Opposition Focus - Hamilton Wanderers

Words: ACFC Media

Saturday 11 November 2017

Get the lowdown on our next opponents ahead of Sunday's ISPS Handa Premiership clash between the Navy Blues and Hamilton Wanderers.

CLUB INFO:
FORMED: 1964
NICKNAME: Wanderers
STADIUM: Porritt Stadium
CAPACITY: 5,000
WINTER LEAGUE: Lotto NRFL Premier Division
MANAGER: Ricki Herbert

MATCH INFO:
DATE: Sunday 12 November 2017
KICK OFF: 1:15 NZST
VENUE: Kiwitea Street, Sandringham
COMPETITION: ISPS Handa Premiership

MATCH STATS:
ISPS HANDA PREMIERSHIP RECORD 2016-17
POSITION: 9th
PLAYED: 18
WON: 4
DRAWN: 1
LOST: 13
FOR: 24
AGAINST: 50

ISPS HANDA PREMIERSHIP RECORD 2017-18
POSITION: 10th
PLAYED: 3
WON: 0
DRAWN: 0
LOST: 3
FOR: 2
AGAINST: 7

PREVIOUS MATCHES:
15 February 2017 Hamilton Wanderers 0-5 Auckland City FC
19 February 2017 Auckland City FC 4-1 Hamilton Wanderers
23 September 2017 Auckland City 5-2 Hamilton Wanderers – Fullers Festival of Football, Waiheke Island

WANDERERS COACH RICKI HERBERT:
Ricki Herbert (Waikato Times): ""I'm looking longer-term. I think we're going to get a lot of things right and I think the club now has a fantastic chance to get a model over the next couple of years and could be very strong.”

ON THE 2-1 DEFEAT TO LEADERS EASTERN SUBURBS
"It was disappointing after all the good work - but l think it's a bit of a stake in the ground from the start of the year."

"Psychologically it'd be good to [get their first point(s) of the season]. That would have been our biggest disappointment from [Saturday] - even just a point would have jumped us onto the table and we'd have seen we were moving in the right direction.”

LAST 5 WANDERERS RESULTS
23 September 2017 Auckland City 5-2 Hamilton Wanderers – Fullers Festival of Football
15 October 2017 Hamilton Wanderers 2-4 Waitakere United – pre-season friendly
22 October 2017 Hamilton Wanderers 1-4 Tasman United
29 October 2017 Hamilton Wanderers 0-1 Hawkes Bay United
4 November 2017 Eastern Suburbs 2-1 Hamilton Wanderers

TEAM NEWS
Fabrizio Tavano made a welcome return to the Navy Blues in the win over Canterbury United last week, coming on for the final 20 minutes after suffering an injury in pre-season and Kris Bright has resumed training. Ryan De Vries missed last week's match with a ankle knock but should be cleared to suit up. Meanwhile, young recruit Owen Parker-Price has been side-lined with a broken metatarsal and Mario Bilen is out of action for an extended period.

Hamilton Wanderers squad: Matt Oliver (GK), Bailey Webster, Joseph Nottage, Adam Luque, Samuel O’Regan, Wade Molony, Michael Built, Sam St de Croix, Patrick Aisa, Marc Evans, Jordan Shaw, Raheem Hunter, Ignacio Falfans, Tommy Semmy, Ignacio Muchachu-Maturana, Hamish Smylie, Xavier Pratt, Alexis Cacamo-Varela, Armin Pasagic, Cui Kairui, David Masters (GK).
Coach: Ricki Herbert

FAST FACTS
Auckland City FC and Hamilton Wanderers met for the first time in New Zealand's domestic top flight last season with the Navy Blues easily winning both matches.

In the first match at Porritt Stadium, Emiliano Tade and Joao Moreira both scored two each with the fifth added by Ryan De Vries in a 5-0 win on February 19.

It was a similar story in the return match three days later with Clayton Lewis bagging two with Tade and Fabrizio Tavano completing the rout. Stafford Dowling netted a consolation for Wanderers as they went down 4-1.

The teams met pre-season in the Fullers Festival of Football on Waiheke Island with a nine-minute Callum McCowatt hat trick propelling the Navy Blues to a 5-2 win that saw them claim the Steve Sumner Memorial Cup.