Karori Aces 4 v 5 U.S Kaori park #2 2nd may 2.30pm

What an eventful game this turned out to be a 9 goal thriller with more twists and turns than a WRC rally stage, Uni Stallions blowing a 3 goal lead to finally end the game 5-4 victors over a Karori side that got better the longer the game went on.

With Wellington providing a perfect day for football and a ground which was in great nick considering the recent weather over the week( Karori park has a notoriety for turning into a duck pond after the lightest of showers) the scene was set for another Div 7 game of football and what a ding dong battle it ended up being.

Going into the game the truth had to be said we didn't want to be these guys first win of the season they had zero points on the board and we as a team knew we had to be up for a fight as they would be desperate to get some points to kick start their own season.

Karori kicked off and found the first 20 minutes pretty tough, the Stallions having most of the ball and most of it in the Aces half of the field.
Any time they tried too push out we stopped them in defense and as a team tried getting the ball moving really well around the park ,we put a ton of pressure on them and started to find a bit of space out wide before getting the ball into the middle,this resulted in us winning a corner out on the left hand side of the field

1st goal,
Gus stood up too take the corner and sent in a beautiful pin point accurate ball into the middle which found an unmarked and rising Ben Hodges who it has to be said is the target man in our corners due to the height advantage he enjoys and he does what he does best, heads the ball into the back of a crowded net making it look easy too put the Stallions up 1-0 after I'm picking 10 minutes.

2nd goal,
Kicking off the Aces looked to attack U.S through all areas down the flanks and through the middle with the Aces turning over possession the ball was pushed through the middle of the park finding Logan who loves to shoot when ever he can and a rifled shot found it's way under a diving keeper and the stallions up 2-0 with a little over 15 mins gone.

3rd goal,
Kicking off the Aces attacked our goal but they were held out by some pretty good defense they were quick up front but we managed to get on top of any balls they tried to put through the middle as they tried to send their strikers through on goal .

One such run had the Stallions defence stop their attack dead and with three quick passes from the back out wide and then into the path of Tristin we found ourselves up 3-0 Tristin's shot going over the top of the keeper and dipping brilliantly under the crossbar into the back of the net 20minutes gone 3-0

A lucky escape,
The Aces had begun to sort themselves out and managed to get a few decent balls into the box which caused a few flutters of the heart and gave them a corner kick or two, from one the ball came in and ricocheted right off my right shin and thankfully stopped by Ben Brooks whose reflexes saved me an own goal award the ball going out for another corner which we cleared (Phew)

Their 1st,
With the half winding down and the Aces beginning to find some space of their own to attack they eventually found their way into our box and a pretty good shot it has to be said was taken 8 yards out on our left hand flank going into the back of the net giving the Aces a lifeline going into the halftime break 3-1 42mins.

Halftime,
We talked about staying sharp at halftime, about not letting them get back into the game, would we be able to put that plan into action ?

It would seem not.

2nd half,

Their 2nd goal,
Kicking off the 2nd half the Stallions fell apart and the Aces piled on the pressure desperate to get something from this game they pushed forward at will,causing U.S all sorts of grief.Within two minutes of the second half starting the Stallions were opened up like a can of spaghetti and the Aces managed to thread the ball into the box and their striker was able to dab the ball into the back of the net 3-2 Wakey wakey Stallions 47minutes gone

Their 3rd,
We we're stunned W.T.F was going on was the cry, come on guys another, but before we knew it we were all tied up 3-3 the Aces making an attacking foray into our box and with too much time their striker was able to rifle a shot into the back of the net and we were even stevens 3-3 and again W.T.F was going on was the cry 49minutes.

Our 4th,
There was no way we were going to drop points here, not today, not after we'd been up 3-0 but to win meant to battle hard and grind it out both teams looking to grab the winner, somehow.
It was actually a Goal keeper error that gifted U.S our 4th goal the keeper spilling the ball from a cross ?? shot ?? something anyway we were back on top 4-3 55minutes gone this is great stuff

Their 4th,
You wouldn't read about it, well you are but you know what I mean, they scored a corner and the resulting cross was right into Brooks hands the ball being slippery from the wet surface meant the ball slipped through his hands and into the goal so we were back even at 4-4 60 minutes gone

This field was turning out to be a keepers nightmare, the game previous to ours had two similar incidents as well, so maybe there is a keeper curse on karori park #2, cue twilight zone music.

The game went on up and down and up and down and up and down and we made a few chances they made a few chances but both teams began to tire a bit so space was opening up all over the show.

Our 5th,
As we pushed forward a series of passes again found their way to Tristin who saw the keeper was off his line and from 35 yards chipped the ball over his head into the back of the net, up there as goal of the season and we had taken a priceless and late 5-4 lead with 10 minutes or so left to play.

There was no let up from the aces as they looked to try to get at least a point from the match but We held strong with a great team spirit and performance,the midfield and attackers helping the defence to clear the ball from danger as the attacks continued to come from the Aces
and then they did well to apply pressure also getting forward on goal although it's worth noting we didn't have one single corner the entire 2nd half
the game would eventually end with the Stallions 5-4 victors an epic encounter to say the least

Stallions: Ben B,Mike,Jason,Corey,Joe,Graham,Nick W,Ben H,Aaron,Rauru,Logan,Tristin,Panda,Spencer

Goals : Ben H,Logan,Tristin,Oggie,Tristin