Coast AFC on fire over Easter Weekend
Hibiscus Coast AFC had a blinding weekend on the field with a win over Tauranga City on Friday, followed by the trouncing of Franklin United on Monday.
Coast got off to a quiet start in NRFL division one this after taking the preseason tournament.
Round one saw them draw 1-1 against Mt Albert Ponsonby, then lose to Ellerslie in round two.
Round three saw Coast coming to form against Oratia United, dominating possession, but a lack of concentration in the first five minutes cost the side dearly with Oratia firing in two goals. Coast couldn’t come back but were pleased the team began to gel, keeping the ball from Oratia for the rest of the game and creating many chances to score.
‘‘We couldn’t score and that was the sad outcome of that game - but we were really pleased with what we showed and it was the first step for everyone to realise we are on the right path,’’ Rojas said.
The season plan for disciplined, aggressive football on defence and dynamic and strong play in attack came to the fore in Friday’s 5-2 win over Tauranga.
A standout performance came from reserve team goalkeeper Joshua Precious who stepped up, after first team keeper John Fletcher suffered injuries against Oratia the week before, to make some miraculous saves in an outstanding performance, Rojas said. Two controversial decisions in the last 10 minutes saw Tauranga slot two penalties past Precious.
‘‘The 9-1 score was the cherry on the cake.’’
‘‘Otherwise we didn’t have any troubles on the defence side.
‘‘It was a very convincing 5-2 win where we were playing the finest football we have been playing.’’
Then, on Monday, Coast upped it another level by sticking to their game plan. Clever offensives and blinding counterattacks saw them trounce Franklin 9-1. Rojas was delighted to see his team committed to the club’s long-term season tactics ‘‘The 9-1 score was the cherry on the cake,’’ he said.
But the team wouldn’t be holding on to their Easter Weekend’s victories at training this week as they look to two away games against Manukau City AFC on Saturday and Waitemata FC on Monday, Rojas said. The game against Manukau ‘‘won’t be a pretty one’’ he said, as the sides field wasn’t a good one and would make it difficult for Coast to play its style of football. But his players knew how to adapt to make sure they would still be competitive, he said.