Poor inning costs Tuatara in loss to Cavalry

Steven Taylor is set for another tussle against Andy Keogh, 10 years on from an encounter for their respective under-21 national teams.

Earlier this week, the Wellington Phoenix defender spoke of playing against the Perth Glory striker during his time back in England, where Taylor played 13 seasons with Newcastle United in the English Premier League and Championship.

Keogh’s career in England was more transient than Taylor’s, taking in eight teams over 11 years through various transfers and loans.

That made trying to line up when they may have met in club colours difficult, but they did play against each other on February 5, 2008, at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton.

That day Taylor captained England’s under-21s to a 3-0 win over the Keogh and the Republic of Ireland under-21s. Current Liverpool midfielder James Milner scored two goals for England, while Everton’s Theo Walcott got the other in a side which also featured Joe Hart, Mark Noble, Aaron Lennon and Tom Huddlestone.

A decade on, Taylor said he remained fully aware of Keogh’s talents – the Irishman has scored 44 goals in 99 games for Perth, including four in five matches this season.

‘‘I’ve played against him in England. He’s a top-class player and has done so well out here. He showed week-in, week-out his class.

‘‘There’s not just him though, there are a bunch of players out there who can hurt you. We’ve just got to nullify them and concentrate on ourselves. The players that we’ve got, especially going forward, the pace and power we’ve got, I’m confident of going in there to win.’’

Perth have surged to the top of the table through five rounds of this A-League season under new coach Tony Popovic. They made it four wins on the trot when grabbing a last-minute 3-2 victory over the Central Coast Mariners last weekend.

That match saw influential midfielder Diego Castro make his first appearance of the season off the bench after being plagued by a hamstring injury. He is in Perth’s squad again this weekend.

Perth have set up in a similar shape to the Phoenix, playing three or five at the back, but have been much more effective in the front third, scoring 11 goals to the Phoenix’s three – the top and bottom of the league.

‘‘They’re there [top of the table] for a reason,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘They do the basics right and have got quality players all round the park.

‘‘Their style of play is difficult for a lot of teams to cope with, especially with the quality they’ve got, but it’s a test. It’s part and parcel of being a footballer. You’ve got to step up to the challenge.’’

The Phoenix again named a fullstrength squad again, as they have for most of the season. Young defender Liberato Cacace may come back into the frame for selection after having an interrupted couple of weeks of training due to NCEA exams. The Auckland Tuatara have lost the opening game of their series against Canberra Cavalry, losing 6-2 in West Auckland yesterday.

A poor fourth inning from Tuatara pitcher Jimmy Boyce was the pivotal moment in the game, giving up four runs as he struggled to get through Canberra’s batting order for a second time.

Boyce battled back and only gave

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up one more run in the further two innings he pitched, but the Tuatara weren’t able to build a big innings of their own to get back in the game.

Initially it did look as it could be a good day for the Tuatara as Boyce got through the top of the first inning without any damage.

Eric Jenkins was walked at the bottom of the first inning, got to second as Canberra short stop Craig Massey muffed a double play. He then stole third and with a wayward throw to pick him off, came home to put the Tuatara up 1-0.

In the top of the fourth, Craig Massey got to second leading off, for his team’s first hit of the day. He was driven in for a run by Boss Moanaroa and Robbie Perkins drove in the next run to put the Cavalry in front. Two more runs came in to put Canberra up 4-1 after 41⁄2 innings.

In the fifth, the impressive looking Taylor Snyder, in his first game for the Tuatara, got a hit and was then driven in by Kuo Chun Wei, but Canberra tagged on another at the top of the sixth.

Canadian Brandon Markland pitched for the Tuatara in the seventh and needed just seven pitches to get three outs.

However, Chen Yu-Suan, who came on in the eighth, gave up another run and although Jenkins and Max Brown got on base with hits in the bottom half of that inning they weren’t able to be driven in and that was the Tuatara’s last real chance gone.

There are two further games in the series against Canberra today with the final game tomorrow.