The ability to be aggressive but still maintain control has been drummed into Napier City Rovers’ footballers after the side finished their last two National League matches with just 10 men.
Sunday’s gutting 4-2 loss to reigning New Zealand and Oceania club champions Auckland City – who are off to Fifa’s Club World Cup in December – saw Cam Emerson be red-carded in the 78th minute.
The score was locked 2-2 at Bluewater Stadium when Emerson was sent off, with Auckland City going on to score two further goals in the final five minutes.
Ahead of Saturday night’s fourth-round clash against Wellington Phoenix Reserves under lights at Fraser Park, coach Bill Robertson said while “disappointed” in the duo of reds, he didn’t want his players to shy away from imposing themselves.
The key was to get the balance right.
“We’ve just got to be careful,” he said.
“I ask the players to be competitive and play on the edge a little bit. I quite like that. But we don’t want to go too far over the edge, because it can have an impact on our results. We’ve discussed that and it’s something we need to look at obviously moving forward.
“We play on the edge and we’re aggressive in what we do. But we have to be mindful that probably the [red] cards we’ve picked up in the last two games were probably unnecessary.”
Emerson was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a challenge on Auckland City captain Cam Howieson. Just five minutes earlier Emerson had received a first yellow card for stopping Auckland City from taking a quick freekick.
The second card handed out to Emerson was a bitter pill for the 27-year-old to swallow. Like all his teammates, he impressed throughout against the might of Auckland City.
And the challenge he received a second yellow card for was minor, in terms of contact, compared to several from Auckland City players which referee Caleb Downes didn’t deem worthy of cards.
Eight days earlier, forward Jonny McNamara was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident in the 7-1 loss to Wellington Olympic.
The previous weekend, McNamara had been one of his side’s best in their National League season-opening 3-0 win over Petone FC at Bluewater Stadium.
Napier City Rovers are in sixth spot after three rounds of the 2023 National League.
And they showed against Auckland City why they shouldn’t be underestimated in the domestic football top-flight.
A stunning Deri Corfe strike from a 22nd-minute freekick opened the score.
Napier City Rovers’ then doubled the lead 15 minutes later when Liam Schofield won possession then expertly chipped Auckland City goalkeeper Joe Wallis from long-range.
Downes then controversially ruled out what appeared to be a legal goal from Ry McLeod which would have given the home team a deserved 3-0 lead.
Despite the final scoreline, the level of performance from Napier City Rovers was an impressive statement from the side who had suffered a six-goal defeat eight days earlier.
“Against Auckland City, I thought we played really well and probably repaired some of the damage from the previous week in terms of our reputation and how competitive we are on a national level,” Robertson said.
“We’re really proud of the players’ performance, it showed that we can compete on a national level.
“I think the players recognised that the performance against the Olympic wasn’t quite what we expect of each other and what we expect as a club.”
The standard of performance from all against Auckland City – which included numerous outstanding saves from goalkeeper Oscar Mason – is what Robertson is after in remaining National League games against Wellington Phoenix Reserves, Manurewa AFC, Christchurch United, Cashmere Technical, Eastern Suburbs and Auckland United.
Next weekend they play Manurewa at home, before back-to-back road trips to Christchurch-based opposition.
“We knew we were the underdogs going into the game against Auckland City, but we were fighting really hard for each other,” Robertson said.
“We worked incredibly hard to try and get a result for the club, for the region, for each other as players. That’s the minimum we ask, and the players certainly delivered that.
“We were unlucky not to get something against them, a powerhouse of New Zealand football.”
Napier City Rovers will travel to Wellington minus several key players for Saturday’s clash against Wellington Phoenix Reserves.
Both Emerson and McNamara are out through suspension.
Also missing will be JC Mack who is on international duty captaining the US Virgin Islands, while outstanding veteran defender Fergus Neil is unavailable as the match is being played on artificial turf.
The side previously lost the services of outstanding import Stefan Karajovanovic who had to return to his studies in Canada after excelling in Napier City Rovers’ Central League campaign where they finished third.
Robertson said while the depth of his squad will be tested this weekend, he backed those who would be coming in to take their chances at National League level.
That could open the door for the likes of George Andrew, Sam Lack, Alex Mort and Harry Mason to get more game time.
“It’s going to be a great opportunity for some other players to step up and play and play National League football, guys who maybe haven’t played a huge amount of minutes so far,” he said.
“We’ll obviously give those players an opportunity this weekend.”
