Ben Brooks found

Here - and we were worried. Living in the Bay of Plenty, poor refereeing, pants pulled down - it couldn't be anyone else.

FUUUCCCKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Wellington Senior Updated at 5:35pm 24/06/2011

SATURDAY 25 JUNE:
The following Senior Grades are cancelled:
Capital 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, Masters 1, 2, 3, 5
(Please Note Capital 5 has a catch up game)

As bad as that game was

at least it was not this bad. Pierced Stallions (are there any of those?) take heed.

Worst Team Fantasy Haul Ever

Not much to say really.

Paul	2 (+60), -1 (+2 goals), 1 (+3 saves)	2
Tangihaere	2 (+60), -1 (+2 goals), 1bp	2
Corey	2 (+60), -1 (+2 goals)	1
Spencer	2 (+60), -1 (+2 goals), 3bps	4
Dan	2 (+60), -1 (+2 goals)	1
Mike	1 (-60)	1
Graham	2 (+60)	2
Aaron	2 (+60)	2
Lloyd	2 (+60)	2
Robin	2 (+60)	2
Rauru	2 (+60), -2 (pen miss)	0
Tristin	2 (+60), 2 bps	4

Heard on the sidelines # 2801

It was the grand return we have all been waiting for - the Butch is back, and he's mean. Obviously done a bit of practice - remember that great surge forward, big chest and control, a shot from about 30 meters, arguing with his marker who claimed Mike was all hands and pushes (who Mike?). Anyway, great to have you back Mike, and a successful return (if a little longer than you hoped for!).

In Rauru's car on the way out, that was a bit of gentle jostling with the Butch, especially about the best way to welcome him back with his first touch: a huge switch from left to right under pressure? A pass back with attacker's charging? Definitely something in the air that demands some major control? All was all very funny.

An hour later, Mike makes his eagerly anticipated return, jogging past David in the midfield, he tells the ringin not to expect much, hops into position. Immediately David is under pressure and passes back to Mike and the build up comes true. Butch's first touch after the return, strikers charging, muddy field, weak pass - of course Butch stands up and calmly hacks it as far away as he can, I'm sure he didn't know or care where. It was better than watching a Ronaldo stepover or a Messi dummy run.

The Butch is back.

Oi Stay off our park!

Off

The have's and the have-not's - Uni Stallions vs Petone

Or in this instance, more a case of the finishes and the finish-nots as the Uni Stallions were made to pay the ultimate price by a clinical Petone outfit.

The Stallions turned up to find their dressing room had been overtaken by not only rugby tops hanging on the hooks, but the sights and smells of professionalism as the Petone team rubbed deep-heat into their Irish muscles and strapped their injuries from a proper medical kit. They probably even had a practise or two during the week. This was a sign of things to come as they made their way out of the changing rooms (less the bibs that they wore the last time these two teams met) and went for a team job around the field. Looks of fear crossed their faces as they asked nervously whether there were going to be nets or not, and they even lined up ran drills together. The Stallions meanwhile generally just stood around for our traditional pre-match 'warm-up'.

Once the game got underway both teams went about their business with Petone knocking the ball around well, switching the game from side to side using their support players well. Much like Arsenal though, their was a lot of nice movement and some good touches yet little in the way of penetration towards the goal, and anything that did get close was well cleaned up by the Stallions defence. The first half was relatively uneventful as far as chances in front of goal went, and the Stallions walked off the pitch feeling good about a job well done with talk about it being one of the best halves we've played. The game hung in the balance and the Stallions felt good about plugging away and coming out of the game with some points.

The talk at half time was about not switching off and not conceded in the first 15 minutes. While we can't be blamed for switching off, we did manage to concede in the first 15 minutes - twice.

The first came about after a free kick was given away for a tackle from behind just outside the box to the left. The free-kick was whipped in and one of their strikers who was standing in front of Corey (?) and Paul managed to get a flick off his head as Paul came out to punch. 1-0.

The Stallions needed to hit straight back but a moment of magic from Petone effectively shut the game out. Petone won a corner on the left hand side and as the ball came in the Stallions managed to partly clear it away. It fell to one of the unmarked Petone players just outside the box who banged in a pin point shot to the top left hand corner. A diving Paul could do nothing to keep it out, nor could Corey (?), who was on the post, short of pulling a Luis Suarez (although considering where Suarez is playing now it was unlikely Corey was ever going to do that). 2-0 Petone and surely one of their contenders for goal of the season.

The Stallions did have their chances at the other end with this author managing to make a break into the box only to have his shot blocked by the advancing keeper. Another opportunity fell to the debuting David (who arrived without shorts, socks or water bottle as he thought these would be provided by the team!) who managed to scoop the ball from 8 yards out to within 2 yards of the goal line, but it just wouldn't go over (it might have been about 6 yards wide as well). As tempers rose there was also a bit of push and shove with the angry rocker Bob Hinklets getting in amongst it.

The game was put beyond bout with about 10 to play as a Petone player picked up the ball in midfield and put in a through ball. One of their strikers and Corey (?) battled for the ball with the striker managing to out muscle Corey (surely not?!) and perfectly chip the advancing Paul (anyone else noticing a bit of a theme going on here?) all in one movement. Yet another great finish to make it 3-0 Petone.

A chance for a bit of pride came with 5 minutes remaining when one of the Petone players handled in the area, but the penalty was only hit slightly to the left, and with the keeper guessing the right way (if he had to guess at all) he managed to parry the ball. Luckily for the Stallions (and for the penalty taker) Dan was following up and manged to get to the ball first meaning some face would be saved and the consolation goal would still be scored. Unluckily for the Stallions (and even more so for this pony-writing Stallion) the ball came back too hard and all Dan managed was to get a knee on it that went wide. A controversial worst miss nomination?

At the final whistle a pretty sombre mood engulfed the team as we all contemplated what seemed so close yet was so far away. The 3 match winning streak came to a crashing end, and the team did not cope well with the loss. If anything can be taken away from this game I think it needs to be that if we find ourselves in a position where we are under pressure, we just need to work harder for each other and keep positive. After the first two goals went in the comments around the field tended to be negative as pressure built and heads dropped. Our team doesn't play well when bitching at each other so let's put this behind us and take it out on Miramar who we have next up.

The big positives from the game though was a fantastic first half, as well as a good return to the field for the Butch and a huge turnout at the pub afterwards. Long may they both last.

MVP points ended up:
Spencer: 3
Tristin: 2
Tangihaere: 1 (or was it the other way round?)

Stallion went to Spencer for managing to 'nuts' a player who had just 'nutsed' Corey (ultimate way to stick up for your team), and Pony to yours truly for the pen miss.

I've also always thought that I'll continue to take penalties until I miss so now I pass the chance for a few goals on to someone else. Paddy's name was mentioned at the pub, as well as Lloyd putting a half hand up (he needs to find a way to score at least one goal - both his 4-year-old twin girls have scored more than him) but anyone else who wants a go can take part in a penalty-shootout pre-match against Miramar.

And for the record, there's no question that there were players in the box when the penalty was taken, so it should have gone a little something like this...

Stink

CAPITAL 6:
Lower Hutt Sangham    0    Uni Accies            2
Brooklyn Northern     6    Miramar Rangers       3
Uni Stallions         0    Petone Chicago        3
Marist Inter          0    North Wellington      3
North Wgtn Villa      5    Wainui Undertakers    0

                       P  W  D  L  GF  GA  Pts
Petone Chicago        10  7  2  1  33  14  23
Uni Accies            10  7  0  3  31  22  21
Lower Hutt Sangham    10  6  1  3  24  21  19
Uni Stallions         10  5  2  3  20  15  17
Brooklyn Northern     10  5  0  5  20  22  15
North Wgtn Villa      10  4  2  4  23  16  14
North Wellington      10  3  4  3  20  19  13
Miramar Rangers       10  2  3  5  25  34   9
Marist Inter          10  2  0  8  25  41   6
Wainui Undertakers    10  2  0  8  13  30   6

Surely you ain't talking about Paul? Deflamatory email #426

I always shared the belief that goalies aren’t really football players. They always seem to float above the rest of us, not really caring about anything but their own performances. There’s a certain smugness there, as if to say ‘look at me, I wear a different shirt and I can touch the ball with my hands’. And they are all taller than me. Bastards.

Rnd 2 - Stallions vs Petone Tactical Preview

Make or break time. Will Stallions be in the running for promotion or will it be a promising but not quite there season? With Petone currently sitting 3 points ahead a loss will likely mean the gap will be too great for the Stallions to make up. A win will leave us level on points and with 2 vs 3 also this weekend at least one position higher on the ladder. So with everything to play for what can we learn from our previous encounter?

From memory Petone had very energetic strikers with lots of lateral movement . I think one played slightly deeper. Their wide midfielders, while ok, didn't look for balls into the corner. Their defence also ok. Petone's strength was their center midfield along with their strikers.

The conditions on Saturday will be wet, muddy, and Nairnville like, which means that it will be tough to turn, running in heavy boots, hard for defence to combat strikers with the ball in 1-0n-1 situations.

Against Marist we changed our formation in the 2nd half to a 5-3-2 to sort centre D issues. I think a similar but more attacking formation might be required this week - something like a 4-1-4-1 or a 4-2-3-1 depending on how attacking we want the wide players to be (and as a result how much responsibility they have to get back to defend).

A 4-1-4-1 would look something like this (us in yellow).
The main talking point is that the spare man is likely the DCM who will be sweeping in front of the defence, intercepting passes to strikers or supporting the central D if the ball gets past him. If a striker drops deeper (a la Messi or Rooney) he picks up the striker and a CB sweeps. The only other thing of note is that the wide midfielders will tend to get forward more often to try and link with the striker.

A 4-2-3-1 is only different in that the wide midfielders become more attack focused - almost like wingers. To compensate two central midfielders play holding roles. The wide defenders play further forward, almost as man-markers on the wide midfielders. A 4-2-3-1 formation would look something like this.

The advantage of both formations is they provide depth which is important when the ground is heavy and players start getting tired. Also it adds more players into the centre midfield, which is a strength of theirs, while still allowing us to attack through our wide players. Also playing 4 lines deep should result in quick transitions from defence to strikers without needing to hit long balls.

We kind of did something similar to this late in the 2nd half the first time we played them. One of our wide midfielders ended up playing centre midfield. This was due to them having a very strong centre midfield but not so strong wide players. The problem with this is that it reduced our attacking ability with no pressure on the right. One of the above formations should have the same effect defensively but with more attacking potential.

The Alternative Stallion XI

 Criteria: Must have played less than 5 games for the Stallions, but left an indelible impression on the team. I have a few:

Captain: Aaron Ludlow
Shows up for first game vs Uni Raiders. Showed Corey what's up by scoring from left back within a few minutes. Looked like the start of a great thing. The next tackle sees Aaron's ankle snap. He limps off, never to play for the Stallions again, but his legend lives on(though thankfully avoided this year round).

Vice Captain:
Nick G's mate Dan. Answered an SOS in the best ringin style. Plays rightback, scores 2 goals (though unlike Ludlow's 40 meter effort was a bit more in the mould of Corey's roaming back/goal poacher). After the game declares he's not interested in playing for the Stallions again.

Wingback: Bakie
We have all heard the stories of greatness, seen the Golden boot celebrations, waited the time when Backie would strap on his boots for us. Finally it happened - most memorable moment: Dan yelling out 'Wingbakie'.

Talking about Dan, Daniel Hodges
Ben was always talking up the possibilities of Big Brother coming along, and when it happened a few times one thing was always clear - Dan loved taking the piss of his bro, which made him fit in rather well. Do I recall Dan getting into a fight as well?

Oh yeah, and I forget the name of that keeper ringin we got for one match - you remember the one - he showed up in a tight purple disco jersey.

Any other nominations?

Back in Time - 2002

CAPITAL 6:
                    P  W  D  L  GF  GA  Pt
Wgtn United           18 14  3  1  54  11  45
Uni Legends           18 14  2  2  61  23  44
North Wellington      18 14  2  2  56  18  44
Waterside Karori      18 10  0  8  48  37  30
Eastbourne            18  9  0  9  46  42  27
Lower Hutt City       18  6  1 11  21  38  19
Petone Prats          18  5  3 10  34  54  18
Tawa                  18  4  2 12  24  43  14
Uni Stallions         18  3  2 13  21  59  11
Wainuiomata           18  3  1 14  25  65  10

2002. What a year. The inaugural season of the Mighty Stallions. I would try and get all poetic about it, but Ben Hodges summed it up best. Here is his take on the history of the Stallions, the very first posting on this blog:

An (Epic) History, By B Hodges

In September 2001 the world changed. 2 planes crashed in to the World Trade Centre, killing 3000 people, a global war on terror ensued.

Commentators point to the U.S.'s foreign policy and the increasing divide between the have and the have-nots as precursors to the events of September 11th.

However, had not a bunch of Weir House residents and wardens decided to form the Uni Stallions some 6 months later the world may now have been at peace.

Why these lads, with an obscene lack of football skills, should have chosen to form a football team is uncertain.

What is known, is that in 2001 the prophet Faq-i-Needa Bair had a vision the Stallions were coming, and that the awful displays of the Stallions in their first season would shake the football world to its knees - the Stallions had to be stopped.

In September 2001 Bair dispatched the Afghani-Pakistan Border Region Sunday Pub League death squad to New Zealand via hijacked planes in New York for a preemptive strike on Weir House the whore building of Stallions spawn . Bair's and the world's hope of Stallions annihilation was denied by the twin towers... I case of hitting the posts and out one might say.

And so it came to pass in 2002 18 losses from 18 games. The beautiful game desecrated.

Packed with cricket and rugby players, the Stallions abysmal run continued in the 2003 season. But hope- a draw or two, a win as well.

2004: upper lower table

As a few footballers joined campaigns improved

2005 Lower mid table

2006 Upper mid table and recognition - V.U.W.F.C. Team of the Year

Stallions' football has developed its own lexicon and culture; doing a "Rauru Albatross", a "Julesirelli Twinkle", a "Hodges Toe-Hack", or simply a "Ben Brooks", just some of the expressions attempting to capture the almost unspeakable horrors of Stallions play.

As testament to the abject horror of the Stallions squad, a weekly prize of a pink headband or "the Pony" award (to be worn by the winner at the next game) is awarded based on the most despicable, pathetic, convoluted, or ridiculous performance/ pre-match utterance/event.

Fear and loathing has resulted in the Pony's securing a corner of the Club Rooms each Saturday for their own, the corner is known simply as"the Stables" or the "Knackers Yard"

The Stallions now have a cell in at least one other country, and across two sporting codes (Football and Cricket). Proliferation of other Stallions codes is expected with current Stallion players in either code having first right of refusal to join the team.

Stallions Highlights:
In 2004 an Olympic player waving his testicles at the team and offering them for breakfast- for the record the invitation was politely declined.
2007 Ben Hodges managing to start( but not take part in) a fight in a match he was just wandering past (Marist Inter v Uni Raiders)

Unfortunately Ben's research skills didn't quite go as far as a look over the archives on the Capital Football website, and from the table above one can clearly see that there were not in fact 18 losses from 18 games.

Somewhat surprisingly, and even my memory deserts me of this, we managed to pick up 3 wins and 2 draws from our first season. We also managed to score an average of over a goal a game, which for a bunch of rugby players and generally non sporting people wasn't too bad. What Ben didn't mention in his history was that the Stallions was set up by a group of Weir House DW's, pulling in random friends and more 'mature' exchange students who were residents at Weir House.

Ben and Hilmar, the Germans, were two such recruits and controlled the midfield admirably, but as can be seen on the table, it was the defense that in the end doomed us to relegation. (Actually, now that I look at it again, the attack probably had a big part to play in that as well! Having the 2nd worst GA and the worst equal GF, we were probably lucky to finish in 9th!) Rauru (yes, I'm writing in 3rd person) and Lachlan are the only two original Stallions still milling around the team, and Lachlan claims that he was the golden boot that year with a mighty 7 goals, but even that is up for debate! Many of the names of the team desert me after 10 years, but one thing is for sure, they will remember their time as a Stallion proudly.

Looking at the table, it's hard to tell if any of these teams still exist as only the Petone Prats and Uni Legends have nicknames attached. After a look at the current tables neither of these teams exist by that name so who knows.

Despite relegation, most of the team felt it was an ok season with plenty of shits and giggles, and it set the social tone for seasons to come. The following year most of the team went their different ways, as often is the way when it is a team of mainly 3rd/4th year students, and the Stallions evolved into more of what it looks today, but that's a story for next week.

This is a bit harsh

The rare semi-albatross - homie can't do anything right

The Guardian's most unwanted player list.


Rightfully especially harsh on Liverpool players - how about this one for Poulson:
'Unless a club really wants to slow down play in the middle of the park, Liverpool may have to discover what other talents he has.'

Actually that's the wrong link, for some reason can't link to the real page, but you will see it from this one.

New features

Disbelief as spectators actually witness Logan pass the ball

As well as Match Report Monday and Fantasy Points Friday (well, they're not actually called that but they should be) I thought that I'd do a Back in Time Tuesday (or maybe Thursday, whenever I get round to it).

It's inspired by Aaron's post of "The bad old days" where he put up a table from a few years ago of what the Stallions used to be like. Lachlan and I then had a look at the tables from the first two years, and well, cringing at what we saw is probably an understatement.

As well as Back in Time Tuesday/Thursday there are thoughts of a Wicked XI Wednesday. This controversial post will celebrate the Stallions 10 years of existence by picking an all-time Stallions XI. Each week a player will be selected from the Stallions database and added to the Stallions Hall Of Fame. The debate will no doubt rage on for years, and is largely filled with players who were present at the pub when it was decided last year. Jason, I hope you still have the book?

Stay tuned...

Hero to Zero, Fantasy points vs Nth Wgtn Villa

Well, not really, but from getting the most points in the previous few games, Paddy, along with his ruggedishly good looking ponyboy Lloyd, get the least points for this game (clean sheets definitely change up the results).

I'm sure someone well tell me if I've got it wrong again, but by my reckoning the points look like this:

Paul 2 (+60), 6 (clean sheet), 1 (3+ saves) 9 Tangihaere 2 (+60), 6 (clean sheet), 3bps 11 Jason 2 (+60), 6 (clean sheet), 2bps 10 Corey 2 (+60), 6 (clean sheet) 8 Spencer 2 (+60), 6 (clean sheet) 8 Aaron 2 (+60), 2 (mf clean sheet), 1 bp 5 Lloyd 2 (+60), 2 (mf clean sheet) 4 Paddy 2 (+60), 2 (mf clean sheet) 4 Logan 2 (+60), 2 (mf cleansheet) 3 (assist) 7

Leaderboard:

Paddy 60

Dan 50

Paul/Tangihaere 45

Tomorrow's GAME OFF

Please note that the following senior grades are cancelled: Womens Central League,Capital 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 18, Masters 2, 4 and 5

Heading over the Hill

No, not talking about half our team. We'll be lucky to play with the weather not looking good but fingers crossed.

CAPITAL 6:
Uni Accies __ North Wellington __ Raroa (2.30);
North Wgtn Villa __ Marist Inter __ Alex Moore 2 (12.30);
Wainui Undertakers __ Uni Stallions __ Prouse 1 (2.30);
Petone Chicago __ Brooklyn Northern __ Sladden 1 (2.30);
Miramar Rangers __ Lower Hutt Sangham __ Miramar 1 (12.30);

Match report: Stallions on Fire at Te Whaea

The Stallions continued their hot run of form by clinically dispatching North Wellington Villa on Saturday afternoon.  With the Stallions struggling to name a starting eleven a few days before the game, an SOS call was issued to every friend, mate, facebook acquaintance, wife.  No previous experience necessary.  Must be able to pull on boots and last 90 minutes without getting injured (note that the Stallions impose a higher standard on ring-ins than their own starting eleven...).  In the end three new Stallions were capped:  Postie, Gus' mate Nick and James from the Uni Accies.  All three played a vital role in getting the Stallions the win.

So on an overcast Wellington afternoon the mighty Stallions took to the artificial turf, ready to do battle with a bare eleven and Gus as ref. The irony of finally being able to play with rolling subs, without any subs, was not lost on anyone.

The first half started brightly for the Stallions with a fair amount of possession won and chances created, including a cross whipped in by Postie which tantalisingly beat the keeper and kept rolling past the far post with no Stallion present to claim the tap in.  With Stallions in possession, Paddy spent most of the first half crossing, delivering corners, shooting or fetching the ball from over the fence.

The "Stallion" moment then occurred.  The Stallions coughed up possession in their own half, and Villa played the ball into the box with their striker volleying to Paul's left, who, with a dexterity that belies his frame, instinctively tipped the ball over the bar.  Clean sheet preserved, and Stallion label earned in less than a second.

The end of the first half saw a few dangerous turnovers go the way of Villa as the Stallions pushed forward, but ultimately to no avail, thanks to some good defensive work by the Stallions back four.

Halftime: nil all.

The Stallions again started brightly and continued to surge forward on a number of ocassions with James and Postie working hard up front to give options.  James was rewarded for his hard graft by latching onto a pass from Gus who won the ball off a Villa mistake.  James calmly slotted the ball far post after the keeper had come out to meet him, earning him possible recriminations from his Accies team mates later in the season.

The second half saw the Stallions midfield getting tired with gaps opening up (notwithstanding the tireless running from the Stallions ruggishishly good looking midfielders), but the Stallions defence really stood up in the second half, with the only shots from Villa being ostensibly long range efforts. This was no doubt a combination of Jason kicking lumps out of their strikers and Tangi continuing to win every ball that came his way in the air.  As a further testament to the rigour of the Stallions defending the Villa striker "Rusty" was pulled from the field with 15 minutes to go.  Both sides seemed to sigh a breath of relief knowing that the inane chatter that was brought to the field of play would at least be relegated to the sideline.  Despite a couple of efforts which were easily neutralised by Paul, Villa never really looked like scoring.

Then came the Pony moment.  Postie on the ball passed to Paddy who was calling for it outside the opposition 18 yard box.  Unfortunately Postie's pinpoint pass went staight to yours truly, who stepped over the ball to let it go to Sawyer, who would have undoubtedly put it top corner.  Of course it didn't get within a bull's roar of Paddy and a chance to take the ball onto goal was missed.  Pony status earnt in less than a nano-second.

Other notable highlights from the game included:

Stand in skipper for the day, Aaron firing up the troops before the game, by exclaiming that everything was set for a good "friendly" ;

Nick upstaging Tangi by wearing orange fluorescent boots;

Nick performing the most turns in one game; and

Spencer bringing the Stallions rent a crowd along.

  

 All in all, a good competitive game with a good result earned by Stallions hard graft.  Watch out Div 6 the Stallions are on a roll...

Jamie, didn't want to play for us, but still fighting for the Stallions

From the vuwafc facebook page:

Victoria University of Wellington Association Football Club

An awesome day for VUWAFC today, with the top 5 teams all picking up wins. The Firsts and Gossies are dominating Cap 2 - 1st and 3rd on the table. Accies had a huge 6-1 win, with returning German star Martin picking up a hat-trick. Scarfies continued their run of form with a 4-2 win. Beavers won 4-0 to move to 3rd on the table. Congratulations too to the Rangers for their 2nd win of the season!

11 hours ago

• 
  
• Chris Scarrott likes this.
• • 
    

    Victoria University of Wellington Association Football Club AUSTRIAN!!! Haha
    

    10 hours ago
  • 
    

    Jamie Collier Why do the Stallions never get a mention?
    

    about an hour ago
  • 
    

    Victoria University of Wellington Association Football Club Sorry Jamie! Stallions were one of the top 5 teams that picked up a win this week, and depending on other results will remain in the top 3 - if they continue their run of form they'll be challenging for promotion for the 2nd year running. (Think you got a mention last week too - and if you text through your results with a bit of commentary, it makes it easier for us to say something other than the score :) )
    

    48 minutes ago

    Perhaps we should let them know about the blog ...

    
    

    Damn Accies and their 6-1 win - so dependent on other results best case we sit in 3rd.

Worst Misses 2011

Stallions at Nairnville last weekend of May 2011

Great hard graft win today

One of the Stallions best. Love doing the double over anyone - but especially a good, well organised team.

Just thought I should get this up early so the pony knows there is a match report to write.

Picture this: A superstar of the team, but one who has not found the back of the net this season, and is feeling it. Finds himself in a brilliant scoring position: open goal beckoning, no defenders around, all the time in the world, so much time, but just at the last moment what does this superstar do? A pony-worthy stepover. Welcome to ponyville, Lloyd.

Other awards:
Stallion - Paul - that remarkable one handed save against a powerfully hit volley from close range, tipped over the bar, pure instinct, pure Stallion.

MVPs - Our 4th clean sheet of the season! Unbelievable, and not surprising that points go to those at ther back:
3 - Tangiharere
2 - Jason
1 - Aaron

Bring on the match report Lloyd, and a bit of a shout out to the Accies for providing a goal scorer (that may just separate these bitter rivals at the end of the season!)

Bad old days

2007

CAPITAL 7:             P  W  D  L  GF  GA  Pts
Uni Raiders           18 15  1  2  62  18  46
Wgtn United Arms      18 14  1  3  49  18  43
Marist Inter          18 11  3  4  40  21  36
Petone Stewsmum       18  8  5  5  44  29  29
Stokes Valley         18  8  4  6  53  30  28
Wgtn Un Terrace       18  7  2  9  30  42  23
Olympic               18  5  2 11  39  55  17
Uni Stallions         18  4  4 10  26  39  16
Tawa Saintz           18  4  3 11  32  77  15
Petone Chuggers       18  1  1 16  14  60   4

With friends like these ...

'I know they're the enemy and all that but they're good guys :D)'

Accies captain Callum persuades one of his team to pay for us tomorrow

Executive Assistant

A good 4-2 win over Marist Inter(national) on the quagmire of Nairnville 1. The friendly South American and Irish lads must have thought it was a quaint kiwi tradition, but we were none the wiser about the merry conga-line and hand shake dance the ref put us through before kick off.

Our passing game on attack was as good as vs Wainui when we also scored 4 on this pitch. Tristan was a strong enough presence up front that Paddy thought it appropriate to swan around like an attacking midfielder in his familiar executive assistant role.

Marist struck immediately after both our first half goals, passing well through the middle as our usually defensive minded midfield got a bit excited pushing forward (cough).

Joe's hammy went again (d'oh) leaving Graham to fulfill right back duties, including 'muscular' tackling in the box.

Second half saw a move to 5-3-2 both to counter Marist's ponytailed threat up front and to release the full Bakie and G up the flanks. 

It proved a good call as Paul, Tangihaere and Jase were their usual solid selves in the second half, and Aaron patiently holding the space in front of them well.

The boys up front worked well - hard work and good passing from Lloydo and Paddy combined with good running from Gus and Rauru and positioning from Tristan made heaps of good chances (cough). 

We seemed to get a collective second wind in the last quarter and eased away to 4-2 through Gus and Rauru. It could easily have been a couple more.

Special mention to Graham for the after match beers, and Phil Bak for the guest appearance. Hope that hammy's good soon Joe.

I'll raise that dozen - Fantasy points vs Marist

So last week I marveled at the Dan + Paddy's 12 point haul, this week both improved on that!  Its now a clear 2 horse race at the top of the table. F**kers.

No match report, so this is how the awards panned out:
Stallion: Tangihaere - that second half header/challenge the left the bald guy on the ground for ages. Totally clean, but dominating. Stallion.
Pony: Dan missing that open goal header, and admitting afterwards that he was already thinking about how he was going to praise the teamwork that lead to the goal after the game. No dice. Another worst miss of the season contender.

MVPs:
3 - Paddy - 3 assists! 3 assists! 3 assists!
2 - Tangihaere
1 - Dan

Here be the fantasy points: Paul 2 (+60), 1 (+3 saves) 3 Tangihaere 2 (+60), 2bps 4 Jason 2 (+60) 2 Dan 2 (+60), 10 (2 mf goals), 1 bp 13 Graham 2 (+60), 3 (assist) 5 Aaron 2 (+60) 2 Lloyd 2 (+60) 2 Paddy 2 (+60), 9 (3 assists), 3 bps 14 Rauru 2 (+60), 5 (mf goal) 7 Logan 2 (+60), 5 (mf goal) 7 Tristin 2 (+60) 2 Joe 1 (-60) 1

Top of the table:

Paddy 56

Dan 50

Rauru 38

Bring on Te Whaea!