Island Bay United AFC

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

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

On Saturday Island Bay boarded the bus, ready for the long haul trip to Marist's Kilbirne Park, for our first Chatham Cup tie of 2009. How ironic we should draw Marist first up. A derby for sure, and it was a beautiful still day. Just perfect for kickball! :)

We knew we were in for a tough match against Marist, who would be looking to put on a good show and prove that their Premier relegation last season was more bad luck than poor performances. They started better than we did, moving the ball around quickly amongst lots of showing players meant that Island Bay's defense was forced to shift smartly if we were to plug all the holes.

An unfortunate dipping cross from a Marist player outwitted the outstretched arms of our Keeper, and we were down a goal before we could settle into our style of play.

We did settle down though and began to play some football in the dying moments of the first half, but Marist's players were on a high and determined not to let their lead slip. Both teams made chances, but neither could complete that final killer ball in the first 45. 1-0 at halftime.

We had hoped that Marist would tire in the second half, and continued to probe their defense looking for a breakthrough, which finally came in the last 15 minutes of the game, when a desperate lunge from Marist to clear the ball out of the 6 yard box was ruled handball and up stepped Richard Steel, to calmly (as always) SMASH it into the corner.

1-1 at Full time meant playing extra time, which, given a late start time, almost meant night soccer, without lights.

It seemed we were set for penalties, as neither team could turn any of their build up play into goals, when Mr Paul Muollo decided it was up to him as Captain/President to put us through to the next round, first using his fabled left foot to poke the ball goal ward from 4 yards, then using his slightly less fabled right foot to smash the ball into the roof of the net, making the score 2-1, and setting up an easy cup tie against Miramar Rangers (Winners of this, that, and everything else at some stage) on 16/17 May.

We'll be at home on Shark Park, and you can guarantee Island Bay will do their best to come out on top despite their underdog status.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, chatham cup, marist, won

Easter Monday came around all too quick for my liking, considering only 48 hours prior we'd had a physical encounter against a youthful Lower Hutt side. Still, it's the same for both sides, and both Stop Out and Island Bay turned up at Hutt Park Raceway determined to put in a good showing despite the windy weather.

We started in to the wind, and tried to play Football by keeping the ball on the deck. We took some time to get into our flow, but once we had settled down, we played some great football in difficult conditions.

Ian Paterson reacted quickly to a soft clearance off a Richard Steele super throw, superbly rifling the ball in the top left hand corner (over several defenders), only to be (somehow) denied by the linesman's flag.

Stop Out began to use the wind to good effect, slotting nice balls in between our defense, and we were saved several times by last minute desperation tackles, great saves from David Plowright, and some poor finishing.

With about 10 minutes to go before half time, Ian Paterson decided to step up his game, and bet 3 players on his way down Stop Out's Goal line, before slipping the ball back for Luciano Colucci to slot in the near corner from 10 yards out.

At half time, we were convinced having the wind behind us was worth at least a goal but were still conscience that Stop Out would be all out to tie up the game, and accordingly, both teams battled end to end until Stop Out went down to 10 men after a straight red for a tripping off the ball (but in front of the Ref :S).

Even down to 10 men, Stop Out played some great football which had us stretched all over Hutt Park, and might have evened the scoreline, had it not been for the great attitudes and commitment shown by all of the Island Bay players.

Several sets of fresh legs came on from both teams, but it was a cross into the box which saw substitute Mo Terlau fouled and let Richard Steel notch up his 2nd from the spot in 3 games to give us some breathing room. The game ended at 2-0, and sees Island Bay take up a 3 point lead on the league ladder after 3 games.

Lots of the 2009 season left, and 10 hungry teams looking to win the league, so it'll be a tough ask to maintain first place for the next 15 games. I trust (And Expect!!!) Island Bay to show their character, take nothing for granted, and front up to every game with 100% commitment to walk away with 3 points, while enjoying playing good football at the same time.

This week we are playing away at Western Suburbs, and as such will play on SUNDAY out at Endeavour Park.

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, stop out, won

Easter is upon us, and Saturday saw the start of our double header weekend, with Island bay looking to get the best start possible to what's sure to be another long season, full of tough games.

Despite half of Island Bay United's players being out with pulled Holidays, (Holidays, during Footy Season?!?) and management having to strategically pick players to cover the top three teams, we started well, matching Lower Hutt's physical approach, and scored early on, when Steve Davey whirled around in the box to deliver a neat cross which Luciano Colucci calmly slotted into the near corner.

Lower Hutt scored an equaliser before half time thanks largely to the wind, which turned a clearing header and deflection into a lob over our Keepers outstretched hand.

The second half saw Island Bay pull away from Lower Hutt, who's physicality turned into numerous yellow cards and an eventual red (it wasn't the right player, Ref) and this let us dominate the young side in most areas of the park.

David Rutherford saw his charge down inside the box converted into his first goal of the 2009 campaign, and after Steve Davey bruised the keeper with a point blank shot, substitute Mitchell Lee slammed in the final nail in Lower Hutt's coffin to end the match 3-1, and give us a good follow up from our Tawa game last weekend.

On Monday we have on Top-o-the-Table clash (I know we're only 2 games in!) playing away to Stop Out at 2pm.

Go Sharks!

Labels: home, lower hutt, won

On Saturday Island Bays Premier squad had a show down with Tawa, who were going to come out onto Redwood Park fresh off a Hilton Cup Final win, and looking to avenge their 2008 season (we won and drew with them which hampered their push for 1st place).

In blustery condition, neither team could dominate, with possession, and composure, swinging both ways constantly during both halves of play.

Numerous offsides, and slicing clearances by both teams re-iterated that it was the first game of the season. Each team tested the keepers a few times, but we entered half time locked at 0-0.

In the second half, Island Bay seemed to cope well with Tawa's re-invigorated attacking prowess, and created many chances of our own, just lacking the final killer ball in Tawa's final third. It seemed the game was destined for a draw, but then a deft cross was met well by one of the Tawa players, and it took a line clearance by Mike Jessitt to keep Island Bay's head above water.

A few substitutes later, and into the final ten minutes, a dangerous through ball to David Rutherford was met with a clumsy sliding tackle, leading to a spot kick for Richard Steel to smash into the corner in his usual calm style, finally breaking the deadlock.

Tawa's late push for a draw in the dying minutes tested the resolve of the Island Bay defensive system, but it was not to be Tawa's day, and the Referee blew full time at 96 minutes to a joyous victory cry from the Squad and Bay Faithful!

Next weekend is Easter, with Island Bay hosting Lower Hutt City on Saturday, and playing away to league newcomers Stop Out on Monday. Come and show your support as we try and win six more points!

Go Sharks!

Labels: away, tawa, won

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

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

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

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

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