2 posts tagged “6-2”
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)
After a mixed leadup to the first game we were all dying to get on the pitch.
Our first game was against the RIchmond Uno's at Ben Cooper Park who had finished well up the table in last years competition. We had played them three weeks earlier in a pre-season game which we went down 4-2. We scored our goals in the second half and we used this as our motivation to go out and start the game strongly.
This is exactly what we did. We tried a new tactic at the kick off which worked even better than we had hoped for. In less than ten seconds into the game we nearly pulled off a goal only for the goalie to save it on the line. There was some debate about it but due to our good sportsmanship we decided that it was not a goal.
From the beginning we knew that it was our game to win. We were playing a more structured game and our passing was working a treat. We all started in our usual positions. Matt and Jonno up front, TJ and Tony in the Middle, Riley and NIc at the Back and Ben in Goal. Luke started on the side as his Mum had some car trouble (oops).
Everybody was playing well and we were putting a lot of pressure on them up front. The mid-fielders worked particularly well with the forwards getting plenty of quality ball up to Matt to get some shots away. The defence held strong for most of the game but we let our 'filling the hole' lapse a couple of times which enabled the Richmond side to make a couple of breaks from which they scored. Fitness may have been a valid reason but we all know that this is one of the strengths of our game. Ben made a couple of crucial saves that kept the Uno's out of the game. Matt got on the score sheet with 5 goals and Taylor scored 1. TJ would have to get the celebration award for his knee slide. Final score 6-2 to the MAGPIES
Appleby Dragons this weekend at Appleby school. It was a tough hard fought game last year and we are expecting much the same on Saturday. The team cannot afford to get too complacient and need to continue to work hard.
Bring it On!
