Football: Red's advancement dreams stopped cold

Wanganui Athletic's James Oxtoby watches Stop Out's Cherbel Khonchaba collect the ball.

It was always going to be an uphill battle for a lean Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic side in the home leg of their Central League playoff against Wellington's Stop Out, but their goal of making the step up became akin to climbing Everest as they fell 4-0 to a much superior side on Saturday.

The gap between the two teams that took to Wembley Park was clearly evident, as Athletic looked to break a decade of toiling in the lower leagues and stride forth into the upper echelons.

Stop Out turned up with a desire not to repeat last year's near-miss in qualifying and were clearly the more prepared and hungry team on the pitch for the entire 90 minutes.

It was clear the lack of depth in the Athletic side hampered them and questions could be asked about their knowledge of the team which stood in their way as they struggled to bring themselves up to the next level on Wembley's main ground.

A good crowd had turned up to witness the Red's tilt at glory and were stunned as the visitors scored within the first few minutes of the opening whistle.

The task for Athletic didn't get any easier from there, as Stop Out controlled the direction and the pace of the game, easily exploiting Wanganui's three-man defensive line by playing the ball to the wide channels and having plenty of support arriving in the right areas, while they were ruthless in their attempts on goal.

The pressure mounted by the visitors soon took its toll on Athletic, as emotion boiled over and they lost composure while they tried to get themselves back into the game and break up the ever-pressing Stop Out.

Cautions followed, which would ultimately prove costly, as James Oxtoby was sent from the field after collecting his second yellow, leaving the Red's sorely undermanned.

Stop Out were unlucky not to have made it five goals, when a spectacular overhead bicycle kick from one the Wellington strikers found the back of the net. The strike lifted both the home and visiting crowd to applause and cheers, before sighs of disbelief echoed around the ground as the referee adjudged the strike to have been dangerous with a "high-foot" involved.

The score could have been much worse had it not been for Athletic's custodian Nick Hayward, who spent most of the match throwing himself around the goal area in an attempt to stop the flow of attacks.

But it was not to be, as Hayward was let down by his defensive line on several occasions, who were stretched thin trying to contain Stop Out's energetic, ruthless attacking, leaving him to collect the ball from the back of the net more times than his efforts deserved.

In one of game's highlights, Hayward showed he never gives up on a match until the final whistle, when he prevented what should have been an easy goal for Stop Out in the dying minutes.

After breaking through a tired defensive line, leaving all of Athletic's players rooted in the opposition half, two Stop Out attackers sped towards Hayward's goal, with members of the crowd shaking their heads at what they assumed would be another mark on the score sheet.

Two extra steps and a tap out to the left would have seen Stop Out score, yet the attacker backed his ability to beat the keeper, and took a shot at the approaching keeper, forcing Hayward into a expertly-delivered save.

Apart from Hayward, Peter Czerwonka was Athletic's stand-out player as he tried to anchor the defensive line and put in a solid 90 minutes, leaving everything on the park.

With the final whistle sounded, Stop Out walked off the pitch with a massive advantage as they travel home and prepare to host Athletic on their home ground this coming weekend.

The maths for the Reds is simple - five unanswered goals in Wellington will see them progress but questions need to be asked as to whether the depth and desire will exist as they make the journey.

"Unfortunately due to circumstances outside of our control, we couldn't field the side that went through the league unbeaten," said deflated player-coach Troy Smith.

"It's been a big learning curve for the club and Wanganui football.

"They did all the small things right, and we didn't. Obviously losing a player never helps, but that's not an excuse"

Athletic will now need to regroup, and take a long hard look at the task at hand, as they travel to Wellington's Hutt Park in Petone this weekend in an attempt to do the impossible.