All four NRFL teams played away this weekend with the Men’s First Team kicking off the weekend with a hastily arranged game on Friday night at Phyllis Street, the weekend culminated with the Women’s First Team facing local rivals Eastern Suburbs at Madills Farm on Sunday afternoon.

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MENS FIRST TEAM: Ponies Throw Their Bodies On The Line For A Point Against Metro FC

A first friday night game of the season saw the Ellerslie AFC Men’s First Team secure our first draw this year, in a fixture which saw lady luck flirt her way between both sides during the 90 minutes.

A slight delay to kickoff happened when it became obvious that one of the appointed AR’s for the game had not made it, so Metro’s team manager took the flag for the first half (until a replacement arrived) and was excellent!

Ellerslie had the chance to draw first blood when they were awarded a penalty early in the game, but unfortunately our luck from the spot continued, this time an excellent save from Sean Dowling (out of retirement for Metro) from Ryan’s effort kept us scoreless.

A number of changes to the First Team due to unavailability (due to the late un-notified change to Friday night) of players saw Monju Shohei win a starting spot in midfield in the place of Pat Grey and Ermal Fusha on the comeback from injury grabbed a start on the wing replacing Adam Paulsen. On the bench a first time call up for Daniel Evans and a recall for Cobi Allen were the key changes. The Keeper from last weeks cup game (Mas) was given bench duties due to a bit of a side niggle.

The luck didn’t go against us the whole game to be fair – during the course of the first half we rode our luck a little, once when Metro hit the crossbar and in a couple of moments in the goalbox when Ponies were flying at the ball to block shots, fully committed to the cause which was awesome to see from the sideline.

Kyryl in particular was heavily involved and made a number of clutch saves to keep Metro from opening the scoring.

Recent weeks has seen a bit more belief back into the team and that showed as Josh Lai executed a perfect press on the Metro left back and smashed in a teasing cross to the backpost where Rowan Corbett lined up a left foot volley, which to everyone’s delight looped over Dowling in goal and settled in the back of the net.

Before the halftime break Ellerslie had another golden opportunity as a nicely worked passing movement ended up with Ryan with a one v one with the keeper, albeit from a tough angle and Dowling with all his years of experience shut the angle as best he could – with the end result being Ryan shooting in the side netting trying to beat the keeper at his near post.

A halftime lead was a bit of an odd occasion for Ellerslie and to be honest with Metro causing us significant problems at the back it could have easily been equal or a lead to Metro – but the lads stuck at it and were being well supported by almost the entire Women’s First Team who had arrived late but definitely loud to support their counterparts.

Metro started the second half well and put Ellerslie back under pressure – but there was a feeling around the ground it wasn’t to be Metro’s night due to a combination of some wasteful finishing and some excellent scramble defence from the visitors. Perhaps at the very moment supporters were letting that thought permeate through their minds the home side drew level, with a decent although not be any means the most clean strike of the game to date. Unfortunately Ellerslie had switched off as the scorer Brad Rathbun had received the ball from a throw in and found he had a bit of space to get his shot off.

Ellerslie responded by putting on Kojo Norku for Ermal Fusha who had grabbed some valuable minutes under his belt on his injury comeback – Kojo immediately started to run at the Metro left back who had previously had been dealing with Josh and then Ermal and was a on a card so was probably keen for a rest at this point.

Normally you see the scoring team in this scenario kick on but Ellerslie looked like they were stung into action as they went on the offensive and raised the tempo once again and looked to try and find a winner, while Metro seemed to welcome the pressure and looked to hit us on the counter.

In one such moment a ball into the Ellerslie penalty box saw a clash between a Metro player and Jordan Bresler who stayed down afterwards clutching his knee – while recently Ellerslie have avoided adding injuries to what is now a long list of injuries this season this was unfortunately another piece of bad luck as Jordan suffered MCL damage to his knee in that innocuous collision.

That injury saw Ellerslie go the bench to bring on Daniel Evans for his debut – Daniel is a new signing for the club who has been performing well in the Reserves with a couple of goals to his name and quite a fair few assists as well – proving that the club again has depth in it’s ranks.

Not too long after that Josh Lai was replaced by Dirrenesh Thirukumar – Josh had run himself into the ground and with a qreat assist and plenty of high tempo work it was a superb shift from the energetic number 5.

With four attacking players on the field pushing on it became a stretched game as both sides looked to get the win, with Ellerslie in my mind just edging it in the last 10 mins – but it seemed a draw was written into the cards and that’s how the score stayed at the final whistle. Metro as the higher ranked team might have been the more disappointed side (certainly how one member of staff from the home side felt), Ellerslie however will see it as a point gained in a period where the team is clearly improving and if we can get close to our strongest XI on the pitch together at some stage I’m sure they will take some points from some teams who might not expect it.

Media Picks Man of The Match

Hard to go past Kyryl Bolharyn who played his best ever game in an Ellerslie shirt and fully deserves the honours.

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MENS RESERVES: Rusty performance from Ponies against physical opposition results in shared points

The Men’s Reserves have had a rough patch lately with so many players called up for First Team duty, but such is the quality of the team and the character that they have continued to play well and pick up points – this game however was not one of our better performances as we struggled against a decent Metro team.

The starting team was a pretty normal one with Pat Grey coming in at centeback as he was unavailable on Friday night, Kosei made his return after a couple of weeks off at left back and Jordan Roberts-Radford got a start on the wing. Up-front Farhan took the #9 spot as Ben Hughes has left the club and skipper Dirrenesh slotted in at #10.

The pitch was tricky to play on – well for us at the very least with plenty of mis-touches in midfield and underhit passes across the park as the Metro team sniffed for any opportunity to pounce – Ellerslie did initially look comfortable with the ball, perhaps overplaying at times as we struggled to create too many chances and as the half wore on we struggled more and more – then Metro hit us with a decent goal just a minute before halftime which really added insult to injury.

A pretty frank halftime chat with coach Seb Bouvier led to an improved second half performance as we looked to play a bit more simple and create a few more chances, with Athan Ratnam eventually grabbing the equaliser off free kick when his flick header was deflected past the keeper.

Skipper Dirrenesh then copped a bit from the Metro players as he grabbed the ball and tried to get it back to halfway to get the game back underway, however the Metro players seemed hellbent on stopping him, pushing him and while the referee was dealing with an injury (to an Ellerslie player in the process of the goal going in) they struck him in the back of the head twice which upset a fair few of the Ellerslie players who all converged on halfway to protect their captain. It seemed completely unnecessary from the Metro players who had competed well and even though they had played on the edge of the law through most of the game they had not jumped right over it, until that moment.

Sadly the referee didn’t see it so was unable to do anything about it – Ellerslie threw on some subs to try and get all three points but sadly it wasn’t our day and the game petered out to a 1-1 draw – well except for a bit of drama right at the end of the game when Ellerslie felt they had won a corner and the referee awarded a goal kick, to which Jonathan Davidson complained loudly about how much of a poor call that was (with an expletive included) – which saw the referee run the entire length of the field and red card the Ellerslie keeper – leaving Avi to don the green shirt and gloves for the last minute of the game.

After the game and after a misunderstanding about what was said by the Ellerslie keeper, the referee apologised for mis-representing what the stopper had said and all parties agreed that due to the level of volume of the expletive that a red card was justified but that it should be a 1 match ban only since it wasn’t personally directed at the referee and was more in the realm of serious dissent. However the referee has since changed his mind it appears and made the red card abuse of a match official which carries a 4 match ban. Perhaps the lesson learnt here is don’t leave your destiny in the hands of the match official…..

MEDIA PICK FOR MAN OF THE MATCH

Hard to pick someone from this game as most players seemed to struggle but Pat Grey was outstanding in both centre back and then in centre midfield – great work Pat.

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WOMENS RESERVES: Early goals sets the tone for important win for Ressies as they go top of the table

Two early goals from Hollie Leona who was making her first Reserves appearance of the season set the tone in a game that had the potential as a banana skin, with a decent Suburbs lineup put out, particularly upfront as they fielded two speedsters, but the Ellerslie ladies were just too clinical at the back and as a team answered everything thrown at them.

An early tussle in the game between Media Queens Hollie Leona and Bonnie Jansen saw the former get on top when she grabbed the “likes” when she smoked a free kick towards goal, with the Suburbs keeper only able to tip it onto the crossbar and then watch as the ball popped up and then dropped in front of her with the spin taking it into the back of the net – the initial strike from Leona was a good one.

Not long after, inspired by her goal, Hollie followed it up and smashed one in from the left flank, the angle opened up and Hollie knew which finish she needed and executed that perfectly to give the goalie and the defence no chance to stop it.

At the other end an experienced backline of Kez, Deb, Erin and Steph were working hard to keep the young speedsters at bay, and succeeding.

Ellerslie had plenty of firepower on the bench as well with Anna Howden, Dee Mosca, Chante du Plessis, Jess Gallagher and Elish McNeil ready to get into the game and make a difference.

All the subs did come on and up the tempo of the game, Anna Howden in particular made a massive run down the right flank and played a perfect triangle pass with Jess who was playing striker and was through on goal for what would have been goal of the season – alas a combination of nerves, and some desperate defending meant the goal didn’t eventuate.

Suburbs did pull a goal back in the 64th minute with a very nice strike from some distance, the wind made the shot unstoppable for Claire Alderton who was deputising in goal and had acquitted herself well with some nice saves throughout the game.

The margin was back to two goals 11 minutes later as Ruth bullied a defender and won the ball and then faced with the keeper slid her shot under the keeper and into the back of the net – a fine reward for a fine performance.

When the final whistle went we also learnt that Auckland Utd had been thrashed by Northern Rovers which meant our Ponies were top of the table, 3 points clear of United.

MEDIA PICK FOR WOMAN OF THE MATCH

Ruth Bowerman – scored a goal, ran all day in midfield and then upfront – a really awesome team performance.

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WOMENS FIRST TEAM: PONIES OVERTAKEN AFTER GOOD START BY LILYWHITES

Ellerslie came out of the starting gate on fire and put the lilywhites under a lot of pressure early in the game, it looked like a case of when not if Ellerslie opened the scoring.

With only one change to the team from last week with Mia Grgicevich picking up a starting spot as Maddy McCormick was unavailable the team had a settled look about it and it felt like the time was right to finally take some points in a #battleofeastauckland game.

That looked to be true when in the 13th minute of the match Leigh Aitken was brought down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot – Leigh stepped up to take her third penalty of the season and converted it with no drama to keep her 100% spot kick record.

It was at that point that the momentum swung as Suburbs got back into the game mere minutes later as Jade Parris got on the end of a nice pass and was one v one with Erin in goal and smashed a low shot past the Ellerslie keeper to level the game. Ellerslie barely had time to recover before Jade was at it again in the 27th minute grabbing her second and giving Suburbs the lead.

The rest of the half was a bit ragged and while we had chances to threaten we couldn’t give our front three the service we had in previous weeks – halftime came at a good point in the game for us so we could get into the changing rooms and have a think about what had not worked so well.

Unfortunately we also picked up an injury as Tayla Hawes took a knock on her knee and Ryan Shiffman put Faith on in the RB slot for the second half.

The second half was much improved and Ellerslie looked to threaten a bit more but the last pass or decision in the last third let us down a bit and just as we were looking to build a sustained period of pressure Suburbs caught us out as Tayla O’Brien picked her way down our right flank, around the fullback and took an audacious shot from a tight angle that Erin wasn’t expecting and all of sudden we were chasing a much harder target for any points.

Ellerslie chucked on Kat Gow and Jemma McCormick to try and find something to get us back into the game and while both added some fresh legs and ideas we just couldn’t break down the Rebekah van Dort led backline.

Another #battleofeastauckland to the Lilywhites – but not a game the Ponies were at their best, so somethings to work on before we take on runaway leaders Western Springs next Friday night at Seddon Fields.

MEDIA PICK FOR WOMAN OF THE MATCH

A tough one to call as we never really got going but Leigh Aitken impressed the media team as she won a penalty and stepped up and converted it and did a ton of work in midfield for her team with and without the ball.

MATCH SUMMARIES (VIA COMET)

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A successful weekend meant the Men’s First Team, Women’s Reserves and Women’s First Team all picked up wins. The men got a comfortable 4-0 win over Greenhithe Catimba in their first round of the Chatham Cup. The Women’s Reserves backed this up the next morning with a close 1-0 victory over Northern Rovers away at McFetridge park before the First Team closed out the weekend with a convincing 3-1 win. Read down below for a full run down of each game.

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Men’s First Team: Ponies Run Rampant at Rosedale Park

The Men’s First Team took a break from the league over the weekend to participate in the first round of the Chatham Cup. They drew NRFL Division 2 team Greenhithe Catimba and were set to play them away at Rosedale Park on Saturday afternoon. The Ponies showed dominance early, and after a few missed chances they finally got on the board. By the end of the match, they had a comfortable 4-0 lead and a ticket to the next round.

There were a few changes ahead of Saturday’s Cup fixture against Greenhithe Catimba. Keeper Kyryl Bolharyn was given a rest in order to give newcomer Masillian Veejian a chance between the sticks. He set up behind an unchanged backline involving Jordan Bresler, Seb Poelman, Adam Scott and Rei Ogawa-Bracey. Rory Kelly picked up an injury at training, which made way for Patrick Fahey to get his first start of the season, pairing with Pat Grey in the midfield. Josh Lai retained his spot on the right, while Adam Paulsen earned his first start of the season on the left. Dominant duo Rowan Corbett and Ryan Morrow maintained their partnership up top.

After a narrow loss last week, the Ponies were hoping for a more positive result this week, in hopes that it would get them back on track when they re-entered the league next week. And with a strong starting line-up, it was no surprise that the boys came out firing. Enjoying a majority of possession early on, the Ponies created numerous chances on goal. Unfortunately they couldn’t execute them, but you could tell a goal was coming with the amount of pressure the men in red were mounting.

The lads made us wait until the 39^th minute, but it was worth it. Earning a corner, Lai was the man to take. It was a well-whipped delivery that picked out Morrow’s head in the box. Morrow, who is in fine form, did not disappoint as he headed it on target and into the back of the net. From that close, the keeper had no chance.

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The away supporters only had to wait another two minutes before Corbett added a second goal to the score line. Paulsen showcased his futsal skills as he dribbled towards and down the baseline with some quick feet, before sending a cross into the box. Corbett, who had missed a header a mere minute earlier, made no mistake on his second attempt. A strong header from close range meant there was nothing the keeper could do.

The Ponies went into the sheds with a 2 nil lead but knew they needed to close out the game in the second spell and not allow the home side any opportunity to get back into it. The second half was much like the first where Ellerslie enjoyed a majority of the possession. Greenhithe created a few chances here and there, but it was definitely Ellerslie’s game.

The boys were rewarded early with another goal through Paulsen. Again he showcased his fancy footwork by beating a player well out to the left of the box, before driving a low and hard shot to the bottom right corner of the goal. Despite the diving attempt from the keeper, the ball found its mark. A tidy finish from the left wing.

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Ermal Fusha, Dirrenesh Thirukumar and Shohei Monju all made appearances in the second half, giving Lai, Paulsen and Fahey rests. The bench were quick to make their impact after Monju and Thirukmar linked up with Corbett in the 79^th minute to add a fourth to the final tally. In Monju’s first touch of the game, he sent a long ball over the top for Thirukumar to run onto down the left. He took one big touch before sending a flat cross into the box. Corbett was first to get there and made no mistake finishing it from close range. A nice goal off the back of some simple football from Ellerslie.

The game finished at 4-0 with Ellerslie putting on a convincing performance. Veejian picked up Ellerslie’s first clean sheet of the season on his debut. However in saying that, he didn’t have much to do at all as the backline held strong and kept out almost all of Greenhithe’s advances. The home side looked far from their best and the Ponies were quick to punish them for it.

Hopefully this positive result can carry into next week’s game against Metro away at Phyllis Street. The boys will have to come out firing as Metro have enjoyed two weeks off due to Byes in both the league and the cup. Make sure to come and support the Ponies!

Media Picks Man of the Match:

Pat Grey: Grey backed up his strong debut in the midfield with another impressive performance this week. He’s got pace, patience and a surprising amount of strength on the ball, all of which he showcased on Saturday. He did what he needed to do and we couldn’t fault his game this weekend.

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Women’s Reserves: Marx Makes her Mark in Only Goal of the Game

An almost perfect performance from the Ian Davidson coached Reserves as they went top equal in the table (2nd on goal difference) as they grabbed a 2nd win against Northern Rovers – albeit a much closer score than the previous game where the Reserves won 6-2.

From this media person’s perspective the scoreline didn’t reflect the dominance the Ponies held in this fixture, some good keeping and desperate defending from Rovers helped keep Ellerslie at bay – but the team in all red will be disappointed not to have grabbed a few more goals.

That however will be where the disappointment ends as the team put together a really good performance from front to back to grab all three points and close the gap on Auckland United who somewhat surprisingly lost to Hamilton Reserves.

Ellerslie’s sole goal came from a regular scoring machine this season as Holly Marx popped up in the box yet again and made sure a shot that might have already been going in def went in, clinical play from the skill-full midfielder.

Of course in any game, especially those that are 1-0 your opposition has chances and when on the rare occasion that the backline of Erin, Steph, Deb and Kez (assisted by Claire and Eilish) were beaten we had Lulu Lance in goal who made a couple of crucial saves.

At the other end of the field Ruth, Charli and Sarah were tormenting the Rovers backline, with plenty of pace and skill, and they were well supplied by Mia, Holly and skipper Ella in midfield.

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Rovers hoping for some kind of reprieve when we went to our bench were disappointed when Maggie, Chante and Caitlin re-inforced the team and kept the pressure on the home side.

At the final whistle coach Ian was happy with the three points, and with back to back wins after a little hiccup against United. And with a big game next week against a Suburbs side we struggled to break down last time we played them, we are ready for the game in good form!

Apparently playing in all red is a good look? I think we have won one and lost one so better to go back to Red/Black/Black.

Media Picks Woman of the Match:

With a clean sheet and some excellent saves under her belt it’s hard to look past Lulu Lance in goal as our Media Team Woman of the Match – it’s great to see our newest player do so well!

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Women’s First Team: Northern can’t rein in fast starting Ponies as two early goals sets the scene

Media Picks Woman of the Match:

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MATCH REPORTS via COMET

No lack of effort from our Men’s and Women’s First Teams and Reserves as we hosted another double header weekend at Michaels Ave (click here to see the match programme) and with a win, two draws and a close loss it’s not a bad weekend for the Ponies – read below to find out how each of the four games played out and who the media team picked out for special praise.

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Men’s Reserves: Lads Can’t Break Deadlock in Six Goal Thriller

A first ever hattrick from Athan Ratnam wasn’t enough for the Reserves to beat bottom of the table Albany on Saturday early afternoon as a series of errors from Seb Bouvier’s team allowed Albany back in the contest. Ellerslie did manage to hold a lead for a decent period in the 1st half following Athan’s 11th minute opening goal. The catalyst for a scoring spree was Albany’s first goal in the 33rd min to Ethan McQuay.

Ellerslie responded quickly scoring within 5 mins when Athan grabbed his second and best goal of the match as he hit a sweet half volley which clipped the inside of the near post, giving the keeper no chance.

Not wanting to be left behind Albany scored again to level the game just 2 minutes later in the 40th min and that was the end of the scoring spree until deep into the second half.

Athan once again put us in the lead with his 3rd goal in the 73rd minute but true to form Albany equalised again, just 5 minutes later in the 78th minute – truly proving the old saying that the most dangerous time is just after you score a goal.

Media Picks Man of The Match:

Athan Ratnam: No surprise here – when you grab your first ever hatrick at any level for the club (as far as he remembers) you have to pick up MOM honours. Great work Athan!

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Men’s First Team: Two Missed Penalties and One Converted Corner See Men Go Down in 89th Minute

Round 8 of the Men’s NRFL Division 1 saw Ellerslie take on second placed Albany United at The Ave on Saturday afternoon. With Dave Edmonson still out, and another change in the line up, this was going to be a tough fixture for the Ponies. They really showed up for it though, and were definitely the better team for a lot of the game. However, it wasn’t meant to be and a late goal in the dying stages saw the lads go down 1 nil in a game they deserved at least a point in.

Coming off the back of a 2-1 win to Bucklands Beach last week, the boys were in better spirits despite the tough upcoming fixture against Albany United. Last season Albany put 5 past the Ponies, so with that in mind they knew they had to come out firing.

Another week and another different line-up saw Pat Grey return from injury and do a straight swap into the midfield for Andre Munro-Wilson, who picked up his own injury last weekend. He paired with Rory Kelly in front of an unchanged backline. Kojo Norku and Josh Lai retained their spots out wide, and Ryan Morrow and Rowan Corbett took their places up top. Only the one change in the starting XI meant the lads could build on what they were starting to create last weekend.

Albany took the field in that garish neon orange again, which stood out even more against the gloomy backdrop of Michaels Ave. Ellerslie came out of the sheds strong, with a desire to keep possession and attack every chance they got. It resulted in a good few chances that we unfortunately couldn’t capitalise on.

It wasn’t until the 20^th minute that our biggest chance came. Rei Ogawa-Bracey won a header in our half, and angled it straight to Lai, who bounced it quickly off Kelly. From right in front of our dugout, he sent in a long ball to a running Morrow, who collected it at the top of the box. Morrow used his chest to touch it first time past the first defender, and just as he was lining up to shoot, Andrew O’Toole put in a diving challenge from behind, taking Morrow out. The referee didn’t hesitate and pointed to the spot in what was a clear penalty. O’Toole received a yellow for his clumsy efforts.

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Lai stepped up to take the penalty, but unfortunately his placement wasn’t the best and David Masters picked the right direction to dive, resulting in a big save from the Albany keeper. Lai would be disappointed with that attempt as it didn’t reflect his ability at all, but he’s a player with so much class and I would still back him 100% to convert the next one if the opportunity came about. Huge credit to Ellerslie though, as it would’ve been easy to switch off after losing that momentum, but they didn’t let it deter them and still carried on how they started.

It only took ten minutes for the tide to change as Albany had their big moment in the 30^th minute. Thomson Nkoy picked up the ball on the left and drove towards the box. Adam Scott wasn’t able to deal with him so Seb Poelman came across to help when Nkoy entered the 18-yard. Nkoy felt the contact from Poelman as he came in shoulder-to-shoulder and was quick to go to ground, resulting in the referee pointing to the spot for a second time. For a team that complained about all the soft challenges being called, they were awfully happy to have that one. Poelman could feel hard done by in that call, but such is football, and the referee can only call what he sees. Our penalty wasn’t the greatest, but Albany’s attempt was even worse, as the man in orange failed to even get the ball on target. Bolharyn only had to watch as the ball sailed well over the crossbar and into the safety fence.

With two missed penalties, a few missed chances and a whole lot of complaining, the game stayed locked up at the half. Ellerslie were impressive in the opening 45 and you could tell Albany was rattled. With a lot of space separating the two teams on the table, this game could have been one-sided but Ellerslie were not giving away anything easily. It made for an entertaining match of football, and it was really great to see the lads out their fighting for everything.

Aside from the two penalties, the second half was very similar to the first. Ellerslie created a good few chances, and Albany fancied themselves a couple of times too. Morrow and Corbett were dangerous up front again, both showcasing their pace and strength to run down every ball that came their way. Norku was instrumental in creating chances down the left with his nifty footwork. Pat Grey was a pleasant surprise in the midfield after originally taking the field as a left back before he got injured. He was vital in the centre with his ability to win and retain the ball.

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As the time ticked down, Ellerslie were fighting tooth and nail to find that magic goal and not concede. A big chance late in the game saw Corbett and Lai link up on a counter attack, but they couldn’t convert. Right after that, Albany come down the other end and managed to win a corner. It was upsetting to see them convert of said corner in the 89^th minute to put them one nil up. Tom Webb went up for a free header in the 6-yard box and from such close range, he made sure not to miss.

Ellerslie tried to get back into it with the limited time they had, but it wasn’t meant to be and the game finished at 1-0. A truly disappointing loss, and one I felt the boys didn’t deserve. But such is football; you can have all the momentum and it only takes one moment for the game to change. Despite the loss, that’s probably the best I’ve seen the back line play thus far, so hopefully they build on that in the coming weeks. The lads weren’t without their attacking opportunities, but they’ll need to find that last execution in the box to get themselves on the front foot early in games.

The Ponies will look to bounce back next week when they take on Greenhithe Catimba in their first game of the Chatham Cup. They’ll be away at Rosedale Park so will need as many travelling supporters as possible. Cup fixtures are always exciting ones so make sure you don’t miss out!

Media Picks Man of The Match:

Rory Kelly: Kelly picks up his second Man of the Match from me after his first-half hat trick for the Reserves earlier in the season. With his strongest performance for the First Team to date, his work rate in the middle was unmatched—he popped up everywhere to win the ball and provide support when we had possession. He showcased his ability to shift the ball quickly or dribble when needed. Great performance from the midfielder.

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Women’s Reserves: Ladies Return to Winning Ways in Convincing Performance

It was fitting for mothers day that Ella grabbed the opening goal of this fixture – an un-named Ellerslie AFC substitute quickly predicted a mothers day hatrick for Ella – that’s some kind of jinx right there!

While the jinxer cost Ella two more goals, she didn’t cost the Ponies two more goals as they grabbed one more before halftime (via Charli Marvin – who incidentally loves scoring against Hamilton) and a second half goal to Sarah Robinson.

Unlike the first game between these two when Ellerslie were able to keep a clean sheet, Hamilton did get a consolation goal in the 84th minute, despite the best efforts of Claire Alderton who had stepped into goal early in the game when normal keeper Lauren McKenzie had taken a knock in the warmup.

It’s fair to say that Claire’s cameo in goal pretty much stole the spotlight in this game – but after the game it’s reported she couldn’t wait to get into something more suitable, but decided for a HUP Orange highlighter jumper instead.

That result leaves the Ponies Reserves just one win off top spot with now a 4 point gap between themselves and Hamilton Wanderers in 3rd.

Media Picks Woman of the Match:

Claire Alderton: Claire gets our pick after going into goal last minute and pulling off that white keeper kit in rainfall. She made some great saves and was unlucky to not keep a clean sheet.

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Women’s First Team: A Point Earned Heals Some Scars From Previous Fixture

Last time Hamilton Wanderers played the Ponies a gutting loss in the last couple of minutes caused some mental scarring for the Ponies – it also came on the back of a even more upsetting draw in our opening game of the Premier league in 2020 after losing a 3-0 lead at halftime. In both of those games a strong first half performance from the Ponies was matched in the second half by Hamilton Wanderers with the only outlier being last years home game against Wanderers when Ellerslie again scored first but couldn’t keep Wanderers from equalising before halftime and then the ladies from Hamilton cruised away with the win in the second half with two more goals.

All of that history means there is a little bit of emotion for the Ponies players when they take the field against ladies in blue from Hamilton – but with a win last week maybe this was the time to break the hoodo..

It certinaly looked that way when Ellerslie came out of the blocks firing and started getting chances come the way of Britney, Kat Gow and Kim Mesias in the forward positions – at the other end debutant Marie Green was quietly going about her business at centre back, laying foundations for as strong of a debut as you would ever see.

Ellerslie were getting into their work well and it was frustrating the more fancied Wanderers side – which showed when the referee wanderer over to have a quiet chat with Stephen Cox, not sure what was said but gladly sanity prevailed and no card was issued and the game continued.

While neither side were creating much I think the home side was edging chances and that was evidenced as first Britney managed to rattle the crossbar with a shot and then Kat Gow who had been played in with a reverse ball from Maddy pulled her shot across the face of goal.

As the half dragged on the Ponies fans might have feared for the outcome of the match as the first half was normally our time in this match up and we were looking at 5mins of time left and nothing to show for it.

That’s when Britney stepped up and made a strong run down our left flank and beat her marker for pace and as the cover defender came across Britney had managed to get into the box which was crucial as the Hamilton player went in for a strong tackle and smashed the Ellerslie #16 but the referee after some pondering pointed to the spot much to the wrath of the Wanderers head coach.

Live I didn’t think it was a penalty as the player from my angle looked to have slid infront of Britney and hooked her leg back around and the result of Britney’s pace and power hitting such a powerful tackle made it look worse than it was – however having watched the video it’s this scribes opinion that the Wanderers defender actually goes over the ball and her tackle is far too high to be safe – I do think she gets a bit of the ball but also she gets a lot of Britney on the way through as well.

Our opinions on the tackle are ultimately void as the referee despite his poor positioning for the challenge ended up giving the penalty and for the second week in a row Leigh McKenzie stepped up and smashed her spot kick home.

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A great way to head into halftime with a lead and with a decent performance in the first 45 behind us – the ladies and the coaches were confident they could keep it going in the second half. I don’t think we knew how hard that would be.

Ellerslie took the kickoff for the second half and clipped it forward looking to pin Hamilton back in their own third early in the half, but after a couple of failed balls forward from Wanderers they played a pretty average high pass to their forward who had Marie right close behind her – it looked like the quality of the ball forward was going to give us enough time to get some more bodies behind the ball – but the Wanderers striker had other ideas.

She moved to her left and stuck out her right foot and with the outside of the foot she flicked the ball perfectly into the path of Helen Arjomandi – who with the benefit of momentum was able to keep in-front of the retreating Kim Oosterbeek and Kim Mesias and with Marie taken out of the play by the flick it was left to Charli to try and stop the ex Fern from getting a shot off.

She did her best to come and block but a clever nutmeg from the Wanderers player gave her a one v one with Erin and although Charli had forced her to slow down the retreating defenders just couldn’t quite get to the striker before she fired a left foot shot past Erin and levelled the score – just 1 minute into the second half.

The fear from the spectators was that with such an early goal to a strong second half team that we were gonna struggle to hang on

The stats from the game certainly suggest the second half was once again Wanderers as they had 5 of their 7 shots (3 on target) in the second 45 while the Ponies were not able to get a single shot in the 2nd half while they recorded 5 (3 on target) in the first half.

However these ladies are made of tough stuff and they dug in and defended for their lives and while we didn’t see much action for the Ponies in the Hamilton goalbox we did see the Hamilton team get increasingly frustrated that they could grab the winning goal and two cards were awarded in the second half to wanderers players.

Coach Shiffman sensing his team were starting to tire chucked on two subs just past the 80th min mark to try and at least secure the point with Hollie Leona returning from injury to replace Kat Gow and Faith Moa making her debut gave Charli Collard a well deserved rest.

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Thankfully for the Ponies the subs got stuck into their work and the team continued to work hard and deny Hamilton – however it was obvious that come the final whistle the ladies were disappointed with the draw having not been able to find a way to create good chances in the second half – it’s probably a sign of the progress the team have made this season with the players keen to build on last weeks win and get back to back maximum points.

Media Picks Man of The Match:

Britney Cunningham-Lee: We don’t often go against the coaches here in the Michaels Ave media room, and to be fair Marie was awesome in her debut – we just loved seeing Britney back in the middle of the park and running at players again and the strong resilient attitude that the Ponies showed in the second half was personified by Britney when she got up and played on after taking a huge challenge in the process of winning our penalty.

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FIRST TEAM MATCH REPORTS via COMET

Three wins from four games makes for a complete different weekend compared to the last one, as both First Teams and the Men’s Reserves collected wins over the weekend. A 3-1 loss for the Women’s Reserves in their top of the table clash is only a small bump, as they stay in and around that leading spot. The Men’s Reserves had a convincing performance with a 5-2 win. The Men’s First Team finished Saturday off with a 2-1 victory over Bucklands Beach, and the Women capped off a successful weekend with a dominant 3-1 win over Auckland United away at Keith Hay Park.

(Header Photo Credit: @PhototekNZ and @SportsWebPhotography)

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MEN’S RESERVES: Lads Get The Double in Dominant Display

Seb Bouvier’s Reserves team were able to pick up back to back wins in the league now to keep themselves in the top echelons of the league table, however it was not plain sailing as injuries and unavailability have really tested the team in the past week or so. Such is the nature of reserves that the problems of the First Team are amplified in the Reserves, which took form this week when standout player for Reserves over the past month Jordan Bresler was called back into First Team, the same week that the other players who had been playing centreback recently (Jayden Bush and Liam Buyck) were unavailable. That meant we handed Avi his first start since coming back from injury and standout midfielder Ben Alexander was asked to fill in at CB.

To amplify the issue two of the starting midfielders in this game were on First Team bench duty and were only allowed 45 mins – this meant we had to start well and really throw everything at Bucklands Beach in the first half – an instruction from Seb that to be fair the lads really took to heart.

The official match report will show that Bucklands Beach scored first – however I don’t think that’s actually true – from my recollection Ellerslie opened the scoring with a goal that I thought was possibly an own goal but the referee has seen fit to award it to Farhan – despite Ellerslie being all over Bucklands Beach they were quickly able to draw themselves level but that didn’t deter “The Ponies” from streaming forward with the ball as Ben Hughes opened his 2021 account with a goal to put us back ahead. Bucklands Beach again pegged us back as they levelled the game but this was when the flood gates opened as Athan Ratnam got his first goal of the season before Ben Hughes grabbed his second with a bullet header just prior to halftime.

While in the second half the scoring died down with the only second half goal to Ben Hughes to wrap up his hatrick, Ellerslie continued to play as we saw some excellent performances from Ben Alexander at CB as well as from our halftime subs Brock Gunson and Patrick Fahey in midfield.

The standout player for us though was Dirrenesh Thirukumar who ran the game and picked up the skippers armband from Monju at halftime – a really coming of age performance from D who this season has really stepped up and put in a lot of consistently good performances and sits just on the edge of First Team football.

It’s great to see the Reserves starting to churn out not only wins but impressive performances as this relatively new team start to gel and individual players start to put pressure on the First Team players.

Media Picks Man of The Match:

Dirrenesh Thirukumar: Ben Hughes could probably feel a little hard done by here as a hatrick is normally a gimmie for MOM honours but this scribe was super impressed with Dirrenesh’s performance in midfield which is not where he has been playing – perhaps we will ask the boss if we can award two MOM candidates in the future for scenarios like this!

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WOMEN’S RESERVES: First Loss in Weeks After Top of Table Clash

The lineup this week was slightly different with the unavailability of Jemma McCormick and Marie Green, two players who were vital in last week’s draw against Western Springs, but gained the experience of Deb Tutty. The team was heavy on defenders and low on every other position, meaning some of the Ponies had to play out of their preferred position. Despite this, the women got off to a confident start in their match, enjoying a healthy amount of possession and applying lots of pressure on the Auckland United backline. Unfortunately they weren’t able to execute their chances in the box, something the home side did do when given the chance. Two clinical finishes in the first half meant the Ponies were 2-0 down at the break. Maggie Jaques’ goal in the second spell wasn’t enough to claw the girls back into the game as Auckland United got one of their own. The home team took victory, meaning they enjoy the top spot on the table for now.

Media Picks Woman of the Match:

Ruth Bowerman: This natural striker slipped into for the midfield for the second week and she didn’t look out of place at all. Grinding away in the centre, she had her hand in everything. Impressive stuff.

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MEN’S FIRST TEAM: Boys Lock Bucklands Beach Out in Bottom of the Table Battle

Round 7 of the Men’s NRFL Division 1 saw Ellerslie take on Bucklands Beach at The Ave on Saturday afternoon. Only one place above Ellerslie on the table, this game was shaping up to be an important one as the Ponies were on the hunt for their first win to pull them off the bottom of the standings. In this game of importance, for various reasons, our men in red showed up for it. Two goals in the first half was enough to get Ellerslie over the finish line and secure all three points, finally bringing themselves off the bottom of the table.

After a heavy loss last week, the boys went through a few changes to prepare for their fixture against Bucklands Beach.  A formation change saw some of the players move around to accommodate. Kyryl Bolharyn remained in goal, but the four in front of him got a switch up. Jordan Bresler came into the side for the first time this season, off back of consistent performances with the Reserves. Josh Torrens pushed back into his earlier role as a centre back with Captain Seb Poelman, while Rei Ogawa-Bracey retained his spot at right full back.

Kojo Norku moved out to the wing, bringing Andre Munro-Wilson into the middle of the park to pair with Rory Kelly. Josh Lai took up the other wing and Ryan Morrow held his spot up top. This made way for fan-favourite Rowan Corbett to come back into the starting XI for the first time this season, capping off a physically strong partnership at the front. Reserve keeper Jonathan Davidson, Aalok Paudel, Adam Scott, Kosei Hagino and Soshei Monju made up the bench. Fred de Jong had another week in the technical area as Dave Edmonson’s stand down period continued.

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Following the Reserves match, Ellerslie welcomed Bucklands Beach and their coach to the turf in near perfect playing conditions. With both teams severely out of form, this was anyone’s for the taking. Right from the first whistle, the Ponies came out firing. The lads were happy to send long balls over the top and pin Bucklands Beach in their own half, a tactic that seemed to work as the away side struggled to deal with the constant pressure of Corbett and Morrow. When Ellerslie weren’t sending long balls, they employed the nifty skills of Lai and Norku to steam down their respective sides, cleverly linking with the middle pairing to launch attack after attack. Bucklands Beach did well to absorb the constant pressure, but you could feel that Ellerslie were inching towards success.

In the early stages, the visitors fell victim to our 20-minute injury curse when their keeper Nicholas Burke went down with an injury. With him down and out, the opposition technical area had to look to their bench and bring on reserve keeper Riley Pullar.

Just three minutes later, Ellerslie capitalised on the uncertainty at the back. The Ponies found their first goal through the individual brilliance of Kelly and a clinical finish from Morrow. Our men in red were happy to retain possession in the build up, patiently knocking the ball around, which is great to see in itself as this patience has been lacking in recent weeks. Poelman played the ball into Norku, who laid it off for a waiting Kelly.  He beat one player, and then a second as he took himself towards the corner of our attacking half. Kelly kept his head though, and waited for the right opportunity to play a flat ball across the top of the 18 yard to a waiting Morrow. The Number 10 caught the defender flat-footed, and with his back towards goal let the ball roll across his body, before turning and taking a touch.  His shot was low and hard and Pullar could only watch as it found its mark in the bottom corner. 

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Ellerslie didn’t ease off on the pressure following the celebrations, continuing to pin Bucklands Beach in their own half. The visitors could only keep them out for so long, and in the 39^th minute, Corbett got himself on the scoresheet. Play started from a throw-in inside the Ponies half, as Bresler picked out Morrow with a long one. Morrow’s unmarked check to get the ball meant he was able to take a touch, turn and lob it over the back two for Corbett to run onto. Both defenders thought Corbett was offside and basically stopped chasing, but the forward had timed his run well. It was 50/50 as the keeper came out, but Corbett managed to just get a toe to it. With Bucklands Beach appearing to give up, Corbett was able to collect the ball and slowly jog towards goal before firing it into the net from a few yards yard out.

Unfortunately Ellerslie didn’t get out of the half unscathed, as Torrens went down in added time with an injury. De Jong was forced to substitute him out, bringing on Scott to replace him as centre back. Aside from that, it was a dream opening half for the Ponies as they undoubtedly looked like the better team.

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The second half was slightly more even as the away side tried to claw themselves back into the game. Purely to make things interesting, Ellerslie gifted Bucklands Beach with a goal in the 65^th minute after a horror mistake from Bolharyn. Having had a near-perfect game up until this point, it was sad to see the keeper make a mistake I’m sure he’ll be disappointed about. Seemingly from nothing, substitute Jayden Holmes hit an ambitious shot on target from outside the box. It floated straight towards Bolharyn for a textbook catch. It wasn’t meant to be though, as it slipped straight through his fingertips and into the back of the net.

The goal gave the visitors hope, but Ellerslie were up for the challenge and locked them out for the remainder of the game. Injury time seemed to go on forever, but there was a collective sigh of relief and buzz of excitement when Mark Fleming finally blew the last whistle. The Ponies had done enough to secure victory and get themselves off the bottom of the table. Having battled a long list of injuries and other changes, the boys toughed it out and did what they needed to do. Hopefully this marks the beginning of their climb up the ladder. The lads take on Albany United at The Ave next week—it’s going to be a challenging fixture but we’re sure they’ll be up for it.

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Media Picks Man of The Match:

Ryan Morrow: The Ellerslie Number 10 gets our pick after a vote between the media person and a few supporters. Ever since he earned his starting spot, Morrow has been relentless up top with a work rate that’s near unmatched. We’re stoked he finally got to reap the rewards with a goal, an assist and sweet, sweet victory.

Special mentions: Hard to pick just one as you can’t fault anyone on the pitch – Kelly and Munro-Wilson were vital in the midfield, Norku really got to showcase his class and and quick feet out wide, and Poelman and Bresler had almost mistakeless games at the back. A real team effort today.

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WOMEN’S FIRST TEAM: Ponies Don’t Play Around and Prevail in 3-1 Victory

After some tough results in the first full round of games, the Women’s First Team have got off to a cracking start as we enter the second round of matches in the NRFL Women’s Premier competition. A 2-2 draw with Auckland United the first time they played each other meant this game was anyone’s for the taking. Ellerslie showed up and showed out though as their three goals were enough to seal victory away at Keith Hay Park.

Head Coach Ryan Shiffman kept the same starting XI as last week, with Erin Simperingham between the sticks. Anita Trudgen impressed at left back and kept her spot there next to centre back pairing Kim Oosterbeek and Courtney Rowse. Tayla Hawes remained on the right. Our strong midfield three held the centre through Cat Pretty, Leigh Aitken and Maddy McCormick. Kim Mesias got her third start of the season, sitting between Annabelle Pakieto and Britney Cunningham-Lee. The only difference this week was the bench, as Kat Gow came back into the squad after being unavailable last week. Holly Marx got her first call up to the First Team and sat on the side with Charli Collard and reserve keeper Lauren McKenzie.

From the first whistle you could tell the women had not come to mess around. Lacking a little in recent weeks, the Ponies came out with an intensity to win every ball and every challenge. They gave away a few fouls but it was good to see that physicality from everyone on the pitch. Both teams shared possession and enjoyed their fair share of attacking opportunities. It was a tight contest and the first half remained scoreless going into the break. Ellerslie had come close numerous times, and you could feel them inching towards success.

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The second spell started much like the first, but after only six minutes, Ellerslie were able to execute one of their chances. Pakieto steamed down the left towards the baseline, before standing her defender up like a road cone and dribbling along the baseline closing the space between her and the goal. Thinking she’d done too much, she proved us wrong and weaved her way through another defender before sending in a flat ball across the goal face. It passed two waiting Ponies, but Mesias popped up at the back post to calmly finish into an open net.

Elation from the away side was short-lived as Auckland United got a goal back straight away. So quickly in fact, the media team missed it as they were still tweeting about the Ponies goal. A play by play from a supporter tells us that a ball was flicked in behind our backline, and an unlucky deflection meant Simperingham had to come out to deal with Bree Johnson. Johnson just managed to get a toe to it and was able to calmly put it away. And just like that, it was 1-1.

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The quick change in scoreline didn’t deter women in red though as they continued to throw everything they had at the home side. They didn’t have to wait long as the 60th minute brought about an outlet. A handball in the box meant Alec Couchman pointed to the PK spot in Ellerslie’s favour. Aitken, who hasn’t missed from the spot for the Ponies, stepped up to take it. There was never any doubt from anyone as she put away a tidy penalty to get the girls up 2-1.

Having conceded almost instantly after the last goal, Ellerslie shut up shop and made sure Auckland United couldn’t break them down a second time. Try as they might, Ellerslie were relentless and didn’t give the home team an inch. A double substitution bolstered the visitors energy as Kat Gow and Charli Collard came on to replace Kim Mesias and Courtney Rowse. A goal to Cat Pretty in the 76th minute seemed to be enough to close out the game. She collected the ball at the top of the box after Auckland United fail to clear away a corner, before nailing it into the top left of the net, in what was a very clinical finish from our Skipper.

Credit to the home side, who tried their hardest to claw themselves back into the game, but even bigger credit to the away side who tried their hardest to keep them out. In the end, it swung Ellerslie’s way and the game ended at 3-1. A very well-deserved win to the Ponies, and something they’ve been building towards for weeks.

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The women now look to their next fixture, which is a 3pm home game against Hamilton Wanderers. The last time these two teams faced off, Ellerslie conceded two goals in the dying stages to lose 2-1. They’ll definitely be on the hunt for back-to-back wins, as picking up three points could push them into the top four. Make sure you come on down to The Ave and support in what will be another cracking weekend of football.

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Media Picks Woman of the Match:

Annabelle Pakieto: She was back to her best, showcasing her pace and skill down the left wing. Her standout moment was when she nutmegged and broke the defenders ankles all in one go during the second half. Hands down knew she had our pick after that.

Special mentions: Trudgen looked at home in fullback and it was great to see her confidence grow enough to take on players with her pace and strength. Pretty was dominant as always and Mesias scored her second goal in three games for another good performance.

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FIRST TEAM MATCH REPORTS via COMET

Note: Thanks to Phototek NZ and SportsWeb Photographing for capturing some great shots of our First Team games!