Team Wellington v. Hawkes Bay United, 25/11/07

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Wellington Hold On At Expense Of Resurgent Bay

by Jeremy Ruane

Team Wellington moved to the outright lead in the Southern Trust NZ Football Championship at Newtown Park on November 25, but were made to work exceedingly hard for their 4-3 victory over a gutsy Hawkes Bay United side, who found themselves three goals down after half-an-hour yet drew level.

In an enthralling game, the home team were first to flex their attacking muscles, Peter Halstead and George Barbarouses both going close inside the opening seven minutes of play.

Bay responded in kind, Jarrod Smith warming Phil Imray's gloves before Jeremy Brockie rattled the sidenetting in the eleventh minute of a match which took a few minutes more to begin to develop a consistent pattern.

When it did, it saw a regular path being beaten towards the Hawkes Bay goal, as Wellington assumed the ascendancy from around the twenty-minute mark. It was at this point that the impressive Adam Birch forced a smothering save from United custodian Mitch O'Brien, after producing a delightful first touch to control Raf de Gregorio's pass.

The former All White released the talented but tetchy Graham Little down the left two minutes later. He raced to the by-line before whipping a cross into the goalmouth which invited either Halstead or Barbarouses to take full advantage. Neither did, thanks to the intervention of Ian Hogg.

Wellington attacked again two minutes later, de Gregorio and Little again linking up, this time with assistance from Birch, who was thwarted well at close quarters by the alert figure of O'Brien.

United's goalkeeper hadn't a prayer in the 27th minute, however, as the table-toppers struck what was to be the first of three goals in a devastating four-minute spell. The architect of the opportunity was Barbarouses, whose scintillating run at United's defence took out three opponents prior to Little being presented with a shooting chance.

O'Brien blocked it, but the rebound fell perfectly for Peter Howe, who, from fifteen yards on the angle, unleashed an absolute thunderbolt of a shot into the far corner of the net - the sweetest of strikes from the defender, who greatly relished scoring against his old club.

United were still reeling from this blow when Wellington pressed again inside sixty seconds, forcing a corner. Howe's delivery found Sean Douglas steaming in on the far post, and his close-range header fair rocketed into the roof of the net with such ferocity that it never bounced down, but stuck there!

2-0 became 3-0 on the half-hour mark, but the incident from which it materialised should never have come to pass. Referee Jim Murphy - he had a day at the office he would far rather regret - awarded handball against Hogg when there wasn't even the merest hint of the defender using his hands, as happens when the ball strikes your back!

Hawkes Bay protests were ignored, but while they were bemoaning their ill-fortune, Wellington contrived a quick free-kick which culminated in Little surging into the penalty area. O'Brien blocked his effort, but Halstead was following in and tucked home the rebound - 3-0, and the contest seemingly over.

It certainly would have been had O'Brien not saved at the feet of Little in the 32nd minute, as the lively firebrand chased down a raking Imray clearance. But Bay, who began the day in fourth place, showed commendable character to stem the tide and strike a blow for their cause before the break.

That came in the 37th minute, with Graham Fyfe - easily the best player in the visitors' all-white kit - linking with Hogg on the left. His angled cross was flicked on by Brockie, and as Wellington's rearguard hesitated in dealing with the loose ball, Smith stole in to poke home a goal which invigorated the visitors' collective resolve at a time when it was most necessary.

Suitably buoyed, they pounded away in search of a second goal before the interval, Greig Henslee volleying wide in the 41st minute after Hogg, Fyfe, Brockie and the hard-working Sam Messam joined forces for the visitors' cause.

Three minutes later, Birch headed off the line after Fyfe's splendid free-kick had brought both Smith and Henslee into contention for scoring Bay's second goal of the half, the latter then being thwarted by the combined efforts of Mike Wilson and Wiremu Patrick as he strove to turn home a Fyfe cross in stoppage time.

Having ended the half with their tails up, despite being 3-0 down, United came out for the second spell intent on reducing the deficit still further. Five minutes after the resumption, Fyfe sent Smith - who was offside but not flagged - racing through, and raced forward in anticipation of a return pass.

When it came, Fyfe sent his shot flashing wide of Imray's right-hand post, an effort which proved to be a sight-setter for his splendid piece of opportunism just two minutes later, a quickly-taken twenty-five yard free-kick which caught Wellington

napping and left Imray beaten all ends up as it crashed into the net behind him - 3-2.

“What the heck's going on here?” was the home team's collective reaction to this setback, and they proceeded to roll their sleeves up and get stuck into a contest which was seemingly in the bag after half-an-hour's play.

Little and Barbarouses combined on the right in the 56th minute, as Wellington began to redress proceedings. Halstead was the beneficiary of their activity, and smashed a shot wide of the mark but against the back stanchion, off which the ball cannoned back into play.

Referee Murphy thought the striker's shot had ricocheted off the post, and allowed play to continue. To say Bay were incensed was an understatement, and their mood darkened further before the hour mark, when three bookable incidents took place.

Of the offenders, only Henslee was carded by the official, Little and Patrick both escaping Murphy's attentions despite going in with a couple of challenges which can most kindly be termed robust, an indication that the referee was on the verge of losing the contest, given the frequency with which petty niggles had begun to creep into proceedings.

Just after the hour mark, both Douglas and United's Sam Jenkins were forced to head the ball over their own crossbars to avert the danger posed by opposition raids, while in the 64th minute, O'Brien gratefully grabbed a long-range effort from Douglas, the defender's last act prior to hobbling off with a knee injury.

His absence in Wellington's rearguard was exploited to the fullest by United five minutes later. Brockie broke down the right and fired over a cross-shot which Imray pawed away superbly under threat from the incoming Messam.

Smith gathered the ball evaded a couple of challenges before letting fly from a tight angle. His shot was blocked, with Messam swooping on the rebound. He was promptly tripped, and referee Murphy didn't hesitate - penalty, much to the ire of Wellington's squad, a number of whom surrounded the official venting their spleens at the way he and his assistants were handling things.

Their actions made not the slightest bit of difference - a penalty was awarded, and as far as Mr Murphy was concerned, it would be taken. Fyfe stepped up to give Imray no chance, and bring about a 3-3 scoreline which was barely conceivable less than an hour ago.

It lasted all of two minutes. While still in celebratory mode, United yielded a free-kick some twenty-five yards out from goal on the left. O'Brien dutifully lined up his defensive wall, but it mattered not one whit to de Gregorio, who simply smashed the ball over all-comers into the top near corner to put Wellington back in front, 4-3.

Having come back from the day, Bay were stunned by this latest setback, and set about redressing the balance virtually straight away. Brockie volleyed ingloriously over the top in the 75th minute, his effort sailing high, wide and anything but handsome from inside the six-yard box.

Four minutes later, Fyfe and Brockie combined to set Sam Jenkins on a darting run towards goal, which culminated in a fierce drive grabbed greedily by Imray at the second attempt.

Five minutes from time, United pressed again. Fyfe's free-kick wasn't cleared, allowing substitute Stu Wilson to unleash a low twenty-yarder through the crowd. Imray saw it late, but got down well to smother the effort, before smothering another from Brockie in the 88th minute as the one-time All White scythed inside from the right on a mazy run past three opponents.

Still Bay pressed for the equaliser they so desperately craved. Jenkins smashed a twenty-five yard screamer a yard past Imray's right-hand post during stoppage time, a spell in which Fyfe's deep cross to the far post found Smith lurking to hook the ball into the goalmouth.

Imray grabbed the ball as substitute David Gearey and two defenders ended up in the net behind him, the Bay man clearly hoping that he may have won the race on this occasion.

But the giant goalkeeper had other ideas, and it was while the ball was in his safe hands that referee Murphy finally extinguished the visitors' hopes of pulling off the most unlikely of comebacks, Team Wellington climbing to the outright NZFC lead as they held out for a 4-3 win over a Hawkes Bay United side which was gallant in defeat in a game in which a point apiece was fully merited.

Team Wellington: Imray; Peters, Douglas (Whalen, 65), M. Wilson, Patrick; de Gregorio (booked, 68), Birch (booked, 90), Barbarouses (Corrales, 65), Howe; Little, Halstead

Hawkes Bay: O'Brien; Jenkins, Peverley, Parkin, Hogg; Brockie (Gearey, 90), Henslee (booked, 58), Cudd (Taylor, 82), Fyfe; Smith, Messam (S. Wilson, 74)

Referee: Jim Murphy

National League