Mangere United v. Central United, 28/3/04

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Central Welcome Mangere To The Premier League

by Jeremy Ruane

Mangere United have enjoyed a meteoric rise through the grades in the Northern League. In 2001, they entered the Third Division, and won it at the first attempt. A season later, they repeated the dose in the Second Division, and last year, only East Coast Bays prevented them from securing a third successive championship, this time that of the First Division.

However, their second placing was enough to clinch promotion to the Northern Premier League for the 2004 season, and given their impressive Bluebird Chatham Cup displays in the last couple of campaigns - a narrow defeat by Bay Olympic and a penalty shoot-out loss to North Shore United - such is their reputation that much is expected of them in the premier club competition in the northern region throughout this campaign.

Prior to their fourth round fixture on March 28, they had enjoyed a mixed beginning - an opening day win over Tauranga City United, a draw at Metro, and a loss to defending Premier League champions Glenfield Rovers last weekend.

Their latest match found the South Auckland club up against the early-season pace-setters, Central United, a club which, like Mangere, has risen from humble beginnings to reach the heights they have attained at local and national level over the last decade.

Along the way, they have looked to set standards, both on the field and off. It’s fair to say that while the home team have gone some way along the path to following in Central’s footsteps on the pitch, their facilities have failed to keep pace with their progress, so much so that a strong argument could be put forward regarding the club’s eligibility to be part of the Premier League, on the grounds of criteria.

Compulsory aspects of same, such as secure playing access for players and officials between the playing arena and changing rooms, spectator barriers (specifically continuous fencing permanent pipe railings), separate (four) changing rooms to accommodate the first and reserve teams of both clubs, and ample public seating arrangements - to mention just four items - were conspicuous by their absence as the throngs gathered at Mangere Centre Park for what was an eagerly anticipated encounter.

A delay to the start of the match - dangerous holes were found in a goalmouth during the pre-match inspection of a pitch which had been used for the reserve grade curtain-raiser (so why hadn’t they been discovered prior to that game?) - meant players and supporters of both teams were faced with the task of keeping warm for an additional fifteen minutes, as a chilling cross-field wind indicated that autumn is finally upon us in the northern region.

Finally, the action got under way, and Central were quick to settle into their stride, so much so that their first half performance ranks as the best this writer has seen by a Northern Premier League team so far this season.

By the interval, Allan Jones’ charges had the points all but wrapped up, their 4-1 half-time advantage eventually swelling to a 5-1 victory come the final whistle, the visitors opting to play safe in the second spell, given the challenging playing conditions with which both teams were faced.

After Steve Callinan had an eighth minute effort denied by the offside flag, and Heath McCormack had sent a drive flying across the face of goal, only a goal-line clearance by Krishneil Singh prevented the visitors from opening the scoring in the eleventh minute, after Neil Sykes’ corner had been flicked on by McCormack for Jonathan Smith.

A long-range effort from Mangere’s Blagoja Spirovski fizzed over the crossbar defended by the team he played for last season, an act to which Central responded by a McCormack-led raid which forced a corner. Miro Major’s delivery to the near post was flicked on by the impressive Shane Pascoe, and Callinan sent a close-range header crashing into the net.

Despite only leading 1-0, Central eased off a touch, and Mangere were quick to impose themselves on proceedings, Inoke Boseilala and Leaveil Titus briefly taking charge of the midfield battle and orchestrating a couple of tidy attacks which petered out in the final third of the pitch - a not uncommon sight in any Premier League game seen this season.

Central briefly countered with a neat left-wing raid which featured Pascoe, McCormack and Greg Uhlmann, who provided the pass which saw Sykes evade a challenge and send a shot narrowly over the giant frame of evergreen custodian, Triss Clark - older readers might recall a full-colour action shot of the same player on the back of an edition of Soccer Express nigh on twenty years ago!!

Clark and his colleagues were celebrating in the 24th minute, as Spirovski walloped home a penalty for Mangere, after Central’s Paul Seaman was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area by referee Steve Fletcher, who controlled this game very well indeed -

while he is often noted for his card-wielding exploits, it is inappropriate to overlook his contribution to a fixture when he gets the mix of man-management and law enforcement just right, as on this occasion.

Central were quick to re-impose themselves on proceedings, following Mangere’s equaliser, and after McCormack had squandered an opening cultivated by the hard-working Daniel Mortensen and Sykes when side-footing, Jonathan Smith took centre-stage with a thirteen-minute hat-trick.

The visitors absolutely dominated the last twenty minutes of the half, and Mangere had no answers to the impressive display of the now outright league leaders. On the half-hour, Mortensen sent McCormack scurrying down the right, from where he cut inside to lay the ball into the path of Smith’s supporting run. The midfielder buried the ball past Clark - 2-1.

Three minutes later, the same player headed home a pinpoint corner to the far post from Major to put Central firmly in command. And in between saves by Clark from Seaman and McCormack, Smith could have completed his hat-trick in just eight minutes. But his finish lacked the finesse of the approach play, in which Callinan, Pascoe and Major were intrinsic components.

The midfielder proved a quick learner from his blazed finish, for, three minutes before the interval, his hat-trick duly arrived. It was largely self-made, too, for Smith’s anticipation and subsequent interception of Vivian Wickham’s pass turned defence into attack in an instant.

A slick one-two with McCormack then invited a calm, collected conclusion past Clark - 4-1, and it could have been more, with Major and McCormack both going close before the half-time whistle.

Rare indeed have been the occasions when Mangere have found themselves staring down the barrel of a thrashing in their entire Northern League history - of the nine defeats in their seventy games prior to this season, only a 6-0 thumping at Waitemata in 2002 and a 5-1 mauling at home by Mt. Albert-Ponsonby last season bear comparison with what they were faced with today.

Thus their task in the second half was one of respectability, more than anything else. This they achieved, with Aaron Yakub, Singh and substitute Vishal Lal going closest to breaching Nicholson’s goal for a second time.

But all too often, promising moves broke down through a combination of errors, misjudgements and some stout Central defending - Uhlmann and Paul Vodanovich were as steadfast as Pascoe and Mortensen in ensuring that there would be no additions to the home team’s tally.

Ahead of that quartet, Central, although under instructions to play sensibly in the conditions, never ceased to look to build on their advantage, although Callinan, with a wayward header, and Major, with a pulled shot wide of the mark, were guilty of poor finishing prior to the seventy minute mark.

At that point, Mortensen, Major, Callinan and substitute Daniel Koprivcic produced a fine move down the right, the last-mentioned forcing a solid save from Clark after working a neat one-two with Major.

The playmaker went close with a free-kick soon after, awarded after a slide-rule pass from Major had sent Koprivcic galloping clear, only to be impeded by the challenge of Nick Raoma. A certain Spanish referee would doubtless have awarded a penalty in the same situation, but after consulting with his assistant, Sam Narayan, referee Fletcher deemed that the offence first occurred outside the penalty area, hence the set-piece opportunity.

Central didn’t have long to wait to administer the coup de grace. Fifteen minutes from time, an Uhlmann interception saw the defender play the ball forward to Sykes. Central’s captain surged forward, evaded a couple of challenges before playing the ball wide to Callinan, whose low first-time cross was swept home in style by Koprivcic to bring about the final outcome.

Having successfully realised those on-field ambitions they set out to achieve in their previous Northern League campaigns, Mangere United, having been "welcomed" to the Premier League by one of the country’s best-performed clubs over the past decade in Central United, now have new benchmarks to which they can aspire - ones which apply both on and off the park.

Mangere: Clark; Collings, Chand (booked 1) (Bhamji, 55), Raoma, Wickham (Lal, 75); Singh, Boseilala, Titus, Yakub (Prasad, 64); Spirovski, Osborne

Central: Nicholson (Harder, 86); Mortensen, Vodanovich, Uhlmann, Pascoe; Major (Quansah, 84), Seaman (booked, 5), Smith, Sykes; McCormack (Koprivcic, 60), Callinan

Referee: Steve Fletcher

Northern League