Thirsty Whale Napier City Rovers continued their outstanding away form with a comfortable 4-1 win against second placed Wellington Phoenix in Wellington on Saturday and extended their unbeaten league run to eight. With two games remaining, the Blues stay in third place, a point ahead of Petone and two points ahead of Western Suburbs with a top four spot required to secure National League football at Bluewater Stadium for the second consecutive year.

On the back of last week’s disappointing home draw against Whanganui Athletic, coach Bill Robertson will have been looking for a positive reaction from his team, and he got it. Forced into three significant changes due to a groin injury to skipper Jim Hoyle, suspension to Cam Emerson, and the unavailability of Fergus Neil, Robertson handed a start to Sam Lack, had Kaeden Atkins back after being unavailable last weekend, and was able to welcome experienced defender Liam Schofield back into the fold for the first time since round three.

The Blues were up against a young and inexperienced Phoenix side who, whilst lacking in Central League minutes, still boasted several national U17 representatives and plenty of energy and technical ability. It was this energy that made life tough for the visitors to get a strangle hold on the game, and whilst the Blues dominated possession and territory, genuine chances were harder to come by. Striker Deri Corfe, stand in skipper Jonny McNamara and winger Christian Leopard were all instrumental in much of the good early passages of play from the Blues, with Corfe having a couple of half chances and fellow forward Stefan Karajovanovic not able to find either the finish or the final pass to trouble Phoenix keeper Alby Kelly-Heald on a couple of occasions.

At the other end, apart from a couple of pass backs and goal kicks, Napier goalkeeper Oscar Mason was no more than an interested bystander as the Phoenix, for all their endeavor, failed to breakdown the solid Napier rearguard. With 45 minutes up, neither side had a goal to show for their efforts and it would be fair to say that Phoenix coach Chris Greenacre would have been the more content of the two men in charge.

It was much of the same for the first five minutes or so of the second half with Napier continuing to probe for a breakthrough and the Phoenix continuing to defend resolutely. This was up until Corfe and Lack were able to combine on the edge of the Phoenix penalty area. Lack twisted and looked to jink inside his defender and was upended unceremoniously by Jayden Smith, and referee Mark Whitehead pointed to the spot. Deri Corfe calmly settled the Blues nerves with another quality penalty for his 14th league goal of the season.

It took another 25 minutes for Napier to give themselves some breathing space on the score board and it came from a relatively unlikely source. Roberston had made a change on the hour mark introducing the pace and directness of Alex Mort for the guile and technique of Sam Lack, and it was Mort who reacted quickest to a misplaced pass by Phoenix defender Joe Cornille and raced away to bury a finish past Kelly-Heald. The relief from the Blues players and coaching staff was palpable, and Robertson will have taken satisfaction in his tactical change to introduce Mort’s pace.

The Phoenix at this point threw more bodies forward in hope of a goal and seven minutes later were justifiably rewarded with one. Midfielder Anaru Cassidy picked up possession 35 yards out and with very little on, he shifted the ball from his left foot to his right, took aim and arrowed a fantastic finish into the bottom corner of Mason’s goal. It was a top-class goal and reward for the young Phoenix sides perseverance.

With 15 minutes or so remaining, the 2-1 scoreline could have set up a pulsating, and nervy, last period, but Napier were able to restore their two-goal lead almost immediately. A cross from the left from Schofield was headed back across goal by Karajovanovic to an unmarked Christian Leopard. He was afforded time to bring the ball under his control and riffle home from eight yards out for his sixth goal of the season. Napier were not done, and it was Mort who added the icing to the cake after Corfe was able to wriggle out of a challenge, get to the byline and cross invitingly for Mort to deflect home his second.

The final 4-1 scoreline didn’t flatter the Blues and had they been a bit more clinical in the first 45 minutes, it could have quite easily been seven or eight. That said, the Phoenix team stuck to their tasks well and made life difficult for their more experienced visitors throughout, were deserving of a bit of luck and scored a fabulous goal.

For the Blues, the result was built on an outstanding back four performance. George Andrew, in only his third start, was outstanding while Jack Albertini gets better each week and was top drawer too. Kaeden Atkins and the experienced Liam Scholfield both were calming influences with Scholfield's distribution and link up with Leopard down the left a feature. Ta Eh Doe worked well with the tireless McNamara in midfield with the Englishman making a good fist of both the unfamiliar deeper role he was asked to fill and his first time leading the side. Leopard was heavily involved and stretched the Phoenix defense with his pace and running power, and Mort will be delighted to have contributed off the bench.

The Blues have a weekend off next week with Chatham Cup semifinals taking place and will have plenty of time to prepare for their final league home game of the season against league winners Wellington Olympic on Sunday 27 August. That race for the final two top four spots remains tight and so a result in that final home game will be the aim for Robertson and his team before their final game of the regular season away to North Wellington.

Article added: Wednesday 16 August 2023