Match report: Team Wellington Youth vs Phoenix Black
The games:
Team Wellington Youth had Nathan Simes’ superhuman performance to thank for their 4-1 victory over Phoenix Black on Sunday evening, as Simes’ four goals carried them to triumph.
The lead was only 2-1 heading into the final twenty minutes but in the freezing conditions things just fell apart for the Nix as they were made to taste defeat in their second outing.
The goals:
Nathan Simes (Team Wellington, 24th minute) Winger Seth Ward went down the right hand side of the pitch, and with one low and hard cross coupled with a quick tap in, Team Wellington had the lead.
Blake Driehuis (Wellington Phoenix, 40th minute) With only moments until half time, Blake Driehuis stepped up to change things. Or rather, he jumped up. His leap following the corner would see his header bounce off the crossbar and into the back of the net, never mind keeper Jacob Daly’s outstretched arms.
Nathan Simes (Team Wellington, 45th minute) Once Simes latched onto a long ball he was off and away. The lanky striker would run into the box where his low and powerful strike would send the ball sliding past Nix keeper Henry Gray.
Nathan Simes (Team Wellington, 71st minute) Another long ball from Team Welly floated into the box, and Gray made the mistake of coming out to deal with it. He lost control when chesting it away, meaning Simes’s snatch was game, set, and match.
Nathan Simes (Team Wellington, 73rd minute) With the Phoenix defence still recovering Team Wellington struck while the iron was hot, their attack shattering a disoriented defence. As always the ball fell to Simes and with no nearby challenger his shot slammed into the netting.
The pivotal moment:
The 17th minute would see one of the best attacking movements in the game, as Joesph Lee and Driehuis ran circles around the defence with some fantastic passing play. The ultimate shot would unfortunately be saved but if the finish had been good as the build up then the Phoenix would have taken an early lead.
The stars:
Team Wellington: Nathan Simes - Does this even need explaining? Goals come and go, braces are special, hat tricks are rare, but four goals? Four? When does that ever happen?
Wellington Phoenix: Joseph Lee - While not on the score sheet, Lee was a constant menace and the best threat the Nix had. He linked up well with Driehuis and caused trouble by himself on multiple occasions.
The comments:
Nathan Simes, Team Wellington striker: “Four goals! That doesn’t happen too much, it feels really good! I've scored a few throughout the season but we have a lot of attacking threats all round so normally it’s not just me.”
Joseph Lee, Phoenix Black attacker: Team Wellington had a good performance, they dominated us, so cheers to them. We did have a few chances in the first half but we just didn’t receive them well and that’s why we lost 4-1.
The bad boys:
Yellow cards: Alen James (Wellington Phoenix)
The meaning: Following their scoreless draw last week, the Nix drop down to 5th on the table, with their singular point only putting them above only cellar dwellers Team Wellington Academy. The Academy could not contrast harder with the Youth side however as this win puts them four points clear at the top of the table.
The future: Next week sees both a first v second clash and the fight of the cellar dwellers - Olé 2 take on Team Wellington Youth whilst Phoenix Black are against the Team Wellington Academy. Both games like usual are at Olé on Sunday evening.
The rest:
Olé 1 0-0 Phoenix Academy Yellow
Olé Academy 2 6-3 Team Wellington Academy