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Jason Heather posted on August 07, 2011 17:50
Waiuku AFC’s unbeaten run continued with a 3 1 victory over Mangere United at Massey Park on Saturday.
When the two teams met in the first round it was Mangere who took the points and Waiuku were keen to prove this wasn’t going to happen again in front of their home crowd.
Mangere got off to the better start when only 7 minutes into the game the ball was headed past Waiuku keeper Stu Ruddell from close range after they failed to deal with a deep corner. Waiuku seemed quite uneffected by this and slowly began to build some attacking plays forcing the Mangere keeper into some fine reaction saves. The chances started to come thick and fast now mainly due to young Luke Sutton – deputizing for the suspended Grant Duncan – whose pace and strength caused the Mangere defense no end of trouble. It was Sutton who was instrumental in Waiuku’s equalizer; after yet another probing run into the danger area he was fouled on the edge of the box. Shane Godden stepped up to take the resulting free kick and fired the ball past the keeper with such ferocity he didn’t even have time to dive. Godden celebrated the goal with his trademarked back flip in front of the cheering crowd. Waiuku heaped the pressure on and the second goal wasn’t long in coming. Central defender Sam Van Pomeren broke down a Mangere attack and played yet another one of his famous ‘in the mixer’ passes to top goal scorer Derek Sinclair who held off his defenders to slot the ball neatly around the keeper. 2 1 at half time and Waiuku looked comfortably in charge.
The second half started slowly for Waiuku and it was Mangere who enjoyed a lot of early possession with one goal being ruled out for offside and another attack which was thwarted by an athletic diving punch from keeper Ruddell. The home side’s complacency was short lived and they fought their way back into the game. Then Sutton got his reward for all his hard work throughout the game. Sinclair received a pass from Andy Millynn and took on the tiring defense, managing to finally to get a cross into the path of young Sutton who after an initial miss kick put the ball away and the game out of Mangere’s reach. With minutes to go the game was marred by some very unsporting behavior when Sinclair was cynically punched in the face by a Mangere defender. The ensuing fracas saw both teams and benches involved in the argument. The officials dealt with the situation well and the offending pugilist was sent from the pitch. 3 1 at the final whistle and Waiuku claimed the valuable points.
After the game coach Jim Evans said “it was a good entertaining game with both sides missing good chances to add to the score line. Both keepers were outstanding too. Young Luke Sutton worked hard up front today and scored a goal so he gets man of the match”.
Waiuku are in home action again next week against Fencibles United. Kick off 14:45.
Team – Stu Ruddell, Jerry Hubbard, Sam Van Pomeren, Elliot Crean, Scott Petersen, Charlie Heather (Mitch Thomasen 85), Phil Donovan, Robbie Leonard, Shane Godden (Andy Millynn 65), Derek Sinclair, Luke Sutton (Tyler Lord 70).
Subs Not Used – Phil Van Den Broek and Dave McCullagh