Stallions 7 - 1 Petone Chicago

Nuff said

In all fairness this report should be written by a certain Mr Pringle but since we don't let ring-ins write match reports, I'll do the honors after a couple of bad misses against Marist.

Not too much to say other than Smashed 'em Bro.  The final score line was probably flattering on Petone as we could have been 5-1 up easily at half time, and at least 10-1 up at full time.  There were honestly that many chances that went begging.

After a week and a half my memory is hazy on the goals and assists and the order they came in but this is how I remember it.

1-0 - It started well with Carrick getting on the end of a through ball before getting brought down in the box, with the ref having no problem in awarding our first penalty in over a year.  I stepped up and put it away.

2-0 - A short corner from Paddy to Carrick, the defence backed off so Carrick decided to smash it straight at the head of the guy standing on the near post who happily ducked out of the way.

Lots of misses.  I missed one when a cross got whipped in from the right.  Came to my left on which I hit first time from 8 yards but pushed it wide.  Anything on target would have been a goal.  Lloyd was also denied once (twice?) as his shot from inside the box was just deflected wide.  Another year of goalless frustration from Lloyd?

3-0 - Carrick with another one but can't really remember how it happened.  Came down the right hand side this time I think.

3-1 - Dan does his best Stevie G impersonation.  No, not the blazing long ball to the full backs who are rushing forward on the overlap, the other Stevie G impersonation.  The one that no Liverpool fan will ever talk about but will also never forget.  With our defenders trying to play total football this sort of thing is gonna happen from time to time I guess and it happened again here.  The D was trying to switch the play, ball gets passed to Dan, he takes a touch and lets it roll past him and an attacker nips it and beats Paul with the 1-1.

Half time oranges.  Paul comes off saying he's feeling sick.  I'd feel sick after giving up a clean sheet like that too ;).  Graham into goal.

4-1 - A 'lost cause' is fought hard from Gus who with the ball looking like it's going out for a goal kick manages to put in an up-and-under.  Keeper and someone challenge for the ball, keeper spills, defender mis-hits a clearance which floats to the edge of the 18 yard where Bakkie comes flying in a strikes it on the (half?) volley into the back of the net.  Great strike and contender for goal of the season (even if the net was completely empty)

5-1 - Through ball put in, I get on the end of it, have a shot blocked by the keeper near the middle of the goal, ball rolls out to the corner of the 18 yard, I turn and put in a pi$$ weak shot that dribbles towards the goal, which the retreating keeper goes to collect and somehow manages to walk over the top of it.  Contender for worst goal of the season.

6-1 - Throw from near half way, their defender doesn't clear, I pick it up and take off.  From somewhere I hear Paddy yell "LLOYD!!" and look up to see Lloyd to my left steaming down the middle of the park like he had been all day.  Keeper comes out, I tap in into the path of Lloyd who can't do anything other than put in into the empty net.  Duck is broken (actually, I think he got one in the first week so ignore all my "Lloyd can't score" jibes.  No doubt Lloyd recounts the stories of his goals to his daughters every night before they go to bed to remind them who the goal scorer of the house it).

7-1 - Dying stages of the game, ball is cleared to me around half way, I turn and chip it over their CB, Carrick runs on to it and makes no mistake.  Game, set, match.

In amongst all this there's lots of moaning going on from Petone who aren't happy there are rolling subs, even though ref said to us at beginning of the game there was.  Didn't exactly make a difference as we spanked them.  Great start to the season.  Lots of goals at both ends which makes us more and more like Liverpool by the day.

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

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.

Fantasy Wasteland vs Petone

Dan & Corey stride out in the wasteland

Not much to get too excited about fantasy wise, plenty of 2 pointers.  But we can't win by huge margins every week I guess. The breakdown:

Paul	2 (+60), 1 (3+saves), 1bp	4
Tangihaere	2 (+60)	2
Spencer	2 (+60)	2
Jason
Joe	2 (+60)	2
Corey	2 (+60), 3 (assist), 2bps	7
Graham
Aaron	2 (+60)	2
Lloyd	2 (+60)	2
Paddy	2 (+60), 5 (mf goal)	7
Dan	2 (+60), 3 bps	5
Nick
Robin	2 (+60)	2
Logan	2 (+60)	2
Rauru	2 (+60)	2
Tristin	2 (+60)	2

Leaderboard:
Dan, Aaron, Paul    22
Tangihaere              21

Sorry for the delay ...

... but here are the updated fine and awards docs.

A couple of notable things - with just 1 more angry man or half a missed shot Nick would have been the first Stallion to hit $100 in fines. Obscene. Have just checked the tallies and we have about $200 more than last season - despite having so many games rained off!

So either we are fining too hard (yes ben, we know - you have been harping on about this for ages and ages) or our skills are getting worse. The reality is that when the Stallions are doing well and morale is good the fines are high. No-one wants to fine people when the team are having a crap season - so let's take it as a good sign.

We could consider refunding some of the Stallions who got above say $80 - or (and this idea is more fun) - make sure they drink that extra amount at the end of year!

Anyway no doubt Paddy and Hodges will have something exciting to say on the matter, and Nick will just grin and bear it in good humour (his mind still on the missed pen).

Anyway, onto last week:

Stallion - Ben B - bled from the eye for the stallions - enough said. His 3rd stallion of the season - the most decorated Stallion player - perhaps ever?

MVP:
3 - Tristin - What can you say - dude got a hatrick on his birthday - while locking up the golden boot (unless Gus can sneak 5 or Saturday, or Nick White 14) and the most MVP points for the season. Great season. Shame you won't be there for the last game.
2 - Joe - Injury finally shaken off, back to his best, and didn't even hurt anyone.
1 - Graham - Good effort at the back, pushed forward well, no nakedness. Deserved.

Pony - Gus - thankfully there is no pre game drug testing, or post game greediness testing - cause he would fail at least 1 of these. Had the frustration of setting up Tristin repeatedly - but in doing so seeing his chance of golden boot drift away. Otherwise pants.

Best fines:
- Gus - Trying to get credit for a small graze on the knee alongside ben's facial wounds. Still got the blood fine.
- Ben B - The Mankind mask - see previous photo.
- Paddy and Spencer - The 'You are not Usian Bolt' fine - tying up laces as the action unfolded around them.
- Jason - Beaten by the big and old guy.
- Nick G - Graham Henry imitation - dropping players via text.
- Nick G - Poor micromanagement - 'you will all play for 22.3 minutes!'
- Aaron - 'I'm farked, can I go off before 44.8 minutes', 'No! Come back to centreback if you are tired', ' Umm, I'm okay - never felt better'.
- Nick W - Rebelling against the system - 'f**k the strategy, I'm subbing off now'.
- Nick W - 'I had a lot of play with Tristin'.
- Ben H - General bitching.
- Paddy - 'Its gone, its gone ... or sorry its not gone.'
- Joe - The Zoolander fine - can only turn 1 way.
- Joe - 'I can only turn 1 way because of my injury'

Oh yeah, and those missed shots tables are totally wrong - I have just found tucked into the back of the book the fines written on bits of paper when Jason kept forgetting the fine book early in the season. More missed shots for everyone (including Jason!). Although it does include the last Olympic game ...

Sorry, tables have gone bung again - click on them to lose all the grunginess.

Fines vs Petone

Fines and awards vs Petone:

Stallion:
Jamie - 1st game in the field for 20 years! A great return. A keeper no more.
MVP:
3 - Mike B - 'these are my conditions' - so it proved.
2 - Spencer - Everywhere - huge game in the air.
1 - Gus - a goal of genius proportion and much more.

Pony - Sorry Ben H - it was generally agreed you were crap, and were responsible for the goal. Plus you had a pony moment - the little jig in the corner holding the ball up. Bad.

Best fines:
- Everybody who had less shots than Mike B!
- Gman - the anti Chuck Norris - 'i got a big throw and I ain't afraid to use it' - then why are your throws so floaty?
- Spencer - the first Stallion to wear skins.
- Spencer - wearing skins in the shower.
- Nick g - Literally throwing mud at opposition.
- Nick G - Hitting on Larissa's sister.
- Robin - the Don Clark fine - get over the ball son!
- Aaron - Claiming Tristin's goal (I'm telling you - it glanced my laces!).
- Gus - Eyeing up the naked, dreaded rugby player in the shower.
- Gus - The Glassons affair.
-Tristin - Shouldering Aaron away on the penalty spot.
- Tristin - So close but so far - the goal that wasn't.

Sanity restored

After a particularly mouthy game Ben H has managed to crawl his way back to the top of the fine table. It helped that Patrick didn't play I guess. This weeks awards/fines go a little like this ...

Stallion - Spencer - played in multiple positions, seemingly put under pressure everywhere but dominated everything. 2 standout moments - winning a huge midair heading collision, and reeling off a great shot which the keeper saved but commented that 'I though keeping gloves were supposed to save fingers' - now thats stallion-worthy.
Pony - We have already had a good chuckle at this one - thanks Nick, that was one for the ages.

MVP:
3 - Aaron
2 -Tristin
1 - Spencer

Fine highlights:
- Nick G - the pen incident totalled $4
- Jason - forgetting his boots and driving all the way back to town.
- Ben H - crying, bitching, whinging.
- Ben H - 'Ben's on the D, Ben's on the D' - Ben was never on the D.
- Ben B - suggesting the pre-game penalty tourny.
- Logan - from hatrick hero to one goal yawn.

Not that many really, we must have played quite well.

With fines adding up ye olde fine tin will be waiting to be filled at games from now on.

U.S 3 V 0 Petone Dreamers memorial pk#2 26.04.08

Have the Stallions ever won three in a row before ? a question posed after Saturdays game, answer anyone ??

Wellington put on another glorious autumn day,with not a cloud in the sky,as University Stallions took on Petone dreamers at Petone memorials #2 ground. quite apt really as the entire field was completely covered in geese poos which made people think twice about A) slide tackling and B) attempting to head the ball.

With talk of only having ten men for the game it was a relief to see Liam (from the 2nd's) and ring-in panda (Tyrone) turn up to give us a full team plus a sub (thanks guys).
the team line up from g.k to striker Brooks,Spencer,Nic,Jason,Corey,rob,Hodges,Aaron,Liam,Tristan and Logan subs were Tyrone (panda)

Petone kicked off and were put under pressure straight away, Logan gifting them a free kick just inside their own half even when the ref had called play on.
the stallions then began to dominate the game from that point on and pressed forward at every opportunity,it was around the 10 minute mark that the dreamers were adjudged to have handled inside the goal box giving U.S a penalty,in a small form of mind games Petone subbed off their 55 year old(who started the game injured) goal keeper and replaced him with another 55 year old who as Nic Goodall stepped in to take the kick fell over to his left right into the path of Nic's shot, resulting in a save.
The game continued and Petone were again under pressure good football, nice runs and great footwork causing their defence all sorts of problems,U.S dominating the play with Robin and Liam providing great runs down the wings and generally good service into the box for the forwards.
Petone to their credit broke through a few times a free kick for a "body check"(a nice piece of shoulder to shoulder i thought) was given against Nic Goodall about 5 yards to the right of the U.S goal box, a two man wall wasn't enough to stop the ball curling around them and onto the left hand post where brooks claimed the ball only to have it kicked out of his hands by a Petone player and cleared off the line by a falling Ben Hodges header saving U.S some serious blushes indeed.
Stallions pushed forward again and were almost undone again on the counter attack Petone running down the left hand side and crossing the ball into the box brooks dived but it slipped by him and Corey was there to clear the ball from an open goal (hearts in mouth stuff).
more attacking football from the stallions saw shots going left right and over the bar but not in the back of the net the half ended 0-0 but with the stallions clearly the better side.

the second half started and for once the stallions did too,gaining early control again of the match
and began attacking from all areas of the park.
the game began to really free up as the two teams tired and Petone had a few more chances(and reserves) to get on the score sheet the U.S defence again proving they would be hard to score against, a corner taken short by Petone ended up in a header going over the bar the only real shot by them the whole half.
On the attack again Logan latched onto a ball on the Petone 18 yard box turned his player inside out and with a shot from his left foot, put the stallions up 1-0 after 70Min's.
nothing the stallions didn't deserve and something Petone were just waiting for
it wouldn't take long to double the advantage Tristan taking the ball out wide on the right and worked his way into the penalty area took a shot and bang it 's 2-0 to the stallions after 79Min's another classy finish.
the stallions having all the forward momentum now pushed forward again and a well weighted cross from Liam found both Rob and Aaron fighting to get the ball in the back of the Petone goal Aaron finally poking in the ball to make the game 3-0 Aaron having a blinder in the midfield by the way.
and so that was how the game ended I'm sure there were a plethora of other shots not mentioned and incidents not covered but the game was generally a good natured affair with both teams playing in the right spirit and the stallions running out deserved winners.

3-0 goals to Logan 70Min's Tristin 79mins and Aaron 85 Min's