Bay Olympic v. Waitakere City, 26/6/04

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Bay Come From Behind To Down Ten-Man City

by Jeremy Ruane

Bay Olympic took the overnight lead in the Northern Premier League on June 26, after Joe Edwards inspired them to a storming come-from-behind 3-2 win over fellow title rivals Waitakere City at Olympic Park, in the feature match of the competition’s seventeenth round.

There was very little to choose between the championship contenders in the first half-hour of the match, which, initially, was a largely cagey affair between teams for whom avoiding defeat was clearly high on their list of priorities.

Both goalkeepers had to produce just one noteworthy save apiece in the first thirty-odd minutes, with Scott Bishop pawing the ball out from under his crossbar to prevent team-mate Jake Butler’s back header, from Hone Fowler’s long throw-in, from gifting City the lead on the quarter hour.

Six minutes later, it was Michael Utting’s turn to warm his gloves, parrying the ball to safety after Edwards had given the gathered throngs an inkling of what he was to produce in spades later on in giving Jason Rowley the runaround before cutting in and letting fly at the target.

Otherwise, off-targets efforts were the way of things, with James Slack, Kris Bright and Craig Wylie misfiring for City, Butler and Elliott Dye replying in kind for Bay during a dull and dour opening half-hour, one which contrasted sharply with the weather conditions - it was a picture-perfect day for playing football.

It was a contest desperately in need of a goal to bring it to life, and in the 34th minute, Malcolm Wakefield duly provided the shot in the arm which set up the spectacle. Michael Williams’ corner to the far post was met by the towering figure of "Maldini", and despite the best efforts of Bishop to turn the ball to safety, City’s defender wasn’t to be denied his first goal of the season.

Having twice lost to City earlier in the season, in both league and cup action, and without scoring themselves on either occasion, the omens didn’t look good for Bay after this setback, but they tore into their opponents with gusto in the remaining minutes of the half.

Edwards led the charge, initially through the middle, before slipping a pass to Elliott Dye in the 35th minute. Utting parried his shot, with Wakefield on hand to prevent Edwards from pouncing on the rebound.

Seconds later, Edwards and Reg Davani teamed up on the left flank, the former being denied penalty claims when tripped by Chris Gage as he tip-toed his way through the Olympic Park tulips!

Referee Steve Fletcher - a top-drawer display of officiating - instead waved play on, as Davani took over the attack. He got in a cross for Dye, who got in between Utting and Nathan Fry before squeezing the ball through to Butler. But before he could pounce, Rowley swooped to clear the danger.

The pressure continued to mount on City, and in the 39th minute, they suffered what proved to be a crucial setback. Edwards’ quick feet proved too much so for Geoff Gray, whose ill-timed challenge left the Bay man writhing in agony. But with Bay still in possession, referee Fletcher allowed play to continue, which gave Davani time to cross to the near post, where Sakdy Phommahaxay steered the ball wide of the post at full stretch.

With the ball out of play, the official promptly dealt with the offence, and out of his back pocket came the red card, meaning City would be without Gray for the duration.

With their game-breaker clearly hobbling, Bay had to find another avenue through which they could pursue an equaliser - not a problem when James Pritchett is the other winger in the team. He cut in from the right wing three minutes before the interval and scythed through three challenges before laying the ball off to Dye, whose first-time shot was easy pickings for Utting.

It had been all Bay since the goal, but in the 44th minute, City launched a raid which culminated in a corner. Williams’ delivery to the near post was deflected past Bishop by Lee Judd, the defender’s contribution giving City a 2-0 half-time advantage against opponents they trailed by six points on the table going into this match - their need to halve the deficit was paramount to their title hopes.

Bay, having played a game more than both City and leaders Central United, who they would leap-frog for at least twenty-four hours by winning this match, effectively had nothing more to lose when they came out for the second spell. And they wasted little time in putting their numerical advantage to good use.

Inside the first one hundred seconds of the half, Davani and Butler linked in the penalty area, the former’s low cross picking out Dye. Utting parried his shot superbly, but Butler flung himself forward to head home the rebound, only for the offside flag to cut short Bay’s celebrations.

For all of a mere twenty seconds! City’s free-kick was quickly taken, but poorly utilised. For Edwards pounced on a stray pass out of defence and took off on one of his trademark mazy solo runs, leaving three opponents in his wake before rifling a shot across Utting into the far corner of the net to put the home team back in the match - 2-1, game on!

The ten men were reeling, but stood firm in the face of growing pressure from a team with their tails well and truly up. Utting was right behind an Andrew Dixon effort, after Edwards, Dye and Liam Mulrooney had linked up, while another Edwards break down the right ten minutes into the second spell culminated in a cross which zoomed across the bows of the incoming Davani, as Bay sought an equaliser.

Their momentum was temporarily halted by an unlikely source. Referee’s assistant Steve Budai, no stranger to unusual incidents this season, twisted his ankle as a result of stepping on the ball as it went out of play in his immediate vicinity!! It gave City the chance to regroup, with coach Tommy Mason noticeably taking the opportunity to rally the troops.

City’s reprieve was temporary, for Bay came on strong once more, in the 69th minute. Mulrooney’s corner cleared the flapping figure of Utting, only for Phommahaxay to head over the crossbar.

Three minutes later, the home team drew level. Another darting run from Edwards had the City defence in a quandary, and the Bay man took advantage of it to thread a pass through to Davani. The Papua New Guinea international turned and shot in the one movement, his drive bulleting past the diving Utting to set up a grandstand finish - 2-2.

With City on the back-foot, Bay continued to press - given previous results this season, the scent of revenge was in their nostrils, as was the knowledge that a home win would put a huge dent in City’s title prospects.

Edwards was into everything. Another of his raids, in the 73rd minute, culminated in Butler drilling a shot across the face of goal. Three minutes later, his cross, following a short corner with Mulrooney, saw Davani’s header cleared off the line by Williams.

Four minutes on, another Mulrooney corner picked out Pritchett. He lobbed the ball into the goalmouth, with Davani edging out Utting in the resulting aerial duel. The striker laid the ball off to Phommahaxay, who blazed the ball over the bar from eight yards - the volume of the groans from the Bay faithful said everything.

They were cranking up the volume for all the right reasons in the 81st minute, however, as Bay took the lead. Mulrooney played a short free-kick to Edwards, who returned the pass to the former City player some twenty-five yards out from goal. Mulrooney met the ball on the run, and sent a twenty-five yard screamer soaring into the top left-hand corner of Utting’s goal to give the eleven men the upper hand on the scoreboard for the first time in the match.

How Bay rejoiced, but if they thought it was all over, they should have known better. City, in the face of adversity, began to assert themselves, knowing full well the implications of defeat for their championship ambitions.

As an attacking unit, they had barely looked the part throughout this match, which against a rearguard as frail as Bay’s back-line has proven to be this season, was quite surprising. Slack and Bright had looked to impose themselves whenever possible, but central to their cause was the old adage, "possession is nine-tenths of the law". Bay dominated that statistic, and when City had the ball, they didn’t make best use of it.

Until they found themselves behind on the scoreboard, that is. Suddenly, Bay found themselves on the back-foot, as City laid siege in search of an equaliser. Slack dispossessed Jason Thompson on the right in the 82nd minute, and set off downfield, with Bright ahead of him and Wylie making a tremendous supporting run from midfield.

Slack’s cross zoomed across the bows of both players, but Wylie gathered the lost cause and fired in another cross, Bright his target. Bishop’s intervention thwarted that raid, and the largely inactive Bay ‘keeper was again to the fore four minutes later, as a Wylie free-kick to the far post found Bright, the league’s leading goalscorer, completely unmarked. His header rocketed towards the top corner, only for Bishop to paw the ball to safety.

From the resulting corner, Rowley headed over from Fry’s cross, before Bay rampaged downfield once more. Davani shot at Utting in the 88th minute, before seven minutes of stoppage time produced just one more genuine goalscoring opportunity, and a breathtaking save to match it.

Pritchett and Davani worked a delightful opening on the right flank, the latter doubling round the former as they worked their way in-field, before Davani threaded the needle to put Pritchett into the penalty area. His low cross invited Dye to drill the ball home, but when a hard, low drive into the bottom far corner beckoned, he opted to shoot hard and high, which resulted in Utting producing a superb save to keep his team in contention.

City weren’t able to capitalise on this let-off, however, and the final whistle was greeted with much delight by Bay’s players and fans, who had the added compensation of knowing their side was on top of the table for twenty-four hours at least.

Bay: Bishop; Dixon, Phommahaxay, Judd, Thompson; Pritchett, Mulrooney, Butler, Edwards; Davani, Dye

City: Utting; Rowley, Wakefield, Fowler; Gage (Chaloner, 79), Williams, Gray (sent-off, 39), Fry (Scaife, 90), Wylie; Bright (booked, 84), Slack

Referee: Steve Fletcher

Northern League