Match report: Wellington Chin United 4-3 VUW Unicycles

The game: 

In high wind and humid conditions, the 2020 Wellington Men’s Summer League kicked off with a ten-man Wellington Chin United overpowering the Victoria University of Wellington Unicycles 4-3.

Despite the first half sending off to Bawy Hichal, there was no shortage of quality football on display. Both teams had their chances, and even though the Unicycles never stopped chasing, WCU’s discipline and good goalkeeping made them the deserved victors. 

The goals: 

James (WCU, 14th minute) The ball was crossed into the box from the right wing and a disheartening air swing from defender Callum Martin meant James was able to tap it past the keeper. 

Chris Scarrot (Unicycles, 23rd minute) After a defender sent the ball careening into their hand, it was Scarrot vs the WCU goalie Zau. Scarrot went right, Zau went left. 1-1.

Henry (WCU, 31st minute) The right hand side of the pitch once again was the undoing of the Unicycles, as Henry cut inside to cause chaos in the area. Vic Uni goalie Hamish Coghill was able to get down to save Henry’s first attempt but could do nothing about the follow up. 

Henry (Unicycles, 48th minute) The Chins doubled their lead when a free kick from outside of the area allowed Henry rise above the rest to send the ball sailing over Coghil and into the back of the net. 

Abdullah Shafik (Unicycles, 58th minute) A lovely passing move from the Unicycles saw Shafik get played through into the box and with no competition near him he lobbed the ball over Zau to halve the deficit. 

Cem Nawl (WCU, 60th minute) WCU immediately struck back, with a splendid attacking movement giving Nawl an easy shot which left Coghill helpless.

Abdullah Shafik (Unicycles, 70th minute) In a similar manner to his first goal, Shafik had been played through and was well away before Nawl brought him down from behind, giving away a penalty. With no arguments about it’s validity, Shafik sent it top bins, rooting Zau to the spot.

The “Oh So Close!”: Down 4-3, the match was beginning to wind down to its conclusion as fatigue set in. Yet against the run of play the Unicyclists started an amazing passing move from within their own half, and through unceasing tika-taka the ball found itself at the feet of Phillip Chatman. His shot was true and the amount of distance between the Zau and the ball meant Chatman must have thought he had scored - but a superhuman dive from Zau meant no points would be shared. 

The stars: WCU: Goalie Zau. It’s not like Vic Uni played poorly or anything, just so often their shots on target were thwarted by some outstanding saves from the diminutive keeper. Zau saved WCU’s bacon on more than one occasion and deservedly won the Chins three points. 

Unicycles: While Shafik got the brace, Chatman wreaked havoc on the WCU defence, bullying his way through to cause chaos on multiple occasions. As previously mentioned he came so close to leveling the scores at the end and can take heart from his performance despite the result. 

The comments: Cem Nawl, WCU striker: “Given we gave them two penalties, this was our first ever game as a team, and still got the win, I think we did pretty good. We just have to work on our shooting more. We don’t really have good coordination right now, but like I said it’s our first ever game and we will only improve going forward - we’re just getting started.”

Callum Martin, Unicycles defender: “WCU were a good team. Once they had the ball at their feet they were pretty hard to stop. They were winning all of the second balls, and we were a bit rusty and it showed with the match fitness. It was a hard beginning, they were right on top from the start and we had to ease our way into the game. When they went down to ten men we probably should have done better, but boy did WCU play damn well. 

The bad boys:

Yellow Cards: 

WCU - James

Unicycles -  Phillip Chatman 

Red cards: WCU - Bawy Hichal was sent off following an altercation with a Unicyclist’s face in a tackle which just went all wrong. 

Unicycles: Nil 

The meaning: 

WCU got the dream start by kicking off the tournament with three points, although they will have to make do without Hichal for their next fixture. The Unicycles meanwhile must lick their wounds and try again next week. 

The future: 

On Sunday the 11th of October at 13.20, the Unicycles will play The Casuals 2020 at Boyd Wilson, while WCU has a bye and can rest up.

The rest: 

The Mandalorians 4-5 Tim’s Boys

IBU Vauxhalls 4-2 The Casuals 2020