HOME WIN: Wanganui Athletic's Zeb Small on the ball in the victory over PN Massey on Saturday. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY A_160515WCBRCSOC03
EVOLUTION Painting & Decorating Wanganui City again fell short of the mark on Saturday, taking a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Feilding 1sts in the Lotto Federation League, leaving the club's top side with more questions than answers in their campaign.
In the Western Premiership, Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic staggered to a victory over the Massey 1sts, the Wanganui City Renovators thumped the Red Sox Rovers 7-0, and the Wanganui City Reserves fell to a massive 7-1 defeat against Hokowhitu.
Things couldn't have started worse for the City 1sts in their quest to restore their season as they took the fight to Feilding on a poorly-prepared Timona Park on Saturday.
Feilding were looking for their first win at their home ground since the inception of the Federation League and were unflagging in their approach, brutally contesting the match from the offset and taking full advantage of the wind at their backs in the first half to find a direct route to goal.
Controversy struck the match early, when a callous two-footed challenge on young City keeper Josh Francis inside the first 10 minutes not only saw the match referee wave play on and allow the resulting goal to stand, but forced Francis from the pitch with injuries which rule him out for the next three to four weeks.
City coach Kelvin Francis was understandably disappointed with the decision, feeling that player safety had clearly been ignored.
"It was an obviously poor challenge, it should have been a yellow.
"Josh shaped wrong for the save and ended up going in knees first, as opposed to leading with his hands.
"But the ref saw nothing wrong with the challenge.
"He's got sprig marks all the way down both legs. If he had of led with his hands, in the traditional manner, he would have had sprig marks on his throat."
With the younger Francis incapacitated and awaiting the arrival of an ambulance, Francis senior had to slip on his gloves and introduce himself into the match as the replacement keeper.
"I'm glad I put my name down on the card 'just in case'.
"It was a lot of work around the box that I wasn't expecting, and I was certainly feeling it the next day.
"But I'll have to get used to it, it looks like I'll be doing this for the next few weeks."
Not long after his introduction, City's coach conceded his side's second goal after Feilding lumped the ball forward, only to have Adrian Ngaau stand the attacker up, preventing him from progressing forward.
However his work was not enough as the attacker spun on his heels and toe-poked the ball between Francis' legs, giving Feilding a 2-0 lead after just 10 minutes.
The remainder of the game was hard fought, with City unable to find a way back into the match.
City's best opportunity was denied by Feilding's goalie when a shot, destined for the back of the net, was clipped away through a reflex wave of the keepers arm.
Francis felt there were still a lot of positives in the way the team played but identified they needed to make more of their time in front of goal.
"I thought we played well in patches, but we were unable to make the most of our chances.
"Sometimes it felt like we worked the ball around the top of the box well, but weren't keen to pull the trigger if we were still 20 yards from goal. We wanted to work ourselves into a better place, and maybe that didn't work for us"
Francis was particularly despondent with giving Feilding such an historic win at their home ground.
"You should have heard them singing in their changing rooms. Our boys were deflated.
"Someone told me later that not only was that their first home win in the Federation league, but it's probably the first time that City's ever lost to Feilding. "It was a sombre trip home"
It will be back to the drawing board for Francis, as they prepare for Marist next weekend.
"I'll be re-watching the video of our last match against Marist. Something isn't working, not scoring goals obviously doesn't help, but something else is missing."
Wanganui City Reserves also had a torrid time on Saturday when, yet again, their on-field emotions boiled over and hampered their ability to find a victory.
Facing the league leaders on their home ground was always going to be a tough ask for a team struggling to find form, and was made even harder when the Reserves had ex-first team keeper Jason Fergusson sent off after earning his second yellow card, leaving the Reserves with just 10 men on the pitch.
With the final score standing at 7-1 at the final whistle, it's clear that the Reserves are still struggling to convert their desire to win into real results on the park.
It was up to the Wanganui City Renovators to bring a drop of pride to the clubrooms on Saturday evening, after cruising away to a 7-0 victory over the Red Sox Rovers.
A pivotal display of attacking prowess by Neihana Kahl led the way for the Renovators, after he bagged four goals in the match.
Tesco Grunwald, Ben Toyne and Sam Willis all added goals in what was a clinical display which moved the Renovators up to third on the table.
Back home at Wembley, Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic snatched a well-earned 3-1 victory after playing some patchy football against Massey.
Athletic played well when they kept the ball on the deck, but it was when the pressure was applied that the home side panicked and started to fall apart.
An early goal gave the Reds a 1-0 lead at the break, but it was far from secure, with Athletic still struggling to extend the patches of good play and string them into a unified performance.
Second half goals sealed the win for Athletic but the win was not enough to move them from sixth on the table.
Sam Crossley, one of Athletic's coaching staff, praised the team's effort and was looking to the future after today's performance.
"This weekend we were taking our chances, but we should have finished more.
"I think we're about three or four weeks away from being a truly competitive side.
"There's a hunger at training, and the young guys are really pushing for spots. It's a lovely thing to watch."
With Athletic facing the City Renovators this weekend, the proposition of another tasty local derby is definitely shaping up.