Missed penalty raises questions

Olympic 1 Rovers 0

Head bowed and shoulders haunched, his demeanour said it all.

Bluewater Napier City Rover striker Jarrod Smith just wanted to get off the Newtown Park pitch as soon as he could.

To be fair, ex-All White Smith performed well against rivals Olympic yesterday but it was his missed penalty that proved crucial as they succumbed 1-0 to the Wellington side.

You could look at it as a great save from The Greeks' goalkeeper, David Plowright, but the former All White hit it poorly, giving the stopper every chance to savour glory.

Worse, Jose Cantillo struck the rebound direct at Plowright's leg. Smith looked disconsolate and he never got back into the game.

It was a pivotal moment in the game and could well be a defining moment in the whole Central League season, as Napier failed to capitalise on Wairarapa's 3-1 slip up against Lower Hutt City the day before.

With Rovers English import striker Stephen Hoyle missing a penalty kick in their 4-1 win over Western Suburbs at Bluewater Stadium, Park Island, on June 3, coach Hastings must wonder if it's time to separate the boys from the men in that department in training sessions this week.

But, as every coach will tell you, you can't blame one player for a defeat. There were others who could also be held to account, such as Rovers goalkeeper Jerry Tesar.

The Czech had a good game, but made a complete clanger shortly after the interval when faced with the oncoming former Kinetic Electrical Hawke's Bay United and Rovers striker Andrew Abba.

It seemed as if Tesar had timed his run correctly but, inexplicably, missed the ball as Abba skipped past, cut in for Colm Kenney and the striker scooped it above Matt Hastings head.

It was a poor goal to lose at a crucial time in the game when Napier were competing hard with Olympic and had a number of chances of their own to take the lead.

About a quarter of an hour later came the Rovers' chance to level. An Olympic defender impeded Smith although it looked as if the two clashed and Smith fell the harder. Naturally, both coaches took a different view, but an opportunity is an opportunity and Smith didn't look entirely confident as he made his run up.

"The keeper's made a good save, Smith has hit it good enough and he (Plowright) has got a foot to the rebound," philosophical coach Grant Hastings said.

"It's just been one of those days, in the first half we played well, we created a lot of chances, in the second half we lost the ball a bit too often. But on the back of that we've created some good scoring opportunities. Last week four goals would have gone in, this week we couldn't buy one, so you have days like that, don't ya?"

As for the penalty decision, Hastings was in no doubt the defender shoved his striker from behind but he wasn't so clearcut about Tesar's mistake.

"I don't know what's happened there. I seriously don't know. He's just missed the ball by the look of it. And it (Kenney's shot) has just gone over Matt's head. Just bad luck more than anything else.

"Jerry's made some wonderful saves for us, so I guess it's just one of those things."

The day was summed up when Danny Wilson had an ideal opportunity to pull one back but his shot ended up closer to the dingo's enclosure at the adjacent zoo than troubling Plowright. Olympic's veteran striker, Jimmy Haidakis, was equally wasteful, hooking the ball wide rashly despite having enough time to make more of his opportunity.

Olympic coach Mick Waitt wasn't entirely happy, however.

"If I'm honest Napier were the better side in the first half. We didn't come out of the traps, and I was very disappointed at the way we played. But we showed a lot of courage in the second half, and a lot of quality at times," the former New Zealand and Rovers coach said..

However, we made some bad decisions when we were one-nil up. Thankfully, the goalkeeper's made a wonderful double save from the penalty, which I never thought was one in the first place and that kept us in it."

The 2011 Chatham Cup final will be replayed in Napier this Sunday at 2pm against champions Wairarapa.