Football: Napier City Rovers striker Bjorn Christensen dedicates maiden goal to grandma

It was a day of reflection for Bjorn Christensen who dedicated his maiden goal for the Rovers to his grandmother, the late Victoria Inglis. Photo/Warren Buckland

The black armbands on both teams' sleeves told a silent story that didn't transpire until after the final whistle at Park Island, Napier, yesterday.

Bjorn Christensen had attended the funeral of his paternal grandmother, Victoria Inglis, in the morning before sliding on to the bench of the Thirsty Whale Napier City Rovers team for the 2pm kick off against Stop Out Sports Club at the Bluewater Stadium.

The 23-year-old substitute striker came on in the 62nd minute for vice-captain Joshua Stevenson to score the Blues' second goal nine minutes later, as the hosts claimed three valuable points in the 3-1 victory to maintain their top-of-the-table perch after round 14 of the Ultra Football Central League match.

Christensen recalled fondly how he and his siblings spent countless weekends with their grandma when they visited their father as children.

"We used to have to switch on the power supply on the wall if we wanted to watch the TV so she was pretty old school in her ways but a grand lady," he said of his grandmother in Hastings who had been quite ill for a while.

No doubt the Thirsty Whale Hawke's Bay United player, who has been grappling with his share of injury demons this year, had quietly dedicated the goal to her.

"I nearly got that header in as well," he said, after scoring his first goal for the flagship team in his debut season.

"It was good to get off the mark. I haven't really had a big stint because I've come in late so it's good to get back in the groove again."

Christensen said Stop Out had good structure and the Rovers' plan was to catch them on the hop higher up the park with their two wide centre backs.

Reflecting on the goal, the grinning electrician from Hastings said: "All I had to do was fall over, really."

Modesty aside, Christensen, a player who had last winter helped Building King Havelock North Wanderers win the Lotto Federation League, has a nose for finding the net at the ISPS Handa Premiership level although you won't catch him doing cartwheels in the mould of Canadian import winger Wesley Cain who has a gymnastics background.

According to an email from a Stop Out supporter, the visitors wore black armbands as a mark of respect for Stop Out goalkeeper James McPeake whose maternal grandfather had died last week in Christchurch and the funeral was to be held there today.

"It was a pretty hard task for him to even make it to Hawke's Bay for that game," said the supporter who wished to remain anonymous.

McPeake caught a flight this morning to Christchurch after spending time there all of last week.

"He didn't train last week at all and initially didn't think he was going to make it to Hawke's Bay to play," the supporter said of the 27-year-old accountant.

It took two minutes into the second half but the James Hoyle-skippered Rovers gradually broke down third-placed Stop Out's resilience on a balmy winter's day.

Player/coach Bill Robertson couldn't put his finger on why his troops looked a little lethargic but wasn't going to use the Fifa World Cup quarterfinals for the past few days as an excuse because he had a suspicion a fair number of the visitors were glued to their television sets as well in the wee hours of the morning.

"They were third on the table and we've come through it 3-1 so it's a good result for another three points," Robertson said.

Ref's assistant Dave Mason keeps up with the play as Blues player Drew Matthews takes the ball up the line in Napier yesterday. Photo/Duncan Brown

The teams had a lot of endeavour going into halftime but poor decisions and vision, coupled with unforced errors, denied them the chance to set the match alight.

Barely two minutes into the second half Rovers centre-mid Karan Mandair, who was caught a step late at times in the first spell, showed some speed and surged into the 18m box to draw a trip from centre back Kade Schrijvers.

Cain sent McPeake diving the wrong way for a 1-0 lead and produced a five-flip somersault celebration that had the home fans in raptures.

It was 2-0 in the 71st minute when Christensen twirled inside the 18m box, drew a couple of defenders as well as the goalkeeper before worming the ball into an empty net for a 2-0 lead.

Jerram Tuck gave Stop Out some hope in the 82nd minute but English import defender Jamie Wilkinson extended the Rovers' lead to 3-1 with a tap-in goal five minutes later.

In Masterton, the Wanderers lost 4-2 to Wairarapa yesterday as the hosts exacted revenge for their 6-2 loss in Hastings earlier in the season.

Wairarapa led 3-1 at halftime after Isaiah Soromon (21st minute), Hamish Watson (32nd) and Shaquille Belle (37th) found the net before Liam Shackleton pulled one back for the visitors in the 40th minute. Jorge Akers raised hopes to 3-2 in the 53rd minute but Watson stopped the rot (4-2) in the 74th minute.