YDS down high flying Ellerslie

In the away meeting of these two sides, it was Ellerslie who came out on top, winning 2-0 and incidentally, still remain the only team to have beaten the YDS by two clear goals.

Arriving at Massey, the weather was holding....just. It was only lightly raining and the pitch was in good condition. The team consisted of what is becoming a very familiar sight. Unfortunately, both our regular keepers in Stuart and Ryan were injured/ill, so O35 keeper Simon Palmer kindly agreed to play in our game before his own. The back four of Kyle, Grant, Thomas and Shaun were in determined mood, together with Brett, Dave, Coster and Shane in the middle and Levin and Roddy up front. On the bench were our regular subs of Dylan and Scott.

KIcking off, Ellerslie had only ten players available and so Waiuku went straight onto the attack, forcing them back and probing for that first goal. With Grant marshalling the defence, our goal was under very little pressure and with Dave encouraging the players around him and Coster tackling his heart out, we were looking good. However, our pressure was not paying off as we squandered a couple of chances before Ellerslie were able to get up to full compliment with their late arrivals. Prior to kick off, Roddy had warned us that he would have to leave at half time due to work commitments so we made a deal that if he scored two goals by then, we would allow him to do so. Having done that, midway through the first half, Roddy gets a well worked goal, having beaten the defender on the edge of the 6 yard box and putting past the irate keeper. A few minutes later, up he pops again for his second and Ellerslie have no answer to his pace, aggression or finishing. With Levin, Brett, Shane, Dave and Coster continually feeding him, he was enjoying himself.

At this point, Ellerslie appeared shell-shocked but then started coming back at us and really putting pressure on the defence. However, with Dave and Coster having sewn up the midfield and great tackling from Brett and Shane, their opportunities were infrequent. When they did get through, Simon was equal to the task. Then, just before half time, Kyle was involved in winning the ball back and continued his run forward. Exchanging a one two with Dave, he pushed ahead and suddenly found himself in clear space on the edge of the area. Before he could be closed down and with the Ellerslie Keeper racing out, Kyle hit the ball hard and low, flashing past the keeper and into the net. 3-0! Shortly afterwards, the whistle blew for half time and we were able to have a talk. Roddy at this point, was desperate for the chance of getting his hatrick and asked for a few minutes more game time, so we remained unchanged for the second half. Looking over at Ellerslie, who are second in the table, were making 3 substitutions, bringing on fresh legs in an attempt to counter the youthful energy of our players.

Starting the second half, Ellerslie came right at us and it seemed they had been given a gee up. However, about 10 minutes into the half, Roddy is again jumping for joy as he completes his hatrick with another neat finish. Shortly afterwards, he is replaced by Dylan, whilst Shane is given a rest after some good hard running back and forth along the line and replaced with Scott. Having changed the team, we were alittle unbalanced but still working well as Dylan and Scott adjusted to the pace of the game. Unfortunately and to be honest, against the run of the play, Ellerslie got themselves a goal from a corner. With the wet conditions, Simon was unable to hold the cross and as it slipped through and appeared to be going just wide, the strong wind seemed to push it back and inside the post. 4-1. It was bad luck after Simon had done so well keeping goal but these things happen in those kind of conditions. However, undeterred, Waiuku continued to press forward and were rewarded with a goal from Brett, adding to his hatrick last week. Not long after that, the final whistle went and Waiuku had run out 5-1 winners against a good Ellerslie side. 

Man of the match goes to Coster for his battling in midfield but mention has to go to the rest of the team for their work rate and attitude. The team have matured well over the last couple of months and are now working as a unit and surprising a number of teams. If but for the 3 cancelled games due to weather and against lower placed opposition, the Youth Development team would sit alot higher in the table. Thanks once again to Stuart Harrison for braving the elements to referee the game and to those supporters who watched.

Next game is away to Onehunga Sports. Ko 1pm.