The unforgiving nature of the Chatham cup….

It is easy to blame poor conditions, very inconsistent supervision and uncalled for hostility from the opposition sidelines, however, at the end of the day we played a poor first half which essentially cost us the game.

All credit to Waitemata FC as the playing surface was in very good condition albeit a very small pitch. If I told you that with the wind we were encouraging our goalkeeper to shoot then you should get an idea how small the pitch was. Both teams started slow adapting to the wind, but on 10 minutes our failure to deal with two consecutive corners provided a clear opportunity for a goal bound header from the edge of the 6 yard box. We suddenly found ourselves chasing the game. On 21 minutes Jeff Hekelaar cut in from the left and lashed a shot from the edge of the 18yard which the keeper did well to hold. 6 minutes later Richard Koaneti spun on the penalty spot from a corner and fired a shot at the keeper. However, Waitemata were always a threat on the break and forced a class save from Kavakava Manumua. The Maroons finished the half the stronger with Geoff Rickard forcing a header over the bar on 36 minutes and 4 minutes later another header from Geoff from a corner was cleared off the line. Sadly, for his efforts, Geoff paid a heavy price with a cut lip and blood nose (was the referee watching?).

An interesting half time talk saw the Maroons come out more positively with good opportunities being created, the best of which fell to Jeff Hekelaar who saw his shot sail just over the bar. Then on 65 minutes, came the sucker punch, having lost Geoff to his earlier injury, the opposition midfielder (his last game for the club) picked up the ball just inside our half and fired a wind-assisted shot into the top left hand corner, it was a very good strike. Were not down and came back fighting. On 71 minutes another opportunity fell to Jeff Hekelaar this time he neatly glanced his shot into the bottom right hand corner of the net past an on-rushing keeper. 5 minutes later another good cross from Jeff saw the ball fall to Marcus Bathan just on the 18yard line and his fierce shot was just tipped over by the keeper. The resultant corner saw another goal mouth scramble with Waitemata managing to escape. By this time the opposition were being forced to play out the game by pushing the ball to the corner flag. With time running out some great work down the right flank released Richard Koaneti whose cross flashed across the six yard box to the far post, and a sliding Marcus Bathan just failed to connect with his out stretched leg (remember Gascoigne Italia ’90 semi?).

Once again all that seemed missing was the lack of conversion of the opportunities created. Yes it was disappointing to not win, however we are still creating the opportunities to score and our first win is not far away at all. Onwards and upwards Maroons.

A huge thank you to our band of travelling support, it is great to hear the vocal support on the sidelines and thank you to those who travelled and didn’t play. Next game: Saturday 2nd may Onehunga Mangere, Mangere Domain 2.45ko.

Team:- Kavakava Manumua, Ben Johnstone, Geoff Rickard (Robbie Leonard 61),Marcus Bathan, Andrew Lamborn (Chris Rowe, 66), Richard Koaneti, Kamaliele Papui, Steve Upfold (captain), Jeff Hekelaar, Ben Willmott (Joseph Morris, 46), Jethro Conway.

Subs not used: - Andy Hey, Jamie Hampton

Goal: - Jeff Hekelaar, 71

Man of the Match: - Jeff Hekelaar