Waiuku go down to Tauranga

Waiuku went down in the first game of the 2011 season to hard working Tauranga. Waiuku looked to have stage fright and even after a solid preseason, the team didnt cope with the fast paced game.

Tauranga settled first and tested the Waiuku defence early. Waiuku couldn't get their foot on the ball and Tauranga made them pay with some tough tackling in the middle of the park. Tauranga's first chance came from the right wing who's shot was deflected and Phil van den Broek had to react quickly to tip over the cross bar. A mix up between captain Jerry Hubbard and Simon Millynn created another opportunity for Tauranga but their striker shot wide when it was easier to score.

Waiuku tried to attack but couldn't find any penetration into the Tauranga half and their first shot came from Hubbard on the 18th minute mark.

The positive at half time for Waiuku was that the score was still even but early in to the second half Tauranga took the lead. Jordan Culpepper was left too much space in the middle of the park and he beat van den Broek from 25 yards. It didnt take long for Waiuku to draw level however. Van den Broek threw the ball to Mitchell Thomasen who flicked the ball into the path of Derek Sinclair who made no mistake from ten 10 yards out.

The momentum was starting to move into Waiuku's favour and finally they seemed to string passes together and get forward. Tauranga took the lead however against the run of play. Dom Winter, making his debut for Waiuku, took a freekick which was cut out early. The ball fell to a Tauranga player who turned the attack into a 4 vs 2. Culpepper got free of the defence and chipped van den Broek to score his second of the game.

Tauranga finished the scoring when van den Broek went to catch a corner but didnt make it and the resulting cross came off Waiuku defender Sam van Pomeron and into the back of the net for an own goal. Waiuku's afternoon went from bad to worse when Sinclair had to come off with a hamstring pull leaving Waiuku with only ten men on the pitch.

Coach Jim Evans was up-beat with the result but acknowledged there was some hard work to do during the week, "The younger players took some time to adjust today - for some of them it was their first taste at this level. Only three players put their hand up and we will never get a result if we don't turn up. Man of the match was Elliot Crean with an outstanding performance at the back today."