Central United v. Napier City Rovers, 31/5/03

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Late Late Show Sees Central Home

by Jeremy Ruane

Neil Sykes certainly picked his moment to score his first goal of the season for Central United - you don’t get much more timely than two minutes into injury time in the dying stages of a Southern Trust National League sudden-death semi-final at Kiwitea Street on May 31.

It also proved to be the match-winner in a roller-coaster encounter against Napier City Rovers, Central’s 1-0 lead having turned into a 2-1 advantage to the visitors, before, urged on by a six hundred-strong crowd - a great turn-out given there was a full round of Northern League action taking place at the same time, the home team came back to eke out a 3-2 victory and keep alive their hopes of taking out the title.

Central now face a trip to Centennial Park on June 8 to take on Miramar Rangers, who succumbed 2-0 to East Auckland at that same venue, thanks to first half goals from Nik Viljoen and Joey Waugh, whose sweetly-struck winner has ensured the newcomers to National League football will take part in the Grand Final at North Harbour Stadium on June 15.

Their Auckland rivals will hope to join them, but the early indications from their clash with Napier suggested that it would be the Bluebird Chatham Cup holders who would keep alive their hopes of progressing to the next phase of the play-offs, as they settled the quicker of the two teams.

Apart from a rasping Shane Pascoe thirty-yarder, which was saved by Steve Graham low to his right in the second minute, Central failed to create anything of note in the first twenty minutes, during which time Napier could have twice broken the deadlock.

Jimmy Cudd rewarded Leon Birnie’s clever off-the-ball running with a measured pass in the fourteenth minute, and the striker turned goalwards and outpaced Central’s defence. His drive was turned to safety by Paul Malan, the goalkeeper’s parry flying across the bows of the incoming Chris McIvor, who was a couple of strides away from steering the ball into the empty net.

Four minutes later, Malan saved his side again, this time from his own error. Brad Scott got to the byline on the right and whipped in a cross to the near post which foxed the goalkeeper, who was anticipating the ball being pulled back across goal. The ball struck Malan and spun goalwards, the custodian recovering to stop the sphere on the line.

Two one-on-one opportunities took place at either end of the ground in the next five minutes, with the goalkeepers coming up trumps on both occasions. Graham was smartly off his line to save at the feet of Jeff Campbell, as he pursued a Daniel Koprivcic through ball, while Scott’s quick free-kick at the other end of the ground seconds later sent McIvor motoring through, only for the striker to gift the ball to a grateful Malan near the edge of his penalty area.

Miro Major sparked Central’s most incisive move of the first half-hour three minutes shy of the mark, the midfielder leading his team out of defence before producing a splendid crossfield pass which Campbell took in his stride. The striker rounded the covering defender before drilling a shot across the face of goal and just past the far post.

A ponderous McIvor was punished for his indecision by James Paterson’s timely challenge in the 36th minute, after Birnie had crossed to his unmarked front-running partner. The sluggish striker was to make amends five minutes later, but by then, Central had taken the lead.

Major’s corner to the far post resulted in a looping header from Campbell which arced over the back-pedalling Graham and dropped into the back of the net - a well-taken goal, given the difficulty of execution, but one was left to wonder if the goalkeeper for whom Graham was deputising, Mark Paston, would have been beaten by the effort, were he not on All Whites’ duty at present.

Not that Central were concerned by such thoughts - they were delighted at taking the lead, but their joy lasted all of seventy seconds. For Napier came storming downfield, with Jonathan Taylor - the best-performed defender on the park - releasing Birnie down the left.

Defenders were lured to him like moths to a light, so when the ball was fired across to the

far post, McIvor had daylight for company. He made the most of it, his unerring finish from ten yards bringing about the 1-1 half-time score.

The second spell began brightly, in sharp contrast to the seeming sterility of the first half-hour. Graham pawed a wickedly curling twenty-five yard free-kick from Major to safety just two minutes into the half, and was handily placed to thwart half-time substitute Steve Callinan five minutes later, as he headed goalwards on receipt of a Campbell cross.

In between times, a glancing header from Birnie fizzed across the face of goal following a McIvor raid, but it was a clumsy foul by another Central substitute, Paul Vodanovich, who replaced the injured Dean Tallentire in the first half, which was to prove crucial to the scoreline changing again.

The incident - McIvor was the unwilling victim - took place in the 53rd minute, towards the left-hand edge of Central’s penalty area. Scott stepped up and whipped in a low free-kick which Dean Johnston launched himself at. The midfielder could not hide his delight at the sight of the ball nestling in the back of the net via his text-book diving header - 2-1, Napier.

At this, Central turned up the tempo, only for Taylor to match their rise in quality. After blocking a Callinan drive, he was on hand to clear off the line from Campbell, to whom the ball had rebounded.

Seconds later, Graham pulled off a fine flying save to his right to thwart the well-performed Campbell, who produced his best performance to date in a Central shirt in this match. Then Taylor intervened again, this time turning a Koprivcic drive to safety as the home team sought to restore parity.

They achieved their objective in the 64th minute. Campbell’s corner to the near post was headed out by Anthony Lyons to Major, who was lurking with intent just outside the penalty area. One twenty-yard drive struck hard and low through a crowded goalmouth into the bottom right-hand corner of the static Graham’s goal later, all discovered just how great his intent was - a cracking strike!

There was only one team in it at this point, and Central were determined not to let Napier back into the game again. Only a solid interception by Graham prevented Callinan’s low cross from reaching Campbell two minutes after the equaliser, while six minutes later, Major’s through ball released Callinan down the right, and after cleverly evading the attentions of Lyons, the substitute found Graham blocking his way to goal once more.

Napier mounted sporadic raids on their opponents’ goal in the remaining minutes, but none which unduly troubled Malan, who was urging his team-mates on to score the winner. Time was running out, however, and "Golden Goal" extra-time was looming large when the home team forced a corner on Napier’s left, three minutes into stoppage time.

The visitors, this time, would have to defend it without Taylor, who was receiving treatment off the park for a head injury. His presence was certainly missed by Napier, as Campbell’s corner arced across the penalty area to the far post. Jonathan Smith’s looping header tested Graham, but he was able to paw the ball skywards from under the crossbar.

Bruce Hill, a great chaser of lost causes for Central’s benefit at the best of times, proved his worth once more, this time looping a header back across goal. The sphere struck the inside of the far post and bounced down, with Sykes getting the touch which sent the ball over the line, before Callinan’s stooping header made absolutely certain of the fact that Central were back in front, 3-2.

They had two more minutes to hold on before referee Steve Sargent, officiating in his last Southern Trust National League match, blew the final whistle to signal the end of Napier’s hopes of progress in the competition, and keep alive the prospect of an all-Auckland Grand Final in a fortnight’s time.

Central: Malan; Paterson, Tallentire (Vodanovich, 37), Smith, Pascoe; Major, Hill, Aliaga (Callinan, 46), Sykes; Campbell, Koprivcic

Napier: Graham; Gilbertson, Taylor, Cotton, Lyons; Johnston, McCormick (booked, 35), Cudd, Scott (Gearey, 84); McIvor, Birnie

Referee: Steve Sargent

National League