premier season review 2025

Peter Smith retained his position as Head Coach, Alan Shaker and Jon Gwin returned as his assistants. James Pritchett took a break for business reasons. The U23 coach appointed was Dan Menzies and his assistant was Ryan Carney.

On the player front, the following departed to further their career elsewhere: Liam Bailey, Hamed Basiri, Ilham Hameedi, Mac Naggar, Eric Konstandini and Ibrahim Nadir. Michael Graham took time off. New players to join us included: Goalkeeper Jackson Gardner (Can), Tim O’Farrell, Oscar Duffy, Yousef Mohammed (Eng), Giovanni Peredo, Mats Kaiser (Ger), Astor Baldoni, Tawanda Marowa, Kazik Swain, Derek Tieku (Eng), Junior Fordney (Sol) and Don Keana (Sol).

The main goal was to push for a top four place and the Championship phase. The Season got under way with a home game against Eastern Suburbs. The Bay started well with two goals in twenty mins from newcomers Baldoni and Tieku. Suburbs fought back strongly and scored early in the second half but the Bay prevailed. FT 2-1. Already Jackson Gardner was proving to be a valuable asset.

A floodlight game at Keith Hay was next up for the Bay against Auckland United. Again the Bay started well and scored a great opening goal from another newcomer Giovanni Peredo to lead at the break. The second half was dramatic and full of good football. It took AK Utd until the 70th min to equalise and from then on it was a battle to see who got the winner. It could have gone either way but unfortunately for us AK Utd came up with the winner well into stoppage time. A good performance from the Bay though. FT 2-1.

We were back at Olympic Park to face East Coast Bays. They proved to be a hard nut to crack, well, harder than I thought they would be. Two goals from Tieku saw us 2-1 up at the break but ECB wouldn’t go away. They fought hard and deserved their equaliser. Two points dropped here I think. FT 2-2.

A trip to Memorial Park to play Manurewa proved a real test for the Bay. The pitch was substandard and a strong wind blew the length of the field. An early goal from Tieku helped us to lead 1-0 at HT, but we knew we faced a strong wind in the second half. Sure enough Manurewa equalised and then a battle of long balls commenced with Bay on the receiving end! We showed great determination and Mats Kaiser scored our winner in the 87th minute. A valuable 3 points. FT 1-2.

West Coast Rangers faced the Bay at Olympic and the game was even up until Tieku turned on a ball in the area and hit a deflected shot past Damian Hirst. Kazek Swain then headed a second before HT and we were 2-0 up in a game in which WCR looked to have the better of the first half. When Tieku converted a penalty after 53 mins it was game over. FT 3-0.

A trip to Kiwitea St to play the newly crowned Oceania Champions, Auckland City, came next and it proved a real test of patience and grit for our defence. However, they took up the challenge and battled mightily for ninety minutes. A scrambled effort from Auckland City being the only goal. Jackson Gardner was a standout in goal. FT 1-0.

Hopes were high that we could get the better of Western Springs at Olympic Park. This was a game that meant a win would keep us in contention for a top four finish. So it was disappointing to concede just before the break after a fairly even 1st half. Western Springs kept up the pressure and in a 3 min spell scored twice to end Bay Olympic’s hopes. Western Springs deserved this one. FT 0-3.

It didn’t get any easier going to high flying Birkenhead for round eight. Another early goal, this time to Birkenhead’s Dino Botica after 9 mins saw us again 1-0 down at the break. Chances went amiss in the second half for the Bay, failing to convert a penalty and hitting the post. Birkenhead finished well and scored twice late on to take the points. FT 3-0.

It was a case of 3 losses in a row and more importantly we hadn’t scored a goal when we faced high flyers Tauranga City at Olympic Park. The Bay hit the pitch running and for the whole of the first half dominated the game and played some great football. We were rewarded just on HT when Flynn Saxon headed home a Callum McNeill flick on. The second half was not quite the same standard. A Jackson Gardner penalty save kept Tauranga at bay and they then gifted us an O/G. However, they did score from a second penalty. Muts Kaiser scored an excellent third goal for the Bay. A solid performance. FT 3-1.

Next up was a trip to Fred Taylor Park to play the newly formed Auckland FC reserve squad. This was another game where the opposition took their few chances and we squandered most of ours. We must have had 13 or 14 corners and didn’t convert one. Although, Miles Palmer scored a great goal from a great cross to initiate a grandstand finish. All in vain though as we lost. FT 2-1.

Fencibles came to Olympic Park for their first visit since we met in Division 1. They proved a hard team to put away. Thankfully, an early goal from Will Eng after 1min eventually proved extremely valuable. Up 1-0 at HT we struggled for a second until Tieku scored from the spot to make it two nil and safe. Then Fencibles replied with a penalty of their own to make the last 15mins a lot more anxious than it should have been. Two penalties in the game and there should have been two more! One to each team! FT 2-1.

Auckland United were the next team to visit Olympic Park. Tade time! Yes, he scored again, this time from the spot. The only way to stop him is to sign him! The fact that United played with 10 men for an hour of the game made no difference, we gave them an O/G to prove our generosity. A forgettable game. FT 0-2

A Chatham Cup trip to Tauranga was next for the team. We had beaten them in the league but this trip proved one step too many and saw us go down 5-1. Considering two of their goals came in added time it was not so bad but there are no second chances in Cup football. We were out for another year. FT 5-1.

We started the second round of the League in 7th place and a visit to Madills Farm. A disastrous start saw us 1 down after two minutes! However, we fought back really well and by HT were 2-1 up with goals from Will Eng and an o/g from Suburbs. Suburbs equalised on the hour mark and a grandstand nail biting finish ensued. We thought we had the winner on 87 mins through a smart finish from Derek Tieku but dramatically in the 90+6min Suburbs got an equaliser! Should there really have been 6mins of stoppage time? Debate is still going on! FT 3-3.

Following that game came a visit from Manurewa AFC. We had beaten them at the Memorial Park, so at home we should be favourites, and considering they were bottom of the table everything seemed in our favour. Except nobody informed Manurewa. They played a gritty and tenacious game, scored in the 57th minute and held on for the win. The Bay players, coaches and supporters looked shell shocked after this one. It was a game we should have won comfortably. We blew it with a poor performance and were gutted. FT 0-1.

A visit to our friends at West Coast Rangers for an evening fixture on a cold and damp Saturday. After our display against Rewa we wondered what sort of performance we were in for. A better one! A close tight battle saw us take the lead through Eng just after HT. Then when we thought the three points were ours another stoppage time equaliser saw WCR grab a point. A fair result for the neutrals but we were so close to getting all three. FT 1-1.

The long trip to Bay City Park was next up for the Bay. East Coast Bays were having a good run and we knew this would not be easy. It turned out to be exactly that way. We eventually went ahead through Flynn Saxon and looked good for all three points but ECB spoiled the party by grabbing an equaliser in the 85th minute. The draw was fair enough but it should have been 3 points again. FT 1-1.

Auckland City were the next team to visit Olympic Park. They had returned to NZ after Club World Cup where they had a sensational draw with Boca Juniors only to be beaten on their return by Tauranga. They could not afford another defeat and brought all their big guns to Olympic. The Bay were magnificent in this game. They pressed, tackled and blocked everything that Auckland City threw at them and to top it off Tieku scored a tremendous goal with a thunderous curling drive. Great performance, three valuable points and a great day for all Bay Olympic supporters. This was the first time we had beaten Auckland City at Olympic Park. FT 1-0.

Away to another strong opponent next at Western Springs. Not a favourite ground for the Bay and sure enough we were 1-0 down after 15mins. We competed well in a fast paced and competitive first half. Astor Baldini got us back in the game with a superb strike but to no avail. Springs scored twice more to run out 3-1 winners on the night. We competed well for most of the game but finishing again let us down. FT 3-1.

Two losses in a row and the Bay still needed one more point to be actually safe from relegation. It certainly didn’t come against Birkenhead at Olympic Park who out played us and in a devastating 6min spell scored 3 times. Four goals to one down at half time and a severe spanking was on the cards. Bay played much better in the second half but it was a lost cause really. FT 1-5.

With three games to go it was a question of which two Clubs out of a group consisting of Manurewa, West Coast Rangers, Fencibles and Bay Olympic would play down in the Championship next season. The Bay were in the best position to stay up and needed only a point to be certain. A trip to Tauranga would be difficult, remember, they beat us 5-1 in the Chatham Cup. It turned out to be a hard fought and tough 0-0 draw.

A very good performance from the Bay after the Birkenhead defeat. We could easily have won - we missed a number of chances including a penalty but the point won meant we would be a Premier team again next season. FT 0-0.

Although we were safe and secure there were still two important games to play to complete the season Next up was an evening trip to Riverhills Park to play Fencibles. On this occasion it was Fencibles that needed a point to be safe. The game kicked off at 6:00pm at the same time as East Coast Bays v West Coast Rangers. If West Coast won and Fencibles lost there was still a chance for West Coast to avoid the drop. The Bay played well enough at Riverhills but a first-half goal and a parochial home crowd saw Fencibles run out the winners of a close game. FT 1-0.

West Coast Rangers lost the game at East Coast Bays so were relegated to the Championship Division. The final game of the season for Bay Olympic was at home to Auckland FC. This was the prime example of a “game of two halves”. The Bay simply were not in attendance for the first-half and found themselves 2-0 at the break. In other parts of the world the home supporters would have gone home at that point. At Olympic Park they stayed on and were treated to a much improved second-half performance, with a first Bay Olympic goal for Jesse Burge and an O/G resulting in a drawn game. FT 2-2.

The season was complete and we had finished in 8th position. Well enough, on points, from the drop but still sixteen points and four places from a National League play-off position. The team had showed great team spirit and an ability to compete at the highest level (first ever home victory over Auckland City). However, inconsistency proved to be the hurdle that we couldn’t overcome. There was enough promise shown to encourage supporters that we could challenge for a top four finish next season. Roll on 2026!

Tony Andrews

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