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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Football: Fortress mindset pays

Anendra Singh
By Anendra Singh
Sports editor·Hawkes Bay Today·
3 May, 2015 05:00 PM3 mins to read

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Ryan Tinsley celebrates his hattrick goal. Photo / Duncan Brown

Ryan Tinsley celebrates his hattrick goal. Photo / Duncan Brown

IDEAL DAY, pristine park, what else could you ask for?

A damn good game of footy, of course, and TSB Bank Napier City Rovers delivered emphatically to the tune of a 5-2 victory over Wairarapa United in Napier yesterday.

"We just have a winning mentality now so we want teams to be scared to come to our home ground. Today we beat Wairarapa, who are one of the best teams in the league, 5-2, so we're doing very well," said Rovers midfielder Ryan Tinsley who scored a hattrick of goals in the Lotto Central League clash.

No pressure but with such sizzling form perhaps a double league and Chatham Cup titles are in the offing?

"You'd think it'll be a poor season if we don't win the league because we've started so well and the Chatham Cup will be just a big bonus.

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"Oh jeez, it's got to happen this year because it'll probably be the best time time we'll have to do the double," the Englishman said.

Tinsley said the Blues wanted rivals to appreciate Bluewater Stadium as a fortress.

Visiting player/coach Paul Ifill said they had chances to put the ball away but didn't take them and got punished.

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"Our defending from set pieces was particularly poor ... so I'll have to take a bit of responsibility for that because it's just basics, really," a stone-faced Ifill lamented.

He is making several changes "because it's just not good enough and we just can't carry so many players".

The Blues were sublime. The Greens lacked vision and width despite their talent.

Tinsley drew first blood in the 14th minute, casually placing the ball past Wairarapa goalkeeper Matt Borren following a Miles John cornerkick.

Discover more

Football: Bloor hattrick pivotal

10 May 08:41 PM

Six minutes later an unmarked Saul Halpin made it 2-0 after latching on to a midfield through ball to slip it past Borren in the bottom right corner.

Wairarapa pulled one back to 2-1 in the 26th from a cracker Sam O'Regan freekick that curled past the wall and goalkeeper Reuben Parker to thud into the net.

Rovers exposed a fragile defence with another cornerkick goal, 3-1, in the 37th minute, this time golden boot leader Angus Kilkolly, glancing a header into the net from a Josh Stephenson curler that looked like going in. Wairarapa captain Adam Cowan could have set the game alight in the 61st minute with just the keeper to beat at point-blank range but his touch deserted him as Parker prevailed.

In the 75th minute Wairarapa were cruelly exposed again to a Halpin cornerkick with Tinsley finishing at the far post after Borren's parry swirled kindly to his foot for a 4-1 lead.

Cowan made it 4-2 in the 86th minute, pouncing on a wall-deflected freekick from O'Regan to muted applause. Two minutes later, centre-mid Tom Biss took a no-look deft touch from a cross at the edge of the box to gift Tinsley a hattrick goal inside the box for the Rovers to well and truly put the game to bed, 5-2.

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