Beaten 3-0 by Hawke’s Bay United at Peter Johnstone Park on Saturday, the team dominated the first half, but was unable to find the back of the net.
There were chances galore for the hosts, with the wind at their backs in the first half. The home side pressured the ball on defence and looked to attack when it turned over possession. Had it made the most of its opportunities, it could have been up 3-0 after 15 minutes, but all too often it struck the ball directly at goal keeper Josh Hill.
Hawke’s Bay showed them how to be clinical in the 17th minute, taking the lead against the run of play. It made a full-field break up the middle on the counterattack, finding space up the left then delivering the ball into Angus Kilkolly, who finished.
It was again on the counterattack and against the run of play that Hawke’s Bay scored its next, almost a carbon-copy of the first. Hill saved an Andy Mulligan shot and set the visitors’ attack alight. They found acres of space out to the left and crossed for Sam Mason-Smith to finish.
They were two of just three chances Hawke’s Bay had in the first half, but they were enough to give it a 2-0 lead at halftime. Had it not been part of a trend, Southern could have been called unlucky. However there is no escaping the fact it has now scored just four goals in eight games, while its opponents are pouncing on its lapses.
"[We] dominated possession, created loads of chances and couldn’t score," Southern coach Paul O’Reilly said.
"But again, our achilles heel seems to be that we can’t put it together for a full 45 minutes, or certainly a full 90 minutes. We switched off. Two really poor goals, from our point of view. We really switched off, we’re giving ourselves way too much to do in terms of getting goals back.
"So you can look at the positives but, to be honest, it’s getting a bit frustrating at this stage. We make mistakes and we concede shockingly poor goals that nobody else in the league concedes at the moment. Until we stop doing that we’re not going to be picking up points."
Chances were few and far between in the second half, but Hawke’s Bay was able to add a late goal. Sam Mason-Smith bagged his second, capitalising after Southern failed to clear the ball after a messy save. It was a sloppy effort and another goal from an error, something O’Reilly said was becoming increasingly frustrating.
"Absolutely, we were exposed [on the counterattack], but it usually comes from our mistakes.
"Teams don’t have to work. If you look at the three goals, one or two of them are decent finishes, but a lot of the time its very poor from our behalf. Its not one or two, it’s collectively that we switch off."
The loss leaves the team in last place on the table, with just one point from eight games.
In the youth league, Hawke’s Bay United beat Southern United 4-1 in Napier.
National Premiership
The scores
Hawke’s Bay United 3
Sam Mason-Smith 2, Angus Kilkolly
Southern United 0
Halftime: 2-0
