Island Bay United AFC

Back to that winning feeling - you beauty!

The sun came out and the wind went away to produce a magnificent day for football last Saturday. And the IBU boys turned up ready to play.

We went into the game knowing that a win was the only acceptable result, and we started in our usual manner - with desire, control and menace. Right from the first whistle we dominated the play with Josh tackling anything that moved and together with MJ he controlled the midfield brilliantly.

Matty W and Ian were constantly wreaking havoc down our left hand side with great passing and purposeful running, which was only foiled by desperate clearances once the cross came in.

Milney was also running his bollocks off in his role between the striker and midfield and he was unlucky to fire over on one opportunity after smartly pinching the ball off their centre back's shonky first touch.

Ian was also dreadfully unlucky when he got on the end of a cross from the right (think it was Freddy) and turned it nicely on goal only for a despairing save from their 'keeper turned it away for a corner.

It was one of a bucket load of corners we earned too and the delivery was top notch every time. Stokes Valley (SV) were up to the task though, but you could sense their anxiety was rising with every opportunity we created.

SV weren't without their own chances as they do counter attack well, but we scrambled and covered nicely to ensure we didn't let them take an undeserved lead.

A little disappointingly we went into half time scoreless, but there was no doubt who was on top and it felt like it was only a matter of time till we got on the board.

Unfortunately we did give away that goal, about 10 minutes into the second half when SV were awarded a free kick about 8 yeards out from the box. It was a pinpoint shot that beat the wall, dipped amazingly and squeezed in at the near post.

Gutting, but all it did was lift our will to score and we went on a bit of a spree...

First up, Milney was on the end of some nice build up work down the right and with defenders and the 'keeper getting only half tackles in, he showed outstanding persistence in getting the ball goalward to get us level. It was an ugly goal (you know it Milney!), but was the perfect display of determination required for us to get the three points we deserved.

Next, one of the many times we got in behind their defence was rewarded with a (somewhat controversial) penalty. Ian chased down a long through ball, and while he was beaten to it by their 'keeper, as he turned to see where the clearance went he got a firm fend to the back of the neck. It was unnecessary and the Ref duly awarded a penalty. Steelo stepped up and made no mistake. The familiar shark fin celebration signalling our killer determination in taking our rightful lead.

In the lead up to the penalty being taken though, there was plenty of action. Ian had players abusing him as he lay face down on the ground, and twice the ball was firmly punted away in disgust amid a lot of consternation from almost every one of the SV players. Thankfully, the second ball hack was punished with a yellow card and this brain explosion would come back to haunt SV.

Play was probably evening up a bit now but we continued to create chances to try to get a two goal buffer.
And it came courtesy of a free kick wide on the left. We had numbers in the box, but in the end Ian decided he didn't need them as his 'shot' slotted perfectly into the top right corner, bulging the side netting.

We were 3-1 up and shortly SV were one man down.
The same guy that got the yellow for kicking the ball away had taken Milney very late and very heavy, and after a bit of confusion (the Ref thought he originally carded someone else, who didn't exist), the player had to leave the field after receiving his second yellow.

The game now opened up and we maybe relaxed a bit much, as SV, to their credit, just wouldn't die. A little too much space, a couple of cases of diving in and suddenly SV had pegged BOTH goals back. One flailing leg luckily lobbed the ball into the goal, and one flat hard strike from 18 yards left us a little bemused but keen to hit back again.

Matt Hickey was on at this stage and he revelled in the amount of space that was available, using his pace and skill to toy with the SV defence.
And on one of our blistering attacks, Luciano hared after a chip behind their defence. He beat the oncoming 'keeper to the ball and clinically chipped him with his first touch. Phew! The lead back and five to go - now HOLD OUT!

Hold out we did and there was even chance for a flying Steelo to latch onto a through ball and unleash a power drive. It didn't go in but it served as a great time waster as it sailed up the bank and into the bushes ;)

A thoroughly deserved win and it lifts us out of last place.
2 more games, 6 more gettable points. Starting crucially against the Karori Dreamers this week at home.
We're all looking forward to it, especially after getting a training run outside last night after so many weeks indoor!

Shark Attack!

Labels: capital 1, home, stokes valley, win

I was going to preach deja vu all over again for this weeks match, but really, other than the scoreline, this match was quite different to last weeks' match.

It was a game we never really threatened in, with probably only one close chance from a deflected free kick. In saying that, Marist didn't threaten all that much either, and perhaps they were lucky to pinch an early goal, which took the pressure off them to attack.

We still had moments of tidy, quick passing in the midfield and a few good balls over the top for our strikers, but all in all we didn't create enough to feel aggrieved at not picking up the three points. And credit to Marist's defense, they were pretty solid and showed again why they sit top and have only conceded 9 goals in 15 games.
Picking up one point is another story, but bad decisions happen (would you believe another offside goal?!) and we need to score goals to overcome them.

Admittedly the ground was an absolute bog which made running on it difficult let alone playing football in, but it's Winter, and we're in Wellington so it's not like we're not used to it.

While our defense hasn't exactly been brilliant - it's ranked 6th in the league, and we've only conceded 8 in the last 6 games, which ain't bad for the team sitting last - it's the goals for column that is really sorry reading.
We've scored only 17 goals from 15 games and if we want any chance at staying up, we're going to need to find the back of the net, starting this weekend at home against Stokes Valley.

Anyway, rant over, MAAAASIVE game on Saturday...

(Team for the record: Adam, Matt W, Dave, James, Nick, Josh, MJ, Mitch, Freddie, Jamie, Caleb. Subs: Cam, Matt Hickey, Hamish, Sandy)

Labels: away, capital 1, loss, marist

I'm struggling to come up with any new ways of describing our games. Every week it seems to be Deja Vu.

Good fighting spirit, clear opportunities created, good commitment, mostly solid defence - all resulting in another gut wrenching loss.

We lined up against top of the table Olympic with a very strong team considering all the injuries, suspensions and holidays decimating our first and second team squads.

And after a week off, after being cancelled last week, you could sense the keen-ness in the squad. Our core was maintained, with Josh and MJ lining up in the centre of midfield and Dave Wiggins part of the furniture at the back. Relative newbie Darren slotted in next to Dave with Nick sliding out to the right and Matty W assuming his possy at Left Fullback.
Up front we must've had an average age of about 12, with our 'front 4' consisting of the Hickeys, Freddie Double and Andy K. Adam, as usual, rounded out the team in goal.

Right from the first whistle, we played with intent and our young guns were causing plenty of trouble for the confident Greek defense. They were putting great pressure on the ball and stole a lot of it from careless first touches or plain arrogance on the ball. And our counter attack was working well.

One lightning attack down the left from Matt H resulted in a pinpoint cross to his brother Cam, who despite a Michael Jordan like jump (who said white boys can't jump!) couldn't quite get enough over the ball and his header shaved off a coat of paint from the top of the crossbar.

It was agonisingly close, but also very encouraging.

Most of Olympic's attacks were well snuffed out, either in midfield or from a nice nudge in the back courtesy of Darren or Dave. And when they did get in behind us, either the cross was well cleared or the cover was sufficient to make the tackle.

You could sense Olympic's frustration as we dominated play, and we knew the longer we kept them scoreless the better it would get for us.

Unfortunately, a tinny flick from their winger to their offside striker resulted in a simple one-on-one opportunity which was clinically taken, giving the Greeks a somewhat undeserved lead. (And I don't usually moan about refs decisions after the fact!).

We continued to push in the first half, but just couldn't find the goal. It was good to see everyone muscling up though and one thing we certainly weren't was soft. We went hard into challenges (maybe a little hard sometimes) and were sure to not be bullied out there which was important.

It's just the clinical edge we seem to lack. Final crosses, passes or shots just aren't hitting the mark.

So, after coming out of the break knowing we were still in it, we continued to create chances. Perhaps even more than the first half. Andy was getting plenty of ball, running from the space in behind Cam up front and the other three young'uns continued to run their bollocks off harassing the defence and creating for each other.

We had goal mouth scrambles, precise set pieces, a one-on-one and a (now expected) acrobatic bicycle from Andy, but every time the ball evaded the goal.

Frustrations were also starting to reach boiling point, with challenges becoming reckless and plenty of banter flying around the pitch.

And it all came to a head when Cam received a ball 10 metres into the attacking side of the field. He sharply turned inside, knocking the ball forward, but was well collected as he tried to scoot past. The defender had saved a one-on-one with their rather rotund keeper, but copped a red card for his troubles. The gutting thing for us was time was running out and Olympic had already started to work the 'defend the lead' tactic, only producing attacks on the counter and then they didn't have many numbers forward. The loss of a man only enhanced this tactic, and try as we might we couldn't find the elusive goal.

Another game gone. Another 3 points missed.

There's no doubt we're into the desperation end of the season and being last by 2 points, every week we don't pick up points is going to hurt deeply.

And it's fair to say we have a very tough run in. We have 4 of the top 5 teams left, and the only saving grace from that is that we seem to play our best against the good teams - as long as we can slot a goal!

This week we're against a very stingy Marist, who've conceded only 9 goals this season so if ever there was a test, this week is it.

Labels: away, capital 1, loss, olympic