Wednesday 11 June 2008: Wellington Phoenix v West

Good to see the boys back in action (and some new ones of course), though I was trying to support Wests as well (considering I live in Whitby!) - they did hit the post in the first half!  Thought Karl Dodd's new defensive midfield position looked promising and caught the eye - some good distribution of the ball I thought.  We're certainly going to be much more solid at the back this year. Daniel free kick was a peach - bend it like Beckham he did!   

i just hope we're not under done in terms of preparation for the season coming, it's all good watching the nix demo teams like wests,  but really how much help does it do in the long run?

who was the #10 for wests he was a lively lad, nice touch and not afraid to take on vince lia in the 1st half.

Hope we aren't gonna be saying that about Lia too much during the season..

Corey Chettleburgh - 17 years old....thought he had a very good game!!

Name:
Corey ChettleburghPosition:
Midfield
Date of Birth:
21/08/91Height:
172.5cm
Weight:
63kg
Current Club:
YoungHeart Manawatu
Palmerston North MaristPrevious Clubs:
(In Chronological Order)
Ruahine
Redsox
PNBHS

Caps (2007 U-17 World Cup):
20 (3)
Goals:
5Debut: 

Other NZ Rep Teams:

Favourite Player:

Clive Campbell

Favourite Club:
NZ KnightsToughest Opponent:
Brian Sarmiento (Argnetina)Favourite Stadium:
EmiratesMost Memorable Match:
(and why?)
NZ U17 v Peru

The Nix are slowly lifting a gar each time they assemble and play......was some real fluidity there at times tonight and I thought there were some good combinations starting to mold.

I liked Karl Dodd at DM in front of the back four, and am beginning to see positive signs of Troy Hearfield  in behind Smeltz.

Still unsure about Vinnie Lia at RB - think he could get a few cards and suspensions.....

Wasn't cold enough out there this week.....where has winter gone?

did they give everyone a run?? (apart from Timmo - who i guess is still building up)

Was McKain the No 4 (and Durante No 24)? 

No run for Lei lei tonight......and Leo missed a sitter from in front.....
Coxey2008-06-11 22:53:18

Every fibre of my being screams "Trouble! Trouble!" when I think of Lia at right back.... Hope the guy proves me wrong.

Did some poor crossing in the first half too!

Chettleburgh is a quality player, was the youngest member of the U-17 side from memory and was trialling at Ipswich earlier in the year.  He's just coming back from injury.

Also, can we try not turn everything in to doom and gloom ?  Newcastle had a first run against a Northern NSW Premier League side the other week, I think we can assume that isn't the most competitive football in Australia.  The Clogs are playing State League teams in Queensland, again, how much better than here ?

The side against them tonight included national U-17 reps, National U-20 reps, Olympic squad members, former All Whites and the best domestic keeper in New Zealand.  Two years ago most of that side won the Chatham Cup, and last year made the finals, tonight the Nix with fill ins on a training run won 7-0.

That's a quality result, and the preparation is comparable to other A-League sides and much further on than we were last year.

Didn't stop Gao and Peverley going toe to toe, and any game with Vinnie Lia is going to be 'competitive'

Amen to that HN

Nix were good tonight! Daniel was easily the best player on the park he has alot of quality his crossing etc is always on the money! Mckain is very composed even though not pressured much tonight. Though Wests were very weak at the back and through lack of possession struggled to get into game at all. Hardnews none of the U-23s played for wests I saw Henderson, Jenkins, Spoonley, etc sitting in the crowd watching and there was no sign of Van Rooyen or Hogg for Wests???

Yeah, forgot Schaeffers and Sam Peters didn't make the side.
Hard News2008-06-11 23:47:18

anyone post a line up?

The Phoenix bench were sure it was 7-0.

Started:

---------------Moss
Lia - McKain - Durante - Lochhead
-------------- Dodd
---Hearfield - Ferrante - Daniel
----------Covs - Smeltz

Or something like that (players right, formation maybe not).

At the half Cheriton for Dodd, Paston for Moss.

Others who came on at various points:
Plodder
Brockie
SuperLeo
Draper
Siggy
O'Sullivan

I think that's it.


Hard News2008-06-12 09:24:40

How did Siggy go?

o'sullivan has been playing and training alot lately - cover for lochead if he goes to olympics? cover for lia if he turns out to be a dudd? cover for both until we get a decent right back and for injuries?

We never added him to the squad last season, I would be surprised if we do this year.

Incidentally, not sure if anyone has mentioned the comedy of the evening whereby folks worked out that no one had actually organised a ref or officials for last nights match...

...the don't know what they're doing.
Hard News2008-06-12 11:16:49

On that matter has anyone ever seen the lino patrol the left hand side of the field before? They normally are on the right hand side of halfway.

...they don't know what they're doing

Oh, so you can count now.

Goals were going in from everywhere in the first half, caused a few arguements after the game if it was 6 or 7-nil.   The wests boys looked like they were chasing shadows at times, with Nix players streaming forward from everywhere.   Should have been a few more goals, the nix seemed determined to pass it into the goal, when the had several good opportunities to shot.   Paston and Mossy looked solid, they stopped a couple of 1 on 1s on the couple of times West broke through.

yeah i was sitting just in front of the guy who ended up doing linesman duty closer to the grandstand,just lucky they all had their referees strips in their respective cars eh

Thought you were unlucky not to get one last night ONREE.

also meant to say a big "good on ya" to those guys that ref'd,pretty sure they'd turned up too watch the game not feature in it.

Any preperation this season has to be better than last years. Did I read a message correctly earlier that had brockie come on?  Jeremy Brockie?? or was a mistype for Lochhead?

Nope, Miramar's finest Jeremy Brockie.

Fitness looked no problem, but they subbed nearly everyone so hard to tell.

With regards to Lia, he's getting used to the position and there's probably few coaches around this part of the world better to teach him the ins and outs of defending than Ricki. He'll get better with time, though HN is right, he's a fiesty character.

Lia vs J Griffiths, no rounds, 90 minute continuous bout. EnergyAustralia Stadium, Newcastle, 6 October 2008. 3PM opening bell.