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WOODLEIGH SOCCER CLUB - UNOFFICIAL SITE
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Tue, 26 Aug 2008
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| DRB 2nd Rnd - Prems vs FDMC |
This was a game we had been focusing on for quite
a while. The rain held off and there was a bit of
a breeze but conditions weren't too bad. The team
was the same as the previous week against
Moturoa, apart from the subs. Jordan and Michael
were both unavailable so we had Cam from the
second team as our twelth man.
FDMC started with the breeze at their backs in
the first half and they did most of the early
pressing but by and large our defence coped. They
had a lot of pace and we had to be at our best to
stop them getting in behind us too often.On one
occasion early on in the match Thomas Mosquera
did manage to get away from our defence and got
on the end of a good cross but couldn't get his
header on target. FDMC did take the lead after
the half hour when a corner was only partially
cleared and one of their players on the edge of
the box rammed an unstoppable shot into the net,
0-1. Woodleigh rallied a bit after that and
although we failed to score we did create
problems for the school team. Halftime score, 0-1.
The second half saw Woodleigh start on the front
foot. We used the wind well and Sam was bombing
their defence with his kicks right from the off.
We were winning a lot of corners and that was
where our equaliser came from. Danny swung a kick
into the box and Mark met the ball with a
thumping header giving the FDMC keeper no chance,
1-1.
However the game turned on its head shortly after
that as FDMC hit us with two goals in a very
short space of time. They retook the lead after
Mosquera intercepted a loose pass near our
penalty area and from his low cross one of his
teammates headed the ball home past Sam.
The killer third arrived shortly afterwards when
from a corner Dom Squatiri glanced a header in at
the near post past myself and Sam, 1-3.At this
point we could have caved but it says something
about us that we didn't. In fact for the rest of
the game FDMC ended up hanging on. Sam continued
to hammer their defence with his long kicks and
it was from another corner we won that we got our
second goal. Shaun this time delivered a great
cross and Danny was there to get his head on it.
The ball bounced down and then in, 2-3.We went
hunting for a third and headers from Glynn and
Mark were close and Dave, who harried their back
four constantly, had the ball around the keeper
after nicking it away from him but a defender
cleared it away. The final chance came with three
minutes left. After some good possession around
the edge of their box, Brian squared a good pass
to Glynn who ran onto the ball, but his shot went
wide. We tried to keep the pressure on them but
they managed to keep us further upfield and the
ref blew for fulltime not long after.
Disappointing to lose like that, but it was a
good cup tie and we didn't disgrace ourselves.
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Posted 01:15
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Wed, 20 Aug 2008
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| Prems vs Moturoa |
Another home game for us and it was a chance to
get one over on an old rival. The game kicked off
in cold but fine conditions. Apart from the
cricket pitch, the ground was in good condition.
After an initially strong opening from the
visitors, Woodleigh settled and produced some
good football, stretching Moturoa at times with
good passing and movement. Glynn went close to
scoring our first goal with a curling effort
which was going in but the Reds' keeper got a
hand to it to push the ball away for a corner. We
had several good chances from corners, Mark and
Danny both getting heads to the ball but just
failing to get their respective chances on
target.0-0 at halftime and we were happy with our
effort. In the second period Moturoa lifted their
effort and caused us some problems at the back,
but it was from a penalty that they took the lead
after Jason was judged to have pulled back an
opponent in the box.Scott Manson blasted home the
spotkick to make it 0-1.Our response was almost
immediate though and Allan finished off an
excellent freekick move from the left which was
taken by Jason.He hit a long cross to the far
side of the goalmouth where Glynn met the ball
with his head and sent it back across the six
yard box to Allan, and he calmly
tucked the ball away, 1-1.
After that the game moved from end to end quite
nicely. With time running out,Jason made a couple
of changes to try and win the game, shifting
himself out of defence and going to a 3-4-3
formation from 4-4-2.Jordan replaced Brian and a
bit later Michael came on for Allan.
Unfortunately the team failed to adapt to the
changes and it was an error by young Michael that
led to Moturoa's late winner, after his weak pass
was pounced on and the ball was fed to Anthony
Ander who cooly beat Sam to make it 1-2. So it
was disappointing to lose but with our play in
the first half particularly, it augurs well for
our cup game with Francis Douglas next weekend.
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Posted 05:36
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Wed, 13 Aug 2008
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| Prems vs Boys High 1st XI |
The weather was not too bad for this game, just a
cold wind. Shaun returned to the team and their
was a start for Mark Byelich in midfield due to
the absence of Glynn. Boys High had most of the
possession early on and looked to get on the
scoreboard early but our defending as a team was
good and they didn't create any outstanding
chances, resorting to shooting from long range,
no shots really testing Sam.Woodleigh became more
of an attacking threat as the half wore on but
again no clear scoring chances were created.
There could have been goals in the second half
for both sides but good blocks and smart saves
kept it goalless.Shauns freekick in the second
half was probably the pick of our chances, his
kick curling a foot past the post, their keeper
stranded.Boys High had a shot clip the angle of
cross bar and post.Final score 0-0.
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Posted 00:45
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Tue, 05 Aug 2008
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| Prems vs Kaponga |
Another rainsoaked day at home was the setting
for our final chance(probably), of staying in the
promotion race.By the end of the day we were left
to ponder the " what if's".
Because of an early kick-off we were denied the
services of our captain, Glynn, who couldn't make
the game because of work commitments.Gone too
from the team was Shaun, injury and illness
sidelining him.Jordan also was missing. So that
meant a bare eleven players for the most
important of games. Young Michael Putt made his
first start, playing in defence and Shane also
stepped up for us.
Kaponga started brightly, putting early pressure
on us and enjoying good territory early on. It
was they that scored first too when an error by
myself in failing to cut out a pass forward
allowed one of their forwards to take on Sam and
score, 0-1. We rallied well though and not long
after were back level after we scored indirectly
from a corner. The ball fell for Dave in the box
and he drove the ball goalwards,Shane getting the
vital touch to turn it in, 1-1.
Jason nearly put us ahead a bit later as he
curled a good shot just wide of goal.
Halftime saw us level then.We took the lead again
in the second half when the Kaponga keeper failed
to hold on to a shot by Jason and Brian was on
hand to stab the ball home for his sixth of the
season. We played well in the second period, lots
of chances created but we couldn't score again.
The closest chance game from a goalmouth melee
which ended up with Shane shooting past the
keeper but a defender hacked it off the line.
With a quarter of an hour to play Tony was caught
in possession inside his own half by the Kaponga
winger on his side. I found myself in a two on
one situation and though I was able to hold the
winger up for a few seconds, he made a yard of
space for himself and fired the ball past Sam.
That was the killer blow for our season really
and we should never have let our season get in
this state, we only have ourselves to
blame.Special mention though for Michael he was
voted man of the match and had an excellent game.
Also Dave was outstanding with his workrate,
Allan too worked really hard, winning countless
headers.
Final score, 2-2.
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Posted 01:36
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Thu, 31 Jul 2008
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| Prems vs Hawera Div One |
Another shocking weekend for weather saw us at
home against Hawera's b side. They were clearly
struggling for numbers as their only sub was a 65
year old! We had no official ref for the game so
Dave Savage kindly stood in. He was put to the
test as well, particularly in the second half
with Hawera's heavy handed approach.
In the driving rain we kicked off and settled
down reasonably well, passing the ball around.
Hawera rode their luck on a few occasions. Keith
in goal was having a good game for them and made
some good saves. We went closest to scoring in
the first half when Glynn's shot hit the inside
of the post and bounced across goal to safety.
They had a good chance also when Sam was beaten
to the ball by Kris Booker, almost on the
touchline and Booker curled a shot on target
which I was able to head clear for a corner.
0-0 at the half wasn't really an accurate
reflection of the game but Jason wasn't too
unhappy with that.Hawera pressed forward early in
the second half and it was a direct result of
them pushing on that lead to our goal.Allan
received the ball and played a nice ball down the
left side for Shaun to chase. He looked up and
squared a good pass for Jason to thump home.
We held the lead for a while before we got caught
out at the back and Kris Booker capitalised to
drive a shot past Sam for 1-1.
Chances still came our way and Shaun should have
scored when Mitch found him in space with the
keeper to beat but he hit it too close to their
keeper, Keith who parried and then saved the
follow-up shot from Shaun as well.The game
threatened to boil over at one stage after some
nasty challenges went in,Tony was left on the
ground after one of them and was subbed off hurt.
As the rain and cold increased our chances of
winning slipped away until finally Dave blew the
whistle to send us running for the showers!
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Posted 01:04
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