Chatham Cup Progress Proves Elusive

BMAFC went down 3-1 to a strong Auckland Grammar School 1st XI in their Round 1 Chatham Cup fixture.

The loss sees BMAFC exit the Chatham cup in the Qualifying Round (the club has not advanced beyond Round 1 in its last six years of competing in New Zealand's oldest cup competition).

Auckland Grammar opened the day's scoring after right back James Gibbs gave away a dubious penalty in our goal box. Grammar's (ex-Maraetai resident) Bryce Felton made no mistake from the resulting spot kick. An arm wrestle ensued with no one side taking charge. However it was Grammar who scored again later in the half. Beachlands Got a goal back when BMAFC player of the day James Gibbs chipped the ball over the AGS defensive line, which striker Bryce Henney pounced on before the Grammar goal keeper could, and pushed it home to secure the visitor's sole goal.

At 2-1 down at the half time break BMAFC felt confident of a resurgence - the call was for increased pressure in defence and more communication in attack. The half time talk seemed to take effect as BMAFC maintained a 20 minute period of dominance. The greater possession failed to translate into a second goal however. And when Grammar miscuing a golden opportunity Beachlands felt the game was about to swing in their favour. But there were no favours forthcoming from the football gods for Beachlands as the heat of the day and the pace of the game eventually took its toll. Grammar scored their third goal with around 20 minutes of the match remaining to guarantee their spot in round 2 of the Cup.

The 3-1 loss mirrored last year's Chatham Cup exit when BMAFC took on another school side in Westlake Boys High School. However, last year's BMAFC side was a weaker team carrying a number of injuries. So it was with high expectations that the BMAFC 1st Team of 2010 travelled to the central city school campus. The lost opportunity to further test the side against more elite opposition was disappointing for all players and coaches.

Photos courtesy Kimberly Harbraken (click for enlargement)

Auckland Grammar School 1st XI

1. Kyle Smart
2. Issac Brealey
3. Matthew Greenslade
4. Ryan Martin
8. Simon Harrison
9. Rory Turner
10. Bryce Felton
11. Matthew Kolose
12. Cameron Martin
13. Nicholas Hindson
14. Marshall Gurney
15. Harshae Raniga
16. Simon Arms
17. Josh Anthony
19. Dane Norton

Coach: Stuart Robinson
Assitant Coach: David Gale
Manager Daniel Oram