Bay Olympic v. Waitakere City, 16/4/05

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Belligerent Bay Wallop Woeful Waitakere

by Jeremy Ruane

Bay Olympic were at their belligerent best at Olympic Park on April 16, as they handed out a 5-1 hiding in the Northern Premier League to a Waitakere City side which began the day atop the table on goal difference.

Given the quality of City's squad, their league standing was to be expected, but at around 4.45pm at the end of this match - where referee Nick Groot found nine minutes of stoppage time from remains a mystery! - Dave Bright's charges remained a strong-looking squad on paper only.

Waitakere, to be blunt, were woeful. All the attributes Bay showed in abundance - heart, desire, urgency, will-to-win - were sorely lacking in a totally outplayed City side, and they went down with barely a whimper in a fixture which has become one of the key encounters in any Northern Premier League season.

The dark looks on the faces of Waitakere's founding fathers after the match spoke volumes for their thoughts on proceedings, while a fair few City fans in what was easily a 300-strong crowd - quite likely more - had made their apologies and left long before the final whistle.

Indeed, they could have comfortably bid adieu at half-time, for the game was all over as a contest by this point. Bay needed just twenty minutes to stamp their authority all over this encounter, the width, pace and enterprise offered by James Pritchett and Joe Edwards proving too much for City, who, 3-1 down inside seventeen minutes, lacked the ideas, initiative and imagination to make any real impact on opponents whose supporters were in understandably gleeful mood.

Within two-and-a-half minutes of the start, Edwards had set the tone for Bay's display, a rampaging run down the right into the penalty area past two opponents, the second of whom, Jason Rowley, sent him sprawling. Up stepped Liam Mulrooney to thrash the resulting spot-kick high into the net and open the scoring.

Within seventy-five seconds, City were level. Craig Wylie's corner was flicked on at the near post by Kris Bright, and Stuart Hogg, lurking beyond the far post, somehow steered home his shot through a crowded goalmouth, the ball ricocheting into the net off Bay's goalkeeper, John Gwin.

1-1 - game on. But Bay weren't prepared to settle for second-best on this occasion, and duly restored their advantage in the tenth minute. Pouncing on a loose ball, Edwards evaded a couple of challenges as he ploughed a lone furrow through the inside-left channel en route to the penalty area.

Into it he strode, getting to the edge of the goal area before directing a well-struck shot wide of the advancing figure of Utting and into the far corner of the net - Bay 2-1.

That was the catalyst for a spell of incessant Bay pressure which saw them produce some lovely moves, most notably in the thirteenth minute. On that occasion, Mulrooney led the charge, before splitting the defence with a pass to Davani.

He returned the compliment, Mulrooney then linking with Elliott Dye before his pass presented the Papua New Guinea international with a shooting chance, Davani's twenty-yard drive sizzling narrowly wide of Utting's right-hand post.

After Davani had got the better of Julius Kolk and

raced down the left before crossing to the near post, where Dye steered his effort wide, Bay extended their advantage still further in the seventeenth minute.

A raking clearance was flicked on by Davani to Pritchett, who turned the ball back to the striker. From twenty-five yards, Davani drilled a coruscating drive into the top right-hand corner of Utting's net - 3-1,

with Waitakere wondering what on earth was going on.

Two minutes later, the home team should have had a fourth goal. Jake Butler surged forward before playing the ball wide to Pritchett, who rampaged down the right once more before whipping in an inviting cross, Dye its target. But from six yards out, plum in front, the striker directed his header wide of the mark - it looked easier to score than miss!

City were reeling, and with the game having settled after its initial fire-and-brimstone beginning, it became a question of by how many Bay would win, because the visitors, try as they might, found penetrating their hosts' defences something of a struggle.

Only in the 39th minute, when Kris Bright headed against the outside of the near post following a Wylie corner, did they threaten to reduce the deficit, but any hopes they had of doing that were well and truly dashed in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

This time it was Mulrooney's turn to send Pritchett careering down the right, and after evading two challenges, his perfectly flighted cross dropped down by the far post, where Davani was rising unchallenged to head home Bay's fourth goal of the afternoon.

Had City been two goals in arrears at the break, they may have shown more fight in the second spell. But this injury time strike scuttled any hopes the visitors harboured of mounting a comeback, and as a result, the second half saw little of note taking place, Waitakere appearing to have given up this match as a bad day at the office.

After Utting had smothered a low shot from Pritchett - Edwards engineered the opening, Sean Hird's charges went nap in the 64th minute. Nick Farac flighted a free-kick into the goalmouth, where Davani stooped to direct his header wide of Utting and into the far corner of the net, completing his hat-trick and rendering Bay 5-1 to the good.

Long-range efforts from Pritchett and substitute Lee Judd were all Bay had to show for their efforts as they coasted through the last twenty-five minutes' running time while nine minutes from time, Hogg fired City's first shot of the half into the gloves of Gwin.

Bay's largely inactive `keeper looked on two minutes later as Michael Williams fired over the crossbar, seconds after City had justifiable claims for handball against Sakdy Phommahaxay turned away by referee Groot, the Whangarei-based official making some at times interesting decisions in a match deservedly and convincingly won by the team showing far greater appetite for the challenge.

Bay: Gwin; R. Beeston, Phommahaxay, Thompson; Pritchett (J. Beeston, 86), Butler, Mulrooney, Farac, Edwards; Dye, Davani (Kubicki, 84)

Waitakere: Utting; C. Wakefield, M. Wakefield, Rowley, Wylie (booked, 88); Williams (booked, 74), Kolk (Tinkler, 49), Hogg, Gage; Bright, Slack (Steward, 49)

Referee: Nick Groot

Northern League