Football: Paul Ifill analyses his input in 'out-of-body' experience after Lily Whites christening

Paul Ifill (2nd from left) heads the ball away this time but questions his positioning for Eastern Suburbs forager Mohamed Awad scoring the third goal in the 5-0 loss last Saturday. Photo/Photosport

No one is cringing more than Paul Ifill after the omissible performance from Hawke's Bay United in their national summer league opener last weekend.

"It wasn't the way I wanted to spend my birthday at the end of a 5-nil result," says Ifill after the Thirsty Whale-sponsored franchise team unceremoniously rolled over to expose a soft underbelly to Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm, Auckland, in the ISPS Handa Premiership campaign last Saturday.

The 39-year-old, who wears his emotions with the same transparency as he does tattoos on his inner arms with the names of daughters Bethany and Romy Ella, in a distinctive font, isn't about to sugarcoat the team's moment of mediocrity after watching a videotaped replay of the game.

"Look, I've played in the national league for four years and I've never played in a team where every single person was so far off their game at one time," he says the former Wellington Phoenix linchpin before striker Sam Mason-Smith leads Bay United out at the Bluewater Stadium in Napier to put things right tomorrow.

The 1pm kick-off against the Canterbury United Dragons will have the added pressure of breaking the hoodoo of last summer when the Brett Angell-coached side failed to eke out a win at Park Island.

Ifill says good sides tend to carry a couple of players who have the propensity to bear the load of inertia but last Saturday, enigmatically, not one of them no players stood out last Saturday.

Bereft of ideas, the players have tried to find rhyme and reason in what can probably pass off as an out-of-body experience.

"Nobody can put their hand up to say I played well and we've struggled to work out why."

A player/assistant coach, Ifill believes the squad is fit and possesses the mental fortitude, to differentiate so, frankly speaking, excuses become redundant.

Tinkering with set-piece play has been on the agenda this week because he feels it's uncharacteristic of Bay United to trip in that facet.

He echoes the post-match sentiments of Angell that they gifted the Lily Whites a goal amid passages of play that left them sheepishly unravelled.

"There's work to be done but, again, I'd never get carried away because it's just one game which we've lost heavily but there's 17 to go."

Ifill says while a blanket of disappointment has enveloped the collective no one is huddling underneath it because an entire season beckons to do something pretty special this season.

What is perplexing is Bay United looked cohesive in the preseason against Hamilton Wanderers, the Western Suburbs and Team Wellington before the "out-of-the-blue" 90-plus minutes against Eastern Suburbs.

"We just have to make sure that that doesn't happen again," he says, mindful Bay United will stumble again but what rankles with everyone is the manner in which they crumbled to the Danny Hay-coached Lily Whites who are prospering from the assembly line of Declan Edge's Ole Academy.

It's up there with the Bermuda Triangle stories but he can't possibly imagine that ever happening again.

"There's plenty for us to work on in the squad but, individually, we all must be better."

Ifill doesn't absolve himself of any guilt. Planting himself in the witness box, he conducts a self-cross examination that snaps the jurors out of any slumber.

"It was probably the most dire football I've played in a number of years."

Hawke's Bay United player/coach Paul Ifill finds himself in a 50-50 tussle with Eastern Suburbs player Dalton Wilkins in a game that questioned the players' urgency. Photo/Photosport

The Englishman, who runs academies in Masterton and Nelson, says he was among the clueless last Saturday who looked over the shoulder at each other waiting to see who was going to take ownership on the park.

"I was second in all my battles and I was probably thinking in a minute somebody's going to do something to smart us up and, normally, I'm one of those guys but, for whatever reason, I wasn't one of them so, again, I can't afford for that to happen as a leader on the pitch and an assistant coach."

For the bloke who made 106 appearances for the Phoenix in the Hyundai A-League, says the squad comprises a pretty honest bunch who feed off a dynamic team culture and players should be eager to put their hand up to make things right.

"For me the third goal was partly my fault," he says, chastising himself for a poor sense of positioning that enabled Mohamed Awad to rifle a header past Bay United goalkeeper Mackenzie Waite in the 61st minute.

While the Dragons are another litmus test tomorrow, Ifill welcomes the challenge as an ideal opportunity to reaffirm their self-belief.

"I think it's the sort of game you want to test your mettle with after the loss like the one we've had."

He believes Angell's roster is as good as any out there this season and that's why the opening result has been shocking.

"I believe there are a couple of players who'll make a big impact on this league so I don't think we're too far away but I'd rather we do it sooner than later," he says.

Angell is trying to ignite the campaign of Bay United who missed out on a playoffs berth for the first time last summer in six consecutive seasons.

■ HAWKE'S BAY UTD: 1. Mackenzie Waite (GK), 2. Anders Eriksson, 4. Cameron Lindsay, 5. Joseph Zupo, 6. Daniel Allan, 7. Cory Chettleburgh, 8. Paul Ifill, 9. Sam Mason-Smith, 10. Sho Goto, 11. Maxime Oliveri, 12. Ben Lack, 15. Dilan Nanayakkara, 17. Jordan Lamb, 22. Karan Mandair, 23. Jorge Akers, 26. Alexander Britton (RGK).
Coach: Brett Angell.
Ast co-coaches: Jamie Dunning, Paul Ifill.

■ CANTERBURY UTD: 1. Edward Ashton (GK), 2. Dan Terris, 3. Aaron Spain, 5. Tom Schwarz, 6. Gary Ogilvie, 7. George King, 9. Maksym Kowal, 10. Adam Thurston, 11. James Pendrigh, 12. Reese Cox, 14. Sean Liddicoat, 16. Cory Mitchell, 17. Stephen Hoyle, 21. Seth Clark, 22. Conor Tracey (RGK).
Coach: Willy Gerdsen.