Wet and Forget
Park Life
is the Fever's over-worked under-paid fan of local football. Today we
look back on last weekend�s crazy Big Travel League results and wonder
what the f*ck was going on!
Mar Mug Marist of Deserved Points in Dying Minutes
The
weekend before last The Mar suffered their first defeat of the year 2-1
against Dunedin Technical in the quarterfinals of the Chatham Cup. They
hit this one expecting to bounce back with a win that would take them
one step closer to winning the league with games in hand.
Marist
had other ideas. Last time Marist played Mar they got a 6-0 spanking in
which even Champs� Own Jamie Farrington got on the scoresheet. But they
are a new team since then and have been in good form lately with four
consecutive wins over top sides Lower Hutt, Petone, Napier and Olympic
before last week�s upset loss to Team Naki.
Miramar was
without the injured Nik Tromp which saw Brook Tozer come into the
midfield. Tony Wall returned to the starting line-up in place of Gerard
Brown while Rupert Crump came in on the bench.
Miramar
controlled the opening exchanges producing attacking raids down the
flanks through Allen Chote and Jamie Farrington who were keeping the
Marist back four busy. In the 7th minute David Batty gained possession
on halfway and delivered a long ball out to the right which found
Dominic Rowe in space. Rowe surged toward the goal and cut inside his
defender and delivered a low shot which was saved well by Andrew Bailey
into the bottom post, however in the aftermath his defender somehow
managed to clear the ball into Bailey�s back as he got back up off the
ground and he could only watch as it drifted over the line to give
Miramar a mad-cap 1-0 lead.
Graham Mulvey�s 28th minute header
was cancelled out by an offside call but as the half went on Marist
began to come back into the match, with Josh Smith and Adam Cowen
starting to gain possession and dominate in the middle. In the 31st
minute Pablo Jackson was given space down the right flank and delivered
a cross that found Gustavo Saralegui inside the box. Saralegui
controlled the ball and side-footed past keeper Hall at the far post to
make it 1-1.
A few minutes later Mulvey again came close, he
found space inside the box, turned his marker and his powerful left
foot shot was only denied by the upright.
Marist continued to
press with Saralegui missing a great chance following good work by
Scott Robson on the right. Their second came in the 43rd minute. A
defensive mix-up found Cowan in space just on the Miramar side of half
way. He surged towards goal, turning his defender and then delivering a
powerful shot which was only partially cleared by the Miramar defence
and was met by an open Nick Roydhouse who slotted past Hall to make 2-1
to Marist at the break.
Miramar coach Graham Little made a
change at the break, bringing on Tommy Smith for Mulvey upfront, but
Cowan continued to threaten in the middle
As the half wore on
both sides struggled to maintain possession and capitalise on the
opportunities being created going forward. The best opportunity fell to
Rowe who found space just on the Marist side of half way. Rowe surged
towards goal, losing his defender but then failed to round Bailey in
goal, and in the aftermath Finlay Milne cleared for Marist.
In
the 74th minute Chris Peck came on for Brook Tozer on the left as
Miramar searched for an equaliser, a few minutes later Batty was
replaced by Gerard Brown. Marist continued to hold tight as Miramar
poured men forward, in the 80th minute Tommy Smith turned his marker
and his curling left foot shot sailed past the Bailey and just wide of
the top right hand corner.
As the game entered injury time a
Brown corner could only be headed wide by an open Rowe. With time
almost up Marist were controlling possession and on track to be the
first side since Wests who won 4-0 in May 2007 to defeat Miramar at
home in a Central League match but tragedy struck in the 93rd minute
when a poor goal kick from Bailey was played back over the right hand
side defence by Michael Eagar to an open Brown 40 metes out from goal.
Brown delivered a pinpoint right foot finish past a despairing Bailey
into the bottom left hand corner to secure a dramatic point for the
Mar.
Mar keep their unbeaten record. Marist left wondering what might have been.
Draws Continue at Endeavour
It�s been Wests Hate Week on the Fever Forums as all and sundry have a crack at them for stacking their reserve team.
Not many have bothered to poke fun at their draw with Stop Out. That�s an oversight that needs correcting we think.
Without
a hatful of first teamers this was always going to be Stop Out�s best
chance in a long time of getting some points against one of the big
boys and they stepped up to deliver.
Midfielder and sometimes
Peter Crouch impersonator John McKay came back to dance the robot off
the bench but it was Stop Out�s new import, who is apparently the
business and was, we�re told, instrumental in bossing a midfield that
was missing a few regulars. This result is even more commendable for
Stop Out given that they were without $teven Gulley.
While this
point will be satisfying for a squad that has spent most of the year
getting pasted and has amassed an enormous 11 goals conceded for every
point they�ve won.
They will be firmly focussed on a playoff
series that has come in for as big a battering as Wests have on the
Fever forums this week.
That playoff is likely to be against
the Champs Premier League winner � probably Wairarapa United although
Tawa and Island Bay are still within a shout � but there is an outside
chance it will be against some random Central Soccer team: Napier
Marist? Red Sox?
Could be interesting and provide an entertaining end of season attraction to what has been a fascinating Big Travel League.
Wellington United Arse And Stay Next To Bottom
The Oranje had a good win against fellow strugglers Team Naki away in the Yarrow.
It
was a morale boosting win for the Oranje who have suffered a slump to
second bottom on the league since Captain Pancreas and a bunch of
others started deserting them earlier in the season.
In this one
they started slowly again. The Naki got on the scoreboard after 15
minutes when Tyson Brandt smashed home (with his arm allegedly) from
close range to give them a 1-0 lead. The Oranje wrestled their way back
into things though and in the 26th minute Andy Johnstone robbed the
ball off the Naki defenders before slotting home the equaliser past a
despairing Michael Reive.
United came out stronger in the second
half and took the lead early on through Andy Johnston when he bundled
in after some good midfield work but United didn�t have much time to
enjoy that 2-1 lead before they conceded a penalty for a lazy challenge
that Nathan Hill rifled past Dale Warburton to tie things up.
And
that was how it looked like it would stay. Rossco was busy penning his
�happy with a point after a closely fought game� post match speech when
up popped a massive Larry Longball from Warburton that resulted either
in an Own Goal or in Joe Corcoran smashing it home � depending on who
you believe.
Three points for Rossco�s lot that they didn�t
really deserve and which doesn�t help them sneak off the bottom. The
Naki lose a point they might have had but which will make no real
difference to them. Both teams will be absolutely stoked that there is
that magic Stop Out-shaped cushion at the bottom of the table.
Fiery Clash On Weka Wembley Ends In Bore Draw
Our
man in the stands tells us that Olympic and Lower Hutt were given three
venues they could use for this fixture. The best of them by a mile was
Weka Park on the Coast With The Most so up they went to battle out a
feisty but ultimately bollocks 2-2 draw.
Ginger Ronaldo opened
the scoring, putting Lower Hutt 1-0 up early doors. It was all Lower
Hutt for the first half and Pedro 5 Goals got on the board as well with
a smart finish to give them a 2-0 half time lead.
Big Old Adam
Church � whose picture still hangs proudly in Wilson United�s Ole
Academy � began the fight back for Olympic when mad-cap mentalist
Nephew Nick van Hattum came flying out to punch a high ball, missed it,
and then two-footed Church who was heading goalwards. Lucky for Nephew
Nick that someone was back covering. He escaped even a booking but the
penalty was converted.
Shaun Easthope changed the game when he
came on and it was in the midfield where he upped the tempo that
Olympic eventually turned things around.
The fiery encounter
deteriorated � Best and Fairest Raf allegedly gave Pedro 5 Goals one in
the face and also had a scuffle with Luis � but Olympic held their
bottle to find an equaliser and grab a valuable point.
Petone Go Briefly Top By Rolling Rovers
Mark Foster could well have been forgiven for lighting up a cigar after the victory at Napier on Saturday.
He�s
taken an unfancied, freshly promoted, community club to the top of the
Central League with a fraction of the financial resources of other
clubs � especially their next door neighbour clubs. He must surely be
top of everyone�s list for Coach of the Season (is there such a thing?)
for combining, as he has, experienced club stalwarts (like Puma's Own
Jim Bannatyne whose Cruyff count of ONE was hardly befitting of his
snazzy new red boots - see ad below - but whose clubroom attire did
suit the slightly gay pink leather handbag that came with them) with
exciting young club-developed talent (like afro twins M Pickering and R
McLay).
Two goals to sneaky midfield terrorist Benn Dawson � one
of them a 35 yard screamer volley into the bottom corner from a cross
from the left hand side � and a third from lanky veteran Whitmarsh gave
Petone the win and Fozzie the chance to bask in the temporary glory of
being briefly top of the league. Well done Fozz.
Napier hang on in third though thanks to another Petone relative: Andy Pickering.
Pickering,
part of the famously frizzy clan of Petone stalwarts and cousin (or
something) of opponent on the day Mikey Pickering, scored Napier�s
consolation goal in a surprise appearance for Rovers.
And In Other News�
Jimmy
'the Hitman' Hill marked his return to form with a hat trick in
Wharfies 8-3 spanking of Island Bay. The rout came in the second half
when Karori hit six of the best past Granville in the Island Bay goal.
Shop Boy was looking for a place to hide by the time the final whistle
came around.
Fortunately the Island Bay supporter on police watch at the ground entrance was not called into action.
With
all the underdogs winning on the weekend - spots 4-10 in the league are
wide open. Wests are doing more stacking than a Naenae player on night
shift to avoid the drop which should set up an exciting run out of the
year from early pace setters, now strugglers, Karori.
And that�s it until the Preview.
Coming at you soon.
Until then.
Park Life
Cnut2008-07-30 23:33:03
