Waiuku gain a valueable three points against Springs

Waiuku hosted Western Springs in the weekend, desperate to put behind them the hammering to second place Fencibles last week. On paper, Waiuku were nearly back to full strength for the first time since round one and with some confidence that they were going to be able to get some much needed consistency on the field. It took until the second half for the football to start flowing the Waiuku way but the game was probably over by then.

Waiuku started the strongest with the new centre midfield partnership of Sam van Pomeron and Derek Sinclair allowing Wayne Trout the free role up front. This worked to Waiuku's advantage very early with the three of them combining to create a couple of chances. Firstly Danny Baldwin got free on the right but his shot was cleared off the line and then five minutes later Cody Ralph's left foot shot at the back post was tipped round the corner by the Springs keeper.

Western Springs dominated for the next patch of play but rarely threatened Justin Baldwin in goal although they did have the ball in the net but it was disallowed for offside and a direct freekick went narrowly round the post after Jerry Hubbard received a yellow card for taking down his man. However Waiuku took the lead halfway through the first half. A short corner from Ralph to Sinclair was played back to Ralph who whipped the ball into the far post. Van Pomeron was there to loop the ball over the keeper and into the far corner of the net for his first of the season.

The second half was a different story as the partnerships started to flourish for Waiuku and especially that between Ralph and Baldwin. The standard of football being played was as good as Waiuku had played all season and Springs had no answer to the pace out wide. Ralph went close and so did Trout as the front line started to open up the Springs defence. Waiuku went 2-0 up when Ralph got free on the left after great work from Sinclair and placed an immaculate ball into the path of Baldwin who drove home to make the game safe for Waiuku. Springs went close on a couple of occasions late in the game however both narrowly missed.

Coach Jim Evans said "It is nice that we can finally build some relationships out on the pitch and get some consistency. If we can build on what we achieved in the second half of the game and stay injury free we should finish the season off nicely. There were some stand out performances today from Trout, van Pomeron and Sinclair but Cody Ralph and Danny Baldwin share the player of the day today."

Waiuku take on Western Springs on again on Tuesday night in one of their catch up games.

Team: Justin Baldwin, Ken Nicoll (Brett Zinzan 60), Dale Oliver, Jerry Hubbard (vc), Grant Muckle, Cody Ralph (c), Danny Baldwin, Sam van Pomeron, Derek Sinclair, Jesse Smyth Kirk (Charlie Heather 70), Wayne Trout

Subs not used: Jason Heather, Stuart Ruddell