Game 4: Moutere Rangers 7/6/08
Once again, the Nelson weather turned it on as we arrived to a beautiful Saturday morning in Upper Moutere. It was a pleasant surprise to see what has been historically a cows heaven of a pitch, as a short and firm surface. Everyone looked keen and fit despite having the Tahuna disco the previous evening ( a shocker has resulted in the past after such events). The lads ran through their jobs and everyone was focused as we approached kick off. The Rangers kicked off and their coach ref'ed the first half.
The boys had discussed the extra size of the field and how we could best utilise it for our style of game. We had practiced and focused on using the wings in practice. Having the extra space on a much larger field would be to our benefit. We played in our usual positions with Matt and JONO (note spelling) up front, TJ and Luke in the middle and Riley, Nick and Ben out the back.Tony started on the bench. Once again we dominated field position and possession from the outset. Our experience in playing regular positions paid dividends as our combinations through the field were at times nothing short of spectacular. It is a joy to watch young lads purposefully passing the ball through the field from inside their own half up to a goal scoring position on a regular basis.
The Centres were always going to do it tough on such a large field knowing that it is their job to get forward and then back in an instant. It was great to see everyone doing their bit. The first half ended with a comfortable 3-0 lead with Matt finding the net on all occasions. The second half was no different with plenty of ball movement and passing taking place. We had quite a few opportunities at goal but were denied by some good goalkeeping by the Rangers Goalie. Tony nearly scored twice as he strived for his first goal of the season. We got another 3 goals in the second half. Two more by Matt (5) and one to Jono off a quickly taken free kick.
Tony received the Player of the Day for his gritty determination in all aspects of the game. He ran, tackled and tried really hard. He is making huge progress and can be proud of the way he is training, playing and improving every week.
Final score 6-2 to the Mighty Tahuna Magpies (Matt 5, Jono 1)
