RARE CHANCE: Jordan Joblin-Hall looks to break away against Havelock North.17082015WCSUPJOBLIN
IT WAS a disastrous weekend for Wanganui football, with each of the premier teams failing to record a victory and suffering poor results.
For Evolution Painting & Decorating Wanganui City it was a hugely disappointing 5-1 defeat at Havelock North, while the club's Reserves went down 8-2 at Massey in the Western Premiership.
Back at Wembley Park, Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic were left licking their wounds as bottom-of-the-table Red Sox Manawatu Rovers completed a smash and grab, collecting three competition points with a 4-2 victory.
It was a long way to go for little return for Wanganui City, making the journey to Havelock North with a desire to win but coming up empty handed.
With the wet weather in Hawkes Bay leaving little to be desired, the pitch had held up well, albeit a little slippery, meaning a few extra touches would be needed to keep the game flowing.
After having two weeks without playing a match, City were up against a side who still believe they are in with a chance to steal away the top of the table from Team Taranaki.
Even though a lot of other results would need to go Havelock's way, the desire shown was clearly more than what City had brought with them.
It was City's lack of composure that really seemed to hold them back from being a true threat, coupled with Havelock's attacking mentality, as the home side went into the half time break at 2-0.
City coach Kelvin Francis kept the message concise.
"I said to the team at halftime, 'we're still in this. We've had a couple of good opportunities, but we just haven't taken them. We need to look after the ball more, and shut down their time and space on the ball'."
"It was frustrating to see us giving their midfielders so much space to work with, we just sat off them, and they tore us to shreds every time."
Despite being two goals down, City should still have been in the match, but the simple message from Francis seemed to fall on deaf ears.
The second stanza held much of the same play, allowing Havelock to dominate the midfield and continually push through on City's goal.
A controversial penalty decision saw the home side stretch their lead to 3-0, before Jamie Lambe found the back of the net to give City a glimmer of hope at forcing their way back into the game.
With their midfield having rings run around them, Francis made the decision to move to three across the back, hoping the extra player in the midfield would hamper Havelock's control of the area.
The move proved fruitless, with Havelock finding the net twice more, to round the score out to a disappointing 5-1 at the fulltime whistle.
City now need to regroup and focus on their away fixture to North End this weekend, and will be eager to find themselves on the right side of the scoresheet once again.
It was picked to be a one-sided match for Wanganui Athletic, and the confidence was clear to be seen as the team went through their pre-match routines.
But neither the Reds nor their supporters would have picked the result which was to greet them at the end of the 90-minute encounter with Red Sox.
While the match was an entertaining encounter, with plenty of open and free-flowing play, it was the calibre of some of the finishes which had the spectators gasping.
From powerful strikes nearly 30m away from goal screaming into the top corner, to bullets sent flat and low into the back of the net, both teams put on a spectacle of scoring prowess.
Unfortunately for Athletic, they were on the receiving end of most of the superb finishes, with the imported custodian Aiden Upward unable to prevent four goals from breaching his line.
Up-and-coming talent Josh Parker did contribute his own spectacular finish, which coupled with a goal to club stalwart Scott Burney, did save some face for the home side.
However it was not enough to prevent the shock result from going the way of Red Sox, leaving many questioning what went wrong.