Island Bay United AFC

Back to that winning feeling - you beauty!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shark Attack!

Labels: capital 1, home, stokes valley, win

Well, we did it again - were our own worst enemies in literally GIVING three goals up against previously bottom placed Stokes Valley.

Yes, the ground was crap.
Yes, the referee was, ummm, being heavily assessed (enough said).
But we still should've got past that to post the win. And we didn't.
So back to the bottom of the table for us.

After a good team lunch at La Bella Italia, we arrived at Delaney Park with good time to spare, and in good spirits after a well deserved win the week before.

The team wasn't too disrupted with changes, as the core was kept the same. Matt Hickey had an exam, Paul was out injured, and Milney away after the passing of his father. Our condolences go out to you and your family mate.
Black arm bands on though and time to get focused on the game.

Hamish came in for Matt, Freddie at Left Back for Paul and Luciano, still on his come back, started up front with Jimmy.

Talk was of getting into the same mind space as the week before, understanding the importance of getting a result and the desperation that Stokes Valley would be feeling to stay close to the pack.

And to be fair, we started off well again. We were never really troubled at the back, were dominating the ball in midfield and creating chances up front. It's just a pity we couldn't finish off, as a goal could've worked wonders in getting our tails up and SV heads down.

But the SV 'keeper kept them in the game, and when they got a dodgy and fortuitous own goal we knew we were still in it, to get a result.
SV got a ball in behind our left hand side and Freddie did well to get in between the ball and the man, but a pretty blatant shove in the back pushed him off the ball and as he came back to block the shot, it was cruelly deflected into our net. Very lucky and undeserved so we needed to keep our composure to build our comeback.

We threatened plenty, forcing a lot of corners which resulted in a couple of good saves.
Josh rose nicely for one header, and got well over the ball but unfortunately straight to the 'keeper, then I finally got one goal bound, only for the 'keeper to get a couple of fingers to it and send it out for another corner.
Other shots and crosses towards the danger area were blocked by the desperate SV defence, and we went in to the break down by that one goal.

I'm not sure what happened in that second half, whether we were feeling the effects of the heavy pitch or if SV just got right into it, but for the majority of it, we seemed to be too loose and too slow to second phase ball.

The first 15 wasn't too bad and this is when we equalised, but for the last half an hour SV dominated possession and play as they kept us camped in our defensive half (where the state of the ground was much better than the other half).

Off another attacking corner, a half clearance was squared back in along the ground by Jody. It found Hamish with his back to goal and as he gave it a nice flick back through his legs (or a perfect dummy miss?), it came right to me inside the 6 yard box...a wild prod, with eyes closed, and the ball makes it over the line. You beauty, my first goal for Island Bay and it's brought the scores back level!

As mentioned though, we couldn't seem to push on from the momentum gained and when two mistakes in quick succession were punished by goals we just had too far to climb.

A runaway SV player had his first shot brilliantly parried by Adam in goal, but when the rebound fell to the other striker there was nothing he could do to stop the resulting shot.

And poor old Adam, who had run out of petrol on the motorway on his way out to the game, was left high and dry again, as a mix up on half way left the SV striker bearing down on him as he came out to claim the ball near the edge of his area. As he collected the ball, he slid out of the area and tried to keep the ball in the box, but his momentum carried him too far. He let go, the striker pinched it and squared it for his unmarked mate to finish. Tough luck but maybe we need to tease out the mongrel and dishonesty in you Adam - you're just too honest! ;)

Our final goal came from a nice piece of counterattacking, in what really was the only well worked goal of the game. 15 year old Caleb, who had come on for Jimmy, was released down the left hand side, in acres of space. Once he got down to the box he calmly checked and squared for an unmarked Luciano, who cooly slammed the ball past the 'keeper.

We tried valiantly to claw back another equaliser but SV did well to hold on to the ball and keep us out.

Thankfully we're back at home this week and in the never ending important games, we have the return match against Brooklyn Northern, who are coming off a 1-1 draw against top placed Olympic and beat us 4-2 in the first round.

They're only 1 point ahead of us though, so nothing to fear and plenty on the line...

Nick

Labels: away, capital 1, loss, stokes valley