0-7 (HT 0-3)

A crushing end to our explosive start to the season. Although Petone were at a similar level to the Wests side we beat in the second round, this time we really suffered for not having a proper keeper, both for organisation of the defence and shot-stopping. They are also possibly the youngest and most aggressive team in our grade, harassing and tackling harder than we're used to. We just didn't get into the game - maybe not helped by there being only a 5 day turn-around after the previous game, and having the match relocated from Happy Valley which Capital Football deemed unplayable only 5 weeks into the season.

The game could have gone differently if we'd had more luck in the first couple of minutes. The first time their central defender got the ball, Ian nicked it off him and had a direct run at goal, but one heavy touch gave the keeper the chance to run out and dive at his feet before shooting. Soon after, Ian had room to shoot from outside the box, but the rising shot hit the underside of the bar, and Ian following up hit the rebound over. And that was about it for chances at that end - the Petone backs didn't let themselves get so exposed again, and their midfielders took over, winning most loose balls in the middle and often moving the ball up the flanks to get in behind our defence or to set up crosses. Their first goal came from a few simple passes on the edge of the area which gave a guy a clear shot across Pete; their second from an awful defensive mix-up when two of our defenders went for a cross and just succeeded in nodding the ball to an unmarked player loitering behind; and the third from a cross headed in at the far post, again by an unmarked player. These goals came in a burst and we stopped them getting clear chances for the rest of the half.

Our hopes of getting back into the game in the second half didn't last long as we conceded a very soft goal to a cross that was touched by no-one and was just watched bouncing in. After this, it was pretty much a shooting gallery for Petone; no spectacular goals (although they tried a few times) but a series of simple finishes from just playing the ball around the box, running into space, and putting away the chances when they opened up. We could slow the game down by taking our time retrieving the ball after goals as they didn't provide nets. Rob relieved Pete in goal for the last 15 minutes, and possibly coincidentally, we ended with more possession in the front third. We forced a few corners but didn't create any good chances so no consolation goals.

So the Petone Leftovers deservedly went to the top of the table. It may be beyond us to keep up, but we should be good enough to be among the following pack for the season.

Ian Smart

2-2 (HT 1-2)

Given the relative forms of us and Stop Out so far this season, we were expecting a straightforward win against a usually disorganised side. But this team's motto should be "Victoria mendacio fraudeque", and they turned up with a suspiciously sprightly contingent of extras borrowed from higher echelons of the club. The keeper, the maybe-35-but-only-just striker and a small skillful mid-fielder combined to make them much more effective than usual. And with the addition of a number of outrageous refereeing decisions in the second half, they almost got away with it.

The southern half of the field was waterlogged, and Stop Out attacked this end for the first half. It worked to their advantage as balls rolling towards our backs were holding up and the young striker won plenty of possession in front of our defence, with space to then take them on. And they scored early, with him supplying another guy to his left on the edge of the box who hit a low skimming shot across the bog to the far corner. Very soon after, the young guy had an easy finish when Steve (another game as a stand-in keeper!) slid out to collect an overhit through-ball but it slipped out of his hands and in front of the striker who just had to walk it in. They also tried a few speculators from further out, hoping to catch Steve out with awkward bounces, but he kept these under control. At the other end, we weren't creating much and kept losing possession when there was just one defender to beat. Then we got a surprise goal - Dave J and Ian were wide on the right and played a couple of short passes to give Ian some space to cross, and he floated a ball towards the far side of the 6-yard-box which drifted goal-ward in the light southerly, over the flailing keeper, and dropped inside the post. This gave us some impetus, and we gave the keeper a bit more work for the rest of the half. He showed why he wasn't a regular McCreadie player by taking clean catches from shots we'd often count on being fumbled, particularly a good dipping shot by Dave J. Stop Out thought they'd won a penalty when the young striker tussled with Bruce, pushed the ball away and shot wide, then dived. Fortunately the skid-marks made it very obvious that he'd gone over well outside the area. He took the free kick but our wall managed to deflect it over.

For the second half, there was a change of referee with the regular old guy giving a younger and less laid-back guy the whistle. He quickly showed his true colours with blatant ignoring of Stop Out late tackles and off-the-ball shoving, and then being quick on the whistle whenever one of them appealed for a foul. He didn't notice when Ian was upended from behind on receiving a throw-in in their penalty area, so it was especially sweet when a couple of minutes later he had to admit we'd scored after Ian got revenge by running through their defence from half-way and finishing with a left-foot shot across the keeper.

We endured some pressure late in the game with Stop Out trying for a winner, and were fortunate that the young striker actually wasn't that fit and got easier to close down. Steve made a couple of fantastic saves from high shots that he tipped onto or over the bar, and then it seemed that his luck might have run out when a low shot after a corner squeezed through him and dribbled towards the line. Rob was backing up and cleared off the line, and everyone was playing on when the ref blew and awarded a goal. We were incredulous, and Pete displayed some particularly poignant language to articulate our feelings. Combined with an admission from some of the more honest Stop Out players that the ball hadn't crossed the line, the ref decided that this bit of "fraudeque" might have been just too audacious. He and Pete provided the most entertainment for the rest of the game with some lively examples of point and counterpoint. We almost snatched a late winner when Dave J nearly got a full header off an Ian corner.

In the end, a typical Stop Out game. A bit of spite, not much finesse, and a close result. We did well to stop them scoring after a couple of early mistakes, with Mike B, Bruce, Pete, Chris L, Kevin, Rob and Paul B all working hard to repel, and Steve dealing well with the ones that got through.

Ian Smart

9-1 (HT 3-1)

Was this our biggest win ever? And it put us on top of the table! We should frame this: 

This Miramar team have been in the lowest Masters grade for some years, sometimes competitive, sometimes not. They're definitely at a low point now, and a drizzly afternoon on a sodden Happy Valley pitch were not ideal conditions for them to regain some form. They didn't have a full team so Dave D volunteered to don a blue shirt and help them out - he turned out to provide the biggest threat to us and played his part convincingly by very narrowly missing some half-chances, including outjumping Pete at a corner and heading just over. It also looked like they were missing their regular keeper as the guy in goal (Albie the itinerant) had no confidence in his ability to catch and just punched at any ball in the air as well as letting a few ground-balls slip through. Even 72 year-old Rhys (his birthday bash was that evening) who normally just makes a couple of short cameo appearances had to play a full game. Their defence was disorganised and slow, and we would have had a lot more goal-mouth action if the water hadn't held up the ball as much, particularly when we were running to the north end in the second half. It's debatable whether we would have scored more goals given that the keeper might have been better at dealing with a less slippery ball.

As the conditions made for pretty scrappy play and there wasn't much doubt about the result, instead of describing the flow of the game I'll just catalogue the goals:

1. Ian played Phil through on the right, and he ran through unopposed and slotted past keeper.

2. Own-goal from corner to far post, off a defender's head under pressure from Jeremy.

3. Another own-goal by same guy. Ian turned marker and hit left-foot shot which was going wide of far post until defender tried to clear while facing goal and deflected it in. To make some amends, he got their only attacking goal too after Rhys, who no-one wants to risk hurting in a tackle so he's usually given space to distribute the ball, crossed from the left and the own-goal scorer put a skidding header past Pete.

4. Ian direct from a corner, curled in at near post. Should have scored just before when put clear into the box but shot straight at keeper who punched out for corner. Always looking to eschew the easy chances and take the hard road instead.

5. Phil got down to by-line and crossed, ball slipped through keeper under pressure from Stu and stopped in front of Ian for easy tap-in.

6. A goal from the back-line! Ian crossed from the right, ball weakly cleared to Mike B on edge of box whose shot took a small deflection in. He could have had another in similar circumstances near the end of the game, but went wide.

7. Dave R signature long-shot. From about 35 metres, he made good connection despite the water-logged pitch, and over keeper who was caught a couple of metres off his line.

8. Another cross from the right which slipped through keeper's hands and Mike O knocked it back across goal and in off the underside of the bar.

9. A very rare header by Ian. Keeper again punched out a shot, ball skied up and defenders let Ian win header which lobbed in at far post.

Our defence had to deal with the occasional counterattack and denied Miramar any chances except for the couple of Dave D attempts listed above and their one goal when we let Rhys have some time to set things up.

It wasn't greatly satisfying to get a bag of soft goals against an out-of-sorts opposition on a sodden field, but we might appreciate the contribution to goal difference later in the season.

Ian Smart

1-0 (HT 0-0)

After the sudden onset of autumn during the week, when Saturday came it was warm and bright and calm again. The surface at Endeavour was in great shape, so conditions were perfect for fluent football. Although Wests probably played a better game overall, our defence was strong and we frequently threatened on the counterattack, and eventually we wore down their defence and stole a late winner.

The squad was considerably strengthened after last week's bare numbers. Mike B, Chris T, Bruce and Phil were back, and Mark K and Mike U made their Old Balls debuts. The latter's presence in goal certainly lifted our confidence. Not that we're not confident in Mike R, but he still wasn't available and the usual stand-ins are happier in defence rather than standing behind it. A few of us turned up at the last minute through having been careless about which ground to go to (you might get Endeavour and Adventure mixed up if you're shaky on Cook's Pacific voyages, but there's really no excuse for confusing the eponymous parks) or not finding the team because we were kitted up in Wests yellow away strip, but the ref was kind enough to wait until we'd organised our run-on team.

Wests had a fairly tidy, but not speedy, style, and controlled the ball between their back line and midfield, but were not very effective in attack. They were able to get far forward when they went wide, especially down the right, but their supply to the centre was either misdirected or easy pickings for Mike U. He was only seriously challenged once in the first half when a midfielder hit a long shot which was headed for the top corner but he got smartly across to palm it away.  They tried from distance a few more times but none were so well hit and didn't cause any problems. Mike U picked up a lot of easy possession (often by making sure defenders were in the right places to nullify attacks), and was able to set up counterattacks by quick throws to our free midfielders, and we had a few opportunities to run at their defence. However, we didn't set up any real chances, and instead spent more time hassling their defenders who preferred to pass among themselves rather than clearing upfield. I think this eventually worked in our favour as the work they had to do in the first half combined with the chasing of Mike U's bombs in the second led to them being off the pace and easier to get past.

The game was more even in the second half, but it looked like Wests got the lucky break they were waiting for when they were given a very soft penalty when one of their small guys tried to beat Bruce to a through-ball. But Mike U correctly second-guessed the taker, and saved well to his left. Then we started getting more chances at the other end. From a throw-in, Ian was able to turn and hit a left-foot volley which their keeper did well to tip over. Ian also hit another left-footer into the side netting, and from another throw-in put a low volley across the face of goal, just out of reach of Paul G. We also had a number of corners, mostly hit over their keeper to the far post but coming to nothing. A couple of times, a quick throw from Mike U to the midfield led to a through-ball for Phil down the right but he shot wide. An unexpected chance popped up when their keeper's clearance to a defender bounced off the back of his legs and to Paul G for a clear shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper was able to knock it out for another corner. Mike U started sending long clearances down-field, which we couldn't often get possession of but which forced their backs to chase backwards and tire themselves out. Finally, with only a few minutes left, Ian had a clear run down the middle of the field and was able to put the ball through the back-pedalling defenders and in the path of Stu haring down the left who blasted it home.  

Obviously, Wests were gutted to lose, but that's the way games can go. It doesn't matter how well you play, the final result only depends on the number of times the ball crosses the goal-line. The more you dominate, the more likely you'll get the result, but it's not guaranteed. And it doesn't help if your own ref blows calls an early full-time to deny any come-back, much unlike last season's infamous extra-extra time by the guy in gumboots.

Ian Smart