Oops - I have been a bit lazy with the write-ups!  Las Vegas is now a distant memory and I’ve forgotten a lot of what happened in the games so I’m thinking this will be brief (and hopefully not too fictional)…!  It’s also worth noting that we’re still waiting for some proper commentary from somebody who actually played on the Queen’s Birthday weekend game – any volunteers…?!? ;-)

 WAINUIOMATA ZIGGYS 5  – BNU PRETENDERS 0 (6th June)

Looks like they scored five goals and we got none…. OOPS!

PETONE PULSE 6 – BNU PRETENDERS 0 (20th June)

Well – this was our second game on the super-duper new turf, and a Sunday night game – uncommon ground for us.  To be honest, we were not on our top form, and Petone ran rings round us.  Bummer… despite our best efforts, it was not to be, and the better of the two Petone sides managed to put 6 goals (yes, six) into the back of our net.  I think daytime games are more our scene… and maybe a bit of real mud to get down and dirty in??? BRING IT ON NEXT TIME!??

BNU PRETENDERS 6 – WAINUIOMATA 0 (4TH July)

This was better!  Third time on the artificial turf and it looks like we’re getting used to those (more predictable?) bounces.  (Still miss the mud though…). 

We had a lot of action early on in the game, but those goals just weren’t coming our way… surely it was just a matter of time?  Finally, Jo broke our duck with a run into the box and kept her head to put the ball confidently past the keeper.  That was all we needed – we were away!  Those goals just kept on coming, with Jules sneaking in a hattrick while they weren’t looking (one toe-poke, one tight angled power-shot and a screamer from outside the box).  Some time into the first half, we had 4 goals, and there were still more to come…  It was a joy to behold as the ball was passed across the goal mouth a couple of times, and Wendy wasted no time to ‘just pop it in’.  Big congrats on her first goal of the season – easy eh???  Then we really put the nail in the Wainui coffin when a corner got a bit messy in the box and Jess put an end to all the ping-ponging madness by firing the ball in the back of the net - nice. 

It wasn’t all plain sailing because they certainly had some runners in their team the shouts for “Jazzy!  Jazzy! Jazzy!” were all a bit tedious – that poor girl had so much pressure on her to score...  And then there was Sonia… she was good too.  But rest assured – those girls were no match for our defenders!  Jenny M, Kirsten, Anna, Shazza and Michelle all stood their ground and made some amazing diagonal runs to cut off all attacking moves the Wainui side could throw at us.  Brilliant… (and it looked really tiring from where I was standing… am exhausted just writing about it).

It’s at this point that I should confess I have no memory of whether Wainui got a goal or not… (I think they might have done???).  Unfortunately, the most memorable thing they did was when one of their players had her season cut short with a heavy fall on her ankle.  (You could be mistaken for thinking it was  a multiple fracture because she was a bit of a loud, long drawn out cry-baby!).  Luckily, the ambulance came along with a bit of gas and air to help her out of her misery… phew!

BNU PRETENDERS 7 – PETONE PUMAS 1 (11th July)

Here we go…. real grass, real mud and a real referee!!!  Good job we play a clean game and listen to the whistle….!

Once more, we were looking good from the start and all of the action was in the Petone box.  Lots of slip-sliding, lots of shots and a couple of falls – we’ll score soon – honest… It must have been 30 long minutes but Jo stepped up with a replica goal from last week.  1-0.  To be fair, we were just about to score a second with Jess in prime position when that whistle blew… (and we listened!).  Half-time, and we knew we had to make a better job of the second half – one goal cushion just wasn’t going to cut it.

So, we started off with a hiss and a roar… and we let them get an early equaliser!  Hmmm – time to crank it up a gear or two.  Luckily, Jules took us back up to the more comfortable score-line of 2-1 – phew.

The real drama happened when Jo chased down a ball that was heading out the back, and there was a very surreal moment when all three Petone players in the vicinity stopped playing… (and just stood there).  But no whistle had been blown, so Jo kept her head and pulled the ball back to Jules who was waiting patiently to score an easy goal past a statuesque keeper who just said “that was out”.  Err no – nowhere near – play to the whistle!  Of course, it didn’t stop the goalie back-chatting the ref (who warned her not to swear) and the goalie replied by saying “#!@%# send me off then”.  So the referee did…. funny.

With ten Petone players, our chances were even better, and Jules powered a shot into a muddy box and although a defender slid in to stop it, she only succeeded in giving the ball a little helping hand.  Despite Jules getting a hattrick, the real star of the show was Jo Garland…  the memory is a bit hazy on the details but she just kept running onto those balls and sneaking endless shots past the keeper… four goals in total!  Stylish. 

Special mention must be made of our defenders – they continued to chase down those Petone players every time they looked dangerous, and kept pushing the line forward and launching attacking balls up to the strikers.  As always, Toni was solid in goal and always came out for the balls.  Unfortunately, she took kick in the hand towards the end of the game and this resulted in a very painful finger injury… (‘finger crossed” she’ll be fit for next week…).

 
Jules