Football: Strong wind levels play at the top

Bjorn Christensen, of Havelock North Wanderers, and Scott Manson, of Team Taranaki, vie for the ball at Guthrie Park, Havelock North. PHOTO/Warren Buckland

One thing both coaches agreed unanimously on was the wind robbing the game of football of its lustre.

"The wind was fierce and a great leveller," said Cole Murray Havelock North Wanderers coach Bruce Barclay, after his men drew 1-1 with Energyworks Team Taranaki at Guthrie Park in the village on Saturday.

The match was a battle between the two undefeated teams in the eight-team Lotto Federation League but after that stalemate the status quo remains with the visitors clinging on to the top rung on a richer goal average.

"Who did it level?" Barclay asked rhetorically.

"Maybe us or maybe them. I guess we'll have to find out in the second round," said the police officer after the sides were locked nil-all in the first half with the hosts into the wind.

Taranaki coach Ian McGrath had mixed feelings in a first half where he felt his troops didn't take advantage of the wind behind them but got their act together in the second albeit squandering scoring chances.

"For the whole 90 minutes I think we controlled the game but I wouldn't say we dominated," McGrath said of his side who took more deft passes than Havelock's more direct approach.

Hawke's Bay United coach Brett Angell was scouting on the sidelines but would have gathered little, thanks to the elements.

At times the hosts took wrong options in the first half, opting to thread the ball through the middle rather than put it out to redundant players on the flanks with space to burn.

It was Jared Bloor who latched on to a cornerkick ball that fell following an aerial as he drove a left-footer from the edge of the 18m box past Naki keeper Nick Hayward in the 58th minute for Havelock's 1-0 lead amid raucous celebrations.

McGrath described the goal as "opportunist" from a "ping-pong" situation but Barclay felt "we tend to see things from our viewpoint" before adding it was a "great strike".

The equaliser came from attacking midfielder Matt Kelbrick in the 71st minute.

Havelock's scoreless first spell pleased Barclay who felt they took some self-belief into the second half.

They stuck to the game plan but mentally went AWOL later, failing to execute key crosses and losing some much-needed mongrel at the coal face.

The villagers host Feilding Firsts this Saturday in a 3pm kickoff before travelling to Masterton to face Wairarapa United in their second-round Chatham Cup clash the following weekend.

McGrath said his keeper blocked only one shot, which was going wide, but Havelock didn't take "one shot in ager at our goal".

"We had the lion's share but we're not denying them a point as they worked really hard for it.

"From our perspective you're always disappointed not to win but then we also didn't lose," he said, looking forward to hosting the villagers on their turf.