A Ben Polak hat-trick has seen Nelson Suburbs ease into the next round of the Chatham Cup with a 4-0 win over Rangers at Saxton Field today.
Suburbs scored within the first minute of the game to take an early lead and never looked like losing control of the game.
The hosts dominated possession in the first half with Marlborough-based Rangers resorting to long balls to their forwards.
When Trevin Myers scored Suburbs’ second mid-way through the first half he celebrated with a cartwheel and flip.
Polak gave Suburbs a comfortable 3-0 half time lead as he arrived in the box and slotted a comfortable finish past the Rangers goalkeeper.
Polak rounded out his hat-trick from outside the box when he fired over the keeper and under the bar from distance. In stark contrast to Meyers acrobatic celebration, Polak’s trademark is to simply turn around and jog back to half way.
“He’s a man of few words,” laughed Suburbs co-coach Ryan “Skippy” Stewart after the game. “He's not the loudest, but he's done really, really well today.”
Frustration from the visitors started to show in the second half as it had two players red carded in the dying minutes. The first for two yellow card offences, the second a straight red card after a late tackle on a Suburbs player.
Skippy says he is happy with the win, but his side will need to lift their intensity for its coming games.
“We started well, but at two or three-nil we needed to push on and lift the tempo and I think we just took our foot off the pedal a little bit. And that can happen when the team sits in a deep block and just sits in.
“But, clean sheet, four goals. We can't ask much more.”
He says with the next round of the Chatham Cup secured, the focus now turns back to the Southern Premier League when his side hosts Selwyn next weekend.
“Our biggest problem at the moment is getting points away from home, and that's something we're really focused on for the rest of the season.”
Earlier, Nelson Suburbs women's side also advanced to the next round of the Kate Sheppard Cup with a 2-0 win over Halswell United.
