Napier City Rovers playmaker Benjamin Stanley (right) is congratulated by teammates after scoring the opening goal in his side's 5-0 Central League win over Waterside Karori at Bluewater Stadium. Photo / Neil Reid
Napier City Rovers head to Wellington this Saturday, where a mammoth showdown with the only other unbeaten side in the Central League awaits.
Top-of-the-table Miramar Rangers await the Jim Hoyle-captained team; a Wellington side who have six wins and a draw from the first seven rounds of the season.
Napier City Rovers sit in third spot – locked on 16 points with second-placed Wellington Olympic and fourth-placed Western Suburbs – on goal difference.
Napier City Rovers have a record of a season-opening draw and then five wins in succession, but also have a game in hand after the scheduled third-round clash against Island Bay was delayed because of ex-tropical cyclone Vaianu.
The win streak includes last Sunday’s clinical showing in the one-sided 5-0 win over Waterside Karori at Bluewater Stadium.
Forward Jacob Fenton – who scored his first goal of the season in the triumph – said the squad realised how big Saturday’s match in Wellington was, adding they were the type of matches they backed themselves to stand up in.
“They’re a top side, we know what they’re about,” Fenton said.
“But this is what everyone’s here for; we’re all here to participate in the big games and this is a very big game against a very good team.
“If we put the best version of ourselves out there, hopefully we’ll go and get a result against a top side and keep rolling on.”
Miramar Rangers have racked up some impressive scores in their unbeaten start to the season.
Their starting line-up also features a very familiar face to the current Napier City Rovers team, with Adam Hewson making a big impression for the team since moving to Wellington earlier this year, after two seasons with the Bluewater Stadium-based club.
Hewson became a fan favourite at Napier City Rovers, with both his work ethic on the pitch and his personality off it.
Fenton’s popularity is on the rise too at Napier City Rovers, putting in a strong performance – along with all his teammates – in last Sunday’s 5-0 win over Waterside Karori.
Fenton scored the third goal in the triumph; bringing down a perfectly executed cross from Liam Schofield with his right foot, before volleying the ball home with his left.
The 26-year-old Englishman – who was previously signed as a teen by Lincoln City FC, who ply their trade in the third tier of the English Football League – was making just his second appearance in the starting XI after battling injury earlier in the season.
“It has been a long time coming,” Fenton said of his first goal of the season.
“I was buzzing, with relief more than anything ... just relief to finally be contributing.”
Fenton suffered a knee injury during the pre-season campaign, then damaged a quad muscle and was forced off shortly before halftime in the season-opening draw against Western Suburbs.
Before the Waterside Karori match, he had featured off the bench in successive wins over the Wellington Phoenix Reserves and Petone FC.
He said he had been “stoked” to be named in Sunday’s starting XI.
“I’ve been a bit nervous. I feel like I’m falling apart since I’ve come to New Zealand,” Fenton said with a smile on his face.
“But I was definitely happy and excited to get the opportunity. It was a perfect day all round; we kept a clean sheet, I’ve scored a goal and we’ve finally given someone a hiding, which we needed to do.”
Benjamin Stanley opened the scoring, before further goals came via Hoyle, Fenton, Schofield and Cameron Emerson.
Schofield – who celebrated his 150th appearance earlier this season – was outstanding on defence and made several telling contributions up the field, including the crosses for Fenton and Emerson’s goals.
Alongside him at the back, Hoyle, Jack Albertini and Luca Barclay routinely nullified the few potentially meaningful attacks Waterside Karori tried to launch.
Fenton and Brown up front were aided by the big workload that Emerson, Stanley, Callum Cooke and Aston Hurd got through.
For the fifth time this season, Danish goalkeeper William Tonning kept a clean sheet. Tonning was replaced late in the match by his understudy Josh Capstick for his Napier City Rovers debut.
“I thought it was an excellent performance,” Fenton said.
Given Napier City Rovers’ dominance, Waterside Karori were fortunate to leave Bluewater Stadium conceding just five goals.
Fenton said one of the things that pleased him was the way his teammates didn’t drop off their intensity throughout the match against an inferior opposition.
“It doesn’t matter who we play, we have to drive our own standards,” he said.
“We have to show what we’re about, get better every game and the partnerships are starting to click.
“It’s about driving our own standards and making sure we put the best version of ourselves out there.”
While Fenton got on the scoresheet last weekend, his great mate and fellow forward Leo Brown – a former Northern Ireland youth international – didn’t trouble the scorers.
But Brown continued his run of continuing to be a nightmare for opposition defences in the Central League to date, including putting in some classy touches, strong support play and committing defenders, which allowed extra space for his teammates.
“He’s one of my best friends,” Fenton said. “So the fact we get to be on the pitch in a beautiful place like this, I’m buzzing.
“I know from experience from playing with him in the past that his goals, they come in stints. When Leo starts scoring goals, they’ll come in clumps. His goals are coming.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014, has 34 years of newsroom experience and has covered Napier City Rovers since 2022.
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