Gallant Wests bow out as Napier march on
WINNING ugly isn’t in Declan Edge’s playbook. But this attempt to play a beautiful game in arctic Whitby was too big an ask for his fresh-faced Western Suburbs side who bowed out of the Chatham Cup on Saturday.
Napier City Rovers were bigger, battle-hardened and more ruthless in front of goal as the Central League champions won the quarterfinal 3-0 at Endeavour Park to reach the final four.
Wests were the last Wellington team standing and there was too much against them. Without last weekend’s hat-trick scorer Elliot Collier and goalkeeper Andy Withers, both returned to their US colleges, Wests also missed two senior centre-backs Billy Scott and Tyler Lissette who were bedridden by flu. Their absences were telling in Napier’s first two goals when Angus Kilkolly and Ryan Tinsley each found way too much space in the penalty area.
Edge, whose Ole Academy in Porirua supplied plenty of teenage talent to the club, was happy with his team’s efforts. They had reached the last eight with a 7-2 win at Wairarapa.
‘‘Elliot scored seven goals in three games and it was very difficult to replace him. We had six or seven players aged 16. But we knew that, and we are a club that tries to engage with the community and develop young players and move them on. Their team doesn’t do that,’’ Edge said.
‘‘I’m proud of the number of young players that we play and I’m proud of the way we play the game. We go out and pass the ball around.
‘‘Our intention is not to win ugly; we want to win playing entertaining football. I don’t want to comment too much about other teams but maybe they don’t have that intent. It’s all about winning.’’
Napier certainly know all about winning, having clinched the league title with three games in hand. They sealed victory in sleety rain on Saturday via Englishman Stephen Hoyle with 10 minutes left, as he celebrated with a busload of blue-clad fans chanting from the clubroom balcony.
Wests had fought back early in the second half and New Zealand under-20 rep Noah Billingsley, one of few to match up size-wise, tried to inspire. Edge felt the turning point was with about 20 minutes left when substitute Tim Rawiri nodded a clear chance over the bar which would have made it 2-1 and potentially shifted momentum.
Napier were dominant in the end, and their second-year coach, Manchester native Bill Robertson, said they weren’t done yet. Robertson, a centre-back with Team Wellington, remained confident of achieving the league-cup double they targeted pre-season.
‘‘We are confident [of winning the cup] and we’re playing with good confidence.’’
Other goals were keeping them motivated going in their last three Central League fixtures, having scored 71 goals in 15 matches..
‘‘The [league] record is 81 which was set in 1996 I believe, so we’ve got three games left and we need 11 to beat that. That’s now a target; the league is wrapped up and we can focus on that. Also the points record stands at 49 and we can achieve that as well. It shows the dominance we’ve had in the central region.’’
In Central League matches on Saturday, Miramar Rangers beat Wellington Olympic 6-1 while Wairarapa United beat bottomplaced Tawa 4-2.