WU Salmon 0 - Petone 5-Match Report

Wellington United Salmon 0 - 5 Petone Chuggers

Man of the match points:
(first mention and a 'virtual 3' goes to Ants, who had played both Saturday and Sunday and was hoping to spend some time on the bench, but ended up playing the full 90 and giving 110% for every minute of it)
3 - Jeremy Norman
2 - Richie Hallam
1 - Richard Martin

Hard to sum this match up, the scoreline certainly doesn't reflect the work and effort put in by the team, but on the other hand we can't feel too hard done by either.

An unexpected no show from the star international ring-in unfortunately put the Salmon on the back foot from the start, with a team very heavily weighted towards defence and only one sub. However we started well, the first forty minutes unfolded with some really solid play from the Salmon, and although Petone had the run of the attacking play, tight marking and constant pressure meant that their shots were miles off the mark.

All was looking good for a clean score sheet heading into half time, but then a glancing header - perfectly weighted to drop into the top right corner - left Richard M with no chance. This was the turning point in the game, and triggered the Petone onslaught. The Salmon didn't seem to lose their hunger, but did start leaving their opponents just a fraction more space to play the ball, and before the whistle had blown the Chuggers had taken another chance well, and again slotted the ball into the top right corner (this time with a cracking left foot drive).

Not long after half time came a third (this time slotted across the goal into the left), then a fourth from a goal-mouth scramble. With all credit to the Salmon, we dug in and managed to shut them out for the next half an hour, but they were running hard down the flanks, getting all their first touches spot on, and piling the pressure on in our side of the pitch. We just couldn't seem to get any of the play up in their half, and couldn't keep it there for more than a few seconds when we did, so almost inevitably they scored the final goal with just minutes on the clock.

In summary, our passing was dreadful, theirs was pinpoint, and that was the main difference between the teams. We just couldn't string anything together or hold any kind of possession in their side of the park (on the rare occasions we got there), which is what eventually killed us. But it wasn't a cricket score, was played in good spirits, and could have been a very different game if we'd had a few more attacking minded players available.

Salmon 1- Beavers 1

The wet track specialists bounce back with a 1-1 draw against the Uni Beavers-Choice!

Round Three 2011

CAPITAL 9:
Upper Hutt Saints 6 Wgtn Utd Salmon 1
Uni Beavers 0 Petone Chuggers 0
Wgtn Utd Legends 1 Tawa Bears 4
Wgtn Utd Terrace 0 Seatoun Gulls 5

P W D L GF GA Pts
Seatoun Gulls 3 3 0 0 10 3 9
Uni Beavers 3 2 1 0 12 1 7
Upper Hutt Saints 3 2 0 1 11 4 6
Wgtn Utd Salmon 3 1 1 1 8 10 4
Petone Chuggers 3 1 1 1 1 4 4
Tawa Bears 3 1 0 2 5 4 3
Wgtn Utd Legends 3 0 1 2 6 10 1
Wgtn Utd Terrace 3 0 0 3 1 18 0

Thump!

thats the sound of the Salmon falling back to Earth- A 6-1 lesson at the hands on Upper Hutt after a competitive first half which ended 2-1.

Back to the drawing board lads

Team for today

WU Salmon Vs. Upper Hutt Saints
GK- Richard Martin
LB-Rich Hallam
CB-Kahu Kirikiri
CB- Nathan Rattray
LB- John Dow
RW- Jeremy Norman
CM-Warrick Jackson
Cm-Matthew Fulton
LW-Michael Ashby
CF-Rowan Hall
CF- Rowan Hall

Subs:
Steve Jessup
Simon Healy
Richar Morrison
Kieren Love (on debut)

6 point weekend

The Salmon picked up 4 from a possible 6 pts on offer in the opening weekend to be nestled in a comfortable third on the table:

CAPITAL 9:

Tuesday 5 April:
Seatoun Gulls 3 Wgtn Utd Legends 2
Petone Chuggers 1 Tawa Bears 0

Monday 4 April:
Uni Beavers 3 Upper Hutt Saints 1
Wgtn Utd Salmon 4 Wgtn Utd Terrace 1

P W D L GF GA Pts
Uni Beavers 2 2 0 0 12 1 6
Seatoun Gulls 2 2 0 0 5 3 6
Wgtn Utd Salmon 2 1 1 0 7 4 4
Upper Hutt Saints 2 1 0 1 5 3 3
Petone Chuggers 2 1 0 1 1 4 3
Wgtn Utd Legends 2 0 1 1 5 6 1
Tawa Bears 2 0 0 2 1 3 0
Wgtn Utd Terrace 2 0 0 2 1 13 0

WU Salmon 4- WU Terrace1

WU Salmon 4- WU Terrace1
Half time 2-1

3 goals from Craig and a fourth from newbie Squirt sealed the deal in squalid conditions. Well done to Jerms and Simon who battled hard in the middle and a big thank you to Kahu who took the gloves after a no-show from Sami. Now if only Richie Hallam would start putting away a few of his chances from those corners....

Kia kaha boys, a few more gritty wins like this and we'll be sitting pretty

MOM Standings from the weekend

Kahu- 3pts
Craig- 3 pts
Rowan - 2 pts
Jeremy- 2 pts
Matthew Fulton- 1 pt
Simon- 1pt


Golden boot standings
Craig -3
Rowan-2
Fulton-1
Squirt-1

Legends V Salmon- quick update

Salmon drew 3-3 with the Legends in a fast paced entertaining match

Great to get a result first up, well done lads

a little bit of history

For all the newbies, and for the oldies who wish to reminisce;
Salmon were formed in 1999 and were originally nicknamed "The Steve Austins'! The Salmon moniker came after one of the lads washed the kit poorly making it a Salmony orange- and one of the WAGS said it was less orange and more of a Salmon, since 2000 it has been the Salmon.

We won our division three times in a row in our first three years (Div 10, Div 9 and Div 8). We have had no silverware since EXCEPT for winning the inuaugural Div 9 cup two seasons ago.

COuld 2011 be the year the glory returns to the Salmon?