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Gaffer posted on March 29, 2010 20:34
Waiuku played Western Springs in the first competitive game of the NRFL 1 season at Seddons Fields. Waiuku had all players available for this important encounter but with their defense playing for the first time all season they made a rusty start.
Waiuku were 2-0 down within the first ten minutes through well taken goals from Leo Berlim and Brian Pepper as the defense failed to organize. However Danny Baldwin sent captain Cody Ralph clear in the 15th minute and he found the bottom right hand corner to get Waiuku back in the game. However poor defending continued and Springs good interplay found David Burton and he made no mistake to put Springs 3-1 up.
However Waiuku didn't give up and again went forward. Jamie Pegg chased down a ball that looked like it was going for a goal kick. However Pegg managed to keep it in and Ralph squared the ball to debutant Robbie Leonard to swipe the ball home. Minutes later a Ralph free kick was nodded on by Sam van Pomeron and Derek Sinclair volleyed the ball home to draw the sides level. Waiuku nearly went into the break ahead but a clear onside goal by Baldwin was disallowed by the referee much to the astonishment of the Waiuku and Springs supporters.
Waiuku again applied the pressure in the second half and were awarded a penalty when Pegg was brought down in the area. Ralph stepped up with a perfect spot kick but Springs goalkeeper Russell Hodgeson got down and beat the ball away. This seemed to spur Springs on and the game went from end to end.
Springs got back into the lead when the substitute got down the right and crossed the ball for William Holland to slot in at the far post. Waiuku pushed forward to get the equalizer and Springs took advantage of this and again scored a near replication of the goal prior except Issac Callen provided the final touch. With the last kick of the game Berlim scored his second of the game with a simple header.
Coach Jim Evans was proud of his teams fight back To be down and out so early in the game, it took courage for my players to get back in the game. The turning point for us was the disallowed goal and the penalty save as it could have easily been 6-3 to us. However Springs have got a good team and didn't give up either and are very worthy of their three points today. Man of the match for Waiuku was Jamie Pegg.
Team: J Baldwin, A Millynn (R Hatton 75), P Donovan, J Hubbard (vc), S van Pomeron, W Trout, R Leonard, D Sinclair, D Baldwin (E Crean 68), J Pegg
Subs not used: P van Broek, C Heather, M Thomasen