“Honestly, it was like a bad dream or something.”
That’s how midfielder Johnny Reynolds felt after Nelson Suburbs’ 3-0 loss to Auckland club side Fencibles in their Chatham Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Suburbs conceded the opening goal just 12 seconds into the match in a cold, wet and windy East Auckland.
It was then 2-0 within five minutes.
“It was like, did that really happen. Truly, could we restart this match but no, and it became an uphill battle for the rest of the game.”
It got worse as the American import was ruled out in the 12th minute.
He had been nursing an ankle strain and rolled it again.
“It was incredibly frustrating as really Fencibles didn’t do much after those first two goals,” insists Johnny, whose sudden exit forced a change to the Suburbs shape.
Coach Ryan ‘Skippy’ Stewart agrees, as they kept the Auckland outfit scoreless for the next 90 minutes until the third goal in the final play.
“It was always going to be a tough assignment coming back from 2-0 down. We had lots of possession but no clearcut chances to get back into the game. We threw everything at them but were just a bit off on the night,” assesses Skippy.
The scoreline was a repeat of last year’s 3-0 scoreline in the semi-final loss to Auckland United.
“It definitely felt worse this time as we thought it was a really good opportunity to make the final.”
Suburbs has now lost four semis in Auckland going back to 2008.
Just getting there was a mission with flight disruptions meaning 10 of the group had to travel to Blenheim on Friday, and then only seven could get on the aircraft.
“So much for the best laid plans. We needed three flights in the end,” confirms Skippy.
Now back home, the attention returns to the Southern Premier League where the Nelson outfit is in fifth place and faces second-placed Ferrymead Bays in Christchurch on Saturday.
Johnny will definitely be missing and concedes his season could be over.
“We have got a few injuries now, but we can’t let the season get away from us. We can’t go through the motions. It will give opportunities to players who have been struggling for game time,” says Skippy.
