HT 2-1    FT 5-1

Mo sets the scene...

When Sunday Comes

In the depths of winter Wellington can be a cold, bitter, inhospitable place. On this day the great BNU Pretenders were due to start their cup campaign against the Petone Pumas. The football goddesses had been kind to BNU with the game being transferred off the "Wembley of the South" Happy Valley to Wakefield 2 with 4.30pm kickoff. The weather gods had also been kind, with a day of brilliant sunshine and just a gentle zephyr. This was all to change just before kickoff, as the ill winds from the south sprang up with an extreme drop in temperature and a biting cold wind.

How would the great BNU Pretender side cope with the sudden change? Would they be able to continue with their rich vein of form and tear apart the Petone Pumas just as they had done in their previous encounter?

From here on it's a team effort, cobbled together in the clubrooms while warming ourselves up with pints of Tuatara and hot chips (thanks Jan, you're the best barman in town!) Naomi would have done the honours, but the later game time meant she had to rush off to catch a 5.30pm flight.

There were 5 goals from us. Cat scored 4 of them. She only admitted to 3, but Amy got one, and nobody else claimed the other one, so the general consensus was that Cat scored it (this would never happen in a men's game, they'd all be claiming it!)

Wendy B was once again very unlucky with her goal shots, one being soooo close when it hit the inside of the post and bounced back out again. And in the second half she took about half a dozen corners in a row (all exactly the same!) but we still didn't manage to finish.

The reason we have to go back to the Wendy A and B thing is that Wendy A made her comeback in this game, and despite having being occupied with bringing up twins for the past year, Daniel reckoned she picked up exactly where she'd left off, keeping calm and playing the ball nicely.

Kathleen also debuted this game, and slotted in nicely at the back. She admitted to playing goalkeeper at school, so now she's a marked woman if Toni is unavailable. And we know she's brave, she showed us her new tattoo, which covered most of her back!

Other highlights...Cat got taken out in the box (by the keeper) then the keeper saved the penalty. But she got her own back, as the next time she was taken out she placed it perfectly.

The second half was a bit random over on the dark side, as it was pretty hard to see who we were passing to. It would be nice to have lights on both sides of the pitch, but hey, we know we're lucky to get to play on it at all!

Daniel's comments: Anita (self-appointed No 2 coach) had another fine game at the back. Danni Alvez would approve of her developing attacking instincts and match fitness.

It was a great team effort, and the new turf shows off the possession football dreamed of by Premier League teams (yeah right Daniel!)

But Player of the Day had to go to Cat, for her 4 (or was it 3?) goals.

And once again, big thanks to Ritchie for braving the cold and reffing for us.