Central League Review - Round Two

Central League Review - Round Two

An exiting Easter weekend�s action indicates that the 2007 Central League could be one of the closest on record with every team taking a point from the two matches played.  Miramar kicked off their centenary celebrations on Saturday against Napier City Rovers in front of a big crowd.  With both sides looking to play attractive football Miramar dominated both possession and territory while Napier were happy to use their pace on the counter attack.  David Batty opened the scoring for Miramar with a quality left knee finish, but Napier equalised before the half after their most dangerous player, Graham Fyfe, who tormented the Miramar defence all day with his hard running on the left flank, crossed for David Geary to score.

After the break a fired up Miramar heaped pressure on Napier and deservedly went in front through Graham Little after some fine midfield play from Tim Butterfield and Michael Eager.  However, a flashpoint in the 70th minute saw Miramar reduced to ten men as Allan Chote received red for retaliation.  With Napier now pushing men forward the game opened up but it took until the final whistle for the equaliser to come, Graham Fyfe nodding home for a dramatic finish.  Miramar will be disappointed after drawing a game that was there for the taking but Napier were good value for a point over the 90 minutes.

Sunday saw Western Suburbs travel to Taranaki and that one went the way of the pre-season form book with Wests running out convincing seven nil winners.  Taranaki will be disappointed that their opening day form was undone by this heavy defeat.

There was more exciting football on Monday.  Olympic bounced back with a 4-3 victory over Gisborne at Newtown Park.  New signing Raf de Gregorio scored twice on debut for the Greeks with young Costa Barbarouses continuing the form which has seem him touted as a Phoenix target.  Mikey Maliavic scored Olympic�s other goal withile Robert Gill�s hattrick wasn�t enough for Gisborne.

Points were shared in a closely fought Hutt derby.  Wayne Rooker and Mohammed Ege scored for Stop Out who had to come from two one down to force a two all draw.  Luis Corrales and Adam Church scored for Lower Hutt who were glad for a point after a backs against the wall last ten minutes.

Robert Price scored the only goal as Napier continued their fine form with a one nil away win at Palmerston North Marist.

Finally, Miramar completed their centennial weekend with a victory after seeing off a valiant Wellington United.  Miramar dominated the game with midfielders David Batty, Tim Butterfield and Woody Patrick creating chances that only Nick Tarrant�s superb reflexes and poor finishing prevented being finished off.  The young stopper is a key player for United this year and has been receiving raps from all corners for his displays this weekend.  In the second period the deadlock was finally broken as Jamie Farrington seized on a loose clearance to fire home a left foot volley to put Miramar one up.  Michael Eager then made the game safe with a great finish from the left.  Edward Burnet set up a potentially interesting finale with a tidy finish for United, but Miramar were comfortable in a victory that capped off its centennial weekend celebrations.

 

 

P

W

D

L

GF

GA

PTS

Lower Hutt City

2

1

1

0

6

3

4

Miramar Rangers

2

1

1

0

4

3

4

Napier City Rovers

2

1

1

0

3

2

4

Western Suburbs

2

1

1

1

7

1

3

Wellington United

2

1

0

1

2

2

3

Olympic

2

1

0

1

5

7

3

Stop Out

2

 0

0

0

4

4

2

Palmerston Nth Marist

2

 0

1

1

2

3

1

Gisborne City

2

 0

1

1

4

4

1

Taranaki

2

 0

1

1

1

8

1

 

james dean2007-04-10 16:36:28

Looks like Olympic dont have a bad side after all.

My old friends at Stop Out are to be congratulated on a good start.  Many thought they might struggle this year but I reckon they will do well.

The many that thought they might struggle will be right. Dont be sucked in by the first few results, they will struggle to be as competitive this season as they were last year.

STOP OUT do not have enough good players in there team! GoldenBalls2007-04-12 16:02:27

Wow!!  Stirred up some local rivalry there!

Stop Out will have a couple of English signing v soon to add to the mix.  A draw with Lower Hutt aint so bad.

As a result it wasnt bad but as a perforamce it was dreadful. More of Lower Hutt not finishing (or a linesman disallowing a goal) than anything Stop Out did.

Though from what i heard  Stop Out should have pinched it in the last 10mins.

Chances go astray as Marist loses

Marist was made to pay for missing four first-half gilt-edged chances as it went down to a late Napier City Rovers goal in a central league game at Memorial Park yesterday.

After dominating the first spell, the Palmerston North side fell away in the final 25 minutes of the game and allowing an experienced Napier side to attack the Marist defence.

Marist had begun the game as it ended Friday's, all over its opponent but chances went begging from Phil Ryburn, Shannon Fowler, before a powerful run and cross from player of the game Steven Tippet was headed on to the crossbar by Brent Argyle. Striker Greg Godoy's follow- up shot was deflected wide.

Napier created nothing in the the first spell, but in the second, as Marist gave possession away with some poor passing, particularly in the attacking third, the Napier players were able to get their midfield and strikers moving forward at pace. Even then, the Marist defence wasn't under undue pressure.

With five minutes remaining, Marist was made to pay for two poor pieces of defence. The first was when defender Paul Brown gave away a needless foul just outside his own goal area, after the Napier player had lost control of the ball.

The second defensive error which led to Napier's goal came when the defence wasn't alert to the free kick being taken quickly. Willie Stanger's shot hit the bar and the following up Napier player was on hand to tap the ball over the line untouched.

Marist did try to come back but poor final passes saw Napier handed the ball, which it thumped downfield.

Marist coach Steve Green will be looking forward to having up to five of the fringe YoungHeart players available, hopefully next weekend. With Godoy, Argyle and Tippet looking dangerous on attack, as well as Glen Fraser and Matthew Pitts in the midfield, Marist has promising attacking weapons.

Defensively Paul Brown and Kent Stockman, a second team player who will be hard to leave out now, are playing well in the centre.

After just two rounds of the central league no team has managed two wins, with Lower Hutt City, Miramar Rangers and Napier all on four points.

In other second round games played yesterday Western Suburbs bounced back from its surprise loss on Saturday, to smash Taranaki 7-0 in New Plymouth. Stop Out and Lower Hutt drew 2-all, while Olympic beat Gisborne City 4-3. In the last game, Miramar beat Wellington 2-1.

SOCCER: Best missing but it's the win that counts

10.04.2007

HAMISH BIDWELL - HAWKES BAY TODAY

"We went away, we didn't play our best, but we won. That's what the good sides do," said Bluewater Hotel Napier City Rovers' captain Chris Greatholder, after yesterday's 1-0 victory over Palmerston North Marist at Memorial Park. It's a result that saw Rovers move into a share of first place with Lower Hutt City and Miramar Rangers on the Central League points table.

Resolve isn't a commodity we've tended to associate with Rovers in recent years, but the new skipper says his side showed plenty again yesterday.

"First and foremost, it's a great result for us, because we didn't play well.

 

I don't know whether it was playing two games in two days, but we were very slow to start and didn't really find our rhythm until the second half, where, for about half an hour, we played the way we're capable of playing," Greatholder said.

"So to get a result and to have secured four points after two games, we're chuffed. It took us about 10 or 12 minutes to score, but we never panicked.

"Like Saturday's game against Miramar, we knew that if we just kept doing the things we were doing, we were going to score.

"It came from Willie Stanger, actually. We took a quick free-kick, which put Leon (Birnie) one-on-one with the keeper.

"His chip came off the underside of the bar and Willie smashed it home from about three yards.

"In the past, that's the sort of game we would have drawn or lost, so it was nice to come away with all three points.

It's nice too, because we've all listened to the talk, whether it be from Hawke's Bay United or Napier City Rovers, that there's a good group of kids coming through and the club is building for the future.

"Well, sooner or later, you've got to deliver. We're under no illusions. We're not going to win the league. But I can assure you that we'll be working hard and, at the moment, we're getting our just desserts."

"Most encouraging", says Greatholder, "is that his side is only going to get better.

"I haven't agreed with a lot that's gone on in football here over the last 12 months.

"Jonathan (Gould, Hawke's United coach) and I didn't really see eye-to-eye on things and I questioned one or two of the selections," he said.

"I think this is the first team that I've seen that's really got that vital mix of experience and youth right. We've still got Macca (Chris McIvor) to come back and the likes of Graham Fyfe, David Gearey, Leon, Regan (Cameron) and, of course, Perry (Cotton) are adding a huge amount to this team.

"The kids we do have, they're not kids any more and it's time they all stood up. Josh (Stevenson), for instance, has been great and we're not worried about protecting them any more.

"They're all good enough players and it's up to them to continue to live up to the high standards we're setting for each other at the moment."

Da Selekta2007-04-14 09:35:53

Just saw some of the Wests v Olympic game. 1-1, but the greeks should have won it as they had the majority of possession. Rupert Ryan was given marching orders which helped Olympic get the equaliser (penalty). Raf seemed to be bossing the midfield.