No you don't says Bay United keeper as he denies Wellington defender Bill Robertson a goal.
No you don't says Bay United keeper as he denies Wellington defender Bill Robertson a goal.
Is it time to believe in a historic O-League campaign next season?
If the expressions on the face of Hawke's Bay United players in Wellington was anything to go by than it' safe to assume they always did from the day they kicked off their season late last year.
The Brett Angell-coached Bay United yesterday soundly beat O-League side Team Wellington 2-0 at David Farrington Park.
"I think Brett made it clear before the game that it didn't really matter about the performance, but it was more about getting the points on the board," player/assistant coach Paul Ifill said of coach Brett Angell after the final whistle.
Ifill saluted the Finlay Milne-captained Bay United for eking out the "double" of not just claiming three points, but lifting them to the second rung of the ASB Premiership table.
He said this Sunday Bay United's fate was in their own hands because they needed to exorcise the ghosts of their 2-1 loss in Auckland to Waitakere United just before Christmas.
Yesterday the park offered a firm square ground that allowed for expansive play with fresh breeze blowing across the field and the visitors stamped their class.
The game became niggly at times with referee Chris Kerr reduced to baby-sitting duties when it would have better if he had policed the rough stuff and simply sent off anyone who stepped over the mark.
Team Wellington captain Cole Peverley had an early shower, leaving the field in the 75th minute after two silly fouls that tested Kerr's patience.
"It's always tough here, but I think we controlled the game very well for large periods," Ifill said.
"I think we were pretty good value even without the sending off because we would have won today."
Bay United striker Tom Biss drew first blood in just the sixth minute, 1-0, drilling the ball from the left flank after Wellington goalkeeper Scott Basalaj parried Sam Mason-Smith's first attempt from inside the 5m goal box.
In the 16th minute, Milne collected a yellow card for a crude tackle.
A regulation minute before halftime, Wellington centreback Bill Robertson collected a yellow card for fouling Bay keeper Joshua Hill.
In fact, Kerr continued dishing out a rash of yellow cards in the second.
But what drew the second clumsy foul from Peverley was the frustration of conceding another goal in the 73rd minute.
Japanese midfielder Fabien Kurimati chested down at the far post a superb chip cross from compatriot Kohei Matsumoto on the left flank before volleying it past a flat-footed Basalaj for the 2-0 lead.
Substitute Ifill again showed his class in the 82nd minute, taking on two physical defenders in the 18m box before turning to slam the ball, which cruelly clipped the crossbar and jagged down to the ground, but Biss couldn't get to it in time to plant it in the net.
Host coach Matt Calcott said a couple of his players had "gastro" issues, but they put players on the park and it didn't pay off.
Calcott said his men needed to be more urgent in the second phase, but weren't.
"We just have to do it the hard way now," he said, adding they had to win the premiership to remain in the O-League.
Just before the 3pm kick off, a couple of Yellow Fever fans were told to put down a placard demanding New Zealand Football CEO Andy Martin step down over the Alex Jones transfer debacle.
A Yellow Fever fan makes a statement. Photo / Michael Welsh
Corey Chettleburg is out of this Sunday's game against Waitakere United after collecting his fourth yellow card.
Zane Sole, who missed yesterday's game "because of work commitments" according to coach Brett Angell, returns to the midfield.
