WELLINGTON OLYMPIC
Tumu Douglas Villa continued their storming start to the Capital Division One Championship with a dominant four-goal win over Olympic at Wakefield Park on Saturday.
After
Villa were finally rewarded for their growing dominance with goals to Josh McMenamin and Kurtis Paine in the last five minutes of the first half. A double to Isaac Higgins four minutes apart midway through the second half gave the visitors a four-goal buffer.
Their effort was blighted somewhat when McMenamin was sent off after picking up a second yellow card, which coach Mark Taylor felt was a harsh decision.
Despite playing the last five minutes with 10 players, Douglas Villa’s defence was strong, and they have yet to concede a goal in their three games.
“It was a difficult game, and they gave us challenges and typical Wellington Olympic – they don’t like to lose – and they made it hard for us, so it was a good 4–0 away win,” Taylor said.
“It was a really good effort from the players, and we haven’t conceded yet, and another clean sheet, so that was another really good defensive display. Alex Cox was excellent, but the man of the match was probably Sam Jonas – he was unbelievable and really good at right-back.
A good gauge of where Villa sit will be when they take on fellow unbeaten side Western Suburbs on Sunday at the Ole Academy, Porirua.
GREYTOWN
UPPER HUTT CITY
Despite a plethora of chances at either end, neither Greyfriars Motel Greytown nor Upper Hutt City could find the necessary composure to score the clinical goal to break a 1–1 deadlock in their Capital Division Two clash at Soldiers Memorial Park on Saturday, reports Ian McDonald.
An early goalkeeping slip by the visitors let Greytown’s Brodie Palmer in for his second goal in two games, and a close non-offside call led to Upper Hutt equalising midway through the second half of an end-to-end encounter, which the neutral fan would say was probably a fair result.
While both sides created plenty of opportunities, Greytown were guilty of not killing off their opponents with a combination of not finding the crucial pass or poor finishing despite good build-up work and transition from defence to attack. While the Upper Hutt keeper was kept busy, Greytown custodian Taylor Harvey didn’t have too many saves to make but did very well on a couple of occasions to keep his side in the game.
Man of the match honours went to youngster Liam Andrew, who shone at left-back, while Brodie Palmer and veteran centre-back Josh Thompson were also singled out by coach Phil Keinzley. Alongside Thompson, fellow centre-back Joshua Saxton and right-back Alex Penman also stood out in a good defensive display, while up front, Brodie Palmer, twin brother Landon and Jay Traill all looked dangerous.
After two games, Greytown sit two points off the pace and have a busy week ahead. After Saturday’s home game against Stokes Valley, they will host Naenae on Anzac Day in the preliminary round of the Chatham Cup.
