his shot blocked by the legs of Mustafa. Bertos pounced on the rebound and picked out Smeltz once more, but the striker's shot on the turn crept a foot past the post.
Still New Zealand pressed, another newcomer, debutant Jarrod Smith, cutting inside and letting fly from twenty yards with a grasscutter which Mustafa grabbed at full stretch as it arrowed towards the bottom left-hand corner of his goal.
The `keeper then tipped Brockie's dipping twenty yard volley over the crossbar, but only after the visitors had threatened to stun the locals with a lightning-fast counter-attack in the 79th minute. Rudie Ramli rewarded Hoong's overlapping run with a neat pass, and the fullback scythed into the penalty area before drilling a low shot across both Moss and the face of goal.
Eight minutes from time, generally well-performed referee Neil Fox made his one glaring blemish of the night when denying the All Whites a penalty. James Pritchett - another winning his first cap - flighted a delightful cross to the far post, Brockie his intended target.
There's not a lot a striker can do when a defender has his arm across him, preventing him from jumping, so it was no surprise to see the dreadlocked substitute go to ground with the offender, Harun, for company. What was a surprise was the lack of a whistle signalling the infringement - Malaysia breathed again.
Two minutes later, the visitors were thanking Mustafa profusely, after he pulled off a stunning point-blank range save to thwart Brockie's close-range header, Smeltz having flicked an angled cross from Hickey into his path six yards from goal.
Seconds later, another Smeltz flick, this time of a raking clearance from Moss, put Brockie in once more. But the substitute ballooned his effort over the crossbar after cutting inside to improve his angle.
Two minutes from time, Sali stupidly scythed down Hickey, conceding a free-kick fifteen yards inside his half, and picking up one of three yellow cards administered to the visiting side. The danger wasn't that evident, and after Barron's delivery had picked out Hay, the Malaysians snuffed it out.
Not completely, however. For Bertos picked up the pieces and played the ball across to Barron, who had, by now, moved forward to support the attack. Wasting little time upon receipt of the pass, the substitute battered the ball goalwards, only for the massed ranks of Malaysia's rearguard to stand firm.
The ball cannoned back to Barron, whose second effort thundered through the throngs then thrashed the netting abaft a crestfallen Mustafa and his Malaysian team-mates, who had fallen once again to a late match-winning goal from the All Whites, 2-1 victors, much to the delight of the masses, with whom the local heroes rejoiced at the end.
All Whites: Moss; Pritchett, Old, Hay, Hickey; Fleming (Brockie, 65), Brown, Webster (Barron, 65); Smeltz, Banks (Smith, 70), Bertos
Malaysia: Mustafa; Veeran, Harun, Misbah, Hoong; Saari (Azmi, 75) (Zainal, 87), Jaafar (booked, 48), Kalliappan, Yahyah (Surendran, 59 (booked, 90)); Sali (booked, 88), Ramli
Referee: Neil Fox
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