Some thoughts below:
- Really enjoyable game to watch - especially in that first half. Chalk and cheese to watching us play last year. We created an abundance of chances but weren't clinical enough in front of goal. This may cost us against stronger opposition who we may create less chances against.
- Thought it was a decent debut for Cassidy when called upon. Seems tidy on the ball and comfortable in tight spaces.
- Steele should have racked up at least 3 yellows and 1 red in this game. The style of refereeing does nothing to protect skillful or creative players since you can just boot them out of the game without repercussion, which makes 'letting the game flow' advice counterintuitive.
- Injuries is a massive worry, no Payne, Ishige, and potentially no James and Conchie for the derby is unlucky. We had a lot of injury troubles last year too, we have some of the best facilities in the league, what's going wrong!?
- I've been pretty critical of Oluwayemi, but credit where due, he had a strong game and unlucky not to get an assist. Only one time I can remember he looked nervous under the high ball but quickly made up for it.
- Loke looks promising and is more than capable for Payney to begin handing over the reigns over the next few years.
- This was one of Rufer's better games since coming back from glandular fever.
- Although a win would be nice, to go into the derby undefeated is a nice spot to be in. I just hope we try and play similar and not give them too much respect by switching to a more defensive mindset.
- Armiento and Eze were pretty busy in the first half but lost a bit of steam in the second, hopefully their fitness picks up throughout the season so they can become 90 minute men. Auckland FC were said to have Premier League level fitness levels last season so hopefully can match them for the full 90.
- Really enjoyable game to watch - especially in that first half. Chalk and cheese to watching us play last year. We created an abundance of chances but weren't clinical enough in front of goal. This may cost us against stronger opposition who we may create less chances against.
- Thought it was a decent debut for Cassidy when called upon. Seems tidy on the ball and comfortable in tight spaces.
- Steele should have racked up at least 3 yellows and 1 red in this game. The style of refereeing does nothing to protect skillful or creative players since you can just boot them out of the game without repercussion, which makes 'letting the game flow' advice counterintuitive.
- Injuries is a massive worry, no Payne, Ishige, and potentially no James and Conchie for the derby is unlucky. We had a lot of injury troubles last year too, we have some of the best facilities in the league, what's going wrong!?
- I've been pretty critical of Oluwayemi, but credit where due, he had a strong game and unlucky not to get an assist. Only one time I can remember he looked nervous under the high ball but quickly made up for it.
- Loke looks promising and is more than capable for Payney to begin handing over the reigns over the next few years.
- This was one of Rufer's better games since coming back from glandular fever.
- Although a win would be nice, to go into the derby undefeated is a nice spot to be in. I just hope we try and play similar and not give them too much respect by switching to a more defensive mindset.
- Armiento and Eze were pretty busy in the first half but lost a bit of steam in the second, hopefully their fitness picks up throughout the season so they can become 90 minute men. Auckland FC were said to have Premier League level fitness levels last season so hopefully can match them for the full 90.
Think this pretty much sums up my thoughts on the game too. A bit more confidence / luck in front of goal and we're bringing 3 points back home. Certainly did enough but Redmayne was pretty formidable in goal, not much you can do about that when he's on fire like that. You can definitely see that LBS is not ready for a start on this though. But that's really a minor criticism, think everyone put in an awesome shift and some of the play was a great watch.
Their subs seem to make a bit more of a difference than ours did, but a lot of ours were injury related. I'd really be interested to understand what the hell is going on as it's not the first time we've been crippled by them. The facilities are world class, so?
Adding to Since2007's thoughts - which I agree with all of: The first half was one of Roa Conchie's best games for us. You could tell the difference he was making by how things flowed after he went off at HT. Good to see him actually showing some of the promise from his U20 days.