Waikato FC

YoungHeart Manawatu

3

0

Jason HICKS 13' pen 
Nathan PALMER 63'
Mark JONES 65'

by Ian Anderson at Fred Jones Park, Hamilton
asbpremiership.co.nz

HAMILTON - Waikato FC’s first home win of the ASB Premiership came with plenty of sweat and toil in the heat in Hamilton today.

The hosts had to work hard to break down Youngheart Manawatu at  Fred  Jones Park but the early sending off of Manawatu defender Colin Falvey gave them an edge which ultimately assisted them to a 3-0 victory that moved them temporarily to fourth place on the ladder.

Falvey brought down Sam Margetts from behind in the 12th minute when the Waikato striker was through on goal and bearing down on visiting keeper Matt Borren, leaving referee Nick Waldron no option but to award the spot-kick and show the offender the red card.

Jason Hicks converted and the hosts went on to dominate play without looking hugely likely to double their lead.

While Manawatu have been anything but prolific this season to date – today’s blank means it’s now 360 minutes without a goal – the hosts couldn’t afford to sit on their thin lead and were relieved when a quick brace in the secon spell put the game out of reach.

Margetts was the catalyst for the second, timing his flick pass perfectly for Nathan Palmer to run on and finish coolly before Mark Jones struck less than two minutes later after drifting across the face of goal, eluding challenges and finding the corner of the net out of Borren’s reach.

The visitors had Nathan Cooksley sent off for a second yellow shortly before the end.

“It wasn’t our best performance but the three points were the important thing,” skipper Palmer said afterwards.

“We’ve played better than that at times against Auckland here and against Wellington in the first half last week and lost, so we’re happy to get the win.

“We’ve got a very young side and we’ve just got to learn to be a little more consistent.”

“We didn’t have all our regulars out there today but the young guys came in and did a good job.”

Margetts was among those, and he looked sharp up front in a home side without Milos Nikolic, while the versatile Jack Beguely filled in admirably at the back for Nathan Strom and Jones also did well in the absence of injured captain Daniel Peat.

Jason Hayne had some quality moments for Manawatu, as did midfielder Michael White but he was closely watched by Jason McKeown, while visiting left back Brook Tozer looked a player capable of making a mark in the competition.

Waldron handed out seven yellow and two red cards in a match that wasn’t overly physical but got each decision right in a commanding display.

Waikato FC

V

YoungHeart Manawatu

1 John Fletcher

1 Matt Borren

2 Maksim Manko

4 Colin Falvey

6 Nick Branch 

7 Jason Hayne

7 Jason Hicks   (Wasi 85m)

8 Nathan Cooksley   

8 Jason McKeown

9 Michael White

9 Mark Jones

10 Adam Cowan (c) 

11 Nathan Palmer (c)  

3 Matt Smith

12 Jack Beguely

17 Brook Tozer

20  Sam Margetts (Heerschap 80m)

6 Matt Kennedy (Ishi 72m)

16 Tewi Te Pou (Davies-Campbell 75m)

18 Dale Higham

23 Matteo Ballan

16 Michael Fraser (Bloor 74m)

Substitutes

Substitutes

22 - Alex Carr (gk)

19 - Ben Wilkes

18 - Alexei Davies-Campbell

5 - Josh Chettleburgh

24 - Mauri Wasi

21 - Jared Bloor

3 - Mike Kramer

11 - Hamish McKay 

15 - Eugene Heerschap

2 - Nobi Ishi 

=goal

=yellow card

=2 yellow cards

= red card

4m - Nathan Palmer snapshot hits the outside of the near post

7m - Maksim Manko makes a jinking run but his shot is straight at Matt Borren

9m - Manawatu's first strikes at goal and both are bravely blocked by Jack Beguely

12m -  Penalty! Hicks plays thru Margetts and he is brought down by Colin Falvey in the box with just the keeper to beat. Ref Nick Waldron has no choice but to award the spot-kick and send off Falvey as the last defender .

13m  - Hicks rolls the spot-kick into the bottom right hand corner to give the hosts the lead.   

18m - Going to be hard for the visitors to come back from that massive setback, playing with 10 men for 77 minutes on a taxing hot day here.    

20m - Manawatu have their own penalty appeal when a shot appears to strike Nick Branch on the arm at close range, Waldron says no offence.

21m -  In annoyance, Manawatu skipper Adam Cowan bundles over a Waikato midfielder and gets a yellow card. Nothing going right for the league's bottom side.   

24m - Nick Branch into the book for the hosts, a little late with his challenge on halfway.

26m - Waikato's version of Denilson, Jason McKeown, jinks his way past 2 players and has a clear strike at goal from the edge of the box but drags it horribly wide with his left peg.  

34m - Lovely stepover by Margetts to get to the byline but his low cross is blocked by Kennedy. 

35m - Cooksley in the book for a late challenge on Margetts.

36m - Manawatu close to an equaliser when it falls to White but his shot from inside the box is over the bar as the defenders lunge at him. 

39m - Waikato continue to apply the pressure but can't find a second goal that they'd love before the break.

41m - Margetts again diddles his defender down Waikato's left and cuts into the box along the byline but his cut-back is missed by two attackers.

45m + 2 - That's halftime here, with the hosts 1-0 up and good value for their lead. While Jason Hayne and Michael White have looked dangerous at times, Waikato have had the bulk of possession and could be up by more with sharper finishing. They'll want to kill off the match against 10 men as early as possible in the second spell.

48m - Let-off for the hosts. Hayne's shot on the angle from the right hits the inside of Fletcher's far post but bounces across goal and is cleared. So close to being Manawatu's first goal in 318 minutes this season!   

54m - Michael Fraser blazes a volley over the bar after Hayne draws in the defence on the other side of the box. Manawatu not out of this.  

55m - Mark Jones breaks down the right and pulls it back to Te Pou whose deflected shot hits the outside of the post and goes out for a corner.

56m - Hayne is teed up from a free-kick but Beguely charges it down. He's done a good job filling in for the absent Nathan Strom in the centre of defence. 

59m - Ballan gives the ball away then bundles over White and gets a yellow card.

63m -  Margetts gets forward and dinks a lovely through ball for his skipper to run on to in the right channel. Palmer takes his time and closes in on goal before side-footing it past Borren.  

65m -  Mark Jones cuts in from the right, jinks past two defenders and fires a low shot into the right corner of the net. Game over.   

71m - Waikato well on top and Borren does well to twice deny Ballan from close range.

75m - Massive mix-up in the home defence and it seems Manawatu must score but Fletcher recovers to block and Beguely hacks clear for a corner. Manwatu seem destined not to find the net this season!  

77m - Both coaches ring the changes, Ishi and Bloor on Manawatu, Davies-Campbell for the hosts. 

80m - Heerschap replaces Margetts, who has been impressive up front today. 

85m - Last sub of the day for Waikato sees Wasi on for Hicks.  

88m -  2nd yellow for Cooksley ends his day a few minutes early.

90m - 3m of added time to be played.

FT - Waikato score their first home win of the season in the ASB Premiership and were good value for it. Match report to follow.