Sean Lovemore. Photo / Paul Taylor
When A team scores three of the five goals at the end of a 90-plus-minute affair in football it is fair to say they should be jumping for joy.
But that wasn't the case with the new-look Hawke's Bay United team yesterday after they lost 3-2 away to Auckland City in their opening round of the ASB Premiership.
Englishman Saul Halpin caused a hush among the Kiwitea Street fans with a seventh-minute goal after a defensive blunder from the hosts but the Ross Haviland-captained Bay United conceded a goal to the O-League campaigners in the 25th minute when defender Harry Morton slipped an Emiliano Tade cross into his own net.
"The boys came off the pitch very disappointed because we had decent chances that were not converted," a circumspect Bay coach, Brett Angell, said after his troops went into halftime 2-1 down to the defending champions.
Agonisingly City's Fabrizio Tavano pushed the advantage past Bay goalkeeper Josh Hill at the crack of the 45th-minute mark.
"We gave away soft goals and in many instances we could have done better individually and collectively," Angell said.
The new coach of a new outfit with just three Bay players in the squad put it down to a first match of the season and a decent game of football.
Last season's golden boot, Tade, pushed the lead to 3-1 in the 64th minute from close range.
Bay striker Sean Lovemore pulled one back in the 77th minute to inject some intensity in the game but the visitors failed to capitalise.
Substitute Fane Morgan had a chance to equalise 10 minutes later after a one-on-one situation with Auckland keeper Tamati Williams but the Bay teenager shot wide.
"Sean and Facundo [Barbero] missed one each, too," Angell said of the Argentine from Island Bay United who came in for Halpin at the start of the second half.
Angell said no one would have argued at the park that Bay United didn't deserve to return home with something from the game.
He felt his counterpart, Ramon Tribulietx, nor his men would have been happy with conceding the Halpin goal after their centre back lost possession to Lovemore who squared it to the goal scorer for a tap-in.
For Bay United it was a "harsh lesson" to do things methodically and clinically.
"If you don't shut the gate at the other end to give away silly goals then you don't win.
He said his men would look at the videotape footage of the game to see how they could have done better in leading up to goal-scoring opportunities and, in particular, the decisions they made.
Bay United, he said, were blissfully aware of what they were up against and that goal of winning, not trying to keep the score down, would remain against all teams.
"Realistically on paper, the teams in the first four games are pretenders to the premiership crown," he said before they host the other O-League campaigners, Team Wellington, at Park Island, Napier, in a 2pm kick off this Sunday.
While referee Matt Conger flashed seven yellow cards - three to Bay United - Angell said it was expected from a full-blooded game.
Tribulietx said the opposition had dominated in the last 15 minutes.
"But it was all up to us. We had the ball 65 to 75 per cent of the time," he said, suspecting the 3-1 lead led to a degree of complacency among his men as they pressured too high up the field.
"Hawke's Bay were well organised ... and had good structure," Tribulietx said, mindful they liked sitting back and would hit back to pinch points.
"Both teams were a little rusty but it was a good game."
Angell said a team could have a lion's share of the ball but what mattered in the end was their penetration.
Result:
Auckland City 3 (own goal 25th, Fabrizio Tavano 45th, Emiliano Tade 64th) HB Utd 2 (Saul Halpin 7th, Sean Lovemore 77th). HT: 2-1.