Football: HB Utd rookie adjusting to demands

Bay United rookie Liam Hayes, 19, of Hamilton, says premiership soccer has been a baptism of sorts. Photo/Paul Taylor

Nothing has been easy for Liam Hayes in the big league but you aren't going to trap him offside, embarking on the grizzling track about anything any time soon.

Hayes has come off the bench to eke out minutes for Thirsty Whale Hawke's Bay United, starting only at Kiwitea St against wonder boys Auckland City in round six on November 25.

"It's obviously good to just get some good minutes around that because I'm young and around a good team so it's all pretty valuable for me, to be fair," says the 19-year-old from Hamilton in his debut national summer league and is hoping to carry on clocking more minutes when Bay United host Tasman United in a 2pm kickoff at Park Island, Napier, tomorrow.

Casting his mind back to round one of the ISPS Handa Premiership soccer at Bluewater Stadium against the Wellington Phoenix Reserves on October 23, Hayes recalls it as baptism of fire of sorts.

"The pace was much quicker than what I'm used to but once I got that out of the way, it's been quite good because I've adapted to whatever minutes I've been given, so I'm slowly getting used to it."

The central midfielder, a product of Melville United, has no qualms about spreading his wings on either flank to help the collective cause of Bay United coach Brett Angell.

The game tomorrow should be a humdinger as they are both coming off losses - three on the trot for Bay United, including 3-1 to Waitakere United here last Sunday, while the Davor Tavich and Paul Ifill-coached visitors will be smarting after losing 2-0 at Trafalgar Park to the Phoenix.

Relative newcomers to the Premiership, Tasman United are also caught in the doldrums after five winless affairs.

Their discipline will come under scrutiny after they were reduced to 10 men against the Phoenix and they will also feel the pinch amid speculation that former A-League Phoenix linchpin Ifill may again not be playing due to injury.

With Christmas holidays fast approaching, both teams will be mindful that uncertainty surrounding playoffs will rob the grape juice and champagne of their effervescence and the turkey of its bite. The cut will be the deepest for Bay United, who have made a habit of becoming semifinalists.

What has struck Hayes most in the Premiership domain is the level of individual skills on display.

"You have individuals who can turn on a game, especially those Auckland City guys. You know their front four are almost unplayable at times," he says of the perennial Oceania champions who bowed out in round one of the Club World Cup because of their failure to score despite creating numerous opportunities.

Just one of three from Melville playing in the Premiership, he knows they will be ambassadors for his winter clubmates to aspire to greater heights.

Hayes says a lack of composure saw Bay United fail to convert chances into more goals last Sunday but it is something they have all been working on.

"We're doing well but we've just got to fine tune some areas."

The word is Ghanaian-US import striker Samuel Adjei won't start again tomorrow due to a niggly injury.

The teenager says the dressing room also addressed the need to be stronger on the ball.

"Maybe the effort we've been putting in could be 20 to 30 per cent better. It's not that they [the opposition] are stronger than us but maybe we need to put our bodies more on the line and get stuck in."

Father Dave Hayes was born in Liverpool but arrived in New Zealand in his 20s. He was instrumental in coaching him all the way up to representing Waikato from 8 to 15.

Liam Hayes hopes to take soccer as far as he can, including using his British passport, as he did last year, but a degree in quantity surveying is his priority before the dream of living off the beautiful game.

MATCH DETAILS

■ HB UNITED: 1 Ruben Parker Hanks (GK), 2 Hayden McHenery, 3 Kohei Matsumoto, 4 Graham Craven, 5 Bill Robertson (c), 6 Alex Palezevic, 7 Wesley Cain, 10 Adam Thurston, 11 Hayato Wakino, 14 Gavin Hoy, 15 James Hoyle, 16 Liam Hayes, 19 Birhanu Taye, 21 Bjorn Christensen, 24 Karanjit Mandair, 26 Mackenzie Waite (RGK).

Coach: Brett Angell.
Ast coach: Jamie Dunning.

■ TASMAN UNITED: 1 Corey Wilson, 2 Luca Perico, 4 Cameron Lindsay, 5 Mark Johnston, 6 Brian Kaltak, 7 Ryan Stewart, 8 Paul Ifill, 9 Maksym Kowal, 10 Kieran Smith, 11 Alex Risdale, 12 Cory Chettleburgh, 13 Tanashe Marowa, 14 Robbie Pearson, 16 Daniel Allan, 20 Alex Britton (RGK), 21 Yousif Ali Al-Kalisy, 22 Abdulla Al-Kalisy, 23 Sammy Ayers.

Coach: Davor Tavich.
Ast coach: Paul Ifill.

■ OFFICIALS:

Referee: Chris Mills.
Assistant referee 1: Mark Rule.
Assistant Referee 2: T Pedley.
Fourth official: Mark Roil.