SOCCER: Abba makes fans sing, dance

It wasn't pretty. Coach Matt Chandler had lost another centreback yesterday but somehow you got the feeling nothing was going to wipe that grin off his face.
A win, after all, is a win and there comes a time in any competition when you take that regardless of what size or shape the gift pack is.
"I'm very happy with the response from my boys after last week," Chandler said of Hawke's Bay United after they posted their first victory of the season with a 2-1 nailbiter over Otago United in Napier yesterday, following their 4-2 away slump against Waikato United.
If you add to that a season-ending ankle dislocation to centreback Bill Robertson in the first round, then yesterday's early shower for centreback and captain Jonathon Taylor doesn't look so bad.
The Bluewater Stadium faithful at Park Island would have gone home knowing the new-look Bay team showed some ticker despite inevitable early-season jitters as they tried to find some rhythm and rhyme in their combinations.
Robertson's replacement, Stuart Ferguson, took over the role in his first outing with aplomb, not long after arriving from Australia following a stint with the Western Knights, in Perth.
In the mould of last season, Taylor lost his rag after taking offence to a sliding tackle from Otago striker David Dugdale in the 29th minute as he tried to clear the ball over the line.
Shaping to kick Dugdale, Taylor instead shoved his head before midfielder James Reichwien waded into the fray and retaliated on the diminutive Dugdale's behalf. A few handbags were thrown and referee Anthony Riley flashed a red card at Taylor. The Bay fans' hearts sank while others reacted vociferously at the whistleblower but calmed down and cheered when Reichwien also got his marching orders.
Perhaps ref Riley overreacted when simply cautioning the pair or maybe pulling out yellow cards would have served the purpose.
However, Taylor should have known better as captain and shown restraint rather than take the law into his own hands. Lanky striker Danny Wilson joined the defence, sparking fears that the shorter but speedy pair of Solomon Islanders, Andrew Abba and Joachim Rande, would be starved of possession from aerial tussles. Nevertheless, if anything, two fewer players on the park meant more space for a free-flowing affair that yielded three goals in what was shaping up to be a lacklustre, scoreless stalemate.
Said Chandler: "I think the sending off frustrated them more than us and our finishing was the difference."
Was it ever. Abba was the two-goal hero and the crowd lapped up his theatrics too, although the referee wasn't amused when he pulled his shirt up to expose his six-pack to the crowd and copped a yellow card for his troubles in the 52nd minute following his second goal.
It hardly mattered as the goal must have felt like a counter-punch during a heavyweight boxing match as Abba put behind a lion's share of the first 47 minutes of play spent on both sides sparring and failing to finish moves with crisp shots at goal.
Birnie, Abba, Rande, Sam Halligan, McIvor and Chris Greatholder created opportunities but floating crosses went begging when players failed to pick up the far posts.
The visitors seemed content to sit back and in the first 15 minutes had only one corner but no shots at goal.
Leftback Matt Hastings showed vision to offer some superb crosses but the outcomes were often unproductive.
In the two minutes added to the first half, Greatholder drove a 28m wormburner but Otago goalkeeper James Wagget made a scrambling clearance.
In the 50th minute, Bay hearts missed a beat when midfielder Ryan Faichnie put a ball through to Dugdale but keeper Richard Gillespie parried and Ferguson cleared from a gaping goalmouth.
Stung into action, Rande fed a pass instead to Abba who lured a defender outside the left upright before turning into the 18m box to plant the ball crisply into the right-hand corner for the first goal.
Otago equalised in the 58th minute from a Robbie Deeley penalty kick after Wilson was deemed to have fouled Dugdale in the 18m box.
A minute later, Abba puts Bay ahead 2-1 in almost similar fashion and in tandem with Rande.
George Barbarouses came on for an injured Birnie in the 70th minute to show he could provide impetus in the midfield. So did Port Hill striker Magnus Hansson when he came on for a cramped-up Abba in the 85th minute although Chandler rued his troops not keeping the ball in the dying minutes as Otago threatened to equalise.
Otago coach Malcolm Fleming was brutally honest and chastised his players for squandering possession. "You can't push people in the face," he said believing their scoreless draw against Auckland in the first round made his players complacent.
"Players aren't just expected to go to a park and think they will win. You have to show the opposition some respect never mind who they are," Fleming said, saying that four or five players did adhere to the game plan.
There's no game this Saturday because of the All Whites' World Cup qualifier against Bahrain in Wellington but the Bay travel to Christchurch on November 22 to play Canterbury United.
* Results - page 14.