Island Bay United AFC

Saturday's game against Miramar was a game played for pride more than anything else, as our Capital One side had to win (and well) to give them any chance of remaining in the league that they had played so well last season to be promoted into.

This, coupled with players away, suspended, or simply having vanished, meant our normal first team squad was depleted, giving a great chance to some younger players to get in some Senior first team football. The weather was great, and possibly even too much of a change to what we've become used to playing in this year. The water bottles were definitely given a pounding.

This was certainly a game of two halves. The first ended 0-0, and though there were more chances than the scoreline suggests, it wasn't really even worth talking about, although Dave did have to make one really good save to keep us level.

In the second half both teams knew time was running out, and as the heat began to take it's toll, gaps were appearing for both teams to exploit. Dave wasn't able to gather in a dangerous corner from Miramar, and after 4 or 5 players smashing the ball at each other from 2 yards out, the ball ended up over the line, and gave Miramar the lead they had been hunting for.

We continued to probe for a goal, and pulled the lead back after Ian Paterson crossed a superb ball over the heads of the defense where all I had to do was head the ball on target (something which I wish I had been able to do more often this season).

A draw wasnt on the cards for either team, and as we pushed forward to get our winner, Miramar continued to pressure our defense. For the most part we dealt with them neatly enough, and turned defense into quick attacks.

We brought our super striker (Anthony Volpicelli) on for his 50th Cap with about 10 minutes to go, but unfortunately most of the action from then on was at the other end. Good support from their players outside our box finally worked for them, and an unmarked player slotted the ball home from the edge of the area to give them the lead again. We were still committed to getting something out of the game, but were simply missing the killer ball into their box to run on to.

With time running out a ball over the top was caught by one of their players who then managed to round Dave. I was sure he would put the ball in himself, but he actually passed the ball to another player (who was by now a flaming football pitch offside) to stub in from 3 yards, killing the game off and leaving us scratching our heads in frustration, and with our 6th loss of the season.

All in all, Miramar probably deserved the points, but it's always disappointing to come out of a game feeling the referees had a hand in the result.

The three College lads we had certainly never looked out of place, and I think they all should be proud of the performances they put in. It would be nice to think that they will become permanent Island Bay players once they leave college, and don't give the game away like so many do once school is out.

Island Bay's Premier season is over and pending the outcome of Stop Out's 3 catch up games (they have to win 2 of them) we'll either place 4th or 5th. If Tawa win their remaining game at home to Kapiti, they'll sew up the league with Karori probably coming 2nd (they only need 2 points from 3 games).

A special thanks to all the spectators who came to watch during 2009, and Island Bay will certainly endeavour to provide even more, (and hopefully winning) footballing spectacles next season.

Shark Attack!

Labels: away, lost, miramar, premier

If I'd written this on Saturday evening it would have been full of references to Refereeing, Licenses found in Weetbix Boxes, Underhand Tactics, ecetera, so we can all be thankful that I took a step back and waited for the aftertaste to come through.

It took a while.....

Saturday's return leg against Karori began like it went on, with hard tackles, some fouls and some not, and numerous off the ball incidents intertwined with periods of good play from both sides.

Dave Plowright had to make one, great one handed save, but otherwise our defense cut most of their promising play out in the first half. At the other end, Lucci crossed some delightful balls, but we didn't seem to be able to meet them once they arrived, and their keeper picked up anything which came too close, including a one-on-one late in the first spell.

The score was locked at 0-0 at halftime, it was obvious that we had a fight on our hands, as both teams wanted to take away the full three points.

The beginning of the second half carried on in the same vein, with both teams hammering away at each other (both physically and mentally). Yet again, this extended to the Dug-outs with Karori's coach carrying on like he was ready to push through a set of saloon doors and start a bar fight. Classic....

A Waterside Karori corner was unable to be punched clear by Dave, possibly due to the "Wharfie Sandwich" which three of their players had him in. Instead the ball dropped 2 yards out from the middle of our goal line, where James Hill had been conveniently waiting for the smack in, breaking the deadlock.

Play carried on in much the same way, with Island Bay looking dangerous on the attack, until the final ball/shot/pass etc. Karori suddenly ran out of puff, at least whenever the ball was out they did.......... Mind you, I would have been slow if we'd been 1-0 up in this sort of game as well, so I can't blame ya fella's.

The linesman finally saw Tahl being fouled by Adam Crump, but unfortunately this time it was for a blatant elbow to Tahl's teeth, which was the final straw for Tahl and resulted in him being shown red as well.

With both teams down to ten men and with us chasing a leveller, the dynamics changed slightly, and Karori were forced to play the counter attack as we tried to pile on pressure against their defense. Fortunately for them, (and you can read their unbiased match report here) when we did get in behind their back four we didn't pressure their goalie with too much, and even a magnificent turn in their box by Musso (nose bleed Musso?) ended in a shot over the bar.

They extended their lead to 2-0 late in the piece after a corner, when Dave could only push an almost unmarked players volley inside the far post, nearly taking Paul's (standing on the post) head off in the process.

As our last home game of the season we're fairly disappointed with the loss but will look to get hold of third spot by beating Miramar this Saturday at Dave Farrington Park, and relying on Stop Out to drop a point in any of their last games.

Shark Attack!

Labels: home, karori, lost, premier

To the Spectators who were there to support our men's first team on Saturday against Tawa. - We apologise profusely for being on the receiving end of such a thrashing. We have NO excuse for being destroyed, at home, in the manner you witnessed.

To my teammates - to those who played, and those who could not - Breathe In......Now, Breathe out!

Feel the pain and anguish of what was a massive defeat. DO NOT FEEL YOU WERE UNLUCKY, OR HARD DONE BY (Even though 1, 2 or even 3 goals may have been comical) AT ANY POINT DURING THAT MATCH. We all, as a collective, did not deserve a point from the game and were undone by a team who, once they were in front, were determined to take their pound of flesh home from Wakefield Park. It's called determination, and Tawa did not let up at 2-0, or 3-0, nor did they sit back after half time.

That said - DO NOT, FOR ONE MOMENT believe we aren't better than that 1 performance, or, if you do, please don't come to training. Stay home in the warm, and watch some "Reality" TV. Eat marshmallows. Whatever. Don't waste your time, our time, or Island Bay's spectators time by putting on our sacred yellow jersey.

The difference between an average player and a great player is not blood or bone, it's brains and heart. The brains to know what needs to happen to get the task done, and the heart to see you through it when the task is a tough one!

5 points separate the top 6 teams, and we have 24 possible points left to put body, mind and soul on the line for!

SUCK IT UP, and (for those of you who read this before Tuesday) turn up to training with determination and focus. Decide to share what we felt against Tawa, with our next opponent. It starts with training EACH week, pauses with the final whistle at Bell park on Saturday, and then resumes again the week after.

Finally, well done to Tawa, winning at Wakefield park, (in style) for the first time since 1992. You deserved your win, and we'll now have to start from behind as we race you for line honours.

Still, look out for the Shark Attack!

Labels: home, lost, premier, tawa

Our Saturday trip away to Karori proved just why Wellington needs Artificial Grounds and fast. Unfortunately, this Karori Park is Wellington's latest pitch, and what a waste of money it's proving to be.

I'm sure it's great during Summer, when Mums and Dads can happily stroll their Prams across the park to the cafe and playground, but it's not much chop when you need a snorkel to kick off and it's only halfway through the season.

I digress....And I suppose I digress because we lost. And, we lost because we aren't a flipping water polo team.

Actually, we lost because while we played some good football in patches, and some great football in others, we made 3 poor choices at the back, and weren't able to penetrate at the front often enough to even get shots on target. Add to that a double line clearance (first by the keeper, and the follow up a point blank header by a defender) in the first half which would have seen us take the lead, and two awesome saves by Karori's keeper which might have seen us draw level, and what does it all equal?

It equals us, still on 15 points, still in fourth place, but letting Karori join Stop Out for first, as they drew with Wests 1-1.

Monday sees us host a resurgent Kapiti team, who, after being on the receiving end of several hidings, (7-0, 8-0 and 8-1 I believe) turned up and unleashed hell on Lower Hutt, pounding them 8-0. We will have to dig deep if we are to get anything out of this long weekend except influenza. Happy birthday Queenie......

In other games Karori play Tawa in the Cup, and Stop Out face Wellington United's top team, meaning that all the teams above us will have a game in hand. Upper Hutt will host Naenae, and Miramar's second team will mirror it's First team, playing Wests, although not in the Cup....

Shark Attack!

Labels: away, karori, lost, premier

We all know how bad the weather was on the weekend. I watched a boat slip it's moorings, and mash itself against the rocks, while the owners tried futilely to hoist it out of the water, only to have to give up and let it sink.

Still, we all got to play football, and wasn't it great to play in, or watch the game you were involved with?! Yeah Right!

On Saturday, through injury I was forced to join the throngs on the sideline, and watch Island Bay play Miramar's Second Team. After losing to their top side in the Cup the week before and been taught a few footballing lessons, I'd been looking forward to passing the knowledge onto Miramar's second side via a solid pasting.

The weather did not allow a football match to be held. Instead I watched a comedic game of Force Back. There is no doubt that each team tried their absolute damnedest to play footy, and I'm sure both teams would have loved to get the ball on the ground to pass to their team mates, but it was not to be. Instead both sides spent the majority of the game smashing the ball into the air, where they watched the wind toss it around before sending it back in a completely different direction where it would ricochet off the closest players head/face/feet/body.

To their credit, Miramar played Force Back better, getting closer to our line twice more than we got to theirs and hence scoring two goals to our none. The conditions evidentally made refereeing really tough, so we thank those guys for showing up when they could have stayed inside.....R.E.S.P.E.C.T, Ah?

Tawa, Karori and Stop Out all won their matches, meaning a nice leap frog for them ALL over us, sliding us down to third equal behind Tawa, who smashed 8 in against Kapiti Coast, making Kapiti's poor keeper pick his 30th ball out of his net in 7 games.

This Queen's Birthday weekend sees more double headers for us, as Capital Football strive to have our season over before the grass has begun to grow over the cricket wickets. We play away to Waterpark Karori on Saturday the 30th, before hosting Kapiti Coast United on Monday the 1st June, in the last game of Round 1.

We wish all teams the best of luck in their respective leagues, and hope that we can dig deep, get over our various injuries and complete the round with two more, momentous wins!

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, lost, miramar, premier

Well, we could have drawn Eastborne in the third round of the Illustrious Chatham Cup (Western Suburbs bet the unlucky chaps 10-0) but no, we somehow drew Miramar Rangers.

As I've said before Miramar have won it all at some stage or other, and currently sit on top (now joint after a horror 3-3 draw with bottom placed Palmerston North Marist - but they had just lost their coach) of the Central League after having won it last season, and in 2006.

They've also won the Chatham Cup three times, just in case you weren't satisfied we went into the game as underdogs.

It would be an understatement to say it was windy, but when isn't it?! Oh yeah, Sunday through Friday........

The game started with both teams managing to get a couple of shots off and settling down to play some football. Miramar were in control, but we were happy to push them wide, and to our credit we managed to force them to do so. Unfortunately we hadn't counted on the wind having laid a large bet against us at the T.A.B, and a ridicuously hopeful cross from Miramar suddenly turned into a Beckham wonder goal, as the wind picked the ball out of the sky, turned it 90 degrees and then threw it into the net, much to the horror of Dave Plowright in goal who had absolutely no chance.

Less than 30 seconds later, when no one from Island Bay was looking, Miramar scored again to make the lead 2-0. This carried into halftime, with both sides having settled down again.

We came out after the half looking to make amends for the two goal deficit, and pushed Miramar into defending on many occasions. Naturally, having some players from Team Wellington to "fall back on" meant that Miramar were not going to stand aside, and unfortunately, as we were searching for a goal as a way back into the match, they managed to sneak in a couple more. I put my hand up here and apologise now for not bringing the scoreline closer, sending a golden opportunity over both the cross-bar and the actual-bar.

Dominic Rowe ended up scoring twice, as did Michael (of course I claimed the cross) Eager, so perhaps in hindsight we should have just double teamed those two players and let Peter Halstead shoot til the cows came home.

Anyway, Island Bay exited the cup after going down 4-0 to Miramar. A thoroughly deserved win from a top central league unit. Congratulations and good luck with the rest of your campaigns!

This week we seek to return to winning form, as we play our third home game in a row, against Miramar for the second time in a row (their 2nd team this time people!) and try to consolidate our position at the top of the table.

Elsewhere, Stop Out play Naenae (for the second week running), Kapiti host Tawa, Upper Hutt welcome Karori, and Lower Hutt spend Sunday at Wests.

Go Sharks!

Labels: chatham cup, home, lost, miramar

Sundays match report for the match against Western Suburbs is summed up using imagery, as most of my written text would most likely have been censored.



For those of you who did not participate at the pictionary world champs.
[Down 2, 10 Men after, 5 minutes = A POUNDING]

It was a tough ask of the ten players left on the pitch to hold a bottom placed team who were desperate for points, and at home for 85 minutes of football.

The remaining guys ALL showed a gutsy determination to keep a point at the very least, but after Wests had scored one [typically, we had just nearly scored at the other end], we had no choice but to chase the game, and this resulted in being caught out twice more as Wests extra man advantage told in the last twenty minutes of the second half.

The League is now even closer than before, with Tawa and Stop Out joining Island Bay at the top of the table.

This weekend is a Chatham Cup round, with Island Bay playing Marist away at Kilbirnie Park

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, lost, western suburbs

Our last game of the season was against Upper Hutt at Wakefield Park, and even though the result didn't go our way, the manner in which Island Bay went about playing was a nice way to end our season.

The 2nd teams chance for promotion, coupled with the fact that we had no chance of winning our league AND the Capital Football's rules which do not allow Central or Capital Premier players to be dropped to other teams once their regular season has ended, meant that the squad had changed slightly to when we last played Upper Hutt.

Lee Westlake, Steve Davey, Paul Muollo, Ian Paterson and Dave Plowright were all playing Second team so that they could help the fight for promotion to Capital 1, Petero (back in Fiji), Lai and Hicham were A.W.O.L and Zac and Ollie were away. For those of you with Math's issues this means 10 of our regular players were not playing!

What is more important, is that we were able to call upon some experienced players and field a relatively competitive side. I'd personally like to thank Mike, JB, Steve, Peter, Bill and Darren who all put their hands up and played 'almost' like they would have 10-15 years ago. The touch and experience were all there, with the fitness only dying late in the second half.

We started the better of the two teams, pressuring the Upper Hutt defense. Within 10 minutes, a great cross was put across the box, Benn flicked it back over the defenders heads, and Lucci rifled the ball into the top right hand corner, possibly giving us a slightly false sense of security.

Upper Hutt settled into their game, and started finding their attacking players feet via a few long balls. A fast break, off one of our corners, ended in tragedy when our newly formed defense was sliced apart, leaving Steve Hughes to attempt to tackle two players. He got one, but the rebounding ball landed nicely to their other player who slotted home around Chemo's dive. We had a few more scares, but gave as good as we got. 1-1 at the half and we still felt we were in the game.

Both teams came out firing in the second half but it was Upper Hutt who scored first via a poor penalty decision for handball;

Actual handball Definition - Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into consideration:
• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an infringement

Not: "It was ball to hand inside the box, so I'm giving a penalty"

From there on we struggled to get back into the game. Upper Hutt's tactics were obviously win "at all costs", as pushing, shoving and racist remarks were being thrown around all over the place.

We thought we had a chance to level after a foul in their box, but despite all eleven sets of Island Bay's hands going up in the air, and the ref's whistle going to his mouth, he didn't have enough puff, and so the game played on.

In the last 30, our formation changed to 3-5-2 as we chased a point, but Upper Hutt's players were the fitter, and ran away with the game, scoring twice more when fast breaks down the line were passed back inside for two or three unmarked arriving players to slot home.

We currently lie third on the table (Pending Karori's results) and while I feel deflated over the season's final outcome, I enjoyed playing immensely when we had our good days, and feel proud as punch to have played football with some of the talent that Island Bay's Premier squad turned up with.

The best of luck to Petero and Nate, who are off to pursue new football lifestyles in Fiji and China respectively, to any retiring squad members, and to all of the Island Bay teams yet to finish their leagues.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, lost, premier, upper hutt

A beautiful sunny Sunday on a mostly pristine Endeavour Park invited both Island bay and Western Suburbs to play some great football, rather than the game of Kick Mud that has plagued our football for most of the '08 season.

The game was played end to end for 90 minutes, with both sides enjoying lots of possession and showing some great skills. Island Bay looked very strong for long periods, with our revamped side working hard to create space and support for one another.

West's Central Leaguers showed why they've been brought down to try and keep West's second team in our grade, with Darren Cheriton, Rupert Ryan, Jonathan Rowe, and Jon Harahap and Sam Peters controlling Wests outfield play, while Jake Gleeson in goal consistantly stopped Island Bays goal bound shots, including a spectacular reflex save to deny a certain own goal deflection in the first half.

West's played too much long ball in the first half, fell over the heads of the defenders and left Chemo to comfortably mop up, but they looked dangerous when the ball was played into the space between our Midfield and Defense as the Wests attack dropped deep to pick up the ball and turn with time.

Island Bay played out from the back through MJ, Nate and Milky, with all three combining to play several great one-twos up the field before offloading to Hicham in the middle, or out wide to Lucci and Benn who constantly bet their markers and whipped in some nice crosses.

The second half was more of the same, but eventually Rupert Ryan's work rate and finishing skills paid off after a hopeful lobbed cross wasn't dealt with effectively enough, and he whipped around his marker to slot home from 8 yards despite Chemo getting a good hand to it.

If Wests had after match speeches it would have been hard not to reward their goalie with MOM, even if Rupert did get them all 3 points in the finish, while our MOM went to Oliver Davie, who did a great job defending the speedy Jon Rowe on the right wing while also managing to support our attack for the full 90.

This weekend is the finale of Island Bay's Premier season, playing Upper Hutt at Wakefield Park with a win needed to secure them third place.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, lost, premier, western suburbs

Up 1-0 within 2 minutes, only to be 2-1 down at half-time and absolutely thrashed 8-3 at the end of 90 minutes by a waterside team desperate to stay up, and who's commitment to that task, coupled with some great touches constantly overpowered our midfield and defense and led to some great goals (for them).

It was a sad way to farewell Petero from NZ football in '08, but the coaches, club and particularly the players who played alongside him, wish him all the best for the future and feel privileged to have been able to play alongside him during his short time here.

We hope that the few people who made Petero's life in NZ extremely difficult do not linger in his memory too long and are quickly replaced with all the good reasons why the rest of us stay in the country and also play our football in NZ: good friends, good living standards, and a guaranteed right to be kept free from persecution, entrapment and extortion.

On Saturday we play Upper Hutt in our last home game of the season, where we'll look to get some dignity back and make up for our last HORRIBLE performance.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, karori, lost, notices, premier

Coming off the back of earning a hard fought point the previous weekend against Wairarapa, to play Miramar (the only team we'd failed to score against in the first round) was going to be a true test of the Premier side's commitment to keeping their league lead.

The Miramar side was bolstered by a few Central Leaguers, who had had their home match against West's postponed (for some strange reason), and this proved to be the catalyst needed to fire up the rest of Miramar's second side.

True to form against teams lower down the table, Island Bay failed to dominate or hold possession, and only had a handful of half chances in the first half. Miramar on the other hand looked dangerous, as the ball was constantly played in the air to Kevin Thompson upfront, who knocked it down well to the other Miramar players breaking forwards and into space.

0-0 at the halftime, and as it was Island Bays defense who were having to work overtime to plug the onslaught from Miramar's fast front men and quick support from their midfield, the Island Bay defenders were happy to have kept the sheet clean so far.

The second half saw a change of formation from Miramar, Left backs playing Right wing and that sort of thing. It seemed to work, with Michele Zanotti delivering a low cross behind our marked up defense to the back post for an untracked man to hammer home from an acute angle, giving the visitors their first goal.

Chasing the game meant changing our formation, and after a few subs, we were playing slightly more aggressive football, but the touch and passion that had been there in previous games was still missing and Miramar's packed defense wasn't opening up.

We created a few chances, through patches of good football, but unfortunately it was Miramar who scored next, breaking out through the midfield yet again, attacking our back line en mass, and an unmarked David Batty popped up on edge of the area to slam a shot goal bound, taking a nasty bounce in the process and skipping over Dave into the net.

To Island Bay's credit, at 2-0 down, we were still fighting for some sort of comeback, but Miramar weren't playing nasty, so penalties wouldn't be coming to save us this time. Time ran out on the clock before we could score, (and we could have been there all night and still not have forced a save from their keeper, so, well done to Miramar who;

~ took four points from us in two matches
~ kept us scoreless for 180 minutes
~ are the only team we haven’t scored against in 2008
~ ended our unbeaten run at home
~ possibly ended our league contention.

This week we play Tawa out at Redwood Park as we look to improve our overall team game dramatically, win all our remaining games, and put pressure on Wairarapa (playing Upper Hutt) in case they drop points too.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, lost, miramar, premier

Island Bay's Chatham Cup hopes were going to be tough to realise after drawing Western Suburbs away [2006 Chatham Cup Winners, 2007 Chatham Cup Runners Up and 2007 Central League Winners] and were only made tougher by the torrential rain and water logged pitch.

Despite the draw, the weather and the pitch, it was business as usual in the changing rooms, and the squad were brimming with confidence. We started off a lot better than our Upper Hutt encounter, but the pitch conditions turned the game into a comedy with players unable to kick the ball out of the water, overrunning it, sliding in from 10 metres etc. Wests scored in the first ten minutes, tucking the ball inside the near post with Shaan only able deflect the shot off his legs, after a few comical clearance attempts by the Island Bay defense. They scored again when a through ball, which was easily covered, stopped dead on the penalty spot, the Wests player stopped with it but we didn't and he had a wide open goal to tuck the ball into.

Despite this, Island Bay maintained good possession, and played quality football in extremely difficult conditions. We couldn't create enough goal bound chances though, Hicham's torpedo like ground hugging free kick coming close and one cleared off the line after the water stopped it dead [Did I see a hand in there?].

Even though Wests were leading, the atmosphere in the changing rooms at half time was buoyant, everyone believed that we could score twice in 45 minutes and force extra time. This was not to be though, with Wests scoring twice [in much the same comical fashion as the first two] within five minutes of the restart to put the match beyond doubt.

To our credit we played amazing football for the full 90 minutes, and had we not been playing on a waterlogged ground which favoured the amazing clinical finishing of the Central league sides strike force, the result would surely have been closer.

This week we play Western Suburbs again, although their second team [and on Wakefield Park] who maybe be showing signs of coming to life, but hopefully we'll be looking for revenge.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, chatham cup, lost, premier, western suburbs

A hard fought battle resulted in Island Bay's first premier loss of the 08 season.

Island Bay started well, attacking Wairarapa down the flanks, and creating lots of problems, but failing to get clear shots on target. Hicham finished a clinical strike, only to be denied yet again by the assistants flag.

Wairarapa settled down and started attacking, floating balls into Peter Rabo to knock down for their other lightning quick striker to run on to. Rabo scored when the ball was crossed to the edge of the penalty area and Shaan couldn't punch clear, leaving an empty net which the ball bounced into. 1-0 HT.

The second half started with Wairarapa dominating possession in their half, and trying to play the long ball through to their fast strikers. One of their fast breaks opened our defenses up, and I gave away a freekick about 25 yards out. Rabo again stepped up for Wairarapa, lofting the ball over Shaan, and giving them a two goal cushion.

We settled down, changed formation to attack them more, and a nice fast break led to Hicham being brought down in the box. He misheard the ref, didnt wait for the whistle, and put the ball to the right, beating the keeper only be told he'd have to retake it. He did the exact same thing again! On the third attempt he waited for the whistle, and slotted home in exactly the same place as before. 2-1.

Island Bay sent wave after wave of attacks at Wairarapa, but we couldn't find the equalising goal, and time was our enemy, running out before we could even things up.

This week we play Miramar at Centennial Park, and will turn up with our minds focussed on a return to our winning ways.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, lost, premier, wairarapa