Wanaka were given no time to settle as Green Island lead a full on assault in the first 20 minutes of their round five clash in Sunnyvale, Dunedin.  

It didn’t help that centre back, Thomas Van Hees had 10 minutes on the sideline during this period, recovering from a brutal challenge which left him bloodied and dazed. Green Island capitalised, scoring two quick goals when he was off, and another two in quick succession on his return. 

Wanaka shuffled positions and gained parity for a 20-minute period in the game but Green Island score again in the 36th minute to make it 5-0.  

Fletcher Cavanagh earned a penalty after an aggressive run into the opponent’s box, Steve Pleskun stepped up, but his shot was well saved by the Green Island keeper. Wanaka finally found the back of the net in the 42nd minute when Harry Grimsdale scored from 22 yards with a curling right-footed shot to make the halftime score 5-1.      

The second half had Wanaka playing with more passion and tempo and they created more opportunities as the game wore on.  

It was late in the game when they were rewarded though, with the goal of the match. A sweeping move had keeper Dowling play short to centre back, Blair Scoullar, who played    into young midfielder Michael Gealogo. He then linked up with Fletcher Cavanagh and he drove forward until he found Levi Fletcher wide who delivered a pinpoint cross to find Weston Bell on an attacking run. The youngster hit a first-time volley from 16 yards into the roof of Green Island’s net for a real gem of a team goal. Unfortunately, it had little effect on a  disappointing result. Final score, 5-2 to Green Island.

Wanaka will have to do better when they host the favourites for the league, Roslyn Wakari, next weekend. It is a home fixture, 2:45pm kick off at the WRC, so come and give them your support.