Upper Hutt City 3
Greytown 3
Greyfriars Motel Greytown needed an 88th-minute goal to substitute Rhys Gwyther to preserve their unbeaten record in Capital divison three.
Upper Hutt City made the early running on Saturday at Maidstone Park, scoring twice in the opening 10 minutes through Oscar Hanlin and Sam Gillespie, the first from the interception of a bad pass and the second from a long ball the Greytown defence didn’t deal with.
Captain Jarrod MacDonald pulled a goal back for Greytown from the penalty spot after 16 minutes, followed by a screamer freekick from Josh Stevenson on the half-hour to make the score 2-2 at the halftime break.
The home side looked on to take all three points when Gillespie found the back of the net midway through the second half, again from a long ball. The score could have been greater if it wasn’t for veteran goalkeeper Gary Hewson, pulling off some outstanding saves to keep Greytown in the game.
A triple substitution by coach Phil Keinzley with 10 minutes on the clock paid off when all three players combined for Gwyther to rescue a valuable point in the dying minutes.
Keinzley praised the side for their fighting spirit but was disappointed with the team’s sloppy start on the badly worn Maidstone Park pitch.
“We didn’t adapt to the artificial, which is badly worn and smooth, making the ball skid in the wet,” Keinzley said.
“They were up to it more than we were, and right through the whole game, we lost our personal battles, and we didn’t deal with the long ball.
“We got out of jail, and I thought it showed a lot of character from the team to come back twice.”
Chatham Cup
Greytown face the unknown when they travel to Raumati today to take on Kapiti Coast United in the first preliminary round of the national knockout competition.
Kapiti Coast United are one of five clubs that have formed Horowhenua Coastal, an overarching club that plays in the Capital Federation leagues. Because NZ Football rules don’t allow such teams in the Chatham Cup, the team will play under the Kapiti Coast United banner.
Keinzley is uncertain what to expect but said they would go in as underdogs against a Kapiti side that is likely to field Capital division one players.
“It’s always a hard place to play, and they have always been a very physical side, but we’re just looking at making improvements from the weekend,” he said.
Douglas Villa
Tumu Douglas Villa’s postponed match against Island Bay United on Saturday will be played this afternoon at the Park Sports Ground.
The game was called off because of a waterlogged pitch and was initially going to be rescheduled for late in the season, but the two clubs have agreed to play today, starting at 2pm.
