A Little Bit Of Everything In Game Of Season To Date by Jeremy Ruane Onehunga Sports and Bay Olympic produced unquestionably the game of the season thus far when they clashed in the Northern Premier League at Fergusson Park in inclement conditions on June 1. Despite the rain and the testing playing surface, both teams produced a magnificent passion-packed blood-and-thunder no-holds-barred Central Auckland derby from first whistle to last, and where Sports were the beneficiaries of a last-minute winner when they last clashed, this time Bay enjoyed the pleasure only a last-gasp winner can bring about, as they struck twice at the death to down their rivals 3-2. And it really did have everything - stunning goals, sendings-off, superb saves, defiant defending, controversy, a dramatic finale ... and two fully committed teams going at it hammer and tongs for the full ninety-seven minutes. Both teams began brightly, but it wasn’t until the ninth minute when the first save came about, Sports’ Mark Fulcher denying Joe Edwards at the second attempt, after the speedster had been released down the right by Sean Hird. From the resulting clearance, John Gwin got his first touch of the ball, provided him by Mark Elrick, after the former All White striker had been picked out by his co-coach at Sports, Eddie Kennedy. The next five minutes saw "The Green Machine" very much under the cosh, as Bay went for an early opener. Fulcher dropped a super corner from Danny Donegan under pressure from Danny McHenery, but recovered before the striker could capitalise. Bay came closer still in the thirteenth minute, as Hamish Carmody breached Sports’ offside trap and careered inside from the right flank. Stuart Mair was leading Sports’ retreat, but Donegan was ahead of them all, and Carmody duly picked him out. But with the ‘keeper to beat, the young midfielder hit the crossbar. Sports scrambled the rebound of this chance clear, and repeated this process two minutes later, after Fulcher had tipped a looping Sakdy Phommahaxay header onto the crossbar following a Carmody corner. A goal had to come, but it was the home side who were celebrating it in the sixteenth minute. Hird erred near the edge of his penalty area, and Michael Loftus pounced on the loose ball before threading it across to Elrick, whose angled shot arrowed across Gwin into his bottom left-hand corner. Elrick almost conjured something out of nothing two minutes later, as Sports charged again. The wily front-man weaved through three challenges down the left before whipping in a cross to the far post from the by-line. Unbelievably, no-one in green had covered that option, with three players having gone to the near post - a chance lost. Back came Bay, Phommahaxay latching onto a loose ball in the twentieth minute and slipping McHenery through the home team’s defence. Fulcher saved on this occasion, as he did seven minutes later from Lee Judd’s twenty-five yard drive, after Marty Miller, Edwards, McHenery and Donegan had combined, albeit with an interception from Sports’ Mark Baker along the way. In the 32nd minute, Bay drew level. Carmody’s corner picked out Phommahaxay, and the defender’s header looped over all and sundry and dropped into the top left-hand corner of Fulcher’s net, with all and sundry looking on spellbound. Instantly, Bay increased their efforts, with Fulcher punching a Donegan corner to the edge of his penalty area. Noel Kilkenny was lurking there, but was looking for the nearest worm-hole seconds later, after executing the perfect air-shot!! In the 37th minute, Elrick had a beautifully taken goal ruled out for offside, then had another goalbound effort blocked by Phommahaxay, after Darren McClennan had streaked down the left flank with Bay all at sea defensively. Unperturbed, the visitors responded once more, this time via an Edwards break down the right. Inside for McHenery, but nowhere further, for Sports’ best performer, Blair Ramsey, produced a fine tackle to thwart the striker in the act of shooting. The resulting clearance went through to Gwin, but McClennan kept chasing, and almost gained due reward for doing so, as he caught Bay’s ’keeper dribbling out of defence. Fortunately for Gwin, the goal-line came up too quickly for the former All White speedster to capitalise on the situation. The first half had been an absolutely barnstorming affair, and while the teams went to the dressing rooms at 1-1, it really could have been any old scoreline. Bay would likely have enjoyed the lead at the break, but were continually falling foul of Sports’ offside trap. For the likes of Donegan in particular, there could be no excuse for this - being the player nearest the touchline offered him the opportunity to look across the line and see where he was, and where the opposition was, and time his run accordingly. All too often, however, Donegan fell foul of the offside flag, a trend which continued into the second spell. In the 58th minute, half-time substitute Willie McClure intercepted a Hird pass and promptly played Kennedy through the middle. The co-coach raced on and drew Gwin out of goal before slipping the ball to McClennan. You would have backed "Mac Attack" to find the back of an open goal on any given day, but on this occasion, you’d have lost your money - inexplicably, he fired wide! Still Sports pressed, and in the 65th minute, they were celebrating an absolute peach of a goal, scored by Kennedy. Murray Saunders - another solid performer - released McClennan down the right with a crossfield ball, but his cross was cleared to Kennedy. With minimal back-lift, the former Napier City Rovers player picked his spot, and placed a beautifully timed and struck thirty yard drive into the top right-hand corner of Gwin’s goal - the ‘keeper barely moved until after the ball had struck the stanchion and cannoned out of the net again. 2-1 Sports, but there was no way Bay were going to give up at this point. Right from the kick-off, they charged downfield, with Fulcher pulling off an unbelievable one-handed save near the edge of his penalty area from McHenery. The rebound fell to Edwards, whose shot cannoned off Saunders’ back. Edwards had another go, and this time it was Ramsey who denied the visitors the equaliser they sought. Still Bay pressed, but Ramsey was again their nemesis in the seventieth minute, his timely tackle thwarting Edwards once more, after Hird had slipped the front-runner through the offside trap. McHenery was then denied by Fulcher, while referee Graham Whitford - who had quite a good game all told - turned away the visitors’ penalty claims fifteen minutes from time, after Edwards had gone down in the box under the challenge of Saunders. Bay’s player-coach, Hird, was far from amused, and made his feelings known in printable language to all and sundry. Referee’s assistant, Mark Perry, who officiates complete with a hearing aid, instantly put his flag to his chest and attracted the attention of referee Whitford. Following a brief chat, Hird was called over, and out came the red card. Foul and abusive language was the charge against "The Wee Man", but Sports and Bay players alike converged on the referee and backed up Hird’s claims that he hadn’t used such language on this occasion. Nonetheless, the decision was made, and Hird had to go, although you can guarantee he’ll be appealing the call, with the full support of the opposition on this occasion. Bay finally got the better of Ramsey eleven minutes from time, as Edwards found a way past "Peewee" down the right. His cross was tailor-made for Donegan, arriving on the far post, but Fulcher flicked the ball to safety. A minute later, it was ten-a-side, as Loftus, who had been booked just six minutes earlier, went into a tackle a little recklessly, and was sent-off for his second bookable offence. Cue a grandstand finish. Elrick thought he’d clinched it for Sports five minutes from time, when his exquisite curling chip found Gwin off his line. But the goalkeeper back-pedalled furiously and just managed to turn the ball to safety before it crept in under the bar - a tremendous save. From the resulting corner, Elrick picked out McClure, who let fly with a screamer from the edge of the area which had "Goal!" written all over it. Cameron Gray didn’t read the script, however, and blocked the effort as Bay held on for dear life. In the 89th minute, another moment of controversy resulted in an equaliser for the visitors, but Sports were steaming over it. McHenery’s initial burst had been partially cleared, but Edwards clipped the ball into the danger zone. Fulcher went for it, as did substitute Rab McNeill. The two collided, and the ball fell perfectly for Donegan to ram home - 2-2. Or was it? Surely the goalkeeper was fouled? Judging by the silence on the sidelines, a free-kick was expected by both sets of supporters. But referee Whitford thought otherwise, and wasted little time in acknowledging the goal. Fulcher required treatment, during the administering of which the official copped a fair few opinions from the sideline experts regarding his judgment on this occasion. But Whitford was unmoved, and into what was eventually seven minutes of injury time we headed, the game in the balance. With the lateness of the equaliser, it was now advantage Bay. But they hadn’t reckoned on Fulcher, who produced two quite splendid saves to maintain parity, much to the consternation of Nigel Curteis, who saw his bullet-like header superbly tipped over the crossbar, and McHenery, who hit a screamer which the ‘keeper tipped onto the post. With less than two minutes left, the death knell sounded for Sports, as Bay got up to score a dramatic winner. Donegan’s corner was punched clear by Fulcher to Judd, lurking near the edge of the penalty area. He lobbed the ball back in, and McHenery, flinging himself full-length, got the most deft of touches to the ball with his header to steer it past the stunned figure of Fulcher and into the net to conclude a fantastic Central Auckland derby in a manner fully befitting of the game as a whole - quite simply, the best game this writer has seen so far this season. Sports:         Fulcher; Baker (McClure, 46), Ramsey, Mair (May, 75); Loftus (booked, 74, 80 - sent-off), Kennedy, Tierney, Saunders, Foster; Elrick, McClennan (Shepherd, 71) Bay:        Gwin; Gray, Phommahaxay, Hird (booked, 55; sent-off, 76), Miller; Carmody (McNeill, 83), Judd, Kilkenny (Curteis, 60), Donegan; McHenery, Edwards Referee:    Graham Whitford