ES NL ROUND 4 e programme

NATIONAL YOUTH LEAGUE
Hamilton Wanderers have taken over from fellow
debutants Eastern Suburbs at the top of the
National Youth League but it’s a tight fit below
that with second-placed Auckland City just one
point ahead of Waitakere United, Wellington
Phoenix and Suburbs, who are all tied for third
with just goal difference separating them.
The third round of action took place over the
weekend and brought a pair of eyebrow-raising
results with Wanderers sticking six strikes past
the previously unbeaten Suburbs while Team
Wellington also went on the goal rampage, nearly
hitting double figure in defeating Hawke’s Bay
United 9-0.
It was Ihaia Delaney who did most of the damage
for the capital men, finding the net four times
before the half-time whistle in a remarkable
display of lethal finishing. Aaron McDonald was
also on target as the hosts went into the sheds
five goals to the good and the outlook didn’t get
much better for the Bay in the second half. Elijah
Just helped himself to a brace while Ben Ratahi
also got on the scoresheet before Cameron
Wardlaw completed the rout in stoppage time.
Wanderers didn’t quite reach those heights but
will be delighted with their efforts nonetheless
after bringing Suburbs back down to earth in
some style. Hamilton had the assistance of
first-team player Marc Evans – each club is
allowed to field two members of its Stirling Sports
Premiership squad – and he made a significant
impact after captain Liam Hayes had opened
the scoring from the spot. Evans struck mid-way
through the first half and added his second in the
last minute of regulation time at the end of the
game.
By that stage, the match was well out of Suburbs’
reach as goals from Stafford Dowling, Sean
Skeens and Raheem Hunter-Ali had blown
the scoreline out. Suburbs managed a late
consolation through Frank Clark to make it 6-1 on
what was a disappointing weekend for the club
with the seniors also giving up their unbeaten
record in the Stirling Sports Premiership.
“We’re disappointed but we said to the boys
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that we have to take some learnings out of
today’s performance,” Suburbs coach Hoani
Edwards said. “They were set up to hurt us on
the counter and we felt they were just a little bit
more desperate on defence than we were. We
switched off at the wrong times and it seemed
like every time they attacked they scored.”
There were also plenty of goals down in Nelson,
where Tasman United scored twice but couldn’t
prevent a 3-2 loss to the Wellington Phoenix.
Late goals were a feature there too after the
Phoenix took a slender 1-0 lead into the break
courtesy of Matt Conroy.
The home side found an equaliser soon after the
restart through Tinashe Marowa but Conroy took
control of proceedings in the final 10 minutes,
adding two further goals to earn a hat-trick
and give the Phoenix a 3-1 lead that proved
unassailable, although Tasman did manage to hit
back via Labu Pan in stoppage time.
It was the third consecutive one-goal defeat
that Tasman have suffered in the competition
after losing 6-5 to Canterbury United and 2-1 to
Auckland City.
“We rued a number of missed chances,” Tasman
co-coach Andy Morris said. “We need to learn to
be more clinical in front of goal, it’s as simple as
that.”
Waitakere were the other side able to celebrate
an away win after toppling Southern United 2-1,
Mitchell Nash and Drew Farnsworth turning
things around for the west Aucklanders after Ben
Wade had put the hosts in front.
There were no goals in Christchurch as
Canterbury United and Auckland City fought
out a scoreless draw, just as their first-team
counterparts did later at Kiwitea Street.
Despite dropping points for the first time this
season, Auckland coach Andy Peat was relatively
happy with the result.
“The team is definitely improving week-by-week
and executing what we’ve been working on in
training,” he said. “Overall, the performance was
positive and we’ll keep growing as we head into
our next match.”
National Youth League Round Three
Team Wellington 9 (Ihaia Delaney 7’, 16’, 36’, 44’, Aaron McDonald 25’, Elijah Just
51’, 85’, Ben Ratahi 61’, Cameron Wardlaw 90 + 1’)Hawke’s Bay United 0 HT: 5-0
Southern United 1 (Ben Wade 25’)Waitakere United 2 (Mitchell Nash 43’, Drew
Farnsworth 60’) HT: 1-1
Canterbury United 0Auckland City 0 HT: 0-0
Eastern Suburbs 1 (Frank Clark 93’)Hamilton Wanderers 6 (Liam Hayes pen 14’,
Marc Evans 20’, 90’, Stafford Dowling 25’, Sean Skeens 64’, Raheem Hunter-Ali 70’)
HT: 0-2
Tasman United 2 (Tinashe Marowa 50’, Labu Pan 90’ + 5’)Wellington Phoenix 3
(Matt Conroy 36’, 85’, 89’) HT: 0-1
Table
P W D L GF GA GD P
Hamilton Wanderers Y 3 3 0 0 13 5 8 9
Auckland City FC Y 3 2 1 0 4 2 2 7
Waitakere United Y 3 2 0 1 11 5 6 6
Wellington Phoenix Y 3 2 0 1 9 5 4 6
Eastern Suburbs Y 3 2 0 1 7 8 -1 6
Cant Utd Dragons Y 3 1 1 1 7 7 0 4
Team Wellington Y 3 1 0 2 11 7 4 3
Southern United FC Y 3 1 0 2 4 6 -2 3
Tasman United Y 3 0 0 3 8 11 -3 0
Hawke’s Bay United Y 3 0 0 3 1 19 -18 0
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