03/05/2008 - Game 4
Opposition: Eastern Suburbs
Venue: Home (well officially it was a home game but it wasn't really anyone's home ground)
Kickoff: 1.00pm
Weather: Dry but very windy

Apologies for the lateness of this entry, it has been quite a busy week with graduations and what not.

So as I posted above the ground was changed the night before to this other place about 10 minutes from the number 1 ground. It was quite a strange place as it was the home of a rugby club with 3 or 4 rugby pitches and 1 random football pitch in the middle. So we were playing with all sorts of rugby matches surrounding us.
Officially it was a home game although it's not a home ground of our club or any football club. I think it's an overflow place that occasionally gets used if a pitch is needed. It was actually a really nice pitch although the grass was a tad long, perhaps suggesting it doesn't get played on often. My Mum swears I have played there before back in junior days but I am certain I had never been there before. I remember most things about most games I have played in and do not remember this place. Regardless of that, I cannot work out who on Earth I could have played there anyway as I didn't play a Uni-Mt Wellington team until U19s all games at their home grounds had been at the 2 main ones we use. And the only other club who could conceiveably use this place as a home ground is Ellerslie, and I did not play one of their teams until last year at their number 1 ground.

My brother had grown pissed off with his team at my old club. He was on the bench every week and wasn't getting more than 15 minutes at the end. With his 1st year Law work piling up he could not commit to training 2 nights a week which they required to not get to play in the weekend so he has now joined my team where he will be able to train just once a week and get guaranteed game time in the weekend. With injuries we desperately needed another striker/winger which he is so it works out well for us, and also for my parents as there's now only 1 game to watch instead of having to choose each week.
He did remember this ground. As we turned up it was "ohhhhhh I remember this place, I can tell you the whole story now......." and he recited an entire review of some match from 5 or 6 years ago.

Anyway onto the game at last. It was a very windy day with a strong wind going down field which we played against in the first half. Combinations of the strong wind and poor ball control helped them dominate the first 15 minutes with us stuggling to get out of our half. Their 2 strikers were in the wars with our centre back taking them both out of the game in the first 10 minutes! The first guy took a bullet clearance in the face and then a minute later got absolutely flattened and winded and had to go off for much of the rest of the half. The 2nd guy came off worse in a head clash and was also forced off with blood coming. Not before he shared a few strong words with our defender though. In particular I remember the words "f**king" and "c**t" being used an unusually high number of times in the same sentance.

So after the early storm we got more into it. My brother was combining well with the other striker and they both created a couple of chances. My brother went close with an outside of the foot shot beating the keeper but going just the wrong side of the post. Then our other striker was through and his shot was blocked by the keeper but as he regathered the ball, he was forced wide and cut down by a defender for a penalty which was cooly converted by one of our midfielders for 1-0. The lead lasted just a few minutes however as they got a penalty of their own for a defnite trip just inside the box. The striker had recovered from his head clash and stepped up to put it right in the bottom corner out of reach. It was pretty even after that with chances at both ends, although neither keeper under real pressure. Then a few minutes before half time their keeper launched a punt down field which got caught in the wind and came over the top of our defence. Despite my screams of "no bounce, no bounce" our last defender left it hoping it would bounce through to me, but their striker had already got round the back of him and got a touch before I could get there. I never had a chance to get there, poor decision from the defender.

We got on top in the 2nd half and it was all us for half an hour. Chance after chance after chance came but it just would not go in. Both strikers had good chances and the keeper made a few reasonable saves. Then with about 15 minutes to go they got a counter attack, and a deflected shot from the edge of the box looped over me for 1-3. This knocked the stuffing out of us and suddenly it was all them. First I made a good save low to the left, then tipped one over well when the guy was free on the egde of the box. With a couple of minutes to go, a free kick for us just inside our own half didn't seem dangerous as it floated straight to the keeper. However it went straight through his hands and one of our guys was on hand to slam it home from a yard out. Cue, frantic final minute. Or so we thought. They got the ball down our end, put in a cross and their winger hit a sweet volley and I made a really good save turning it away for a corner. However they then managed to keep the ball in the corner superbly for a couple of minutes until the end. It was pretty frustrating them doing that at this social level, but credit to them for doing it so well. All we could do was force throw ins and more corners.

Result: 3-2 Loss
Personal Performance: Good. No chance with the first 2 goals, perhaps a yard too far off the line for the 3rd, but not helped by poor defending allowing a free shot. 3 good saves late on to keep the score down.

Extremely disappointing result because they were no better than us. We dominated most of the game apart from the first and last 15 minutes. But as I very well know as an Arsenal fan, domination isn't usually enough. We have now lost 2 in a row to teams we really should be beating. The title is probably beyond us now. Strong opposition tomorrow who we know well from last year, Metro Wong. Good 5-1 victory in a midweek friendly the other day (which I was not involved in due to Uni commitments) should help raise a bit of confidence for the strikers. Hopefully a better and more clinical performance this weekend.

Not always. Just had a reasonably good personal start to the season. Today was average though. Will get round to writing it up in the next few days.

14/05/2008 - Game 6
Opposition: Bay Olympic
Venue: Home
Kickoff: 6.45pm
Weather: Cold but calm

So this was the game postponed from the ANZAC holiday weekend a few weeks ago. Got the number 1 pitch which was good and was also a first time playing a proper match under floodlights. An official referee turned up which was good. Very rare to get one at this level but apparently the opposition had asked for one and with it being a midweek game, there were no other games on so 1 guy must have volunteered to do it.

Conditions were pretty cold and also damp as it had rained during the day.

Opposition had done worse than us so far so this had to be the day we turned our season around and got back to winning ways. Another loss and we would be well on the way to going straight back down next year to where we have come up from this year.
We were on top from the start, having most of the possession in midfield and creating all the early chances. A few chances came although there was nothing too stressful for the keeper to deal with. About 20 minutes in one of their guys got given a yellow card for repeated shirt pulling. I believe an official yellow card is a $25 fine.
They finally got down our end a couple of times and a couple of speculative shots were seen safely over the bar.

They got a free kick in our half and I heard the ref tell someone that there were 2 minutes to go to half time and I realised I had not actually touched the ball once in the game! All I'd done was fetch it for a couple of goal kicks.
The free kick was launched into the box, and our left back miscued his header, heading it across the box to an open striker 6 yards out. He controlled it with one touch then hit it on the volley and with my outstreched left arm, I got a hand to it and a defender cleared the danger. Probably my save of the season so far. Not too bad for my 1 touch in the half.

So the 2nd half began and immediately they came on the attack. Cross came in from our left and I came to catch above the striker, but looked straight into the floodlights and completely lost it. Had to go with a punch and hope for the best and fortunately I got a decent enough connection on it to have the danger cleared. We started to get back on top and about 10 minutes into the half a long ball was played for my brother to run onto. While my brother is not short, he is also not very bulky. He was up against a Peter Crouch like defender so there's absolutely no way he should ever be out-muscling this guy. But he did and beat him to the ball then got a touch before the keeper to make it 1-0. Pretty good finish and good strength shown. Very pleased for him to get his first goal for a couple of years having played a season at left back last year in the school first 11.

Straight away they started raising a gear. They got a corner which was half cleared and a shot was hit low from the edge of the area. As it came through the crowd I didn't see it until late and managed a excellent stop at full stretch down to my right, parrying it away and the re-gathering the loose ball. A minute later our defence let the ball bounce and a striker ran onto the long ball. I rushed out to the egde of the box, slid in and blocked his shot out for a corner. This one even prompted a hug from the defender who let the ball bounce past him! My Mum who was watching reckons he called me a "magician" when he was subbed off for a breather later on in the 2nd half. I was having one of those days where everything just went perfectly. Although I'd only touched the ball a handful of times by now, I'd made probably the 3 best saves I'll make all season. And the best thing was they were making a real contribution coming at 0-0 and 1-0 as opposed to the pointless saves I'd make at 5-0 up last year.  

A few minutes later we had a penalty with our striker being brough down after my brother played him in. Up stepped our right winger and I just knew this was going over the bar. He blasts everything and no way he'd play safe and put it in the bottom corner. Our regular penalty taker had missed one in the friendly game I missed last week so decided not to take this one. Now, not only did he put it high and wide of the goal as I expected. It also went over the top of the club rooms behind the pitch. I hear a search party is out looking for the ball as we speak.

So this raised their morale again and quickly they were down our end. Another cross came in from the our left and I made quite a good catch at full stretch which on another day with the ball that wet I possibly would have parried or punched. But today seemed to be my day. So I launched the ball forward, one of our players flicked it on for our striker to run onto. He rounded the keeper and made it 2-0. So now I even had a major hand in a goal too.
A couple of minutes later we were in again. Ball was played into my brother and his shot was deflected and fumbled by the keeper and he tapped in from a yard out for 3-0. Very happy for him to have a couple of goals and make the game safe. A minute later it was almost 4. Absolutely brilliant shot from about 30 yards had the keeper completely beaten. It was in from my hand but cam back of the corner connecting the bar and upright. What a shot.

They did manage to pull one back with about 10 minutes to go. Ball across to an unmarked striker at the far post for a tap in. Pretty disappointed as I really wanted the clean sheet and would have deserved it. But there was a still a nervy 10 minutes to get through. They were really going for it, and I was again called into action making another one-on-one save with about 5 minutes to go. It was a brief touch and the ref signalled a goal kick from his position. Now I'm usually quite honest and at 3-0 I probably would have put my hand up and said I touched it. But with a few minutes to go and 3-1, I didn't want them having another corner so decided to keep quiet and let the official ref call it as he saw it.
There was time to make another save. This time a shot from just outside the box which I had to dive left and turn away for a corner. This one was probably going wide but couldn't take the risk so had to go for it.

Finally the whistle blew for a pleasing 3-1 win.

Result: 3-1 Win
Personal Performance: For Julia, this time it was 'excellent.' One of those days were pretty much every piece of action was a great save. Very pleasing performance and I really enjoyed the game too. Can't remember enjoying a game as much while on the field in recent times. A combination of my brother playing well and scoring the goals and making a defining contribution myself must have done it.

Special mention to the referee too. He was really good, probably the best official one I've ever had. Often when you get them they are either pedantic control freaks who blow the whistle every 30 seconds, or they don't want to blow for anything and just let the game go on without calling the fouls. This guy got it spot on for both sides. When it was a foul, he called it. When there was advantage, he let play go on and he didn't let anyone give him any crap. Really friendly guy off the field too. Obviously he really enjoys refereeing so was happy to volunteer when a midweek game came up.

Also worth mentioning that my brother says every outfield player should be made to play a season in defence sometime in their mid teens as it improves your game so much. He had always been an attacking midfielder or winger until last season when he a played a full season at left back in his high school first 11. It has improved him so much. He is much stronger so he can compete with defenders he couldn't have competed with a couple of years ago. He wins his fair share of headers against bigger players and he's brilliant at dropping deep and winning the ball back in midfield. It really is noticeable how a season in defence at a high level has changed and improved his game as an attacking player.

Note the much longer report when the game was memorable. Although to be fair it was tonight so it's easier to remember most of it.

Oops, I just quoted the previous one for the same title format. Changed.