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

Saturday's game against Naenae was as disappointing as being I.D'd in a bar at 30 years old, only to find you left your Driver's license in the car.

The game was moved from Naenae 1 (which looked like it had been subject to an archaeological dig, and then refilled with earth) to Naenae 2, which was at least green.

Naenae could have taken the lead within ten seconds (yes, seconds) of kickoff, as a hopeful punt forward from the kickoff, held up on the soggy ground for their striker to run onto to, however his final touch saw the ball sail away off target.

We settled down into a rhythm (somewhat) and played some really great football in places. Mostly though, the final touch was letting us down, and our desire to play flick and backheel stuff was almost always cut out by the determined Naenae players.

A flash move down our left flank was flicked on by a near death Ian Paterson, and missed by my marker as he tried to make contact before the ball got to me. With a nice touch (for a change) I was slightly out from the box with the ball neatly positioned in front of me and no Naenae players nearby. A hard, low drive saw the ball curl into the net and give us the lead around the 10 minute mark.

Naenae were only really dangerous when the ball made it to their Striker, who caused us problems with his great touch. We had numerous shots and corners which we couldn't put away, not to mention two great one-on-ones from Lucci and Ian, before we had stopped for half-time.

The soggy ground was making us tired, and our midfield were having to cover a lot of ground in order to close down a resilient Naenae team. I'm sure that the dismal prospect of relegated in their first Premier year was motivating them to play for every ball, and why not!

The second half was more of the same. Scores of shots at goal, mostly on target as well, were repelled by the Naenae Keeper, who was having such a great game that he was even holding onto strikes which I've seen Premier League Keepers have no chance over, so I'm glad he was their man of the match. In Particular, a volley by Jody could not have missed the top left hand corner, but the keeper didn't just reach it and parry it around the post, no, he caught it!

We never look comfortable with a one goal lead, and with good reason. In the 83rd minute, a hopeful ball and the close proximity of Attackers put Musso under pressure at the back, and as he headed the ball back to Dave in goal, he hadn't seen that Dave had initially come for the ball and then thought better of it, only to watch the ball lobbing over his head and into the net, despite getting a hand to it.

The last minutes saw us push the ball forward as fast as possible, and a great run in to the box by Jody looked like it would give us the lead back, but unfortunately he shot wide (real wide huh Jody? :P) and with it our chance of regaining the lead (albeit momentarily).

The rest of the weekends results meant that 10 points still separate the top 6 spots, but with only got two games left to close a four point gap on Tawa, who also have a game in hand, you could say it's going to be tough. Another way to look at it might be "We're up "insert appropriate expletive" creek without a paddle."

This weekend, Miramar have finally donated enough to Capital Football's coffers for them to be granted a Sunday game, on Miramar Park. Thanks must apparantly go to their first side playing Chatham Cup on Saturday at Home, and their Women's team playing at Home on Sunday as well. Oh well, we're used to sh*t pitches anyway, and Island Bay will play on, despite our teams staunch religious "No Play on the Lord's day" views.

Shark Attack!

Labels: away, drew, naenae, premier

Saturday's game against Upper Hutt was so important to both teams with only a win being good enough for us to keep the pressure up against Tawa. We were told that as players we were under no pressure to win, only not to lose, but I believe pressure can be a good thing. It can create moments of sheer brilliance, and focus some normally unruly individuals into reaching new heights.

We entered the match in what has become typical Island Bay fashion. Players out through injury, suspension and vacation had some of the team re-introducing themselves to one another during the pre-match warm up. Fortunately, the "Oi, You over there" calls I had half expected as a result didn't occur, and we meshed as a unit almost from the first whistle.

We expected Wayne Rooker to be Upper Hutt's distributor, and for him to provide plenty of hopeful balls over the heads of our defense for the skillful and quick wingers in Andy LeProu and Troy Burling to run onto, and he didn't disappoint, but thankfully, we were positionally sound and managed to react well enough to repel most of these attacks before they got out of control. Iain MacIntyre had left Shark Park to join Upper Hutt pre-season, and was given the task of target-man for them, dropping the ball back to their midfield to run onto. This provided us with some problems in defense, but our Midfield eventually dropped slightly to slow down the mobility in front of our back line.

At the other end, we were creative and had Upper Hutt scrambling in cover defense until a fantastic through ball was chipped in behind their back line (I'm only saying that 'cos it was from me) which Kevin Mills chugged (he's the engine room don't you know?) onto before the Keeper and 2 of their players woke up, and then he managed a delicate chip into the goal from an acute angle, giving us the lead.

A few minutes later, and Luciano latched onto another through ball. He beat a player only to seemingly push the ball too far in front of him and just as it looked like the next defender would clear comfortably, the notorious Wakefield Park bobble caught the ball, and the player missed it completely, leaving Lucci an easy (for him) smash past the stranded Keeper, giving us a fantastic 2 goal cushion.

Upper Hutt continued to fight us for everything, and Dave Plowright made an outstanding point blank save to deny one of their players standing six yards out, who chested a cross down nicely before volleying a cracker toward goal. We were saved again moments later, when an Andy Le Prou run breached our defense, only to have "the Bobble" skip the ball over his foot at the last moment as he went to shoot from only a few yards out.

It was one of those games where you wish half time wasn't going to happen, as momentum can shift after a rest, a drink and a few stern words. But, as sure as a Ref can't please everyone anytime, half time arrived.

The second half was tough going. The shocking, unrolled ground had taken it's toll on both teams in the first half, and the fouls were starting to increase.

Upper Hutt made an early sub up front, bringing on their 6 foot 6 inch import to mix it up. We (at the back) didn't react to the change fast enough, and struggled for awhile as he flicked the ball on constantly to other players running through in contrast to Iain MacIntyre's style.

We were still attacking the other end though, and I'm sorry to say I mis-directed an open header off a corner skyward over the bar, when it would have been easier to take the score to a potentially game killing 3-0.

The new striker was pretty grabby, and managed to con the ref into believing Musso had pushed him just outside the box (I could believe this might have happened, had there not been 100 kilos between the 2 players). Matt Bennett stood up to take it, and as all of their tall timber lined up on the far post, he curled his shot around the outside of the wall. Dave pushed it onto the post but it rebounded back onto the line, where Steve Davey could only help it into the roof of the net. Naturally this gave Upper Hutt some new determination to get something from the game.

We were guilty of giving away far too much possession when we had the ball, and Upper Hutt were forcing us into last minute tackles and putting our bodies on the line. Yet another Upper Hutt set piece led to the ball being bounced around in our box only to watch the ball sail from out wide over Dave's head where Andy Le Prou was waiting to force it in from a yard, levelling the scores, and making us wish we had more goals in hand.

It was all over soon after though, after some clinical passing from our players saw a ball cut through into space, and Dave Rutherford made no mistake from a tough angle, tucking the ball around their keeper as 3 Upper Hutt Players tried to rein him in. You could see the despair in the Upper Hutt Players faces straight away.

With a few minutes left, they pushed 4 up front to attempt another come back, but this meant that they had virtually no distribution, and we mopped up most of their attacks with little further problems.

Another 3 points for Island Bay, and our 4th win in a row means we are now sitting alone in 2nd place. Unfortunately, Tawa haven't yet succumbed to the pressure of being on top of a league which is still so close, beating Stop Out 4-1 to remain on top, in front by 2 points, AND with a game in hand!

This weekend we are away to Naenae, and as normal, it's another must win match for both teams involved, as we look to continue pressuring Tawa for the Trophy, and Naenae look to stay in Capital Premier next year.

Shark Attack!

Labels: home, premier, upper hutt, won

Apologies for not getting this report out sooner, but it was difficult to get the events of Saturdays game clear.

It was a beautiful day at Weka Park and the ground was also perfect. Something we definitely aren't used to enjoying.

It's fair to say that we began the game in dis-array. Our midfield was pushing up too high too often, and the bounce of the ball wasn't going our way, allowing them to pick up loose balls in the vacant gaps and pressure our defense.

We got a penalty, somehow, and as normal Richard Steel made no mistake. Minutes later a foul by us led to a freekick, which was taken in a new style, on the bounce. A perfect ball out wide gave their winger some time to line up, and beat, his man. As our defense scrambled to cover, the guy delivered a pin point pass to an unmarked attacker, calmly slotting the ball past our keeper to square the game up.

Much frivality and laughter ensued for the rest of the half, with numerous fouls, insults and curious decisions keeping both teams intrigued.

The second half carried on in much the same vein, until a superb cross was met by Steve Davey, who controlled the ball AND beat his player with his first touch, before slotting the ball into the corner of the goal, giving us the go ahead goal.

Kapiti were in no mood to lose points, and fought tooth and nail to get back into the game, while we pushed to kill the game off with a third goal.

Scott was sent off after a mistimed header hit a Kapiti player instead, so we played on with ten men. Minutes later, when their tall timber at the back elbowed Jamie Milne's nose open, we were reduced to nine.

Thankfully, before we ran out of players, David Rutherford had heroically headed the ball over their keeper and into the corner of the goal, after just getting back onto his feet from a prior horrendous challenge aimed at his head.

Eventually, time ran out and we had won, but it was not a pretty match, nor was it an example of how we want to play. Kudos to all of our players for sticking to their tasks for the whole 90 minutes, even though it wasn't panning out according to plan.

Another 3 points puts more pressure on the top teams, and hopefully we'll win this weeks home game against Upper Hutt, widening the gap between us and some other teams.

Shark Attack!

Labels: away, kapiti, premier, won

Could the Champs Premier League be any closer? Could it get any more difficult to work out which team might be where, if only we'd all played the same amount of games?

I'm getting sick of postulating where we might be on the table. I say, if you're playing well enough to advance through the rounds of the Chatham Cup, you're good enough to play your catch up games midweek! Of course I'm being completely two faced, and would complain in a heartbeat if we were still in the Chatham Cup and being asked to play midweek league games! :)

Saturday's match against Wests was going to be a test of our commitment to each other. In recent history, I cannot remember a season where we didn't drop points against teams beneath us on the ladder. With already having lost to Wests this year (in difficult circumstances) we were either going to sink or swim this time around.

To my delight, I'm able to use some words I haven't used in my reports for awhile:

Cohesion: Island Bay Premier's individuals bonded together as a unit, and outplayed Wests as a team. This is how every team should play, win, lose or draw!

Resolve: We showed that despite having injuries, politics, bad weather and facing opponents desperate for points, that we were taking the whole 3 points - end of story

Passion: There were some great goals, some flamboyant attacking, some inspirational defending, and some desperation tackles, but for the whole 90 minutes, (and this is where we sometimes drop the ball) we were passionate about winning.

Mo Terlau kicked things off in the right way, and after a touch to control, smashed a poor goal kick past the stranded Keeper from well outside the box to give us the lead.

Wests came back, their mixture of talented youth and experienced elders were proving to be a handfull, as Rupert Ryan, and Neil MacDonald were playing good one-two's to their players, and keeping us on our toes all around the park. The final ball from Wests wasn't coming though and we never looked like conceding the soft goal we normally do, entering half-time 1-0 up.

The second half could not have started better for us. Wests kicked the ball off, and within 1 minute, a fantastic run all the way down the flank from our right back Steelo and around his defender on the right wing was coupled with an equally deft cross, and Mo made no mistake about heading it past the Keeper.

2-0 up and Wests were struggling to get past our defenses since the first half loss of Neil MacDonald. We had a moment of panic when a corner wasn't cleared and several smashs towards our goal had to be repeled with some body-on-the-line defending.

Ian Paterson finally got a deserved goal after some fine counter attacking play, killing off Wests with a 3-0 scoreline. We're not only pleased for the win, but it's also nice to keep a cleansheet for a change.

This week sees us play away to Kapiti, and we'll have to come away with the points if we have any hope of keeping pressure on the other five teams within 5 points of top of the table.

Shark Attack!

Labels: home, premier, western suburbs, won

Barely two weeks ago, I was hurling criticism at Island Bay's Prem's as I played through a horrible game against Tawa.

In the last week however, I've seen us jump the table to third (Stop Out and Karori still have games in hand over us), played in two memorable victories, and seen our team transform remarkably, from a bunch of guys with talent, to a team with heart.

Admittedly, the first win was against bottom placed Lower Hutt, but we always like to make a game of it don't we? Coming from a goal behind twice in the match, to muscle out 3 points took courage, character, and cool heads against a team who are desperate for every point they can get.

Stop Out, whom we hosted on Saturday, were always going to be hard to beat, especially given their great run of results, and the fact that they were going to look for revenge after we bet them in the first round.

We were asked to deliver for our home fans, as our better games have been played on the road so far this season, and we walked out on to Shark Park with a quiet determination to keep the winning momentum turning over for ourselves as well.

I thought we started the match well, keeping possession for spells, but maybe not quite as cohesive as against Lower Hutt. Stop Out were keeping us under a tighter rein, but we still had plently of ball in and around their box, with only last ditch clearances and strong challenges keeping their Keeper safe.

We drew first blood after 20 minutes when a "Tahl Theodorou Wonder Chip" (edited from original "Speculative" - Happy now Tahl?) held up just short of the box, and Mo Terlau arrived in front of two markers to chip the Stranded Keeper in supreme fashion, giving him two goals in as many starts up front. Long may it continue....

We tried to sure up at the back for the next period of play, in order to re-focus and then return to attacking, but we lost the ball coming out from midfield, and Stop Out drew our defense out of position, letting their striker linger near offside (and on goal) just long enough to receive a pin point pass to feet which he neatly dispatched past Dave Plowright, bringing us level at halftime.

Like last week, the guys showed self belief in the dressing room, and shrugged our latest soft goal off, focusing instead on the next 45 minutes and securing a vital 3 points.

I'd like to say the second half was all Island Bay but while for long periods it was, Stop Out made it hard to us to turn promise into reward, and also put us under pressure at the back by playing long, angled balls across the park. I'm glad to say that our defense covered each other very well, and it was definitely our combined efforts which reduced their promising attacks at goal into nothing more than a few corners.

Our midfield coped better with theirs than in earlier matches, I think thanks for the most part by a better understanding of our positional play by the team as a whole. We also showed we had a bit of mongrel when we needed to, forgoing some of the class in order to win and control the ball's path.

A loose ball on halfway was placed well into the stratosphere by Mo, only to be nearly palmed in by their Keeper once it reached Earth again.

A promising Island Bay Attack was halted by another foul, and the resultant free kick was directed nicely into the box but over my head, yet it was close enough to Scott Clayton for him to be fouled by both Stop Out's Left AND Centre Backs, giving Richard Steel yet another Penalty attempt around the 80th minute.

We've become so sure of him (100% record to date) that most of our team ran off to get water. Thankfully, even though his kick wasn't up to his normal high standards, it went through the keepers hands anyway, giving us the lead we'd fought hard for.

Stop Out ran out of time to come back, and went a player down after their skillful winger turned on the Ref (Silly, Silly, Silly Boy), effectively killing the game off, and giving us our second win in a row for some time.

In other games, Tawa bet Karori 2-1 (Tawa are now in the drivers seat for first place, with a game in hand) Miramar as still top of the table after beating Lower Hutt 6-2, Upper Hutt jumped up to 4th, accounting for Wests 1-0, and Kapiti Coast devoured Naenae 6-2.

This Saturday we'll be out for revenge as we host Wests in the return league. Wests eventually bet us 3-0 (0-0 HT) at Endeavour Park in the first round, as we ran out of gas after playing with 10 men from the 5th minute onward.

Shark Attack!

Labels: home, premier, stop out, won

Firstly, on behalf of the Premier Team and it's Management, we express our sincerest and deepest condolences to Jamie Milne and his family, as they farewell his father.

Bruce lost his battle with Cancer early on Saturday morning.

About the game:

What can I say? A week after receiving a mauling at the hands of Tawa, and we were a completely different team. Sure, we still conceded our standard early soft goal, but it didn't faze us.

Against Lower Hutt, we almost became South American's. We were simply going to score more than the other team did. It's called self-belief, and yesterday we played like a unit who believed in one another from the first whistle until the last, and it was magic!

15 minutes in, Lower Hutt's striker finished well with a lobbed header over a stranded keeper, after the Ref told us to stand still while he talked to one of our players, but then let Lower Hutt take the free kick early anyway. That was interesting.

We fought back by playing the ball out wide to both of our wingers, and were unlucky several times to be flagged back by the linesman for offside, as both wingers were destroying their markers. Mo Terlau latched onto a neat cross from Steve Davey (after Steve left the right back doing spinning dance moves) and scored from close range to level the game up.

Steve smashed one in only to be declared offside yet again, and Mo helped a ball which was running alongside him in with his hands, receiving a bright yellow card for his troubles.

At the other end, Lower Hutt scored again when a great save by Dave Plowright landed sweetly to one of their players who then slammed home through a crowded defence, seeing us into the break 2-1 down on the score sheet.

Plenty of chat in the changing rooms proved that we didn't believe the scoreline correctly reflected the game at all, and we were determined to switch the result around in our favour during the second half.

The first 20 minutes of the second half was all Island Bay. We pushed Lower Hutt as far back as possible, with them only being able to play on the counter. Steve was put through on goal by a deflection, and tucked the ball away from an acute angle to level the score up at 2-2.

Lower Hutt tried to come back, but at this point Pedro Garcia was their only real attacking option and he was having to make the plays as well, dropping deeper and deeper to pick up the ball in midfield.

Another great run by Steve gave him some space to cross the ball into the box, and Ian Paterson's magic left foot smashed the volley into the far corner, giving us the lead for the first time, with 15 minutes to go.

It was slightly disappointing to see us revert to kicking the ball away in the last spell rather than holding onto possession, and forcing Lower Hutt into more defensive mistakes, but despite their attempts to draw level, they ran out of time, and the game ended 3-2, seeing us back in winning form, and giving us a much needed 3 points!

In other important games, No. 1 Tawa played No. 2 Miramar (Miramar won 1-0, which sees them take the No.1 spot) and 4th placed Stop Out drew 2-2 with 5th placed Upper Hutt, giving Island Bay back 5th Place on the ladder, and yet only 1 win shy of 1st place.

Karori (presently in 4th) are really still in the driving seat though, with 2 games in hand, as they played Palmerston North End in the Chatham Cup, coming from behind to win 3-2 in Extra Time and getting them through to Round 4.

This weekend we play host to Stop Out, in another six point game which is sure to produce fireworks!

Shark Attack!

Labels: away, lower hutt, premier, won

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

On the Queens Birthday, while she was sipping high tea and giggling at a re-run of Coronation Street, we were freezing our bits off chasing a few bits of stitched together leather around a paddock.

Wakefield Number 1 looked like it had been used by the NZ Army for Tank Wars, so the match was transfered all the way over to Brooklyn's home ground, Wakefield Number 2. Ahhhhhh, much better............;p

We'd sat inside our nice cosy changing room, and convinced each other that today we weren't going to let ourselves down, do the simple things well, play decent football and then turn the confidence we'd regained from keeping hold of the ball into decent goal scoring opportunities. We had also committed to doing this as soon as the first whistle went.

I've decided upon reflection that it must have been too windy to hear the first whistle, as we actually started in panic mode, giving away far too much ball, and then inside of 20 minutes, one bad ball at the back led to another, and the nippy striker dispossessed our centre back, tootled around Plowright in goal, and toed it into an empty net. Did I say he was fast? He was so fast, the rest of their team had to run twice as fast just to keep up with him!

True to form, after conceding, we settled down nicely, and at some moments looked dangerous with ball at feet and some nice crisp passing movements. Unfortunately our shots were not on target and yours truely blazed a golden op over the bar, so the half ended with us still down 1-0.

A bit of a re-iteration in what was wanted and needed at halftime, and we were back out into the balmy weather to try and turn things around.

The first 20 minutes weren't much to write home about, with few good scoring opportunites from either side, but after Dave Plowright stopped a one on one shot and held it while right out at the edge of his box, we seemed to wake up a little.

Kapiti seemed to be content with the one goal, and let us bring the game to them. I must say I am amazingly proud of the way Island Bay can play when we want to, and in the last 25 minutes, we really turned up the pressure, forcing Kapiti to throw themselves at everything, resulting in the Ref whipping out his little yellow card like he was an Action Man "with authentic wrist action".

We hit the crossbar, sent the ball just wide, and then a handball in the box ended with a penalty (almost just like the one we should have had against Karori, except in the Ref's line of sight) and Steelo tucked it in to bring us level.

We wanted the whole 3 points, and unfortunately as someone once said, "we didn't lose, we just ran out of time." In almost the last kick of the game, Scott Clayton spun his man and curled a shot across the goal. The Keeper disturbed the air flow around the ball with his flapping glove (i.e - the absolute faintest of touches), which sent the ball onto the bar, and richocheting back into the flying David Rutherford (who knew nothing about it) before bobbling inches wide of the net, and 2 more, much needed, points.

The game ended a 1-1 draw, which annoyed the writer no end, because he alone should have "Bulged the 'ol onion bag" 3 times. Maybe next week.

The start of the second round sees us hosting Tawa, and we hope to build on our last 25 minutes of the last round, and begin winning again.

Shark Attack!

Labels: drew, home, kapiti, premier

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

A hearty welcome back to Naenae, whom we hadn't played against in top flight football for a number of years.

This of course creates the issue of not knowing how they play, who was dangerous, and how we could bet them. Coaches problems really. The weather had been horrible all week, but on Saturday Wakefield Park was bathed in sunshine, and still (Yes, you read it - Still!!)

Our guys turned up to play football, and we started the game quite well, with a strong defensive line, hard-working mids, and hungry attackers. I can't say we played great flowing football for 90 minutes though, as the game resembled more of a tennis match at times.

This is nearly always the case in games where the opposition are determined to match us physically, while trying to "run interference" and stem our attempts to play football. To their credit, Naenae gave their all for the duration, and made some good attempts at scoring, thankfully our defense was up to the task, and we kept our third clean sheet for the season.

Our goals came via Mo Terlau and Kevin Mills and both in the first half. Mo closed down a defender outside the box who tried to dribble around him unsuccessfully, leaving Mo to hammer the ball past a stranded Keeper, and Kevin reacted first to a failed clearance, expertly lobbing the ball into an open goal over a crowd of players lined up on the edge of the box.

The second half got scrappy, and neither team created golden scoring opportunities, the game ending as it did at halftime, 2-0 Island Bay. Stop Out also won their match 2-0 against Lower Hutt, which means we're still second on Goal Difference.

We look forward to this Saturday, where we welcome Miramar's first team in a Chatham Cup tie.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, naenae, premier, won

On Saturday, 3rd (Us) played 4th (Upper Hutt) and 1st (Tawa) played 2nd (Stop Out) so we knew it was possibly a good chance to get our noses clear in front, providing we focused our attention of defeating an always strong Upper Hutt team.

It did not start well.

It wasn't that we were lethargic, which we weren't. It wasn't that we weren't well prepared, which we were. It just seems to be that we can't settle and get comfortable with the game until we give away a soft goal.

Unfortunately, it didn't help when in the first five minutes I was put through with a superb, defense splitting pass, only to smash it into the Keeper's legs. It felt like only seconds later when Dave Plowright couldn't contain a shot and one of Upper Hutt's players had it in the back of our net - after Dave had tried valiantly to parry his first stab at goal. As anyone who has been to Upper Hutt's home ground can appreciate, the gallery went nuts!

Luckily Upper Hutt's defense were also in goal gifting mood's and one of their centre backs attempted to "back" head the ball to his own keeper from the edge of the box, while the keeper was unfortunately still on his line. This left me to run around the defender and head the ball into the net over the Keeper's flailing arms, evening up the game.

In true Wellington v Hutt style, the game often reflected the movie "Bloodsport" with high kicks, low kicks, side kicks, back kicks, jersey pulling and all sorts keeping the Referee busy. This is however (and despite what anyone might say or think) a contact sport, and as such, will always have some physical elements to it. Neither side backed down, and this made it a good match to be involved in, and to watch as well, I believe.

At times we played some beautiful, fluent and pacey football, which was impressive enough to draw some claps from our own players. These times did not eventuate in goals though, and we entered halftime deadlocked.

More of the same followed in the second half. Upper Hutt played lots of long balls out to their hopeful front men, but it was not a performance which saw much continuity from their midfield, thankfully. Island Bay, on the other hand, looked dangerous on attack, except whenever we lost the ball during a counter attack........

We finally broke the game open when I latched onto a nice ball over their defense and squared it inside to Ian Patterson (who had made a fantastic run inside :)) who bet his marker on the six yard line and then squeezed the ball under the keeper and onto a poor defender, who could only smash the ball into the roof of the net, making it 2-1.

We all thought it was going to be a shooting fest when their Keeper had to retire injured and their subbed on Striker donned the gloves, but I don't remember any of us having a shot on target from then on, so we must have been busy defending our lead. Credit must then go to Upper Hutt, who never gave up, and are going to be a team which hopefully make life very hard for other teams.

Stop Out are our new league leaders on goal difference (over us), after coming from a goal down to Tawa in the first half to runaway with the game 4-1. Elsewhere, Miramar defeated Kapiti Coast United, just (8-0!!!), Naenae bet Lower Hutt 1-0 and Karori won 2-0 over Wests.

This weekend sees Island Bay back home for 3 weeks, after 4 weeks on the road (I thought games were supposed to be Home and Away, Home and Away????), firstly taking on Naenae, then Miramar's first team in Chatham Cup play, before having another run in with Miramar, but this time Miramar's Capital Premier Team.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, premier, upper hutt, won

Congratulations to Wairarapa United on winning Capital Premier 2008. You proved by your results that you were the most consistent team in the league, (winning 12 games our of 18, scoring the most in the league with 48 goals, and conceding the least with only 19 against).

We wish you all the best of luck as you go into your play off games and hope you get to enter another team into the Central league from the Wellington Region. We don't want to see you back in Capital Premier next season.

To Island Bay supporters, a very big thanks from all of the Premier Squad and Management Staff. It was a season which showed great promise yet ended in under achievement, but we'll be back again next year, and look to keep the positives (we played some great football, had some great young talent, and showed amazing heart at times) and eliminate any negatives for Season 2009.

To all the teams still with games to play in their seasons, we hope the days fine up and you get as much football in as possible.

To those teams looking to win their leagues and/or gain promotion, Island Bay Premier wishes you the very best of luck. Play your hearts out, battle for everything, and aim for the proverbial stars (actually aim for the net). You've already done the hard yards, now it's time for the final push!

Go Sharks!

Labels: notices, premier, wairarapa

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

Island Bay Premier faced off against Tawa on Saturday, hoping to walk away from Redwood Park with 3 points, edge away from Tawa on the table and in the process apply some much needed pressure on Wairarapa.

Upon arriving at Redwood, we were told the pitch was flooded, the ref had gone to Kura Park to see what that was like, and that Capital Football wanted the game played!! (Tawa had already had 2 whole games postponed which meant the football was just going to have to suffer!) The ref returned, and told us we were on our way to Kura Park as it was much better. Somehow we lost a linesman on the way, so a spectator was given the job of waving a flag around on the sideline, and being overruled for 90 minutes. A contract I'm sure he's still bragging about winning.

The Pitch might have been better that Redwood, but it was still absolutely destroyed within ten minutes of kickoff, with both teams finding it difficult to play any kind of football, and guilty of the occasional late, sliding tackle.

Island Bay looked a little shaky in defense playing against the wind in the first half, for while they coped with Tawa's long balls adequately enough, they struggled to get the ball out of defense and find their own players feet.

At the other end their keeper was giving a man of the match performance, saving a number of shots from our attack, including one which looked to be well over the line. Lucci finally broke the deadlock, slamming a ball into the side netting despite the keepers best efforts to get over to it.

Minutes later Tawa drew level, with a Tawa "Super Sub" scoring a once in a lifetime volley over Dave's head from an acute angle. I'm sure he'll tell his kids (or any one's kids for that matter) about it later on in life and it was good enough that I think he's totally entitled to. Score 1-1 at the break.

Both teams came out after the half looking to get something out of the game. We looked the more attacking of the two sides, and attacked Tawa down the flanks, trying to get the ball away from the middle of the pitch (The Bog). Midway into the the half, a poor clearance from Tawa was headed back down the flank, Lucci turned his man inside out, then delivered a pin point ball to Hicham's Feet. Hicham, with his back to goal, somehow hypnotised his marker into diving out of the way, so he could promptly pivot and slot the ball into the corner.

Again, minutes later, Tawa drew level again when the "Super Sub" had a ball played in between Lee and Petero for him to muscle his way onto and slot home despite an honourable attempt by Dave to keep us in front.

Fearful that if we kept scoring, the final outcome could be 10-10, we decided to just keep coming close to scoring instead, thus ensuring Tawa and the "Super Sub" wouldn't keep scoring come back goals.

The game ended in Wairarapa's favour, a 2-2 draw between 2nd and 3rd place letting them get a further two points out in front (as they downed Upper Hutt 2-0).

This week we play Waterside Karori at their new Whitby Ground (Adventure Park), and here's hoping that the team show the same gritty determination as they did against Tawa, with perhaps a little more concentration and finesse (Ground and Weather permitting)

Side Note: The Ref had a great game.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, drew, premier, tawa

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

First played second when Island Bay Premiers hosted Wairarapa United on Saturday, although neither team could lay a definite claim to top spot as Wairarapa had a game in hand, and were only 1 point behind.

It was always going to be a tough match, with Island Bay looking to avenge their only loss of the season so far, and Wairarapa wanting to take over the lead on the table. The match started exactly how it carried on, a hard fought contest between two battling sides, capable of playing some high quality football.

Wairarapa took the lead when one of their long balls to their skillful and fast strikers wasn't dealt with effectively enough, and carried that lead into the break as both teams failed to control the game in the mud that was the midfield.

The second half was no different, except that both teams were tired from carrying around several kilos of Wakefield Park mud. Mistakes and goals were definitely going to happen. Unfortunately for Island Bay, it was Wairarapa who scored first, Rabo playing a ball through to Solomon to run onto and slot in around Dave's outstretched arms giving Wairarapa 3 points, or so they thought!

The Island Bay train kept on chugging, and determined not to let them beat us again, we sent Petero up front, brought on fresh legs, and began attacking Wairarapa's defense, sending wave after wave of attacks into the box.

Island Bay's three man defense was still being constantly threatened by the pace and touch of the two Fijian strikers, but were struggling to find good shooting opportunities without the support from their tiring midfield.

A Wairarapa handball in their box resulted in the referee awarding a penalty, which Rodney put away (after the keeper parried the initial kick), and handed the Bay a lifeline.

A cross into the back of their box was headed back across and Petero's resulting bicycle kick forced a great save from their keeper.

A free kick just outside the box was actually a definite penalty (once we reviewed the video).

Lucci was crudely brought down in the box giving the Ref no option but to award another penalty, which Steve Davey dispatched sweetly into the corner (although the keeper seemed concreted to his spot).

This levelled the game for us, and caused snow to fall on the Rimutaka's, so Wairarapa had to go home without setting foot inside our clubrooms to either make snow angels, or beat the road closure.

A remarkable comeback from our team, and a great insight into the determination we can show when we put our minds to it. Still, with the league table the way it is, Island bay will have to win all of their remaining matches, and hope Wairarapa drop a point, before they can claim this seasons Premier Title.

This week we're at home again, this time hosting Miramar, the only team we have failed to score against so far, and we'll be looking to set the record straight!

Go Sharks!

Labels: drew, home, premier, wairarapa

Last Saturday we faced Kapiti United, and found that the 1 hour trip away had been reduced to a trip to Whitby as Kapiti Council had closed all their grounds.

Despite both teams essentially having an away game, we knew from our last encounter with them that it would be a hard fought game played for the full 90 minutes. Injuries and Ground closures had disrupted our preparation during the week, but we were determined to put this past us and keep to our winning ways.

We did not start well though, and the first half belonged to Kapiti who put pressure on us at the back by pumping high balls forward which were lost in the sun until the last minute. Their striker proved to be extremely dangerous, hitting the crossbar, and forcing Dave P to make some fantastic saves to keep the sheet clean.

We weren't creating much, but one excursion forward saw Benn Florence slot one home against the run of play, bringing us into halftime 1-0 up and very relieved to get into the break ahead.

Calm heads were going to be needed to get the three points, and in the second half Kapiti pushed us all to the limits, sending many players forward and pressuring us for every inch of space around the park when we had the ball. They hit the post, sent a few wide, and did everything except score.

The Kapiti faithful made for an interesting and noisy sideline, egging their team on at every opportunity, but unfortunately perhaps they pushed too hard, getting one of their players so worked up that he was given a straight red for molesting our Keeper, and that in turn relieved some of the pressure on our back line.

Near full time, one of our fast counter attacks finally paid off, when Petero ran 80 metres out of our defense to receive a good ball, smash a great shot which the keeper could only parry and Zac buried it from one yard to end the game 2-0.

Full respect to Kapiti United who forced us to battle for each of the 90 minutes on the park, and kudos to our guys, who put in a gutsy performance and proved that we can still win games when our brand of football might not be flowing freely as we'd like.

This weekend sees us hosting Wairarapa in what could decide how the season will go for both teams. They've handed us our only loss of the season so far, and Island Bay will be looking to set the record straight.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, kapiti, premier, won

Island Bay Premiers side faced Marist on Saturday, hoping to continue our winning run and cement our position on the top of table. We knew from our previous encounter with Marist that their current position on the table isn't an accurate reflection of the determination of their squad and we'd be fighting for the whole of the 90 minutes for a result.

The game started as we thought it would, scrappy, with both teams struggling to retain possession on the unforgiving pitch. The Marist midfielders (and Marist in general) were closing us down quickly, and making it hard for us to play our quick and free flowing attacking game. Eventually we managed to force a flowing move, a nice pass into the path of Hicham gave him a half chance, and he tucked it away into the corner, giving us the lead into halftime 1-0.

The talk at halftime called for a reshuffle of the team formation in order to cope with Marist's midfield dominance. Unfortunately the change didn't have the desired effect, and Marist pulled even shortly after halftime, when we were overrun in the midfield and unable to make a decisive clearing tackle.

At 1-1 it was all up in the air. Marist were brimming with confidence, and we were unable to relieve the constant pressure by scoring at the other end. With 5 minutes left to play Marist were awarded a penalty when a cross was misjudged and bounced into a Island Bay hand. It was up to Dave Plowright, stepping up from Reserve Goalie to keep Island Bay's unbeaten home run alive, and he put the Marist Striker off enough for him to drive the ball into the post.

The Game ended 1-1 with Island Bay breathing a sigh of relief, and Marist wondering what they had to do to get their second win for the season. This weekend we play Kapiti Coast out at Weka Park, and will hope to get some form back in a season where every point counts so much!

Go Sharks!

Labels: drew, home, marist, premier

The start of the second round meant we played Lower Hutt out at Fraser Park, in what we hoped was going to be a continuation of our winning ways and the start of us winning away from home, which we had failed to do in the first round, coming away with three draws and a loss.

We were a little unstable to begin with, the ball wasn't sitting right, the passes weren't flowing and we didn't seem to have much spring in our steps, but that all changed when we started putting interlinking passes together in dangerous areas, overpowering the Lower Hutt defence and getting in behind, around and through them at almost every opportunity.

The First half romp was started by Benn sliding the ball past the stalled keeper, then Hicham scored twice (once from the Spot) Zac scored again with his head, and then Benn got his brace before the 45 minutes was up. Lower Hutt did score through a corner when a Lower Hutt player "helped" the ball on towards the far post using Maradona's famous "Hand of god" technique for an unmarked player to head home, but in reality we had them dead and buried at the half time whistle.

The referee's disappeared for a quick tea break, only to come back after half an hour (so we can assume they had scones aswell) and restarted the match. Lower Hutt's frustration was showing more and more, with tackles becoming more focused on players than the ball, and as is always the case with being up by lots of goals at half time, the whole Island Bay team decided to play as individuals and get themselves on the score sheet aswell. Naturally neither of this was good for our football, and our game degraded dramatically.

So dramatically in fact that Lower Hutt won the second half 1-0, one of their players finally finishing off after we'de made two or three poor clearance attempts inside our box.

Although our second half performance was poor, and lacked any enthusiam or passion whatsoever, our first half performance was great. We got our first win away from home, and as Tawa were turned over by Upper Hutt 2-1, we now sit perched on top of the table with 21 points from a possible 30 [though Tawa 19 and Wairarapa 18 have a game in hand each].

This weekend we play Marist at home where we'll look to improve on our 1-1 draw with them in the last round, and keep our noses in front at the top of the league ladder.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, lower hutt, premier, won

Island Bay Premiers had the chance to exact revenge on Western Suburbs for kicking us out of the Chatham Cup on Monday, even if it was West's second team.

Even though they have been struggling in the Capital Premier League so far this season, it was a must win for us if we want to be in the running come the end of the season, and as the table is so close, every point we can take is vital. We had won all our home games so far, (scoring at least three in every game) so we had a lot to play for.

Wests started well, lifted by the inclusion of senior players Rupert Ryan, and Neil MacDonald, who's experience and touch gave Wests more possession than they would have enjoyed without them. We attacked down the flanks and delivered the ball into dangerous areas without causing them too many problems, until 30 minutes in, when a corner was delivered perfectly to Zac, who headed the ball into the man on the near post, and was deemed to let the ball entirely over the line before clearing it. A year ago we would not have had this sort of decision go our way, but luck is actually bred from attitude and self belief, two components which have come a long way this season. 1-0 at Half time.

The second half carried on in much the same vein, see-sawing football, and neither team playing particularly well, when a slow clearance led to a good tackle from a Wests striker, who on his next touch slammed the ball home from 20 metres and tied the game up at 1-1 in the 70 minute.

The realisation that we were in danger of giving Wests their second point in 8 Games finally woke us up, and from then on it was all Island Bay. Lucci pounced on a nice through ball, and drove the ball into the area, giving the Wests defender no option but to attempt to clear, unfortunately powering his header past his own keeper and into the net.

5 minutes later and a poorly timed tackle 25 metres out gave Hicham a chance to flex his calf muscles, lashing a fierce drive into the far netting, and giving us a safety cushion.

3-1 the final score, but Wests will start taking points of teams if they continue to play like that. This week marks the start of the second round, with Lower Hutt hosting us at Fraser Park.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, premier, western suburbs, won

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

While the mens first team's home form has been outstanding, winning all four of our Wakefield Park encounters, and scoring at least three in each game so far, our results on the road have been less than glorious, drawing two and losing one coming into the game against Upper Hutt.

Winning away today was going to be tough though, with Upper Hutt surely looking for revenge after we knocked them out of the Chatham Cup two weeks prior. A five car pile up on the motorway was not a good start, and most of our team were late getting to the ground, let alone the strip, which turned up with 15 minutes to go before kickoff. Once again, Harcourt Park was a groomed and amazing surface to play on (Thanks very much to the Grounds Staff), and it was a beautiful day to play good football.

Unfortunately we didn't start well, and let Upper Hutt run the midfield, spread the ball wide and attack our defence from all over the park. We seemed satisfied to let them do this, and it wasn't until their striker managed to run from wide on halfway, all the way into our box and around Shaan before passing the ball into the net from six yards that we realised this wasn't the way to play.

From the restart we got into the game, pushing players forward of the ball and penetrating through gaps in their backline. We didn't create many golden opportunities in the first half though, and the score remained 1-0 to Upper Hutt going into the break.

The second half was a complete turn around, with our Midfielders and Frontmen shredding the Upper Hutt defense at every turn, Hicham finally finishing off well after the ball was poorly cleared and put back into the danger area. Upper Hutt had to settle for counter attacking, and while they did create several tense moments at the back, we were unfazed and still pushing for a winner when the ref blew up full time.

Final score was 1-1, meaning another draw on the road, 3 points from a possible 12, and left us wondering what we have to do to get a win away from Shark Park.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, drew, premier, upper hutt

Another home game on the weekend required another victory for the Premier side as we attempt to climb to the top of the ladder. Karori were joint top of the table, hadn't lost yet in 2008, and have a game in hand aswell, so it was a good time to let our intentions for this season be known. The squad was overflowing with confidence after beating Tawa, and Upper Hutt (Chatham Cup) in previous weeks, and were looking forward to keeping to our winning ways.

We started well in the windy, wet conditions, although perhaps not so great at the back, with a few tense moments as we failed to deal properly with Karori's long floating balls over the back of our defense. Once we'd sorted these out, it was all Island Bay, with Karori's midfield being swamped by Nate, Steve and Petero. Hicham was back from injury, and carving trenches around the Wharfie's defense, taking 20 minutes before scoring a well earned goal, even if it did take a deflection on the way.

We continued to dominate, Karori relying on counter-attacking whenever they could break out of their half. Five minutes before half-time another attack resulted in a corner. Ian fired in a near post cross, which Zac rose up to and rocketed the ball towards goal. The defender on the near post could only head the ball into the top of the net, making it 2-0, and surely requiring a couple of panadol.

Different game, same old Wakefield Park half-time talk. "Third goal will kill 'em off gentlemen!" Karori would have been given a slightly different speech I'm sure, and both teams came out of the dressing rooms fired up.

Karori changed formation to 3-4-3 in an attempt to peg one back and make a game of it, but within 5 minutes Steve Davey had decided the third goal wasn't happening fast enough, so drove one into the top left hand corner from 25 yards, leaving us all gob-smacked, including the stranded Wharfie's keeper.

Karori kept searching for a way back in, and looked to have found one when they were awarded a penalty. Fortunately Shaan gave us some more penalty magic, not only saving the initial kick, but also dealing with the rebound. Karori would score ten minutes later though, bending a freekick around the outside of the wall and in off the post with precision. It was all too little too late though, The Bay has now won all four home games and is sitting in second place, only two points adrift of Tawa.

Interestingly, after SEVEN games, there is only SEVEN points separating the top SEVEN teams. This weekend Tawa face Karori, while we play Upper Hutt, away at Harcourt Park [that'll be twice in two weeks] on Saturday, with a Chatham Cup tie against last years beaten Cup finalists, and Central League Winners, Western Suburbs.

Waterside Karori's Match Report

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, karori, premier, won

On Saturday Island Bay played our first Chatham Cup tie against an Upper Hutt team who had proven problematic to us over previous seasons. Upper Hutt had also beaten Wairarapa United the week before.

Chatham Cup matches are a bonus for us as the primary focus is to win the league this year, but with last weeks win against a very good Tawa team and an emphasis on enjoying our football in the lead up to this game, the guys turned up noticeably relaxed. Sometimes taking this attitude has leaded to lethargy on the park, but it wasn't to be the case this time, and we quickly imposed ourselves on the game. Playing forwards, we seemed to have the run of the midfield in particular, with Upper Hutt failing to pick us up as we came through.

Our first goals came quickly with Petero playing Nate through with a great ball for a simple tap in finish. The second goal came shortly after with Petero this time playing a one two to put himself in front of goal and finishing in solid fashion. Upper Hutt looked a bit shell shocked, but held their heads and tried to get back into the game. Just before half time they were rewarded, after learning from our approach towards goal, playing a nice one two of their own to put a player through one on one with Shaan and getting themselves back into the game with the score 2-1 at half time.

Island Bay looked by far the better team, but it's points on the board that matter and so it was with concern when half way through the second half a hard tackle resulted in a penalty being awarded, and our Captain being sent off for asking one question too many of the referee. However, Shaan's pre shot dance on the goal line completely put the penalty taker off and the poor shot was well saved.

And so we had survived the immediate danger but were now down to 10 men with about 25 minutes to play. We re-shaped our lineup to compensate, with Steve becoming the lone striker (obviously he hadn't done enough running in the midfield), Lai and Zac dropping into midfield and looking to get forward in support when possible, and Petero playing in central defence.

With about 10 to go Nate played a ball into the Upper Hutt penalty area to Steve, who turned it back to find Lai on the penalty spot. Lai engaged in a quick bit of line dancing with the ball and Upper Hutt defenders then tucked it away in the corner to put the game beyond doubt.

The last few minutes then become a mere formality, Island Bay winning
3-1 and progressing to the next round, against Western Suburbs at 2:00 PM on Queens Birthday Monday on Endeavour Park.

This week we host Waterside Karori at Wakefield Park, as we fight over top spot on the league table.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, chatham cup, premier, upper hutt, won

On Saturday Island Bay clashed with Tawa, unbeaten and with four wins from five games, they had a right to occupy first place on the table. We were looking to switch the momentum from that of a mediocre side held scoreless by Miramar the week before, to play more of the well oiled, and penetrative style we know we can. The Fans demanded a big game!

We started well, straight from the first whistle we settled into our attacking gameplan, looking to break Tawa's spirit early. The breakthrough came inside the tenth minute, Luciano Colucci was played through by a great ball, cut inside his man and smashed the ball in near post. We wondered if Tawa were shellshocked then, but they certainly were ten minutes later, when a pass back from their goalie found the centre back dispossessed by Lai Gatarua who spotted the keeper off his line and expertly chipped the ball into the top left hand corner from outside the box, giving us a two goal cushion.

Tawa struggled to get back into the game, but began to break through from midfield and push the ball wide, pulling our back three out of position, and opening up little holes. A couple of near misses, led into a few great saves from Shaan, but a neat one two in our box saw an easy tap in and the half ended 2-1.

The message was clear. Tawa had to attack, and we needed to score first to put the game to bed. So that's what we did. Ian Paterson flew down the left wing, cut inside a few of their defenders and slotted home within ten minutes of the restart. Tawa weren't phased though and their constant pressure showed why they are at the top of the ladder, eventually breaking our defense down again, and a glancing header was simply finished off at the far post as we all stood ball watching. A tense and defensive final ten minutes was eaten off the clock and Island Bay emerged with a 3-2 victory, pushing us back into third spot, 2 points off the lead.

This week is a Chatham Cup Round, with Island Bay facing Upper Hutt at Harcourt Park.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, premier, tawa, won

On Saturday Island Bay Capital Premier played Miramar, who had recently been thumped by both Tawa and Wairarapa. It was clear early on that our oppositions confidence had been shaken by the previous weeks experiences and we looked by far the more capable team. Balls flowed easily forward and our backs, playing into a very strong southerly, were easily dismissing their challenges. As a result we inevitably managed to get several chances on goal but failed time and again to convert chances, even one on one, into goals.

As more time went by without us scoring, Miramar definitely grew more confident. To their credit they were well organised and maintained a good shape to repel our attempts at securing the win. In the second half they got 10 players behind the ball on defence playing into the wind and looked to counter attack. Our stronger performances came from our backs and man of the match goal keeper Shaan. Unfortunately their match winning efforts were not converted by our forwards.

Early in the second half frustration lead to changed tactics, leaving only three at the back and putting three up front, to try and break the dead lock and injected fresh legs into the midfield. Though we came close on many occasions to getting the winner it was not going to be our day.

It is frustrating not to have been able to put teams like Miramar and Marist away especially going into the next couple of weeks challenges against Tawa and Waterside Karori who are undoubtedly two of the stronger teams in the competition. But the spirit within the side is very strong, as is the belief that we have a very good side this year. We are looking forward now to our next game, as we can only make amends by making a difference in these upcoming games.

This week sees us return home to take on league leaders Tawa.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, drew, miramar, premier

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

A youthful Kapiti Coast United turned up to do battle against us on Saturday, coming off the back of a 2-1 loss at home to Miramar.

After having drawn last week against Marist, the mood in the dressing room was one of determination. We feel as a squad we can foot it with the title contenders, and the bar needed to be raised higher than our previous performance.

We started well, composed and attacking minded, Hicham finishing another great passing move within the first 10. He calmly rounded the keeper 5 minutes later, and Island Bay were firing on all cylinders.

To their credit Kapiti were not fazed in the least by conceding twice in 5 minutes, and settled into the game, creating space in midfield, and trying to poke holes in our defense. With a nasty wind swirling around the park, we were loath to concede free kicks close to our goal, but we did, and with 20 left in the half, Chemo our keeper watched a ball change direction on him at the last minute and bulge the net as he was stranded in mid air.

Kapiti were lifted, and continued to attack us whenever they could find a gap. Yet another free kick was launched at us, and unfortunately Chemo could only take the pace off it, leaving me to make a failed attempt to clear off the line. 2-2 at half time.

Letting Kapiti back into the game was obviously not good enough, so after the break we sent another man forward, looking to break the game down in Kapiti's half, and pressure them into mistakes. Steve Davey was once again "Johnny on the spot" rewarding the team for a flowing attack with the lead again.

Kapiti were still attacking us all over, and it wasn't until late in the game when Steve smashed a free kick off my balding head and into the top corner that the game was put beyond doubt.

Final score 4-2. This week we'll travel away to the Wairarapa on Sunday, to see if we carry on our winning ways, and carry on climbing the table ladder.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, kapiti, premier, won

Marist won promotion to Capital Premier after coming second in Division 1 last season. They only lost one game while Miramar Rangers [who won Div 1] lost three, the difference proving to be Marist's draws.

Last week they lost to Miramar 3-2, after conceding three goals in the first 10. We knew that they would be looking to record a win in their first Premier game on their new home ground, and would try and play football, rather than long ball, or just beating us with their fists, so we were looking forward to the encounter.

The game started, but we failed to, and for the first 30, it was all Marist, using the wind to peg us in our own half, with their midfielders feeding their striker and wingers lots of good ball. Their goal came from a fast break down the line, a couple of missed offside calls, and an eventual tap in which was made harder by determined tracking from Steve Davey. 1-0 to Marist.

The last 15 minutes of the half would see us wake up slightly, but we conceded offside after offside, and when Hicham smashed the ball into the corner of their net, that was called offside as well. 1-0 HT.

The second half was not a lot better from us, but a reshuffle saw us play an extra man forward, and Steve Davey capitalised on a nice cut back to beat the keeper from close range and level things up at 1-1. Marist had let up from their great first half performance, but still gave us plenty of trouble down the flanks, partially from us handing them too much ball.

1-1 at full time seemed fair at the time given our performance, but upon reflection either team had enough chances to take the 3 points.

This week sees us hosting Kapiti which we'll be targeting to regain our winning ways while playing entertaining football.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, drew, marist, premier

Having lost to Lower Hutt both times last year, and to their Central League side in the Chatham Cup, we knew they weren't going to be pushovers this time around.

The game was played in the pouring rain, which at times turned the game into a theatrical event, rather than a footy game, both sides overrunning the ball as it stuck in pools of water, and having the ball bounce 20 feet overhead whenever it hit a hard patch.

After 15 minutes of first game jitters, the pre-season training and effort that the squad and management had put in paid off, and we settled into a rhythm with lots of precise passing and good ball control. One particularly nice set of passes later Lucci had rounded the keeper and we were up 1-0.

From then on we maintained possession, and played in Lower Hutt's end of the field for the most part of the first half, occasionally letting them out for a quick break, or a hopeful long ball over the top of our defense. Hicham Kamri, one of our new faces, struck twice, both times receiving the ball with his back to goal, spinning his man and tucking the ball into the corner of the goal from the edge of the area.

The halftime talk was simple, "It's 3-0, and the game should be in the bag, so lets make sure!"

Lower Hutt obviously had a rev up at the break, and came out looking to peg us back, but aside from the odd perfect through ball, and a few fast breaks the length of the field, failed to get a shot on target.

Hicham's strength saw him latch onto a massive punt from Chemo, and slot under their keeper to complete his hat trick and effectively kill the match off with 10 minutes to go.

This week we're away to Marist at Kilbirnie Park. Good Luck to all the Island bay teams.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, lower hutt, premier, won