Football: WaiBOP off to a bumpy start

Tauranga City United's Sam O'Regan debut for WaiBOP United in the 2014-15 ASB Premiership has finished with a 2-0 loss to Canterbury United. Photo / George Novak

A goal in each half saw Canterbury United open their campaign with a 2-0 win over WaiBOP United at ASB Football Park in Christchurch on Saturday.

Sean Devine's Canterbury side defended home turf as Tom Schwarz powered in a 28th minute header and Dylan Stansfield added an insurance goal in the same fashion just after the hour mark.

Canterbury's opener came as Schwarz, a member of the two-time defending ASB Chatham Cup-winning Cashmere Technical side, headed in a freekick midway through the opening 45 minutes.

As they began the second-half a goal down, WaiBOP saw several chances come and go as Sam O'Regan, former Canterbury United player Federico Marquez and Chad Coombes all had openings in the first 10 minutes but couldn't profit.

They were made to pay for those misses as Stansfield's header, from a Roussin Nkoy cross, provided a buffer the home side did not need in the end, as the visitors could not find a way back into the match in the final 30 minutes.

WaiBOP United coach Peter Smith said lapses of concentration for both goals at set piece time proved costly but was relatively content with the overall effort from his side in their first-up encounter.

"We needed to be better defensively on set pieces. To give up a couple of goals like that is not really what I'm looking for.

"The goals aside, we put up a good showing in our first outing and certainly played a full part in an entertaining match. We created some good chances but just lacked anything resembling a cutting edge today. I don't know if we're underdone or not, but that's largely irrelevant. The league started today and we've just been given a reasonably harsh lesson."

The youth side fared only marginally better, losing 1-0 to competition leaders Nelson Marlborough at St Peter's College in Cambridge.

Canterbury United 2 (Tom Schwarz 28', Dylan Stansfield 62') WaiBOP United 0 (halftime 1-0)