Nguyen’s finesse saves the game for V-Well FC

SportZone, 23 April 2018

Nguyen’s finesse saves the game for V-Well FC

A frenetic finish between V-Well FC and Marauders saw both teams remain at the top of the Division Two table after a closely-fought 3-3 draw at Wellington College’s Sir Ron Brierly turf.

While the scoring was dominated by Marauders early on, resulting in a 3-1 lead early in the second half, V-Well were never out of the game thanks to their short passing finesse and ability to retain the ball.

Late in the second half, a second goal from V-Well’s cool-headed finisher Anthony Nguyen triggered an offensive frenzy from both teams. V-Well capitalised and drew level in the dying minutes thanks to a goal from the chest of Tony Dong following an aerial battle.

Nguyen left the field to chants of “man of the match” from his teammates, having also broken through the defence to go one-on-one with Marauders’ keeper midway through the first half.

“It felt really good out there”, Nguyen said. “When you score one goal, that’s a happy feeling, but getting two goals against a good opposition? That’s great. Right now, I’m overjoyed.”

Marauders captain Ben Twyman said the structured and patient passing game of V-Well had provided an excellent counterpoint to Marauders’ solid defence and tactical long passing game, with the match an even contest throughout.

“Because of the size of our defensive line, they’ve got to try and play around us. It’s a good matchup for sure. They have great ball skills, and they had about three quarters of possession, but we used our height and ability to counterattack.”

At half time, Marauders’ ascendency came from goals to Mike Ross and Duncan McKenzie. The team’s third goal went to Tim Dalman, who scored with a powerful strike to the bottom left corner from just outside the penalty box at the beginning of the second half.

The second half of the game wasn’t without controversy, with Twyman downed by a stray boot and a yellow card going to one of V-Well’s players for blocking a free kick awarded to the keeper. Marauders also saw a chance go begging in the final minute of the game, with a shot missing by a narrow margin of less than a metre.

V-Well were Division Two winners in last year’s Sunday Football League after ascending from Division Three two years previously, while Marauders are playing their first season in Division Two, having stepped down from Division One at the end of the previous season.

In other Sunday Football League action, Lazy 11 were unseated from pole position in Division One by Tuskan Raiders at Boyd Wilson Field, while last year’s winners Lokomotiv Beer Quarter had their first win of the season, beating Levuka FC three goals to two.

A trend of high scoring matches in Division Three continued, with Shamrocks losing to Westwood United 5-4 and Battlers FC following up a 15-0 drubbing last week with a 7-1 victory over Valley Soccer Friends. Harimau Wellington continued their winning run at the top of Division Four, ousting Pirates FC 3-0.

A record 37 teams are competing in this year’s Wellington Sunday Football League, a community based 11-a-side league that was founded over 40 years ago and is growing year-on-year. A full table of results and fixtures can be found at https://tinyurl.com/WSFL2018.

Next weekend’s action (April 29)
Next weekend’s Division One action will see table-toppers Tuskan Raiders take on last year’s champs Lokomotiv Beer Quarter, and Lazy 11 take on a strong North Wellington side.

Second division team Zazaspor scored nine goals this week against Alcoholics Albion and it will be interesting to see how well they perform against an in-form Marauders FC team.

Division Three features many matches that could go either way, with Sharks FC vs Shamrocks the game to watch.

In Division Four, Wellington Chinese United will take on Expected Tolouse, which has had a strong run of form over the past three matches.

ENDS

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