One of those games where the result don't matter at the end at all - heal well Tom, we are all totally gutted.
The result a bit rough on us though - a terrible pen call, a spilled save scored off, and then Gus doing a Gerrard for the third. Not to mention plenty of scoring chances - how many close range blocks did they have?
Some good stuff though - that 20 minute assault on their goal at the end of the first half was relentless, Gus played really well at the back, umm thats about it - because apart from that we were pretty terrible. At least the Accies got spanked even worse than we did, preserving our lead. [UPDATE: No way fool, Accies won 4-0, you are a dick, there is no silver lining.]
Just three
days after delivering a thrashing to Karori Boomers on Wakefield No 1, we
backed it up with a fanatic win against Marist to demonstrate just what we are
capable of. This was a genuinely impressive display; the score line
should have been a lot more. The Marist team we saw of the first round
were no where to be seen but another team showed up and they were happy to have
rolling subs. After Wednesday game I think there were a few sore legs still and
our ages started to shine through. So rolling subs was a godsend. We had the
better of the early exchanges, but as usually we failed to capitalized and put
our early opportunities away, We had a few chances early with some good play
down the right and a great cross in by Gus right onto the penalty spot only for
Bakky to have so much time he put a clean header just right of the right hand
upright. From there we
stuck to our task defensively and then ultimately with some good possession and
few post and cross bars hit on the way, we put that nervous first goal in which
came from Chris which I believe is his first goal for the stallions (No longer
a virgin). Great little half volley off the cross bar and in. 1 nil. Our second
goal came from Rauru after some continuous play down the left between Chris,
Heath and Carrick the ball ended up with Paddy who move to left back from centre
back put in a beautiful long ball (not sure if this was a free kick or not) to Rauru who easily guided it into the far post,
2 nil. We had a few
more chances one with Lloyd toe poking into the back of the net from around
5yrds, this came from a through ball from Carrick (Eds note: It was a self-confessed shanked shot) only to realize that Lloyd
needed an extra yard in an off side position to put it in the goal. Off side
called J well done Lloyd to get that far up the
pitch in the first place. The second
half started with us going into the wind but I think this help us because any
long balls that went through were a lot easier to chase than in the first half.
The third goal came from Rauru again, this time it came from a corner, this arrived
from some great pressure and play from the lads up the right hand side. The
corner came in from Paddy, Rauru was fighting for position, he left his marker
and the keeper and easily put it in the back of the net.
Great assist from Paddy, 3 nil. The 4th
goal of the game came once again from down the right hand side, It must have
been at least 16 passes (the first of which was a back pass to Paul in goal) between 6 players, the final 3 phases came from Rauru to
put Bakky through who instead of going for goal slipped a wonderful through ball
to Aaron who beat 2 players to the ball to crash it home. To me this is probably
team goal of the season great play from all. With the
stallions now just dominating position and Marist deciding to play 2 – 5 – 3
formation to try and get even just 1 single goal, the chances just came and
once again the opportunity to really make a statement to the rest of the league
had gone, only able to put one more goal in which came Bakky. This came from a
free kick from Paddy which was flicked on from Rauru I believe, the ball dropped
for Bakky whose eyes were wide open with excitement. The ball moved like it was
in slow motion and Bakky got himself in position to side volley it home only to
miss it completely and fall over on top of the ball (Eds note: And secure the Pony). The ball rolled away and Bakky
just swung his left foot at it and put it into the net from 16yrds (a slight
touch from Tom but not enough to claim the goal) 5 nil. A few other
moment’s about the match to mention. Great game
from DC - Great penalty save no matter what the guys say about it being hit
straight at you. J| And another
strong performance from Gus, on the right hand side, even though he gave away
the penalty by smashing the 10yr old right mid fielder in the 18yd box. Strong game
by Carrick. Good
refereeing by Lloyd and Heath. And I reckon
we rolled the subs pretty well on the weekend lads. No one waited too long on
the side lines to get on. Well done
lads and let keep the intensity up for this week against Karori at BenBurnPark. One more
thing Chris’s wife Jodi was meant to have their baby today (Monday) so
congratulations Chris and Jodi! (Eds note: Much like Chris' first goal for the Stallions, the baby might be a little late coming, but when it does come, it'll be a stunner!) Bakky
Again, I'm terrible at remembering what happens in games so tell me if I've got this wrong:
Goals:
Chris (Hmm, if we counted Rauru's keeper's parry as an assist is a shot off the bar? Likely not since it was off target I guess?)
Rauru x 2 (both assists Paddy?)
Aaron (assist Bakky)
Tom (assist Bakky)
Stallion Chris for that sweeeet half volley shot and breaking his Stallion's duck.
Pony I can't recall - but do remember that Bakky is writing the match repot so he must have done something stupid or pissed someone off.
And the Accies dropped points against Naenae giving us a 4 point buffer.
Very late, but needs to be done for record keeping. None of the award recipients were there so a second nomination was given to people who were.
Stallion: Paddy. Scored or assisted in every game he played (I think) except one which was a game vs Olympic at Wakefield when gale force winds meant he couldn't get it into the penalty box from his wing. Graham collected it on the night for only conceding 1 goal, from a penalty, in 3021 minutes of football. Amazing stuff.
Colt: Tom. But on a solid first season with an exceptional second season, full of goals and assists. Can't remember who got it on the night.
Pony: Our favourite award which had the honor of going to Dan. The leakiest keeper this side of the Rimutaka Gorge. Conceded 11x the number of goals as Graham, and didn't get his name on the score sheet either. Thank goodnees that guy isn't playing for us anymore ;). Chris got it on the night as the only person there that didn't get on the score sheet.
We were also awarded club 'Team of the Year' for being the only team in the club to win a grade, and our 12 goals conceded (*cough* 11 by Dan *cough*) was the least number of goals by any team in any grade in Capital Football. What a team, what a year!
Downing his Sour Cream & Beer "I didn't get on the score-sheet" drink.
What a second half, a supersub 10 minute performance from Carrick, and we turn a tight 1-1 halftime game to a pretty easy 4-2 win. Nicely done.
Goals:
Tom (assist Rauru? - might have to check the rules on keeper knockdowns).
Carrick x 2 (Paddy, ???)
Heath (Paddy)
Will update the assists when someone lets me know who did them.
Pony/Stallion?
Stallion - that goal scoring burst from Carrick is pretty irresistable, but Paddy's dual crosses which led to goals and a third as good but missed was over the top great too.
Pony - there were a couple of open goal misses there right? Anything else?
The weather gods certainly weren’t smiling as the top of the table clash between the Stallions and BNU Reserves kicked off at 2.30pm. Torrential rain may have eased but hurricane force winds were still blowing directly down Happy Valley 1 towards Owhiro Bay and there were areas of standing water in the centre of the pitch.
The Stallions pre-match talk had focussed on not playing long ball tactics with the wind, which went (were blown) out the window directly from kick-off when a shot was attempted which caught the BNU keeper off guard but sailed narrowly wide. That set the pattern for the half with the Stallions kicking away most of the ball we managed to win while BNU played an attractive passing game using their skilful and mobile midfielders to good effect.
Our attacking chances were limited by and large to set pieces which struggled for direction due to the wind, while BNU made several decent attacking forays. The highlight of these was when BNU’s 10 year old left winger nutmegged Paddy in the box and went on to smash a shot against the cross bar with the Stallions left helpless. Highlight of the half for the Stallions was Tangi’s tireless defensive efforts which culminated in a heroic sliding tackle on our own left fullback when Tangi grew frustrated with Chris’ delay in clearing the ball.
Half-time 0-0.
The Stallions made a tactical tweak at half-time to go to one up front allowing us to three in the middle of the park to counter BNU’s main strength. This proved reasonably successful with the Stallions playing some decent passing football although not making any clear cut chances, and still being vulnerable to being caught on the beak.
BNU had some semi-decent shots from distance but these were either wide or reasonably straight forward for Paul in goal. The decisive break through came about 20 minutes from time when a BNU corner was headed down and one of their players was quickest to the loose ball to turn it into the net. 1-0 BNU.
The Stallions re-gathered and picked up the intensity but still struggled to literally make headway into the wind. We committed large numbers forward in search of an equaliser but unfortunately five minutes from time were caught on the break and a (suspiciously off-side looking) BNU player ran through un-marked to make it 2-0.
That was the final score, which resulted in BNU leap frogging the Stallions to go top of the table. Disappointing for the Stallions 5 game winning start to the season to come to an end but on balance the better side won. The Stallions put everything into the game but BNU were more comfortable on the ball and created more chances. Stallion – Tangi for an all-round determined and disciplined defensive effort. Pony – Paddy for the clinical nutmeg from the child left-winger minutes after having his own nutmeg effort thwarted.
