Park Life: 2008

Miramar:          Petone-Stop Out-Lower Hutt-Olympic-Wests

Petone:           Miramar-Wests

Although Woodcock and Park Life had allready given the trophy to the Mar, this is a pretty even three way race...  Lower Hutt are still in the hunt as well..  Apart from the great result, I don't know how the match went yesterday but I am sure that Hutt are full of confidence for the return match...  The Greeks and Wests have never had great relationships with Mar so are sure licking thier lips at the chance to knock them over...   Without getting to involved with the crystal ball does anyone apart from Woodcock and Park Life believe Mar can take maximum points from Petone, Hutt Olympic & Wests???

Competition leader Petone headed back to the capital, having secured the two results it wanted in the Central League Football competition on Saturday.

If picking up three competition points by beating Team Taranaki 3-0 at New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium was satisfying for the visiting side, then being told Lower Hutt City had scored an upset 2-0 against Miramar was the icing on the cake.

Petone and Miramar are at the top of the competition ladder at the business end of the season, and Saturday's results were just what Petone needed to keep the pressure on.

Miramar remains in the box seat, however, with three games in hand through Chatham Cup matches it played during the competition.

Team Taranaki would have fancied its chances of an upset heading to the halftime break, after a scoreless first 45 minutes.

Playing with a strong southerly wind on its back in the opening half, the home side created a greater number of chances.

The best opportunity Taranaki had to open the scoring was when Nathan Hill had a strike 10m out in front, the powerful blow hitting Petone striker Neil Barclay in the groin, felling him.

The wind was always going to be a factor, and Petone was a lot more organised playing with it in the second half.

Taranaki looked to be in trouble 10 minutes into the spell when Karl Dolan was pulled up and cautioned by referee Campbell Waugh for a hard tackle on Petone's Chris Sambrooke out on the right flank.

Dolan was subbed and the decision to let him off with a warning riled the Petone camp, who made sure the referee heard they disapproved.

Five minutes later the frowns in the Petone faces turned to smiles.

Barclay, the tallest player on the field, put in a nice cross and the ball landed at the feet of Petone midfielder Michael Pickering 15m out on the right side. Pickering wasted no time in rocketing the ball into the net to put his side 1-0 up.

Petone's second goal was in the 28th minute from a spot penalty by Paul Whitmarsh, the referee ruling a Petone player was taken down in the box. With 10 minutes left on the clock, Petone delivered the final blow, with replacement forward Scott Clayton taking advantage of a mix-up in the Taranaki defence to nail a goal from point-blank range.

To its credit, Taranaki never gave up and battled away to the final whistle without ever looking like scoring a consolation goal.

Outstanding players for Taranaki were Nick Betteridge and Hill, while departing skipper James Grieve contributed well both on defence and attack

Marist had a disappointing end to its Central League season, losing 1-0 at Memorial Park against Porirua side Western Suburbs on Saturday.

Marist sits in fifth place but with teams below it having up to four games remaining it's probable it will end lower.

Coach Steve Green can't explain what went wrong other than neither side had a lot to play for.

"End-of-season blues - that's all I can put it down to," Green said. "It wasn't that they were better than us because neither team created a lot in front of goal."

Apart from the goal scored by former YoungHeart Manawatu player Ben Feld and a shot from Adam Cowan that hit the crossbar in the first spell, there were few open chances for either team.

"It's a disappointing end for us and instead of finishing fifth we're likely to end up seventh. Considering how well we've played in the latter part of the season our position doesn't reflect [this]."

A hailstorm midway saw referee Antony Riley asking Marist captain Scott Robson if he wanted to continue as the pitch became slippery.

It was an amazing sight as the pitch turned white. While play continued, it was a different case on the sideline with both sets of substitutes and coaching staff racing to the shelter of the changing sheds.

"The weather was so good when I went down there in the morning I never bothered to put the dugouts up," Green said.

"The hail didn't help us as we had been playing quite well until then, but afterwards we were too slow at everything we did and there was no purpose in our game."

Green said the season wasn't ending for most of the team, with those in the frame for YoungHeart Manawatu having a couple of weeks off before training begins, if a coach is ever named. The rest will be readying themselves for the big Marist national tournament, with Green wanting to put together a strong side.

An own goal stopped Massey University from securing an away draw with second-placed Wellington Marist in Wellington on Saturday as it lost 1-0, to remain in a battle for fourth place.

The top two places in the Western Premiership were sewn up on Saturday. With their wins, North End and Red Sox Manawatu advance to the first stage of the Central League playoffs, meeting the top-two Hawke's Bay-Poverty Bay sides.

North End wrapped up the league with a 7-0 thumping of a disappointing Valeron team, while Red Sox Manawatu was made to work hard for its 1-0 win over Massey University.

In other games, Marist Reserves beat Palmerston North Boys' High School 3-2 and Linton left itself firmly entrenched at the bottom of the league as it was dumped 7-0 at home by Wanganui City.

The final-round battle for the Mid-Central League title remains on course with both Red Sox A and Massey International winning.

Massey International beat Red Sox Manawatu Rovers 6-0 while Red Sox Manawatu A Team beat Wanganui Athletic seconds 5-2.

Both sides are locked on 43 points, though Massey has one loss. Incredibly, between the two sides they've scored 132 goals and conceded 22 in 31 games.

They will meet at the end of the season to decide the league, which is just below a Western Premiership competition where both teams would likely beat all but the top four sides.

O btw, can some tell me how a club with 20 somthing junior teams can only provide 3 ball boys for a CL game?

Boring Bottom Battles and Tough Top End Tussles

Team Taranaki soccer coach James Graham wants his team to finish the season on a high note.

That means a win against Napier City Rovers in its last home game this afternoon and a win against Western Suburbs in Wellington in two weeks.

Today's "home" game is at Ingle-wood's Karo Park at the earlier start time of 1pm, rather than at New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium where the side has been based this season.

"It's new territory for us and hopefully we'll get a bit of luck going our way out there," Graham said yesterday. "We were meant to have been at Yarrow Stadium, but because this is a catch-up game, rugby league had already booked the ground."

Graham said Napier City Rovers would be a difficult opponent.

"We drew 1-1 in the first game of the season and they have some good players," he said. "Looking at the weather forecast, it won't be a pretty game. I don't think there will be much in it ... we just have to get the bounce of the ball and take our chances."

Graham said the sides were due to meet five weeks ago.

"But Napier was still alive in the Chatham Cup and that takes precedence. They made it through to the fifth round before they were beaten."

Graham said it was important for his side to focus on the last two games even though it was third from bottom on the points table.

"We want to finish on a high and take three points from each game," he said.

"The guys have worked hard and this is our last chance at home."

Graham said he was trying to organise a game next week before the Suburbs match.

"We need to play, otherwise it's stop, start. You lose your edge, your sharpness."

TEAM TARANAKI: Michael Reive, Elvin Hunt, Andrew Thomson, Stephen Kibby, Ritchie Burkitt, Matt Sigurdsson, Nick Rush, John Sigurdsson, Tyson Brandt, Matthew Kelbrick, Jared McElhannan, Josh Herlihy, Michael Somers, Nick Betteridge, Nathan Hill, Karl Dolan.

Miramar                        4-0       Petone

Dominic Rowe    2

Graham Mulvey

Craig Alderdice

Team Taranaki is scouting for potent strike weapons for next season, following its disappointing 4-1 loss to Napier City Rovers on Saturday.

With just one game remaining in the side's 2008 Central League football campaign, specialist strikers are top of the wish list for head coach James Graham.

If proof was needed that Taranaki's top soccer team was short of sharp shooters, then Saturday's game against Napier City Rovers at Inglewood's Karo Park provided it.

Taranaki leaked a couple of soft early goals through sloppy defence, but came back into the game creating a host of excellent scoring chances.

But it managed to get the ball into the back of the net just the once and that was when it was already 3-0 down.

A minute before halftime, forward Karl Dolan burst between two Napier defenders and beat the keeper to put the home side on the board.

Taranaki started the second half stronglym but once again the finishing was astray.

If that wasn't frustrating enough for the home supporters, the final straw came 15 minutes into the second spell.

Napier won the ball and pushed it forward quickly and found sharp shooter Stu Wilson.

Wilson made no mistake with the finish to give him a hat-trick of goals and take the score out to 4-1.

Adding salt to the wound was the fact the Napier player who passed the ball to Wilson appeared to be offside.

The difference between the teams was that Napier made 80% of its opportunities count, while Taranaki's shots, bar one - several from close range - went wide, over the top of the crossbar or into the side netting.

The muddy ground conditions at Karo Park, especially around the northern end goal, made ball control particularly difficult.

Taranaki goalkeeper Michael Reive suffered and, by his usual high standard, had a poor game on defence. His frustration overflowed on occasions.

 "I can't fault the boys for effort, but again we just can't put the ball away," said Graham, summing up his side's final home game of the season.

"The game is about finishing - the same as every sport.

"That's where we've lacked all year, really."

In his end of year report, Graham said he would be recommending to the Team Taranaki board to recruit two specialist strikers to start next season.

The win has Napier fourth on the table behind Petone, Miramar Rangers and Lower Hutt City.

Standout players for Napier were its goal- scoring forwards, Wilson and Creig Henslee, who kept the Taranaki defenders on their toes.

Taranaki's final game of the season is against Western Suburbs in the capital on Saturday, August 30.

MARK DWYER / TARANAKI DAILY NEWS

Team Taranaki forward Nathan Hill beats Napier City Rovers defender Jason Pepping to the ball during their Central League football match at Inglewood's Karo Park on Saturday. Rovers won the match 4-1.