Northern Leagues banter 2012

Er, Must be Willie Ward then....Just asking

Thomas Boss.

Back from Uni then

To be honest he is a no frills player but as a link man and distributor is far better than the 2 Waitak boys who have come in this year

Well put it this way Birko certainly won't lose anything with him coming in.

Wanderers 1 Melville 1. Pretty ugly game, but some typical derby drama going on, was a red card, plenty of goalmouth scrambles and some good saves. So a bad game football-wise but good to watch nonetheless. Not much happening in terms of league relevance however

Photos of Melville v Wanderers game

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidelineklickr/sets/72157629902224250/

Waiuku beat Tauranga 7-5 down in Div 2. Awful, awful defensive performance from Tauranga. Should've been more.

Pretty damn quiet in here of late, banter drying up a bit at the halfway point of the season?

As far as Div 2 goes this weekend I can see the Mangere v Waiuku game being a high scorer and I wouldn't be surprised to see Waiuku sneak the 3 points 4-3 or something similar. Also got a feeling Fencies just might pinch a point away to Coast, although that could also blow out to a big Coast win. Tough trip for Shore to Manukau also, although I think Fowler is out so that will be a big blow for Manukau.

I'm hoping my lot can repeat the 2-1 win over Springs from opening day of the season, but it's going to be a lot tougher at their place and given their recent form.

Buffon whats the story with Sam J training with Birko then, isn't his old man one of the coaches at Glenfield? Glenfield in game of the round too for Div 1 v Ellerslie this weekend.

Bay O keep rolling in the Prems, looks like there will be no stopping them again this season. I'd like to see Central do the business over Rewa this weekend, should be a good game. O Sports v Bays probably the game of the round for Prems I'm thinking.

Thoughts on this round??

looked rusty in the 15 mins or so he played.....gave the ball away a fair bit

Quite interested to see the depth of some sides tbh, two games in three days will be a tough ask for the teams with tough Chatham Cup draws. May be a few upsets if some of the larger teams rest players for the cup, which I think may happen

Bay Olympic 1 Melville 0. Melville were worth at least a point, conceded right after missing an open goal, and had 10 men for two thirds of the game, having their keeper sent off for the second straight week, and not having a back-up meant a lanky young Somalian striker had to play in goal.

And in what was no surprise to anyone, Chad Coombes lost it at the end and got himself sent off

Seems the wheels have completely fallen off Glenfield. Jasper has signed for Birko and Hago is on his way to Central. 4 losses on the trot too if you include the Waikato Uni loss in the cup.

The wheels have also fallen off North Shore. I can't say i'm upset, having left there to return to Birko around 3-4 weeks ago under acrimonious terms. Karma for horrible man management of players i say. The way they're going you might finish above them Bozz!

Finally, what chances do you give Bay Olympic on either a) going the league season unbeaten or b) going 18 from 18 in the league? One would think they'll slip somewhere, even if it's only a few draws, but they have won a number of close games already this season and seem to have everything going for them.

Hago to Central eh, Zoro will whip him into shape no doubt

Can't say I'm shedding any tears either at Shore's recent run of losses. Beaten twice in the space of 3 days by Manukau, maybe once you would say unlucky but twice and one of those at Shore's ground, well that's indicative of their decline. Although to be fair I thought Manukau were not a bad side and I wouldn't be surprised to see them pick up more points in the 2nd round.

"The way they're going you might finish above them Bozz!" - that would be good but we'll need to start scoring some more goals for that to happen I think.

Yep I could see Bay O going unbeaten in the league.

Quiet in here! Seems the banter has died away since the change to the new site?

Here's some specualtive picks for me for this weekend, based on piss all:

Melville 1 - 2 Manurewa

3 Kings 2 - 0 Hamilton Wanderers

Onehunga Sports 1 - 2 Bay Olympic

Waitakere 1 - 3 Central

Eastern Suburbs 0 - 4 ECB

Metro 2 - 1 MAP

Ngara 2 - 0 North Force

Lynn Avon 0 - 1 Glenfield

Albany 0 - 0 Forrest Hill

Birkenhead 3 - 0 Papatoetoe

Takapuna 2 - 1 Ellerslie

Mangere 2 - 1 Onehunga Mangere

Waiuku 3 - 2 North Shore

Matamata 1 - 2 Warkworth

Western Springs 4 - 1 Papakura

Manukau City 2 - 1 Fencibles

Tauranga 2 - 1 Hibiscus Coast

I knew Bay Olympic wouldn't go unbeaten, were looking dodgy in recent weeks, just tough to predict which team would eventually knock them off! ECB are still in the hunt for the title.

Went to watch Melville, probably deserved more than a point, but definitely at risk of relegation when they shouldn't be, and losing players everywhere. Ryan Thomas impresses me more every week, kid has got a big future.

Buffs Birkenhead 2-0 down to Papatoetoe at half time, managed to claw their way back to 3-3

Hobson had a poor first half and Jasper didn`t add a lot to the team

Are the wheels about to fall off ?

Are the wheels about to fall off? No.

Are the wheels falling off every other team near the top of the league? Just about.

Summary: Birko are fine.

Massive game this weekend, Melville v Waitakere. Huge relegation implications

Good win for Metro over Forrest Hill Milford in division 1 last night! Bit of an upset.

My write-up and photos, as always, can be found here:

http://in-the-back-of-the.net/2012/06/30/friday-night-football/

Waitak 3 Melville 0, that's Melville virtually down, especially with Manurewa's 4-2 win over ECB. Crazy that they've only won 1 game this season.

Tight at the top now!

Looks like Bay Olympic may have wrapped it up? Huge help from Wanderers, winning 2-0 at ECB. Looks like Melville are gone! Be interesting to see if any of their players leave if they fall into Division 1.

My latest blog post, partly covering Birkenhead vs Ellerslie and partly a preview of next weekend's Birko vs LHC Chatham Cup tie.

http://in-the-back-of-the.net/2012/07/14/preview-of-a-coming-attraction/

watched the birko game today, agree with your match report enzo very good!, birko were cruising until ellerslie got a helping hand from the official ( twice). think ellerslie may get caught in the race for  2nd spot....,hard to judge leagues etc as hamilton wanderers beat bays and birko smashed hamilton last week  and could have been a lot more..suprised tha t melville look like coming down thought they would have done ok  after watching them boys progress well in the national league for waikato

Melville really missing goalscorers, and most of the goals for Waikato came via Jason Hicks, so not having him playing for Melville made a huge difference, and Tyler Boyd leaving and Adam Thomas being injured or away a lot didn't help. 

But when it comes down to it, 17 goals in 14 games, not gonna get you anywhere. And that's why Suburbs and Melville are going down

Congrats to Bay Olympic on their back to back titles. Not too much drama happening now in the Premier League, still some interest in Divisions 1 and 2 for promotion/relegation spots

yah fair play to bay olympic , bays shot themselves in the foot with campbell and kenyon leaving!

suburbs and melville down  ( i really thought melville would do well)

div 1 Birko should win that .. im thinking that forrest hill/taka will be the ones battling for 2 nd

teams down in this one tough as teams all picking up points for me albany will go with north force/lynn avon.

div 2 hibi coast /north shore both should do it dont know if which order, dont think mangere can catch them..

down will prob be kura..

Wanderers just lost to a 9 man Bay Olympic, still dumbfounds me how they are 20 points ahead of Melville. No przies for guessing who was sent off for Bay Olympic either - Mayne and Coombes

They are old war-horses. They know all the tricks in the book.  Good on them they are winners - love to hate them etc.

Coombes one was a bit funny, Mayne's was for abusing the ref, can't take any of that, got two yellows in about two seconds!

Crazy game at Three Kings it seems, and Melville are relegated. 6-5, must have been the game of the year. A 6-3 in Division 1 as well, goals aplenty

intresting results in div 1 all top 5 winning could go to the last weekend of the season , this weeks  taka v glenfield will be  a cracker...

ellerslie 5-0 at north force was a great win and puts them back in it, thinking f.hill have a slighty easier run in?

Takapuna to demolish Glenfield and go onto gain promotion IMO

think it will be a 1-0 taka win

depends how many players taka leave behind the ball.. boring.

Interesting matches at both ends of Div 1. Taka vs Glenfield and Albany vs North Force.

Hibiscus vs North Shore in Div 2 for the title.

Declan Edge not re-appointed, can't say I'm surprised, results drive coaching

You know the players are giving up when there's a 7-4 match in the top league. Must have been great viewing though