Athletic's Alex Rothman looks for a way around the North End defence in their 2-2 stalemate at Skoglund Park on Saturday. Photos by Karen Hughes.
Athletic's Alex Rothman looks for a way around the North End defence in their 2-2 stalemate at Skoglund Park on Saturday. Photos by Karen Hughes.
A goal two minutes into injury time on the back of a new Central Football rule which hasn't bothered GJ Gardner Homes Wanganui Athletic all season saw them lose their Lotto Federation League third place after a gutting 2-2 draw with North End on Saturday.
For the second game in a row against the same team, Athletic gave up a goal after the clock had ticked over 90 minutes, but this time it was in part due to the fact they were playing a man down at Skoglund Park.
James Satherley had been booked for dissent with nine minutes remaining, which under new laws this year is a yellow card that carries a 10 minute sinbinning, rather than a player needing two yellow cards before he leaves the field.
"It's the first time it's happened to us this year."
Wanganui again had the lead against North End thanks to a double from one player, in this case Ryan Holden, with his first goal being a beautiful diving header.
However, the home side and season runnersup were never out of the fight.
"The [equaliser] goal that went in was just a dirty deflection that they picked up on the way through," said King.
"That's football. With Massey getting a win, that means we finish fourth. We're disappointed with that."
Also playing their own weather-rescheduled May 27 match at Memorial Park, Hokowhitu FC and Massey were tied and a point behind Athletic respectively on the League table.
Massey hammered Hokowhitu 4-0, moving up to a 6-3-5 record and finishing a point ahead of Athletic (6-2-6) in third.
As well as goal scorer Holden, Alex Rothman did a good job after joining the Athletic 1sts this weekend, as did fellow newcomer David Garner, until he had to come off with a thigh injury.
David Garner takes the ball up.
While the dissent rule played a part on Saturday, Athletic only have themselves to blame for another bad run in the home stretch of the season.
Since the start of July, they picked up just one win and a draw from their last five games to drop out of sight of League winners Palmerston North Marist and eventually slip back down to fourth.
The Athletic 1sts are now on a two week break until the Charity Cup clash with Versatile Wanganui City on August 25.
While the Cup match could be considered a trial for the new Football Wanganui 'Invitational XI', which will play four representative games in September, King and co-coach Kelvin Francis already have a fair idea of which players they want for the experimental squad, depending on availability.
In the Horizons Premiership on Saturday, there was an identical scoreline as the GJ Gardner Homes Wanganui Athletic Reserves also had a 2-2 draw – against the Palmerston North Marist Reserves at Wembley Park.
