Europe
All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen reconfirmed his commitment to New Zealand Football on his recent visit home by declaring his intention to turn out as much as possible for the All Whites and also put his hand up to assist in any capacity for the Olympic campaign.
Nelsen’s international defensive partner Winston Reid was at the heart of West Ham United’s 1-0 win over Portsmouth, the attack-minded central defender being felled in the box by Pompey’s Tal Ben-Haim.
It is the second time in recent weeks that Reid has drawn a penalty and Mark Noble converted the resulting spot-kick to draw the Hammers level on points with Southampton at the top of the Championship.
Reid was again in the thick of the action when Portsmouth’s David Norris was dismissed for a foul on the All White after 57 minutes.
The final member of the defensive triumvirate, Tommy Smith, has forced his way back into the starting line-up for Ipswich Town and lodged two 90-minute efforts in the past few days. His return came in a mid-week loss at Birmingham City and he backed that up by scoring at home in a 2-2 draw with Blackpool.
Ipswich are currently 19th in the 24-team league, one place above Chris Wood’s new club Bristol City.
After completing a successful loan stint with fellow Championship side Birmingham City, where he netted ten goals in 28 appearances, Wood made his debut for the Robins after confirming a mid-week loan move from West Bromwich Albion.
Interestingly, Wood’s Robins debut was an unhappy return to Brighton and Hove Albion, a club for whom he scored nine goals in 31 games and helped them to promotion to the Championship while on loan last season. The Robins lost the match 2-0 and are now three points above the relegation zone.
Across the border, Rory Fallon got 13 minutes off the bench for Aberdeen in the goalless draw with Kilmarnock. The Dons sit three points above the bottom three clubs in the Scottish Premier League.
In other news, Junior All White Tim Payne is expected to sign a two-and-a-half year contract with Blackburn Rovers this week. Payne, who has had to wait until his 18th birthday to sign a professional contract as per FIFA rules, is expected to make his debut for the Blackburn reserve team next weekend.
Payne’s Young All Whites captain Luke Adams suffered a serious knee injury whilst on trial at Derby County and is expected to be out for a number of months.
Auckland City’s Ian Hogg is also expected to jet out to Sweden shortly to trial with Umea, who play in the second-tier of Swedish football.
Asia/Oceania
Tim Brown scored the winner for the Wellington Phoenix to give them their first away win of the season, a 1-0 success over Gold Coast United. The centurion midfielder found the net with an unmarked header two minutes from time, with the game seemingly heading for a goalless draw.
All White custodian Mark Paston made a return between the posts and was ably supported by another standout performance from Ben Sigmund at the heart of the Phoenix defence.
Tony Lochhead was also impressive as the Wellington-based franchise secured a clean sheet and three valuable points to consolidate their fourth position on the table. Leo Bertos made a late appearance as a substitute after missing out on a starting berth.
Perth Glory made it back-to-back away wins for the first time since 2009 after defeating Melbourne Heart. All Whites striker Shane Smeltz opened the scoring for Glory after 16 minutes before Kristian Sarkies equalised for Heart in the 66th. But two minutes later Steve McGarry netted the winning goal for Perth.
All Whites Michael McGlinchey and Jeremy Brockie fought out a tense draw in the derby between the league-leading Central Coast Mariners and Newcastle Jets.
Marco Rojas was not part of the Melbourne Victory match day squad in their draw with Adelaide United.
In women’s action, Canberra United duo Emma Kete and Aroon Clansey had the final week of the regular season off with a bye but will be in action next week in the semi-finals of the W-League.
Their opponents in the knockout stages, Melbourne Victory, downed Dave Edmondson’s Adelaide Lady Reds 4-1 with Football Ferns defensive duo Abby Erceg and Anna Green in action.
With the Perth Glory winning at home, Adelaide finish their the season at the bottom of the W-League.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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