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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Football: Chatham Cup looms but Blues will savour league victory over Greeks for now

By Anendra Singh
Hawkes Bay Today·
28 May, 2017 04:50 PM4 mins to read

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Rovers midfielder Joshua Stevenson howls in protest as Olympic defender Blake Weston hacks him down in the box to concede a penalty kick, which Angus Kilkolly converted. PHOTO/Paul Taylor

Rovers midfielder Joshua Stevenson howls in protest as Olympic defender Blake Weston hacks him down in the box to concede a penalty kick, which Angus Kilkolly converted. PHOTO/Paul Taylor

The script was something coaches would kill for and, let it be known, Bill Robertson attested to that after Napier City Rovers thumped Wellington Olympic yesterday.

So why was a poker-faced Robertson circumspect when he gave credit where it was due to the Conroy Removals-sponsored Blues' for their 4-1 result in the Lotto Central League soccer match at Park Island, Napier.

At a guess, prudent fans would have worked out that the Greeks will be back here on Queen's Birthday Monday, June 5, for round two of the Chatham Cup (national knockout) clash.

After all, wily campaigner Luis Corralles was hamstrung on the bench and opted to back up coach Guillermo Schiltenwolf at the Bluewater Stadium.

Corralles said their five marquee players missing yesterday would be back for the cup.

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That, of course, didn't and shouldn't worry Rovers captain Fergus Neil and his troops because they won convincingly yesterday and should welcome all the kudos they deserve.

It was an emphatic statement on a day when both sides resorted to playing an adept passing game although the inclement weather suggested it could have deteriorated into a kick-and-chase affair.

"The result is obviously huge but for most of the performance in the last few weeks we're beginning to understand what we're trying to achieve and how we're looking to play.

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"I think we've dominated possession and controlled the game for long periods, particularly in the first half, so we deserved that lead," Robertson said, lauding the defence for standing staunch in the face of relentless waves of attack from No 4-ranked Olympic.

He didn't think the result flattered the Blues in any way.

Robertson agreed his men were clinical in the final third although they could have scored a couple more goals.

"I can't think of them [Olympic] creating too many clear-cut chances. They had a few shots from the edge of the box and a couple of half chances ... "

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12 May 04:30 PM

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26 May 04:30 PM

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28 May 05:41 AM

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He was mindful the cup game would bring out a different beast in Olympic as they would regroup in returning to the drawing board. But he said his men needed to savour yesterday's win and focus on Lower Hutt City here in a 2pm kick off this Saturday before looking at the cup game.

Robertson said the No 8-ranked Blues also had a couple of players injured but weren't reading too much into yesterday's result.

The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the last five-plus minutes when the referee sent off defensive midfielder Mario Barcia - his clumsy challenge resulting in two yellow cards and an early shower.

Olympic struck first with Sam Blackburn scoring from a through ball in just the fourth minute.

However, Blues vice-captain Joshua Stevenson equalised, 1-1, two minutes later after Angus Kilkolly worked the ball through three defenders towards the goal line before cutting it back to the midfielder Stevenson, who pushed it past goalkeeper Scott Basalaj.

A Kilkolly penalty-kick goal put Rovers 2-1 up two minutes before halftime following what was a blatant but unnecessary foul from Olympic centreback Blake Weston as Stevenson had already lost control of the ball.

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It wasn't until the 76th minute that Rovers went up 3-1 when Kilkolly's attempt at goal was not cleared effectively and midfielder Matt Bruin gleefully drilled the ball past Basalaj.

Kilkolly made it 4-1 in the 86th minute soon after Barcia took an early shower, the latter's blindside challenge of frustration on Chris McIvor was perhaps an acknowledgement of the ventran centre-mid's impact on providing stability in the engine room.

Corralles said considering they were missing players, Olympic had played well with their young guns but the Rovers were more clinical at the coalface to show where games were won.

"I think we haven't been lucky enough so football is a funny game and sometimes you play horrible and win so Olympic have been playing good but the results haven't come our way.

"We still have a long way to go," he said, believing they would be better in the second half of the campaign.

Corralles said the Greeks had another opportunity to return to Park Island on the Queen's Birthday Monday so it would be imperative to redeem themselves after yesterday's defeat.

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