Western Suburbs 3 Napier City Rovers 0
Dalton Wilkins 56
Callum McCowatt 75, 80
Wests Formation (4-3-3) NCR Formation (4-2-3-1)
Andrew Withers
Alex Clayton, Michael Faber, Kyle Adams, Dalton Wilkins
Dominic Wooldridge, Harry Edge, Owen Parker-Price
Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just, Xavier Green
Wests Subs:
Ihaia Delaney for Elijah Just (80 mins) – Straight swap
Ahmad Mohammadi for Callum McCowatt (80 mins) – Straight swap
Daniel Harford-Silas for Dalton Wilkins (86 mins) – Straight swap
__________________________________________________________
Wests produced probably their best performance of the season to comfortably see off NCR on a gloriously sunny day at Endeavour.
Like many other Central League teams this season, NCR came with a defensive game-plan aimed at frustrating Wests and hoping to snatch something on the break. This tactic can sometimes be effective, but requires incredible defensive discipline coupled with impatience from the opponents.
Wests did not allow either of these outcomes to materialise. By keeping the ball so well, and working-over the NCR players, it was inevitable that NCR would eventually tire, and this would likely lead to openings. More importantly though, Wests displayed admirable patience, remaining rock-solid with their formation and trusting that their dominance would ultimately translate into goals.
The star Wests’ players in the early exchanges were goalkeeper, Andrew Withers, and the two marauding wing-backs, Alex and Dalton. With NCR playing very narrow, Andrew exploited the opportunity to hit accurate diagonals to his wide men who both exhibited fine first touches to keep the moves going. From one such move, Alex combined with Harry and Elijah before the ball fell for Callum whose shot was just over.
NCR tweaked their formation to 4-5-1 to try to negate Andrew’s sweeping diagonals, but this simply allowed Wests more space to play out from the back, with all three of their defensive players (plus Andrew) very confident on the ball.
The change of tactics did at least allow NCR a foothold in the game, and a darting run by Charklie Yexley, plus a couple of slide-rule passes by Oliver Coren, caused rare moments of anxiety for home supporters. Mikey and Kyle were quick to snuff out these half-chances however, and NCR’s only shot on target was easily saved by the well-positioned Andrew.
After 10-15 minutes of near-parity, Wests upped their game just before the break, creating two decent chances. First, Xavier produced an outstanding turn and fed the ball to Callum, but his effort was deflected wide. Then, Owen combined well with Dalton before putting Elijah away in the box, but his shot was also deflected behind.
Nil-Nil at half-time but Wests must have been happy with the quality of their play over the first 45 minutes, and Declan was probably just asking for more of the same for the second period.
And that was exactly what he got!
The back-3 continued to dominate NCR’s forwards, the wing-backs stretched Napier’s defensive line, and Owen and Dominic linked well with the fast & creative Wests’ attackers. An opening goal seemed imminent, and Dalton almost obliged after being released following neat play by Harry and Xavier. Dalton’s shot was well-saved, but he was immediately presented with almost a carbon copy opportunity (Elijah with the assist on this occasion), and this time Dalton slotted neatly home.
Wests were now well on top with their crisp, neat passing often leaving NCR chasing shadows, and resulting in NCR losing their defensive shape. Dominic almost doubled the lead after good work by Callum, but his shot was blocked on the line. Soon afterwards though, Dominic combined nicely with Elijah and although nothing much seemed on for Callum when he received the ball, he surprised the NCR keeper (and most of the crowd) with a stunning 25-yarder into the top corner.
Five minutes later, Callum completed a brace, racing clear after a defensive mix-up and drilling the ball under the advancing keeper.
A few late substitutions allowed brief cameos for Ahmad, Ihaia and Daniel, and demonstrated the depth that Wests have in the squad, even with a few key players still out with longer-term injuries.
The final 3-0 scoreline was a fair reflection of Wests’ dominance, and was fitting reward for an outstanding all-round team performance. In contrast to last season when NCR won twice at Endeavour with strong-arm tactics, this Wests side is now more than a match for Napier in terms of physicality, and with their far superior skill-set and tactics, there was only ever going to be one winner.
Next week, Wests have a top-of-the-table clash at home to Paul Ifill’s Wairarapa United team, so hopefully there will be a big turn-out at Endeavour next Sunday.
Player of the Day:
All players – 3 points – An outstanding team performance, so it would be wrong to signal out individuals
