This week saw Waiuku Premier Reserves take on a Western Springs team which were about the same position on the points table. The conditions were strong winds on a nice firm pitch. Waiuku started into the wind which made it hard going but both teams were well matched & both wanting the 3 points after a draw the weekend before.
Waiuku started well but Springs using long balls caught the Waiuku defence a bit flat and the Springs striker got on to the end of one of those & scored. Waiuku were a bit stunned & it took them until the 30th minute when good build up from the defence through to the midfield then onto Derek Sinclair who sent a lovely ball through the defence for Jesse Smyth Kirk to run onto and score his 1st goal of the season. This spurred Waiuku into putting more pressure on Springs and some more good passing through the midfield saw an opening appear & Greg Seed also scoring his 1st goal for the club. This put Waiuku ahead 2-1 at the break.
The second half started well for Waiuku which saw the defence a lot more solid and distributing the ball more efficiently and precisely to the midfield & strikers. Nick Ruygrok and Joe Rayson combined well together sending quality balls out to Jason Oliver and Seed. 27 minutes into the second half Waiuku got their reward when Sinclair latched onto a ball from midfield to score his 1st goal of the day.
After this Waiuku began to dominate every part of the park. Player confidence was really high and Grant Mills back from injury showed how valuable a player he is as was the rest of the back line of Robert Thornton, Scott Petersen and Ken Nicoll. With this, Waiuku continually attacked and a great cross ball saw Ruygrok rise above the defence and head home his 1st goal this season.
At this stage Waiuku thought the game was all but over but not according to Springs. They attacked once more and Petersen was judged to have fouled the striker in the area so Springs were awarded a penalty. Keeper Phil Van Den Broek had other thoughts and made a brilliant save to keep Springs scoreless in the 2nd half. On this note the Coach was most impressed on the performance of the team which made it extremely difficult to pick man of the match but ended up giving it to Joe Rayson. Well done lads. Final score 4-1 |