Central League 2009

Central League Golden Boot

Goals

Name

Club

8 

D Rowe

Miramar Rangers

8 

H Kamri

Wellington United

CAMERON BURNELL

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Team Taranaki captain Greg Clark, left, goes for a header with Petone's Paul Whitmarsh during a Central League soccer match in New Plymouth yesterday. The teams drew 1-1.

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A last-gasp screamer from midfielder Mark Bland preserved Team Taranaki's undefeated home record in soccer's Central League yesterday.

Trailing Petone 1-0 at New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium and with the clock counting down, Bland smashed a half-cleared corner through a sea of bodies and beyond James Bannatyne in the visitors' goal from all of 30m.

It was just reward for an Energyworks Taranaki side that simply refused to surrender, a fact not lost on assistant coach Graham Reive.

"I'm very happy with the end result. I think we deserved a point although I don't think Petone will see it that way but I think the way we battled in the second half we were worth a point," Reive said.

"At one-nil down if you push forward and concede another one you're out, you're finished, but while it's tight you battle and battle and battle, and hopefully something will come your way in the end. And we were probably unlucky that one of the one-on-ones hadn't gone in and we could've snatched it (victory)."

Petone had set the pace early on and its slick passing game often had the Taranaki players seemingly chasing shadows during the first half.

Giant striker Paul Whitmarsh tormented the Taranaki defence and was twice denied before Andy Barron stepped up on the 25-minute mark to show his All White credentials.

Whitmarsh tapped a free-kick to midfielder Barron, who fired his shot into the top corner of the Taranaki goal a moment of genuine class.

Injuries forced the home side to reshuffle its pack for the second half.

Midfielder Tyson Brandt succumbed to a knee injury late in the first spell and centre back Pete Kelbrick stayed in the shed after suffering a nasty head knock.

John Sigurdsson slotted into midfield while teenage attacker Brad Hickling went up front, resulting in a thorough rejig of the Taranaki line-up.

After a paucity of chances in the first spell, the home side suddenly started to threaten the Petone goal.

Nick Betteridge somehow managed to head over after a long throw found its way to him on the far post and striker Tomas Mosquera began to find more space.

Twice he found himself one-on-one with Bannatyne, but the New Zealand keeper made himself big and the teenager couldn't find the finish required.

Petone too continued to threaten, but it was left to Bland to send the local supporters and a certain assistant coach home with a smile on their faces. "That's the second one he's scored like that this year, it was absolutely superb, so what can you say about that, it's a fantastic way to end an afternoon," Reive said..

Team Taranaki 1 (M. Bland) Petone 1 (A. Barron).

They've taken a two-point lead in the men's Central League football competition but lost the coach who led them there, with Graham Little stepping down after Saturday's 3-2 win against old foe Napier City Rovers at Centennial Park.

Little won the Central League with Miramar in his first year of coaching last season and had watched his charges go unbeaten through the first six rounds this season, but told the club last week that he would be stepping down after Saturday's match so he could spend more time with his family.

Miramar deputy chairman Marty Andrews said the news had come "out of the blue" but confirmed John Cameron would come in as interim coach.

"We'll see how it goes from there. Whether John stays for the season, it's early days, but he'll help us out for the forseeable future," he said. "Obviously it would've been good to have [Little] for the season but he just needed to free himself up and give himself time for other things."

Miramar sent the Scotsman out on a winning note, recording the only victory of a stalemate-dominated weekend through goals to Dom Rowe, Peter Halstead and Michael Eager.

Miramar (14 points) moved to the outright lead after Western Suburbs (12) were held to their third consecutive draw, 1-1, by Wairarapa United in Masterton yesterday, Pita Rabo netting for the home team and Jack Pelter for Wests.

Third-placed Petone missed an opportunity to move into second following a 1-1 draw with Taranaki in New Plymouth yesterday.

The matches on Saturday between Lower Hutt City and Olympic, and Wellington United and Palmerston North Marist, both ended 3-3.

05.05.2009
By Gary Caffell

Trust House Wairarapa United are hoping to draft at least one new player into their central league soccer squad this week to cover the distinct possibility of present squad members being automatically suspended for disciplinary reasons.

Central league rules are that once a player receives five yellow cards they have to miss one game and Wairarapa United are in the dangerous position of having four of their key players just one yellow card away from that fate & skipper Pita Rabo, James Oxtoby, Adam Cowan and goalkeeper Sacha Nathu.

Wairarapa United coach Phil Keinzley says his team can't afford to risk the chance of losing most of those players for the same game simply because they didn't have the numbers within their current squad to cope.

"We have to guard against getting ourselves into a situation where we might not even be able to field a side", Keinzley said.

"That would be the worst possible scenario and we need to do everything we can to avoid it."

Keinzley isn't bagging individual referees for the influx of yellow cards inflicted on Wairarapa United this season but he does admit to being frustrated by the fact that some rule interpretations are different week by week.

"I don't think referees are going out of their way to pick on us or anything like that but it is confusing when you can do one thing one week but not the next," he said.

"It's upsetting for the players and some of them tend to react more vocally to those situations than others."

At the same time, however, Keinzley said the need to maintain their discipline was a message often stressed to the Wairarapa United squad and it was obvious it was taking longer than it should to get through.

"The fact of the matter is that in all sports referees will not change their minds and that's something you have to live with," he said.

"And the more noise you make the harder they are likely to come down on you."

Apart from the yellow cards though Keinzley was delighted with the improved form shown by Wairarapa United in their 1-1 draw with then competition leaders Western Suburbs at the Park Oval on Sunday.

In a tense, enthralling encounter Wairarapa United took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half with a superb goal from a free kick by Rabo and Western Suburbs' equaliser did not come until about 10 minutes from the game's end.

Keinzley has one word for the improvement & attitude.

"Honestly it's the first time I've walked away from a game this season completely happy with the way we played," he said.

"We often talk about the need to be assertive and this time we were, there was a lot of steel there and it wasn't just in one area, it was all over the field."

Especially pleasing for Keinzley was the amount of possession Wairarapa United earned by robbing Western Suburbs off the ball through close marking and hard tackling.

"Teams like them just love time on the ball and we knew we had to be in their faces all the way through," he said.

"Defensively we were very strong, we didn't have the concentration lapses we have had in the past."

Making the draw against Western Suburbs even more tasteful for Keinzley was the news that the two teams below Wairarapa United on the central league table, Wellington United and Palmerston North Marist, had also drawn their match, meaning neither of them overtook Wairarapa United on the competition ladder.

In fact, it was a weekend of draws in the central league with the only game with a clear winner being that between Miramar Rangers and Napier City Rovers which Miramar won 3-2.

Otherwise Wellington United and Palmerston North Marist drew 3-3, Lower Hutt City and Olympic drew 3-3 and Taranaki and Petone drew 1-1.

The current points table is: Miramar Rangers 14, Western Suburbs 12, Petone 11, Lower Hutt City 10, Olympic 8, Napier City Rovers 7, Taranaki 6, Wairarapa United 5, Wellington United 3, Palmerston North Marist 2.

The draw for this coming weekend is (home teams first): Palmerston North Marist v Miramar Rangers, Petone v Wellington United, Olympic v Taranaki, Western Suburbs v Lower Hutt City, Napier City Rovers v Wairarapa United.

how was the bouncy castle?