Central League Round 13
Away day blues for the frontrunners in the Central League breathed some life into Olympic�s campaign.
A glorious day in Gisborne greeted the visiting Miramar Rangers team as they fronted up against a confident home side on a difficult pitch. Gisborne City had added ex Rangers goalkeeper Michael Utting during the week, and they deservedly took the lead when possession was given away cheaply in the Miramar midfield, Robert Gill chipped in from 30 yards. In form Miramar striker Dominic Rowe equalised with a smart finish past Utting from a tight angle, before Gisborne wasted an excellent opportunity to go into half time in the lead. A soft penalty was awarded for handball against Miramar, but the penalty came back off the post and was scrambled to safety by the Rangers defenders.
Gisborne quickly took control of the match after the half time interval with 2 early strikes. First of all Noah 'Hollywood' Hickey let fly from outside the area, and saw his shot deflected past a stranded Nathu, before Jakob Sinkora finished off a smart breakaway to give Gisborne a 3-1 lead. Rowe set up a grandstand finale with his second goal of the game, and his 5th in his last 2 games, but excellent keeping by Utting and determined defending saw Gisborne take the 3 points back to Auckland. Gill showed his class in another quality display that must have NZFC sides reaching for the back pocket.
Wests blew a chance to go 5 points clear at the top of the table with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Napier City Rovers in the bay. Rovers opened the scoring after 20 minutes when a clinical strike from Leon Birnie after a quick break away rocked the visitors on their heels. Napier continued to harry the visitors, who were missing several first team players and struggled to find their rhythm. A couple of chances went begging for Rovers before the equaliser came against the run of play. Smart build up in the Wests midfield involving a fit again Darren Cheriton and new signing Trent Watson led to a through ball for the speedy Jonathan Rowe who made no mistake, tucking home past a stranded Scott Dunn in the Napier goal. However, just 3 minutes later on the stroke of half-time, Napier scored a crucial blow. Greg Henslee pounced on a loose ball after a corner was poorly dealt with by the Wests back four and slotted home for the half time lead.
Napier extended their lead in the second spell through danger man Graham Fyfe�s neat finish, and it looked as if Napier would go on and add to their tally. However, Wests upped the tempo and gave themselves a chance of sharing the points with a late rally. Ben Feld pulled a goal back with a neat turn in the box and had Rovers on the back foot for the remainder of the match. But 3-2 was the final score, Napier taking another impressive home scalp.
In other matches, Olympic moved into equal second with a 3-0 victory over Wellington United. On the day United�s new club rooms at Newtown Park were opened the match was unfortunately played on a bitterly cold afternoon. Mickey Maliuvik continued his fine touch with a brace, while an own goal completed the scoring in a dominant Olympic performance. Olympic have been strong after a mid season dip in form.
Team Taranaki are now destined for the relegation playoffs after going down 3-1to Stop Out at the raceway on Saturday. With potential safety riding on the
game Taranaki put in a woeful display away from home. Taranaki have shown
some resolve in recent home matches but were never in the contest, down two
nil at the half and scoring their consolation goal minutes from the end. Ben
Kistel, Gary McDermontt and Asone Walrond scored for the red and blacks while
youngster Tyson Brandt replied for the visitors. Finally in Palmerston North
Lower Hutt�s up and down season took another dive going down 1-0 to a Steve
Tippett strike. The match was an important one for Marist, victory leaving them
four points clear from relegation.
P
W
D
L
GF
GA
PTS
Western Suburbs
12
8
2
2
35
7
26
Miramar
12
7
3
2
28
20
24
Olympic
13
7
3
3
27
20
24
Napier City Rovers
12
6
3
3
21
14
21
Gisborne City
12
6
2
4
31
22
20
Lower Hutt City
13
5
5
3
26
18
20
Wellington United
13
3
3
7
16
28
12
Stop Out
13
2
5
6
16
27
11
Palmerston North Marist
13
2
3
8
13
26
9
Taranaki
13
0
5
8
12
43
5
james dean2007-07-09 20:58:14
