Steep Learning Curve
What promised to be a good turn around from the first round initiation into the first division against Lynn-Avon a week earlier resulted in another frustrating weekend. With two games over the long weekend, both at home, one point out of six can only be seen as failure.
Both performances against Metro (on the Saturday) and North Force (on the Easter Monday) promised so much with once again contrasting first and second half performances. It could be said in fact that the second half, where we came from a goal down at halftime to share in the spoils of a 1-1 result against a metro side sporting ex-Knights player Sean Devine was a marked improvement on the previous weeks second half capitulation against Lynn-Avon.
The game was marked by some accomplished individual performances from Man of the Match Nils Reardon and David Firisua, who calmly slotted the equalising goal from an acute angle.
On reflection the green machine possibly headed their Auckland opponents over the 90 minutes, never-the-less players and management seemed contented to have secured their first point for the season.
Reason enough to approach Monday’s encounter with a North Force side, who had endured a hefty travel schedule and the prospect of an even more daunting return home amidst Easter traffic with a fair degree of optimism.
Optimism well foundered as for the first ten minutes a rampant Narras rolled the ball effortlessly around the hapless opponents. After seven minutes Captain Nils Reardon playing at centre back sprung up on the left wing to play in a pinpoint cross into the path of a surging run from David Firisua who neatly tapped home from a few yards. 1-0.
The promise that may have materialised did not, as several other tasty chances went begging. Many of these chances were well dealt with by an imposing North Force keeper.
The halftime forum and reprieve from the sweltering sun might have been just the opportunity take in a breather and re-energise the forces for the second 45.
The second half (aside from a couple of good chances for the home side) produced an alarming transformation from the visitors, perhaps enhanced by a total lack of mobility and ball retention from the home side that it seemed inevitable that an equalising goal was not far away. Perhaps not from open play, where once again the back four were solid enough, but from set piece time, where the marshals were defenceless to a larger and more committed North Force offense.
Custodian Seamus Martens might have wondered in fact if he had any willing defense in the ensuing second half onslaught from the visitors.
With 16 minutes to go the score read 1-0 to Ngaruawahia. The final margin, a 3-1 victory to North Force perhaps offered an unfair reflection of the full 90 minutes, but for the second week in a row exposed the fact that one good half of football doesn’t mean a thing if you leak soft defensive goals and fail to put away chances at the other end.
This weekend’s fixture against Papakura offers the first away trip. Both sides will be desperate to kick start their campaigns.
It is vital that we remain composed and improve the areas we have let ourselves down in to date.
Individually the squad is more than capable of competing in this league, it is now down to a little bit more accountability of individual roles.
Good to see that the A’s have rebounded with two good wins from the first week and a couple of players have done their chances of a promotion into the first team no harm.
Good luck to all teams this weekend, especially the Waikato A’s and B’s who play their first games this season.