Tremaine Rimene-Albrett, right, bagged a brace of goals in Douglas Villa’s win over Petone. PHOTO/FILE
FOOTBALL
CHRIS COGDALE
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GasPro Douglas Villa came from behind and kept their perfect record intact in Capital Football Division Four with a 3-1 win over Petone Stonecutters at Memorial Park, Petone on Saturday.
The win stretched Douglas Villa’s unbeaten run to 44 matches since April 2018.
Douglas Villa remain second in the league, one point behind Waterside-Karori Magpies but with a game in hand.
The two teams will meet in a vital clash at Trust House Memorial Park on Saturday.
It will be the first game for Douglas Villa on the park, and Villa coach Dan Pawson said the artificial turf should be ideal.
“We like to play at speed and maintain a high level of intensity throughout the game,” he said.
“We will train on the turf this week to get used to it, and we understand Waterside are a bit of an older team, so we want to run them around.
“We’re getting fitter with each game, so it should suit our style of play.”
In a typical game of two halves, Douglas Villa trailed Petone 0-1 after playing into a brisk northwesterly wind for the first 45 minutes.
Pawson said the first half was not pretty.
“The wind was really strong and we dominated possession and territory, but when we turned over the ball, their backs just pumped it long and went out for a goal kick or throw-in in our half,” he said.
With the wind at their backs in the second stanza, Douglas Villa dominated and played most of the remainder of the game in the Petone half.
The defence still took time to break down though, as Petone adopted a defensive formation with nine men packing the box.
The pressure finally paid off when midfielder Tremaine Rimene-Albrett beat the goalkeeper to open Douglas Villa’s account.
The 17-year-old added a second goal, followed by a goal to Wairarapa College student Cayden Cameron to seal the victory.`
