Football: Flogging boys will help Rovers eclipse records

Ryan Tinsley is among the golden boot contenders. PHOTO/FILE

With the spoils in the bag and bigger fish yet to fry on the football field why bother playing the last-placed team on a league ladder?

TSB Bank Napier City Rovers will argue they have a lot to play for when they kick off at 2.30pm in Wellington today against Tawa AFC in their Lotto Central League match.

Having etched their name on the league silverware a fortnight ago, the Rovers are still in hot pursuit of rewriting the league history books.

With three away games to play (Tawa, Western Suburbs and Petone), the Blues need 11 goals to eclipse the 81-goal feat of the 1996 Gisborne City team, although the record holders were competing in a 12-side league that winter as opposed to the 10-team one now.

Napier coach Bill Robertson is aware of other websites offering conflicting records but emphasises Capital Football's offerings have to be recognised as the official one and that is what the Rovers are using as their yardstick.

The Danny Wilson-skippered Blues have 71 goals to their credit before running out to Redwood Park, Wellington, today.

Diplomacy aside, the Maarten Romijn-coached Tawa are rooted as the flogging boys of Central League this winter. The Rovers thumped them 7-1 at Park Island on April 19.

The hosts' goal statistics, on the foundation of a win and a draw this season, calls for some sort of mercy rule to be applied to usher them to the lower-tier Capital Premier League.

Captain Steve Romijn and his troops have found the net 13 times but conceded 51, compared with oppositions pushing 14 goals past Rovers goalkeeper Ruben Parker Hanks this winter.

That means Western Suburbs' least goals conceded in a season - 10 in 2007 - remains intact.

Wairarapa United (33 points/16 games) are still in a royal battle with Suburbs (32pts/15) for the runners-up berth this weekend.

Wellington Olympic's 49-point haul in 2010 from 18 games is under threat with Rovers perched on 42 and nine maximum points up for grabs.

The Declan Edge-coached Suburbs will do their utmost to spoil that party after coming off second best in two matches, including the cup quarter-final loss last Saturday.

The last throw of the dice will be Petone FC, the only blemish in the Rovers' quest for a fairy-tale season after they beat the Blues 1-0 in Napier on May 24.

"Yes, it's our only loss and don't forget we have to get back the O'Brien Shield too," says Robertson of the challenge trophy that league holders have to defend every time they play at home.

Angus Kilkolly, Ryan Tinsley and Saul Halpin are the golden boot front runners on 17, 16 and 15 goals, respectively, although the former has a monopoly on penalty kicks after an unblemished record this season.

No doubt, the ASB Chatham Cup away semifinal against Birkenhead United (Auckland) on August 28-29 remains the platform for maintaining their killer instinct.

Robertson expects it to be a tough encounter but is taking the irony of missing out on another home fixture from the hat on the chin once New Zealand Football decides which day they will play.

"It's a huge travelling factor but also a huge cost for a small club like ours," he says, highlighting the cost of hiring a bus for $2000 a trip alone for every away game through winter in the Wellington-heavy league - and now finding the funds for booking flights to ensure they are fresh before kick off because a seven-hour bus trip is not ideal preparation.

"If you look around the country most league teams don't have to travel the distance we have to to compete."

TAWA: (GK) Lance Ramaekers, 2 Lewis McKay, 3 Ben Edusei, 4 Neil Yeates, 6 James Sharp, 7 Richard Bott, 8 Tim Fenton, 9 Paul Willis, 10 Karl Romijn, 11 Mike Ramaekers, 13 Tom Scott, 14 Mike McCutcheon, 15 Aaron Magill, 16 Robbie McLaughlan, 17 Steve Romijn (c), 18 Claudio Amad, Ken Williams (RGK ).

Coach: Maarten Romijn.

ROVERS: Ruben Parker Hanks (GK), 2 Daniel Ball, 5 Finlay Milne, 6 Miles John, 7 Stephen Hoyle, 8 Ryan Tinsley, 9 Angus Kilkolly, 10 Saul Halpin, 11 Tom Biss, 14 Josh Stevenson, 15 James Hoyle, 16 Danny Wilson (c), 17 Fergus Neil, 19 Bill Robertson, 20 Fane Morgan, 23 Kyle Baxter (RGK).

Coach: Bill Robertson.

Ast coach: Chris Greatholder.