Half a Cup Full of Water
Posted on Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Park Life is the Fever's desperate grope at the booty of local football. Today we are recovering, panting, from the festival of scoring that was Mad Monday.
We also welcome back Puma as regular sponsors for the rest of this season of Park Life. Puma will be throwing out some competition prizes to our faithful readers (hi mum) and generally associating themselves with the high standards of journalism and integrity that Park Life represents.
My my but didn't it rain? Did that deter Park Life's dutiful correspondents though? Did it f*ck. We were out there, snorkels and masks donned, covering the half round of Chatham Cup that managed to be played.
Cancellation was the theme of the day.
Tawa vs Olympic: transferred to Alex Moore Wembly and then...cancelled.
Lower Hutt vs Marist at Bell Park: cancelled.
Stop Out's dignity: cancelled.
Island Bay's big ideas: cancelled.
Any fantasies that Karori Park would "bed in" this season: cancelled.
The games that went ahead though didn't disappoint the seven hardy mental hospital escapees who took up positions on the sidelines to watch them.
Waterslide Karori vs Miramar Rangers
This was the second game for both sides in 3 days (and the third game for Greenie) following league action on Saturday. Both sides came into the tie with contrasting Saturday form. Miramar beat Wellington United 4-0 but Wharfies lost 3-2 to Capital Premier League leaders Tawa.
This was the first time these sides had met in Chatham Cup action since 1987, where Waterside Karori prevailed 3-1 in the Round 4 fixture courtesy of two goals from former Miramar striker John Murphy who was playing for Karori at the time.
The last time both sides faced each other in top flight league competition was in the Capital Premier League in 2004 when Miramar won 7-0 at a fully functional Karori Park and 7-3 at Centennial Park.
7, as it turned out, would be a continuing theme�
Miramar was without Fever Blogger Jacob Spoonley and a reshuffled back four saw Michael Woodside moving into the middle to partner Craig Alderdice with Allen Chote moving back to slot in at right back. Shane Medland dropping to the bench. Well 'Ard Gerard Brown returned from injury onto the right flank.
Waterside Karori arrived hoping that their run near the top of the Capital Premier League would translate to a giant killing. Their key players included former Miramar defender, and Chewbaka look-a-like, Mike McKinley and strikers Jimmy Hill and Mal Impiombato (who recently scored a hatrick against Miramar's Reserves).
The game started in cloudy conditions on a sodden Centennial Park. Karori controlled the opening 10 minutes producing attacking raids down the left flank through James Trotter which kept the Miramar back four busy. The first free kick of the day was put wide of Miramar goal by Mark McKeown. Soon after Hill was played through into the box only to be stopped by Alderdice whose challenge was thought to have warranted a penalty for Karori. However, referee Whitehead was having none of it. Giving Hill a stern "get up" and waving play on.
Soon though, the tide turned.
In the 11th minute Gerard Brown's dangerous ball across the Karori goal finding Brockie just inside the boxand his strong left foot finish to the right of keeper Herman made it 1-0.
Allen Chote made it 2-0 just four minutes later when he cut inside his and produced a magnificent left-footed shot from just inside the box over Herman to give Miramar a 2-0 lead.
A few minutes later Peter Halstead just about made it 3-0 following some good lead up work by Eagar in the middle and Brown down the flank. Halstead's shot had curved past keeper Herman and was headed off the line by a Karori defender.
Miramar did make it 3-0 in the 20th minute. Brockie received the ball on half way and strode past his defender. He then delivered a long floating cross into the Karori box towards Rowe. Rowe headed the cross back across the goal into an open net to make it 3-0.
Wharfies weren't done quite yet though and their best chance came towards the end of the first half when right winger Michael Greene delivered a superb cross. Impiombato could only head it wide though. So at half time Miramar lead 3-0.
Miramar coach Graham Little made a change at the break bringing Graham Mulvey on for Rowe. In the 53rd minute Miramar made it 4-0 through a great individual goal. Gerard Brown received the ball on halfway and sloshed his way towards goal beating his man and then, from just outside the box, side footing his shot past Herman into the bottom right hand corner and making it 4-0.
Miramar then made a double substitution with Tony Wall replacing Michael Eager and Chris Peck coming on for Michael Woodside in the middle of defence. Karori also made a double substitution, bringing on James Potter.
It was all over already though.
Miramar added a 5th in the 70th minute. Brockie was given space just outside the box. He cut inside his defender and launched a left foot rocket which was superbly parried way one-handed by Herman. Unfortunately he parried the ball up into the air towards the Colonel for an easy tap into an open net.
Karori struggled to produce anything going forward in the second half against a solid Miramar back four and strong southerly wind. Their only shot of the half came to Shannon Minnett whose shot was blocked by Alderdice.
From the resulting play Miramar broke up the right through Chote whose pass found Halstead who only just managed to flick it on to an open Mulvey outside the left hand side of the box. Mulvey looked up and fired a sublime left foot shot low and past Herman into the left hand corner to make it 6-0 in what was a challenger for Chote's goal of the game.
Miramar concluded their scoring in the 82nd minute though Halstead. A long ball from Alderdice at the back found Halstead in space just on the Karori side of half way. Halstead surged towards goal, turning his defender and then curling a left-footed shot from 35 metres out into the bottom right hand corner for his second of the day to make it 7-0.
Referee Whitehead called time on Karori's Cup hopes a few minutes later.
Petone AFC vs Stop Out
Stop Out, the ink still drying on a number of contracts including (allegedly) Lei Lei Gao's Best Mate Cole Peverly, turned up to fight the good fight in a Big Cup tie that offered them a chance to show what they were made of against a Petone side on a real run.
But Petone sunk, almost literally, a youthful Stop Out side in the wet and mud of a now-ruined Memorial Park.
No Peverly for the Stop Outs but Hone "What Have I Done" Fowler played didn't play in a valiant, but ultimately futile, attempt to cement the back four.
Sam Bakker also had a day off and Fever Founder Reg Young, recently returned to the club he previously coached, donned the gloves.
What a day to make your first team comeback.
Eager (not Michael) frizzy-afroed Richie McLay has been one of Park Life's stand out players of this season but, just like Park Life, he had not scored once all year leading into this tie. Unlike Park Life however he got lucky, scoring a double. Leighton Arraj added his name to the score sheet for the first time as well.
Saturday bobsled victim Ben Dawson knocked in a curving swerving dipped spinning one and stalwart hard man Paul Whitmarsh rounded out the scoring.
The final 7-0 scoreline was or wasn't unfair to Stop Out depending on how you look at it.
From start to finish they tried to play football. That was either commendable or stupid and they will either learn from it or suffer for it leading into the second round.
Exciting times for Justin Gulley who has been getting massive raps all over Yellow Fever as Stop Out's most exciting player on the day. His, and other teenagers', success is either the result of a youth policy or desperation.
It would seem that even committee members at Stop Out can't decide which of these encouraging/doomed versions of the future they believe in.
Park Life have said it before and we'll say it again: we hope they stay up.
They'd better start getting ready for that relegation playoff though because their chances of climbing off the bottom aren't great.
Western Suburbs vs Island Bay Sharks
The Island Bay Sharks � so named because those crab sticks you buy at the dodgy fish and chip emporiums in Island Bay aren't actually crab � sat third on the Champs Premier League table leading into this clash against surprisingly mid-table Wests.
Wests, fresh from their unexpected hiding from The Horse Messam on Saturday, had something to prove here and prove it they did, although not in an entertaining fashion according to Park Life's correspondent.
His or her words may have been: "4-0 Wests, sh*t game, woeful football, cr*p pitch, shouldn't have come."
But we couldn't possibly confirm that.
Goals, we think, to Roddy Brown (2), Jenkins and someone else that might have been Sam Peters ranging forward. It was hard to tell in the horizontal rain.
To be fair to all involved the conditions didn't exactly lend themselves to anything close to football. Water sat so deep on the ground that players had to flick the ball up beach-soccer-styles to knock it anywhere.
Other noteworthy moments were:
1. The entire Tawa first team squad turning up, on the lash, to hurl some abuse at Wests. Always entertaining when hatred gets vented on the sidelines, and
2. Nathanial Winkel not showing up. Scared, we heard, of an embarrassing loss to his former club.
Apart from that it was a shambles. Probably should have been cancelled. But a win for Wests and Island Bay slink home to catch more crabs at the beach.
Tomorrow we'll preview this week's mutant half-Cup-round-half-League-round.
Until then.
Park Life
Smithy2008-06-04 20:22:30
