Wanderers implode late against Team Welly
Hamilton Wanderers were 15 minutes from glory on Sunday against Team Wellington, then it all went wrong.
They were 2-1 up when Jordan Shaw slid in with a rash challenge on Mario Barcia, and was rightly sent off, leaving his side to battle on with 10 men against 11 for the remainder.
Seven minutes later, the scores were level, and on the verge of 90 minutes, Team Wellington eked in front.
Andy Bevin scored the winner, sneaking in with a header at the back post, and then put the icing on the cake in stoppage time, this time with his foot from right in front of goal, as the visitors won 4-2 at FMG Stadium Waikato.
Having lost three in a row, a win would have been sweet relief for Hamilton in their first Stirling Sports Premiership campaign, but instead, they suffered perhaps their most painful loss yet.
Team Wellington came out in a 3-5-2 formation, with Bevin playing behind Tom Jackson and Nathaniel Hailemariam up front. The trio rotated constantly and were always on the move, combining with wingbacks Joel Stevens and Josh Margetts to ensure that whenever they attacked, they did so in numbers and with width.
It was their width that helped them open the scoring in the fourth minute, as Margetts got down the outside of Shaw on Wanderers’ left flank. Shaw had given away a penalty last weekend, and was hesitant to make a challenge, allowing Margetts to shoot under Matt Oliver with ease.
The visitors could - and probably should - have had a second in the 10th minute, when Hailemariam was able to remain onside and go clear on goal. He had
options lining up to his left across the box, but decided to shoot, forcing Oliver to make a fine save, then when they shot again in the aftermath, Oliver was there again, this time with an easier job to do.
Having kept themselves in the match, Wanderers grew in confidence as the half wore on, and began to string together some nice passages of play, particularly down their right-hand side, where wingback Stevens, a striker by nature, had left plenty of space in behind.
Although they only had one shot on target in the first half, it took less than three minutes for Wanderers to draw level after the break, when Paul Clout’s cross from the right-hand side of the box found an unmarked Raymond Gunemba standing on the penalty spot, who made no mistake in heading the ball past Basalaj and into the back of the net.
Conceding sparked Team Wellington into life, but it was Wanderers who scored next, captain Aaron Scott rising at the near post in 58th minute and deflecting a corner goalwards to put his side in front.
As it entered its final half hour, the game became increasingly stretched, Wanderers eager to give themselves a two-goal buffer, and Wellington desperate not to drop points against a team they beat 5-2 last time out, bringing prolific striker Ben Harris off the bench to help their cause.
Shaw’s dismissal helped them more, though, and with a man advantage, they flooded forward in numbers, levelling the scores in the 82nd minute, when defender Guillermo Moretti fired home in the aftermath of a corner, following up a block shot.
That left Team Wellington plenty of time to chase a winner, which duly came, courtesy of Bevin, who also had time to grab another before the final whistle blew.