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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Football: Gloveman regains form at Bay United

By Anendra Singh
Hawkes Bay Today·
28 Nov, 2014 05:42 PM5 mins to read

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Hawke's Bay United goalkeeper Joshua Hill, of England. PHOTO/alphapix

Hawke's Bay United goalkeeper Joshua Hill, of England. PHOTO/alphapix

THEY TAKE more shots than a tequila bar but goalkeeper Joshua Hill wouldn't trade places for any other position on the football field.

"Making a save is like a scoring a goal for me," says the Englishman before Hawke's Bay United kick off at 2pm against Waitakere United in Auckland today.

The Brett Angell-coached Bay United are coming off a bye weekend at Fred Taylor Park with a win and a draw from three matches in the ASB Premiership.

The Ross Haviland-captained Bay were put through the litmus test with a narrow loss to defending champions Auckland City and but have bounced back with a draw against the other O-League campaigners Team Wellington in Napier.

In the previous round, they claimed their first victory away over Wanderers Soccer Club.

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Hill, from the town of Buckingham, near Milton Keynes, tries to model his game on England goalkeeper Joe Hart.

"I like his style of play and his aura on the pitch," says the 19-year-old who represented England in the Danone Nations Cup when he was 11 and 12.

Hill found traction with goalkeeping as an 8-year-old when he followed his brother, Tom, 11, to training.

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"I used to fling myself around the mud and really enjoyed it.

"Tom gave up [at 11] and started playing cricket but I carried on," he says with a laugh.

Their father, Paul Hill, a solid fuel merchant, played cricket for Warwickshire but has no football background.

Joshua Hill went through all the age groups in football. At 16 he was training fulltime with Oxford United where he signed a three-year contract as a professional.

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"It's really tough for goalkeepers because they are looking for experience so you don't start hitting your peak until you are about 23."

Hill played 4-5 games for Banbury United in a league two tiers below the Conference Premier League - which is below the top four professional leagues in England - after his contract with Oxford expired in May.

"The standard was pretty good but it was not for me," he says, discovering after two months the routine of training every day and organising himself were talking their toll.

"I realised I just wasn't enjoying it."

As luck would have it, he was in touch with Des Cunningham, who coached him from the age of 11.

Cunningham, who is a development manager with New Zealand Football, contacted Angell and Hill jetted off here.

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The three-times-a-week training and two gym sessions is heaven for Hill.

"I'm really enjoying it here because at Banbury United I stopped enjoying it and my form had dropped."

He doesn't think his 1.87m, 72kg frame is a disadvantage against other glovemen in the 2m vicinity.

"You can have a 6ft 5in play like a 5ft 10in and their technique may not be so good," says Hill who intends to return to England after summer to secure a professional contract.

Bay United, he says, are confident about beating most teams in the premiership as long as they keep their shape.

They have created several chances in the box but haven't found the net with consistency.

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Waitakere are coming off a 2-1 victory away against Wellington Phoenix Reserves.

Shelley said it was a difficult place to win, looking at the reserves' calibre.

The hosts today see themselves in a similar boat to the visitors.

"We have four to six players from last season so the rest of them are new," says the coach from Dublin who is in his second term at the helm.

The premiership doesn't offer many games so "we have to hit the ground running".

"We're in a very similar situation to Brett Angell," says Shelley, referring to the Bay's new coach, new players and a new philosophy after a mass exodus of the squad from the previous season.

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Bay-born former Wellington Phoenix midfielder Tom Biss is building a reputation with Waitakere.

Ex-All White Dave Mulligan also played for Bay United last summer.

"Tom's pretty good in the box and he's busy in the midfield so, hopefully, he'll score for us tomorrow."

Shelley says while Waitakere United have a United Nations feel about them like Bay United - from Australia, England and Belgium - most of the players have been living in Auckland for the past five years.

"Most of them are eligible to play for the All Whites," he says, outlining only Sean Harding, a defender from Victoria, and Derice Richards, a striker from Stoke, are his only imports.

Waitakere have missed the O-League boat this season but hope to secure a berth at the end of this summer.

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"We had a pretty good last season but we were going through a transition period both on and off the field so we weren't as strong."

Shelley feels the premiership is not a given this season, with any team capable of toppling another.

"I wouldn't be ticking any boxes off because we got beaten 2-1 by Southern United about two weeks ago in Dunedin when people were expecting us to win."

He has watched Bay United play Auckland City and Wanderers Soccer Club this season.

"To be honest they were pretty impressive in both games and were unlucky not to come away with something against Auckland City," he says as Waitakere sit on the third rung of the premiership ladder with two wins and as many losses.

The Bay United v Southern United games have been reversed.

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The first clash was scheduled for December 14 in Dunedin but ground issues prompted NZ Football to play that game at Bluewater Stadium from 2pm. On March 1, the sides will meet at Forsyth Barr Stadium from 1pm.

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