Douglas Villa
Wainuiomata
“We were just wasteful, very wasteful!”
That was the assessment of Tumu Douglas Villa coach Mark Taylor after the side stumbled to a surprise loss to the Capital Division One battlers Waiuiomata at Trust House Memorial Park on Saturday.
“I can’t even say we were complacent because we weren’t; the reality is we gave too much possession away at bad moments,” Taylor said.
“We pushed and pushed and needed to keep the ball, particularly when we first won it, and to be fair to Wainui, they got stuck in and were committed and didn’t let up for the whole duration of the game.”
Villa were without regular captain Chris Cox because of injury, which forced a reshuffle in the midfield; however, Taylor reckoned that was no excuse for the lacklustre effort.
The writing was on the wall early on when Wainui took a 2–0 lead after 11 minutes, but the home team fought back and led 3–2 midway through the first spell with a penalty converted by Josh McMenamin and a brace to Kurtis Paine.
“The reaction was really good, and the commitment to get back on top was really good, but straight after that, we just stopped playing and stopped the intensity, and it was almost like we’d won the game.
“We just stopped working smart and gave the ball away and weren’t just able to really nail it down.
“They were still in the game, and when you don’t kill teams off, they’ll take advantage of that when you give them the opportunity, and that was the nature of it.”
Wainui made Villa pay for their lethargy with goals after 55, 78, and 90 minutes to secure only their second victory of the championship.
Despite the loss, Douglas Villa have retained their second place, but only on goal difference from Island Bay Reserves, who they host on Saturday in the final game of the first round.
“We’ve had two losses now, and we’ve wasted six points, and we should be in a better position, but we haven’t worked hard enough or smart enough to be there. We’re still second, but we’ve allowed a number of teams to catch up, and we’ve got to get back to winning and playing properly again, “ Taylor said.
“There are some things we’ve got to work on, and we’ve got to make some changes in a couple of positions and just get back on track again.”
Saturday’s vital clash with Island Bay will kick off at 5.00 pm at Trust House Memorial Park.
Greyfriars Motel Greytown resume their Capital Division Three campaign on Saturday away to Waterside-Karori Thirds. Greytown are third in the championship, with Waterside struggling in ninth place with only one win.
