Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Football: Illustrious Eden Park clash beckons

Peter White
By Peter White
Sports writer·Bay of Plenty Times·
11 Dec, 2014 05:23 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Wellington Phoenix player Xavier Pratt in action for WaiBOP youth team last season. Photo / File

Wellington Phoenix player Xavier Pratt in action for WaiBOP youth team last season. Photo / File

Eden Park is set to become the biggest stage in the careers of many of WaiBOP United's players tomorrow.

The ASB Premiership round-seven clash with high-flying Wellington Phoenix Reserves kicks off at 12.15pm on the famous turf in the curtain raiser to the A-League match between Wellington Phoenix and Central Coast Mariners.

If the iconic setting was not a big enough adjustment to make for the WaiBOP players after their last two games played at Mount Maunganui's more humble Links Ave, the match will screen live on Sky Sport 4.

Despite the hype surrounding the game, WaiBOP coach Peter Smith says they have enough experience in the group to not get carried away.

"It is a big game for them but we do have Chad Coombes and Aaron Scott who have played for the All Whites, and Liam Higgins has been to the under-20s World Cup," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Smith was delighted with the effort shown by his players to recover from a horror week and a 1-0 deficit to draw 1-1 with Waitakere United last Saturday. An administrative blunder meant their only win of the season against Wanderers SC was reversed and a $2000 fine imposed two days before the game was played.

"It could have been easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves but we dug in deep, battled and scrapped to not lose the game," Smith said. "The last quarter of the game we were the stronger team and our resilience showed."

Wellington Phoenix are third in the league and in top form after beating Hawke's Bay 5-2 away in Napier last round.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They have two players who grew up in Tauranga in All Whites striker Tyler Boyd and midfielder Xavier Pratt.

Pratt, 19, who played his early football with Otumoetai and Tauranga City, was in WaiBOP's youth team last season but decided to try his luck in a fulltime professional environment.

"I wanted a more secure opportunity to play ASB obviously and I probably would have been in the youth squad with WaiBOP," Pratt said. "I get to train every day down here which is obviously what everyone wants to do. The quality of training and number of times I train was a major factor for me.

"I am looking forward to playing against some of the boys I know and grew up with, but am nervous though. It is a big event for me."

Discover more

Football: WaiBOP to host top teams

20 Nov 04:53 PM

Football: Relief as United off the mark

23 Nov 07:16 PM

Football: 'Own goal' agony for WaiBOP

04 Dec 04:45 PM

Football: Clague gets big chance at academy

08 Dec 07:48 PM
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Teen exchange student indecently assaulted by host father in 'gross breach of trust'

Bay of Plenty Times

Did tradie defraud clients, was he simply in over his head?

Bay of Plenty Times

Twelve charged with murder in Zain Taikato-Fox case


Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Teen exchange student indecently assaulted by host father in 'gross breach of trust'
Bay of Plenty Times

Teen exchange student indecently assaulted by host father in 'gross breach of trust'

The girl came to NZ 'full of hope and fun-filled excitement'. She left devastated.

21 Aug 08:00 AM
Did tradie defraud clients, was he simply in over his head?
Bay of Plenty Times

Did tradie defraud clients, was he simply in over his head?

21 Aug 06:00 AM
Twelve charged with murder in Zain Taikato-Fox case
Bay of Plenty Times

Twelve charged with murder in Zain Taikato-Fox case

21 Aug 03:31 AM


Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet
Sponsored

Farm plastic recycling: Getting it right saves cows, cash, and the planet

10 Aug 09:12 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP