Hard working Waiuku take on Three Kings

Waiuku hosted top of the table Three Kings on Saturday at Massey Park on a wet and miserable day. Three Kings have gone the complete season unbeaten and had now reached the quarter finals of the Chatham Cup, the New Zealand knock out cup where they are travelling to Caversham in Dunedin. They are a team with many National League players and the Auckland FC coach Paul Marshall and it was a great opportunity for Waiuku to up their game.

Waiuku were without the suspended Danny Baldwin while his brother Justin Baldwin, Jamie Pegg and Derek Sinclair were injured. This made the challenge for Waiuku even harder but also gave other players an opportunity to learn some skills. In stepped Kenny Nicoll at left back, Charlie Heather at right midfield and Phil van den Broek took his place in between the sticks.

Waiuku matched their opponents for possession in the first half although didnt really create any clear cut chances. Three Kings showed their class even in the mud with some slick passing and great movement off the ball. However Waiuku kept to their game plan with some structured defending and movement out wide. Three Kings scored on the 30 minute mark when Jacob Matthews got clear of the Waiuku centre backs. His shot took a deflection off Jerry Hubbard and beat van den Broek at the far post. For five minutes after that Three Kings dominated and Stu Hogg nearly got their second but van den Broek got down and saved with his knees. However Waiuku kept the score to 1-0 at halftime.

In the second half, Waiuku put more pressure on the Three Kings defence. Jesse Smyth Kirk was adjudged marginally offside from a Wayne Trout pass and Cody Ralph stung the hands of the goalkeeper with a drive from out left. The further the game went on Three Kings panicked giving Waiuku a chance but Three Kings kept them out to take a 1-0 win and stay unbeaten for the season.

Coach Jim Evans was proud despite picking up no points "When you compare Waiuku with the size of Three Kings - it is like David and Goliath but it is always 11 players versus 11 players on the pitch. We thought we always had a chance and we really wanted to show Three Kings that we had more bottle then we showed last time we played them. The team probably played their best football of the season with Dale Oliver, Trout and Sam van Pomeron outstanding in the middle of the park. Ken Nicoll was solid against the class of Luiz del Monte but Heather stood up to be counted for his best game of the season and man of the match. Three Kings are by far the best team in this division and Waiuku wish them all the best in the league and the Chatham Cup"

Team: Phil van den Broek, Davie Johnson, Jerry Hubbard (vc), Grant Muckle, Kenny Nicoll, Sam van Pomeron, Wayne Trout, Dale Oliver, Charlie Heather (Scott Petersen 80), Cody Ralph (c), Jesse Smyth Kirk (Jamie Pegg 75)