State of Origin

Great game of indoor yesterday, played Origin style.

The Locals, playing in Orange, beat the Foreign born, playing in Green, 9-8.


We played fast and lose with citizenship though, since we had a sub at the start and he just switched between teams.

Orange
Adam
Danny
Wazza
Lane
Nathan
Dave

Green
Craig
Nigel
Richard
Cam
Sami

It sez a lot for the morale of the Salmon that 11 people turned up to play a game iof indoor on a cold and wet Saturday morning after a cancellation. Well done lads.

GAME IS OFF TOMORROW!

Indoor training at Boyd Wilson Arena is ON instead

State of Origin Styles- Wgtn born vs the rest
10.30 ko!

Directions:

Boyd Wilson Arena is in the building just in front of the Boyd Wilson Field, which can be found here:

http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=boyd+wilson+field&sll=-41.244772,172.617188&sspn=48.801473,78.837891&ie=UTF8&hq=boyd+wilson+field&hnear=&ll=-41.29019,174.769156&spn=0.012011,0.019248&z=16

Head up towards the Kelburn Campus of the University, taking the first left (Waiteata Rd) after you turn off the Terrace onto Salamanca Road. Follow Waiteata Rd as far as it will go, past the Student flats on your left, and down the hill. Access is through the double doors on the right

Wgtn Utd Salmon vs Seatoun-Match Report

Wgtn Utd Salmon 1- Seatoun Gulls 3
(HT- 1-1)

Happy Valley #2
22/5/2010

Team:
...........Kahu..........
Richard....Simon H...Adam....Dave
Daniel...Ben...Danny...Lane...Nigel
..........Craig......

Subs:
Nathan
Cam
Chris
Enrico

MOM points:
Richard-3
Nigel- 2
Lane -1
Dave-1

Scorer: Craig

The season is ebbing away for the Salmon after points were dropped in a must win three pointer against our local rivals Seatoun. Like a script faithfully followed Salmon plied on the first half pressure and were far and away the better team in the first spell, but then right on cue a second half collapse let Seatoun back in the game, and although Salmon regrouped and clawed their way back in, it was far too little, far too late.

A transfer to Happy Valley was a blessing since the sun shone brightly on a flat grassy surface- perfect conditions for football. Salmon had a full complement of players, although Nathan was still recovering from injury and was asked to referee the first half to warm up into the game.

Salmon started strong with Ben and Danny controlling midfield and Nigel and Dan adding legs on the wings. A Simon long ball from centre back had Craig through on goal, but Nathan called him back for a marginal offside- the signs were good.
Lane, Dave and Nigel combined to set up the first goal from a throw in, the Seatoun defence were bamboozled by their aggression and the ball fell to Craig just outside the box on the left. A quick turn and a looping shot had the keeper backpedalling to no avail, the ball nestled in the net for 1 nil, another beautiful goal for the skipper, and surely the floodgates would open now!

Salmon continued to pile on the pressure; Craig played Lane in but the keeper came out smartly, Ben and Danny were rolling great balls into the box for the skipper but the final touch was lacking. The closest Salmon came to equalizing was when Lane outjumped the keeper to loop a header onto the bar, a magnificent effort that rebounded straight to Ben with the goal wide open-alas Ben’s jump was too early and his header flew harmlessly over the bar.

Seatoun meanwhile had meager possession at the other end, and when they did manage to break forward the defence managed to snuff out the threat- Richie Hallam was the pick of the defenders, consistently winning the ball and distributing to his wingman Dan, and later Danny.

However it was down the right where Seatoun’s breakthrough finally came- driving into the box the Gull’s winger pushed the ball past Simon who tangled with him in the challenge- Simon clamemd he got the ball but it looked awkward and Nathan had no choice but to point to the spot. The Gulls striker calmly placed it past Kahu for 1 all.

So 1-1 at the break and Salmon were unlucky not to be up by three.
The second half well and truly belonged to Seatoun- now running down hill with the gentle breeze at their backs. Their second was well taken, a quick passing move past a static defence and then a delicate chip past Kahu- 2-1.

Their third was lucky, but came on the back of yet more possession- in a carbon copy of last week a long cross from the right sailed over the keeper’s head.
Salmon were suddenly 2 goals down in game that they had been dominating- You could see the body language drop, and it seemed like a long way back. To our credit we did fight back, Chris had a shot from distance which fell short, but Dan steamed in, narrowly missing it with his head. Ben and Craig kept trying for miracle 30 yard screamers, and Lane ran like a man possessed trying to create a half chance or two. Late in the second half Craig was through one on one once again, this time he was on side- although he slipped as he shot it was still on target and the keeper pulled off a great save- the subsequent corner was squandered. It has been a strange season for the skipper, seemingly unable to score simple opportunities in the box but netting from distance with tricky lobs and chips!

So it ended 3-1. If Salmon had taken more of their chances in the first half and not fallen asleep for the first 20minutes of the second half it would have been a different game. Petone picked up a draw with Legends, meaning the bottom is even more congested, but it also shows that every team is vulnerable.
As I have said before, we have the quality to beat any team we just need to put a solid 90 minutes performance together.

Richard Hallam was man of the match- an easy choice since he added a rarely seen attacking element to a solid defensive game. Nigel gets two points on the back of his MOM performance last week, for a clever game, in particular combining well with Dave, who gets one point. A bonus point for Lane who typifies the fighting spirit we need to channel to get our season back on track starting next week boys!

Game Transferred to Happy Valley #2 at 12.30

We have been moved, but at least it is still on- here is hoping Happy Valley is a Happy Hunting ground!

Its in Owhiro Bay, or go down Happy Valley rd from Brooklyn.

See you there at 11.45.

MOM Points -Halfway point

Each week we choose three players for MOM-3pts for first, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd.
Sometimes more than three players are chosen, but not often.It is an inexact science since often the whole team deserves a point for the effort.

Points are only available in competitive matches, friendlies do not count. This holds true for Salmon appearances and goals- Friendlies are simply to informal for there to be any statistical weight applied to them.

At the end of the season everyone votes once more for their player of the season. These votes are added to the weekly tally to find the overall player of the season.

Here is the tally at the halfway point:

Simon Healey- 8 pts
Danny Culling- 5 pts
Ben- 4 pts
Nic - 4 pts
Adam - 4pts
Nigel - 3 pts
John - 3 pts
Lane -3 pts
Cam -3 pts
Chris -2pts
Craig- 2 pts
Richard -1 pt

Wgtn Utd Salmon vs Tawa AC-Round Two -Match Report

Tawa ACs 4- Wgtn Utd Salmon 0
(HT- 1-0)

Kura Park
15/5/2010

Team:
...........Stefano*..........
Adam....Simon H...Nathan....Dave
Daniel...Ben...Nic...Lane...Nigel
..........Craig......

Subs:
Richard
Martin Henry*
Anthony P.*
Simon*

MOM points:
Nigel-3
Simon- 2
Lane 1

*Indicates Salmon debut

Wgtn Utd Salmon vs Tawa Bears-Match Report

Wellington United Salmon 2- Tawa Bears 3
(HT- 2-1)

Newtown Park
8/5/2010

Team:
...........Sami..........
Adam....Simon...Ali....Dave
Cam....Danny...Lane..John..Chris
..........Craig.....

Subs:
Kahu
Daniel Mitchener

Scorers:
Craig (2)

MOM points:
Cam-3
Chris- 2
Simon- 1

Petone Stewsmum v. WU Salmon -Match report

Petone Stewsmum 0- Wellington United Salmon 1
(HT- 0-1)

Petone Memorial Park
1/5/2010

Team:
............Kahu..........
Richard....Simon...Warrick....Dave
Adam....Danny...Lane...Ben...Nigel
..........Craig.....

Subs:
Enrico
Cameron
Daniel Mitchener

Scorers:
Craig

MOM points:
Adam-3
Craig- 2
Ben- 1

At long last WU Salmon managed to put together two consecutive halves of football to grind out a very well deserved 1 nil win over old rivals Petone Stewsmum.

After conceding 15 goals in the previous two weeks (12 of those in the second half) it was fantastic to get a clean sheet, and even better to pick up three points.

An amped up Wgtn Utd Salmon took to a pristine Petone Memorial #1 in beautifully still conditions. The game plan revolved around tight defence and patient counterattack, with a five man midfield given a defensive brief, allowing a lone striker to patrol the line.

The plan was enacted perfectly- Salmon started much the stronger, as we have in all our previous games. This time however we did not let this lull us into a false sense of entitlement to the points, if we went into the 80th minute at 0-0, well that would be fine.

However there was a sense that a Salmon goal would come, after Craig asked early questions of their keeper, driving low shots into the corners from distance. Danny also had a great early chance, deciding to try and round the keeper, but being snaffled by a two footed lunge from their quite agile custodian, and Lane was making good runs into the box from deep.

Craig won a free kick after being taken out with a shoulder barge while through on goal- 3 metres closer and it would have been a spot kick- the cynical foul riled up the skipper.

The break came after 30 minutes or so. Ben played Craig in on the edge of the box, and Craig skipped across the top of the box, took one look up and curled a shot around the defence and into the right hand corner- After testing the keeper at the near post, the knockout blow came at the far.

1-0 and Salmon had a deserved lead from all their pressing. In fact Kahu was underemployed in goal with the Petone long ball game plan failing to trouble Wazza and Simon, and the Stewsmum wingers haven’t difficulty getting past a double team of Adam/Richard and Nigel/Dave on the flanks.

At the half time break it was all about maintaining intensity and staying focused- one half does not make a game.

The second half was as expansive as the first, but this time Petone started to find some groove with their game plan. However Ben dropped deeper to sweep in front of the back four, and the use of our fresh legs, in particular Dan and Cam, meant that the quick counter attack was not catching us short. The best chance of the half began from deep as aforty yard through ball from Ben deep inside our half was met by Craig, steering it past the last man and bearing down on the keeper. The skipper chose the wrong option, shooting wide when Danny was free in the middle. Ben had the next best chance, popping a shot from the edge of the area which looked certain to go min, their keeper pulling off a fine save to claw it out for a corner.

As the clock ticked down it seemed as though the early misses might come back to haunt us, as Petone now started to throw more bodies, and longer balls, forward. Desperate defence from Adam, including a cynical shoulder on the touchline (still not as cynical as Petone denying a goal scoring chance in the first half) meant that it seemed likely that Salmon would finish with all three points. The few corners they got were ably defended, including a fine take from Kahu in the crowded box.

With three minutes to go Petone had one last chance, getting into the box, but Simon swept in to clear for a corner. Every Orange shirt crowded the box, and as the ball feel tantalizingly at the feet of the Petone forwards a rugby style ruck and maul ensued, Wazza managed to clear but only as far as the edge of the area – the resulting cross was met with a powerful diving header to safety by Danny- such commitment encapsulating the Samon’s determination.

The ball fell at last to Craig’s feet outside the box, and having watched one too many Inter Milan games he set off for the corner flag, despite the fact that Lane was calling for a simple pass in the centre circle. A throw in was won and Adam and Craig ran down the clock well away from the Salmon goal.

It wasn’t always pretty, and it could have been a bigger margin but a 1 nil win is a real football score, and it was great to be on the right side of it-Well done Salmon, everyone deserves to take heart from this- especially the defence who held firm- three points to Adam Holloway who had his best ever game in an unfamiliar position, providing great attacking ball and supporting Rich in defence. 2 points for Craig for tactical nous and a winning goal, and one point to Ben for directing traffic in the middle, and sweeping up the rubbish.

C’mon Salmon- the first battle has been won, but the war goes on!