Oly-Whites head to Beijing on high

July 4 2008

WELLINGTON – A first-half header from Daniel Ellensohn gave the Thai Airways Oly-Whites a confidence boosting and historic 1-0 win over Chile to square the two match U-23 series at Porirua Park on Friday night.

Ellensohn timed his back post run perfectly to meet Cole Peverley’s 38^th minute free kick with a powerful header down and beyond Fabian Cerda for the game’s only goal.

Chile won the first match on Wednesday 2-1, following a 4-3 win and a 1-1 draw in a two match series against Australia in Darwin.

Chile were reduced to nine men late in a tetchy second half, as tempers flared and Mat Conger was forced to flash red cards – to complement a match total of 8 yellows – to Bastain Arce (67^th minute) and Esteban Paredes (89).

The win – the first for a New Zealand side over Chile – was a timely leaving present for Stu Jacobs’ side a week before they depart on a five match Olympic build-up tour of Australia and Indonesia on their way to Beijing.

“It’s a hell of a coup,” Jacobs said.

“Wins over South American sides aren’t easy to come by, and it shows what this side are capable of.

“The more we play together, the better we’ll get. This win will build character.”

Ellensohn could’ve put New Zealand ahead after 15 minutes but his close range effort was kept out by Cerda, while Peverley should’ve made more of an unmarked header inside the Chilean six yard box after 23 minutes.

In between, goalkeeper Liam Little pulled off the save of the match in the 19^th minute reflexing away a Boris Sa Gredo header from point-blank range.

The game threatened to boilover just before halftime with a crunching tackle on Henderson followed by a niggly reply from Daniel Ellensohn.

Referee Conger had an even tougher job keeping tempers in check in the second half dishing out seven yellow cards, including a second to Arce in the 67^th minute to reduce the visitors to ten men.

Arce had come closest to netting an equaliser for Chile six minutes after halftime but Ian Hogg cleared his shot off the line.

Ellensohn was lively throughout picking off passes from Chile’s back four to set up dangerous counterattacks as New Zealand tried to extend their lead.

Greg Draper added extra spark in the second half but missed a chance to put the result beyond doubt when Cerda saved one-on-one in the 75^th minute while Little kept the Oly-Whites in the game with late-sighted low save off Felipe Seymour two minutes later.

Tensions reached breaking point for Chile when a 89^th minute penalty shout was turned down by Conger, and captain Esteban Peredes was given his marching orders for striking his marker at the ensuing corner.

The Oly-Whites depart for Australia on July 10 for games against Australia’s U-23 and the Central Coast Mariners, before travelling to Jakarta  - where they’ll be joined by over-age players Simon Elliott and Chris Killen – for games against the Indonesian National team and two club sides.

The Thai Airways face China (August 7^th), Brazil (10^th) and Belgium (13^th) in group C of the Olympic football tournament with Blackburn Rovers captain Ryan Nelsen joining them for the first two games in Shenyang.

Thai Airways Oly-Whites 1 (Daniel Ellensohn 38) Chile U-23 0 (Halftime 1-0)

Porirua Park, Wellington
Friday 4 July
Referee: Mathew Conger
Crowd: 400

New Zealand U-23: 20.Liam LITTLE (GK), 2.Aaron SCOTT (14.Joel MATHEWS 87), 3.Ian HOGG, 4.Cole PEVERLEY, 5.Michael BOXALL, 8.Shaun VAN ROOYEN, 9.Jeremy BROCKIE, 10.Daniel ELLENSOHN (18.John NIYONSABA 90+1), 13.Craig HENDERSON (12.Greg DRAPER 53), 15.Sam MESSAM (7.Cole TINKLER 66), 17.Jack PELTER,
Substitutes not used: 1.Jacob SPOONLEY (RGK), 11.Sam JENKINS, 16.Hone FOWLER,
Head Coach: Stu JACOBS

Chile U-23 12.Fabian CERDA (GK), 2.Marcelo DIAZ. 3.Eugenio MENA, 4.Bruno ROMO (14.Sebastian DIAZ 64), 5.Bastain ARCE, 7.Felipe SEYMOUR, 9.Eduardo VARGAS, 10.Esteban PAREDES, 11.Boris SA GREDO, 15.Fabian TORRES. 16.Sebastian BARRIENTOS (8.Angel ROJAS 61).
Substitutes not used: 1.Gregory SAAVEDRA (RGK), 6.Sebastian MENDEZ, 13.Esteban SAEZ, 17.Lucas DOMINGUEZ, 18.Matias CAMPOS.
Head Coach: Ivo BASAY

Cautions:Arce (Chile), Sa Gredo (Chile), Peverley (NZ), Sa Gredo (Chile), Ellensohn (NZ), Brockie (NZ), Vargas (Chile), Hogg (NZ).