Central League Thread

Central League Season Review

Western Suburbs

P      W     D     L       F     A       GD      Pts     Position

18    8      3     7      29   35       -6       27       4th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

                P     W    D     L     F      A    GD    Pts    Position

2010       18    7     1     10   28   37    -9      22       6th

2009       18   12    4      2    41   13    28     40       1st

2008       18    8     3      7    31   35     -4     27       6th

Cup Progress:    Round 1

Top 3 goal scorers:

Michael Fraser                  6

Naoki Hotehma                 4

Ryan Cain                          4

Connor Tinnion                  4

Josh Chettleburgh              4

Another re-building year for the Shane Rufer coached side with a team of youngsters producing some good football and surprising a few teams with their mid-season climb up the table. At one stage there was a real possibility that Wests could challenge Miramar for the title having only been a few points back, but a late season drop in form saw their push for the title falter and they ended up 9 points behind with a negative goal difference.

Wests used a large number of players this season � including Phoenix reject James Musa who got sent off in his debut for the club and then promptly left for Waitakere. They also lacked a consistent goal scorer with their top scorer only bagging 6 goals all season.  The first round Chatham Cup exit at the hands of Lower Hutt must have hurt as Wests have had a proud history in the Cup and have managed to go deep in the competition a number of times in recent years.

The Japanese and English imports they had this season were solid if not spectacular, with some going on to play NZFC this coming summer. With the clubs� focus now switched to that of youth development with the aim of getting players overseas (mostly into the US College system) there will surely be plenty more young players coming in next season with the lure of a top coach, good training facilities and playing home games on the best surface in the region in Endeavour Park.

Central League Season Review

Wellington Olympic

P      W     D     L       F     A       GD      Pts     Position

18    7      5     6      41    34       7        26       5th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

                P     W    D     L     F      A    GD    Pts    Position

2010       18   16    1      1    68   26    42     49       1st

2009       18   10    8      0    42   20    22     38       2nd

2008       18    6     3      9    36   44     -8     21       7th

Cup Progress:    Round 1

Top 3 goal scorers:

Jimmy Haidakis                 11

Hicham Kamri                    6

Luciano Calucci                 5

After two very successful years for Olympic which included winning the Chatham Cup and the Central League (and impressively only losing one of their previous 36 league games between 2009 and 2010) the bubble burst for the Greeks in 2011.

A second consecutive Chatham Cup exit at the hands of bitter local ground-share rivals Wellington United and losing the O�Brien Shield to Tawa (who managed the double over Olympic) were low points in an inconsistent season for the club. Defence was a problem all season with 34 goals conceded at an average of nearly 2 every game. Although their return of 41 goals was second only to Miramar the shaky defence would not have been a problem if they had scored more goals - bearing in mind that the previous season they scored 68.

Jimmy Haidakis led the golden boot race for the early part of the season but fell away towards the business end of the season as a lack of results and support from the other strikers and midfielders proved too much. Last seasons� golden boot Miroslav Malivuk only scored 4 goals this campaign and his usual contribution was also missed as he pursued his blossoming international Futsal career.

However, there is plenty of good news for the club with the return of George Barbarouses from his recent club hopping adventure at Lower Hutt (via Hawkes Bay United via Wairarapa) mid-way through the season and the return to the playing field of coach Simon George for next year. That coupled with a good group of younger players coming through will no doubt help provide the stimulus for the club to put this season behind them and return to the type of form that saw them do so well in 2009 / 2010.

Central League Season Review

Lower Hutt City

P      W     D     L       F      A       GD      Pts     Position

18     5     7      6      26    25       1         22       6th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

                P     W    D     L     F      A    GD    Pts    Position

2010       18    7     2      9    37   43    -6      23       5th

2009       18   11    1      6    49   33    16     34       4th

2008       18   10    3      5    59   34    25     25       3rd

Cup Progress:    Round 2

Top 3 goal scorers:

Hamish Watson               13

Andrew Abba                    4

Jarrod Smith                      3

After winning the Hilton Petone Cup in pre-season Lower Hutt started the Central League campaign in impressive fashion gaining 7 points from their first 3 games including a 1-1 draw with favourites Miramar. However, they only managed to win 3 of the remaining 15 games and just scraped into 6th place on the table with a draw against Napier on the last day of the season. If reports are correct and they did play an un-registered player that day then they will lose the point and end up 7th with Petone moving above them by one point.

Lower Hutt have got progressively worse on the Central League table over the last 4 seasons and it is no surprise that they struggled this year with the political in-fighting that gripped the senior and junior clubs midway through the season. An exodus of senior players and administrators left the club reeling off the field and languishing on it - mainly because full-time employee of the club Coach McIntyre has instilled a youth development policy in the first team. Whilst that continues we can expect the Lower Hutt first team not to win anything of substance in the near future. They will have a good under-19 side, but in the Central League they will battle to keep up with the bigger clubs who do have the ambition to win the league.

On the park, the team�s defensive record was solid in only conceding 25 goals, but their attack was often blunted and lacked creativity especially in the middle of the park, with the only shining light up front being the equal golden boot winner Hamish Watson who scored exactly half of their goals. He has been rewarded with a summer league spot at Hawkes Bay United, and he will no doubt be one player Lower Hutt will be keen to hang on to.

Central League Season Review

Petone

P      W     D     L       F     A       GD      Pts     Position

18    6      4     8      29    35       -6       22       7th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

                P     W    D     L     F      A    GD    Pts    Position

2010       18    8     2      8    38   38     0      26        4th

2009       18    8     4      6    40   29    11     28        5th

2008       18   12    1      5    35   21    14     37        2nd

Cup Progress:    Round 3

Top 3 goal scorers:

Paul Whitmarsh                   9

Jono Blair                             6

Michael Pickering                4

Like Lower Hutt, Petone�s results over the last 4 seasons have got progressively worse. From finishing 2nd in 2008 to being only minutes away from ending this season second to bottom in 9th place until a late goal earned them the point they needed to leap-frog Maycenvale and Tawa. But the statistics don�t lie and each year in the Central League since promotion at the end of 2007 Petone have gained less points and their goal difference has been worse than the previous season.

Retirements and an exodus of players to Wainuiomata and to a lesser extent Upper Hutt have caused Coach Mark Foster to look to youth to fill the gaps this season. Although the younger players are promising, like Lower Hutt they struggled at times against the better sides in the league. Early in the season the team gained a reputation as being unable to play with a lead after several points were dropped due to second half comebacks by the opposition. That being said, Petone did manage two home victories against Miramar (3-2) and Olympic (4-3)which were no doubt their best results of the season.

Another disappointment for the club was the third round Chatham Cup exit at the hands of relegated Marist Palmerston North who beat them 2-0 at Petone Memorial Park. With a number of bigger clubs having already been eliminated Petone might not get a better opportunity to progress further in the cup than they had this year.

Adding some more experienced players and some depth to the squad would go some way to reversing the recent downward trend and no doubt the club and coaching staff will be looking for big improvements next season especially with the new artificial turf to be built on the number one pitch over the summer providing the club with a great training and playing facility.

Central League Season Review

Tawa

P      W     D     L       F     A       GD      Pts     Position

18    6       3     9      38   43       -5       21       8th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

                P     W    D     L     F      A    GD    Pts    Position

2010       18    5     2     11   27   51   -24    17       8th

2009       Promoted

2008       Lost in promotion play-offs

Cup Progress:    Round 2

Top 3 goal scorers:

Mike Ramaekers                10

Todd Painter                      10

Jarred Putt                          4

Tawa�s second season in the Central League was better all-round than their first, however they could only match the same position on the table as 2010. They won more games, lost less games, scored more goals, conceded less goals and gained 4 more points  - but still finished 8th. An 8-0 thrashing of already relegated Marist Palmerston North helped their goal difference late in the season and a higher position looked likely until the final games were completed.

Season highlights included doing �the double� over Olympic and lifting the O�Brien Shield at Newtown Park. Tawa only held the Shield for a matter of days however as Napier came to Redwood Park and took the shield north with them where it will stay over the summer.

Outgoing Coach Richie Martin has probably taken this squad as far as he could and will be proud of the way that the young group of mostly local lads have gained promotion and have then been able to stabilise their position in the Central League. To have two strikers score in double figures will also be pleasing in a season where generally there has been a lack of anyone scoring truck-loads of goals week in and week out across the league.

Tawa will need to strengthen their squad in a few key areas over the summer if they want to continue to improve in the league and it will be interesting to see who will take over the coaching reigns and what changes will come in with the new regime.

Central League Season Review

Maycenvale

P      W     D     L       F     A       GD      Pts     Position

18    6       3     9      31   38       -7       21       9th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

2010       Promoted

2009       Local League

2008       Lost in promotion play-off play-off

Cup Progress:    Did not enter

Top 3 goal scorers:

Joachim Rande                  11

Leon Birnie                         4                             

Sam Halligan                      3

After getting promoted last season Maycenvale will probably be reasonably pleased with the way that the team went in their first season in the Central League. Securing safety is always the first priority for newly promoted sides and for Maycenvale to do so with games to spare must have been satisfying.

That being said, they will also be disappointed that they did not finish higher up the table with them being only two points of 6th place in the league. Having lost twice to local rivals Napier City Rovers will have been tough to take, but probably not as tough to take as the club �forgetting� to enter the Chatham Cup. Hopefully next year they will manage to be in the hat so they can play in the Cup rather than twiddling their thumbs as they did this year.

Top scorer Joachim Rande netted 11 times which was a solid return for him, but he often played up front on his own and the lack of support and another goal threat from midfield or out wide were probably reasons why they didn�t win more games.

With Wellington United getting promoted for next season with a good squad that will probably get stronger over the summer, Maycenvale will be one of the favourites to get relegated in 2012 and will need to add more depth in order to remain competitive in the League - especially with captain Sam Halligan leaving the club.

Central League Season Review

Marist Palmerston North

P      W     D     L       F     A       GD      Pts     Position

18    3      2     13    24    48      -24      11       10th

Previous 3 years Table and Position:

                P     W    D     L     F      A    GD    Pts    Position

2010       18    4     4     10   25   48   -23     16       9th

2009       18    2     3     13   26   55   -29      9        9th

2008       18    6     5      7    34   32      2      21      6th

Cup Progress:    Round 4

Top 3 goal scorers:

Thomas Mosquera          5

Tyson Brandt                   5             

Dalin Wilson                    3

Having finished 2nd to bottom three times and 3rd to bottom twice since 2005 it only seemed a matter of time before Marist were going to be relegated from the Central League. Their return of a paltry 11 points was not enough to save them this time around even though they had achieved less points in both 2006 (10 points) and 2009 (9 points) only to survive because there was another team who werre worse than them in the league. However, in 2011 the luck ran out for good.

Despite coach Steve Green saying that it was the strongest squad that he has ever had his defensive approach was exposed throughout the season with the team only notching a league-worst 24 goals and the no single player scoring more than 5.

With no promotion-relegation play-off this season (much to the surprise of Coach Green)Marist knew they were gone with two games remaining and the two late blow-outs at the hands of Tawa and Maycenvale left their goal difference in tatters - with the 48 conceded also being the worst in the league.

With a mostly young squad they can surely bounce back and we should expect them to be challenging for promotion again next season. Let�s hope so as Palmerston North and the rest of the West Coast of the North Island need to have a team in the league.

so Petone beat LH

so Petone beat LH