** As I've left it a little late, some of the details are a very sketchy -
feel free to edit as you see fit.
A fine day beckoned for the second leg of the all important derby fixture
played on the hallowed turf of Kelburn Park. The pitch was a touch on the
bobbly side with some patches of bog here and there, but otherwise
conditions were perfect for our newly adopted free-flowing cavalier 'total
football' style. The Raiders have long exerted dominance over the Stallions
in these derby's, but that had changed in the first leg so there was an air
of expectation - the Raiders wanting to reassert their recent dominance with
a steely determination from the Stallions to keep the momentum going in our
favour.
The Stallions started confidently, moving the ball around freely and
asserting an early edge in midfield with Lloyd and Heath winning the 50/50's
- no mean feat considering the Raiders historically strong and physical.
Chances were plentiful and it wasn't long before Carrick found himself in
space at the front and duly put the Stallions up 1-0. Another goal followed
shortly with Rauru getting on the end of a cross from one of our wide
midfield players who were both having effective games down the flanks. The
Stallions had their tails up and were winning all the crucial ball both in
the air and on the ground.
A third goal came late in the half to comfortably extend our lead. The pony
moment arrived just before the break with yours truly in an uncharacteristic
tangle/chop with one of the Raiders strikers resulting in Corey giving a
justified penalty. Graham's clean sheet record was breached and the Raiders
had something to play for again. A new policy has been floated that whoever
gives a penalty away should don the gloves - seems fair to me... a few of us
might have to brush up on our glove-work.
The second half was all the Stallions with some truly stunning end to end
link up play resulting in chances and goals galore. Paddy, Lachlan, Lloyd
and Aaron (the latter two breaking out of character ducks) all got on the
score sheet. Many more could have been scored and rarely did the Raiders
trouble the Stallions back 4. The key was fluent movement, intelligent runs
and passes, and a steely determination to win the 50/50's which we did to
great effect.
The score ended 7-1 and was a further marker that we as a team laid down to
the competition that we are real contenders this year for top honours.
Stallion worthy moments were plentiful with storming games from all involved
- standouts would have to be Lloyd and Aaron for their goals and subsequent
celebrations.
A big thanks to Corey for reffing too - a testing game for a ref with plenty
of passion that he handled with aplomb.
