SOCCER - Latin x-factor dances all over Bay

ANENDRA SINGH
If Hawke's Bay's 30-plus-degree heat was ever going to be a factor the Team Wellington soccer players should have been the ones complaining.
Staying out of the way of buffeting gale-force winds and negotiating narrow roads in first gear on a hilly city are a far cry from the fruit bowl of New Zealand, even if Courtenay Place and Cuba Street in the capital city may be "more happening".
But Wellington striker Luis Corrales, of Costa Rica, is no stranger to balmy weather and yesterday he turned the heat on Hawke's Bay United in Napier.
Claiming he's acclimatising to the inclement Wellington weather, the 25-year-old made a mockery of the Bay defence at the Bluewater Stadium with his blistering pace and deft foot work.
Corales breached the defence twice in the second spell (52nd and 60th minute) as last season's New Zealand Football Championship finalists got on the table after two losses this season with a well-deserved 2-1 victory.
The nippy striker drew blood twice in the second half to put Wellington in the box seat as the boys from the capital outplayed the hosts who seemed sluggish after a crisp opening five minutes.
"I'm used to playing like this because Costa Rica is really hot," Corrales told SportToday soon after a cool shower and a lung-clearing song with his jubilant teammates in the visitors' changing rooms.
"I think the difference was we had long balls and I was running behind the defenders with good pace and I was lucky they didn't pick me," he said with a grin.
But it had little to do with luck. The Bay's shoddy defence left fans scratching their heads every time the hosts failed to shut Corrales down in the flanks.
That fellow striker Peter Halstead and Chilean midfielder Pedro Garcias were creating havoc up front also goes a long to explaining why. Halstead was unlucky not score in the 21st minute from a Garcias freekick from outside the 18m box close to the corner flag and goal line. The header deflected off the cross bar.
Wellington coach Stu Jacobs said of Corrales: "He's in a class of his own, isn't he?
"I suppose in a tight game like this he's the difference. Against a team like Hawke's Bay you have to have an X factor and he's it."
Jacobs said his team had a reasonable game against Waitakere in the opener but against Manawatu they were not even close.
"The way we set up gives Pedro a free run to get on the ball and try to initiate attacks for us. He's got a good work rate too and we don't want him going backwards too often.
"The South Americans did well for us but, mmm, I think everyone came to the game for us today," a jubilant Jacobs said after his 10-men side succumbed 3-0 to Manawatu Heart last weekend.
Jacobs was already looking forward to their next match against Auckland.
A circumspect Bay head coach Jonathan Gould said it would have been a travesty had Wellington not gone back home with maximum points.
Ruing missed missed opportunities, Gould said: "We really didn't click, show enough energy on the ball and get into positions where people could pass. Because of that we became very predictable.
"I didn't think we played well against Waikato and I was expecting us to deliver some kind of performance today," he said, labelling Corrales' first goal brilliant but calling the second one "sloppy".
Aware of Corrales' strength, Gould said the responsibility lay with the back four who failed to fire.
"This league is so short that we have to bounce back with a win against Manawatu."
Nelson College schoolboy striker Andrew Abba, of the Solomon Islands, failed to make the line-up after an ankle injury flared up in training, ruling him out for 10 days.
Bay's goal came in the 62nd minute when former Rovers defender Peter Howe, who father Charlie is Wellington's assistant coach, got pinged for a crude tackle. Midfielder Graham Fyfe had Wellington keeper Phil Imray diving the wrong way with superb placement in the bottom left corner.
Bay skipper Chris McIvor echoed Gould's sentiments, saying they "did not turn up at the park" and they had to revisit their set plans during training so as to execute more effectively.
However, the 2-1 scoreline does not do justice to the visitors' dominance.
Bay midfielder Cole Peverley's angry outburst of "Why me?", when Gould subbed him in the 61st, is indicative of a side that needs to do some soul searching to get back on a winning habit against table-topping Manawatu.