Wellington United take down Unicorns

University Unicorns 2- WU Salmon 9
(Halftime 1-5)
Anderson

Scorers:
Craig Ireson (4, incl. 1 pen)
Sam Mills
Matt O'Driscoll
Mike Upchurch
Matt Fulton
Own Goal 

MOM Points
Craig Ireson- 3 pts
Callum Crane - 2 pts
Matt Fulton - 1 pt


This would have to be one of the more bizarre games in Salmon history, and the first time since our 7-0 cup win in 2009 that we have really dismantled a quality opposition with a relentless desire to dominate.

It seemed as though the old adage of the best time to play a University team is during term break was going to be true. They only had 9 players with ten minutes to go and their captain was in the sheds on the cell phone rather than warming up- believe me I have been there too!

We discussed offering them a player but, seeing as they had beaten us soundly in both encounters last year, we decided to wait 15 minutes before actioning any charity.

The first five minutes were all Salmon and even though we had a man advantage Uni made it seem like two as they made error after error in defence. Steve Westcott, Sam Mills and Matt O’Driscoll started bossing the middle early and it was Sam’s well timed through ball which found the skipper in space in the box. Craig finished off the left hand post for 1-0.

The next five minutes continued the theme as the extra space on the wide, wet Anderson allowed Callum and Fulton to get behind their markers and link up with the middle. The second was contentious; Steve Westcott whipped in a chipped pass into the box after Uni once again failed to clear. A Uni player rose to head it away but only nudged it into the path of Craig. The Uni captain and centre back appealed for offside as Craig rounded him to face the keeper, aggrieved, the Uni player hacked at Craig’s leg, bringing him down.

Rhys the referee had every right to point to the spot despite the protest from the Uni captain. Craig stepped up and though the penalty was close to the keeper it powered through his hands for 2-0.

Some Uni players now decided to concentrate on moaning rather than playing and it showed. A through ball from Callum found Craig again who crossed for Fulton and Sam but the Uni defender got there first to send it into the net for 3-0.

Salmon felt sorry for Uni and now, after 20 minutes and 3 goals decided enough was enough and offered up one of our subs to them- Uni’s reply? “we don’t have any shirts, they have to play skins”- - Ah no thanks, 11 v. 10 it is then.

Craig’s hat trick came soon after when Callum ran into the box from the right wing and hit the far post from his shot. Craig followed up and took an age to tap the ball into the net past the diving keeper. 4-0

Uni rallied a bit, but there goal was fortuitous, albeit expertly dispatched. Their danger man striker who took us apart last year took possession outside the box and drilled a low shot past Richie who seemed to have lost track of where the goal was for a fatal second. 1-4.

The next passage of play saw a bizarre twist yet again.  Matt was in the box facing away from goal- The Uni skipper slid in and tackled him from behind; cleanly but dangerously in the eyes of Rhys. A penalty was awarded. Cue University players raging as the spittle from last night’s Export Golds at the end of term party flecked their lips. Craig decided the aggro wasn’t worth it and gently rolled the ball to the keeper in an act of appeasement. The keeper then booted it downfield to try and catch us on the break- thankfully they didn’t. The Uni skipper spent the next five minutes whinging to me about the penalty, to which the reply was “I’d love to see you give up a penalty like that mate.”

The bottom line was, although the penalty was justified, we were playing too well to take charity.

Sam had a chance to make it 5-1 soon after when he was put through on goal and side footed wide. He’d soon make up for it.

The fifth came from Fulton cutting inside and into the box, he did enough to set up a one on one, but was off balance- Sam pounced on the chance instead and buried it. It was the right decision by Sam because a chance is just a chance until it’s finished. 1-5.

To half time and a jubilant mood in the shed- However Salmon had lost from such positions before so the watchword was caution and to keep playing the way we had been.

And that’s what we did. The first 15 minutes were scoreless, but then a corner was won on the right. Matt O’Driscoll found the loose ball with his header to score from close range for 1-6

Matt Fulton made a run down the right and back heeled to Craig who shot/crossed to the far post- the keeper spilled and Mike Upchurch followed up to open his Salmon account. 1-7.

Craig had a shot from the edge of the box which ricocheted off to Fulton following up- A deftly placed header looped over the keeper for 1-8.

Salmon were on fire now, with Dan and Steve J making runs and Richie Hallam even getting in on the act marauding down the right wing. It was classy stuff.

The final goal was the tidiest finish, but the most direct lead up- A punt from Richard met the wind and sailed through to find Mike, who passed onto Matt- Matt lofted a ball over the top to find the run of Craig-Once again Uni thought the best defence was a good moan and appealed for the offside while Craig chipped the keeper from the left  edge of the box.

There was enough time for Salmon to concede a soft gaol- their tall striker finally hitting the target after some second half misses.  The final act was James falling and hurting his keen while crossing from the left- a sad end, but as Matt said it showed our desire to finish the game off.

But it wasn’t Uni’s day- it was ours. It was aday when we played fluid, composed football and battled like troopers- a day when even the sprig marks left on our legs were as the imprints of triumphant tattoos.

Unicorns too good for Salmon

Victoria University Unicorns 4- WU Salmon 2

Halftime 2-1

Wellington College Turf

Scorers

Sam Mills

Matt Fulton

MOM Pts

Sam Mills 3 Pts

Callum Crane 2 Pts

Richard Martin 1 Pt

When is a loss like a win? When you are comprehensively beaten by a team by 6 goals, then turn up to play them again and, despite matching them in the first 30 minutes, go down to 2 well taken goals, only to storm back to take the game down to the wire.

As I said post match; if we played like this every week we’d be chaellnging for the top two, rather than midtable.

We started with ten men so had to grab a Wgtn College boy to fill in for the first five minutes while Tom got ready. We also had the services of Louis mcDonald- since his father John  used to play a few games for the Salmon it means that we are now a 2nd generational team!

The first ten minutes, possibly more, were a real tussle. We sat back nice and deep and absorbed what they threw at us, much to their frustration. After 20 minutes or so they broke through- their deaf striker had a great first touch and finish. Soon after it was two and we were looking at a long night ahead.

Then we won a corner from a Preddle through ball- Craig's cross found Sam unmarked just inside the box and he drilled his header home.

2-1 at the break and Uni knew we were a different team to last time.

We looked deadly down the flanks, with Ashby on the left and Callum on the right marauding- alas they got a third after 15 mins in the 2nd half- A drilled shot was saved by Rich but he couldn't get up for the rebound whcih dribbled over the line- Tom cleared but the ref signalled the goal. We held on and kept at them, working our way into the game- Ashby set up Fulton whose chip shot was just clawed wide by the keeper, and Nic was getting into shooting range.

With the clock running down Uni started pushing for the killer 4th, but when they hit yet another shot wide of the mark the ensuing goal kick was drillled down field, and (as discussed at lenght in the pub afterwards) no fewer than four Salmon nudged the ball onwards toward goal before Fulton finished witha fine chip from a tight angle to make it 3-2 with 7 to play. Uni were worried and their defensive fraility started to shopw as the Salmon now pushed with purpose.

The fight back was short lived, as we pushed they unleashed a ball down the right- a deep lying Lane had the ball skid past him and their tall timber forward ran onto it. Despite missing a mulititude of chances in the match he made this one count. 4-2 with 5 to play. Salmon finished well, winning a further two corners. It was all too late. We acquited ourselves well and gave Uni a run for their dosh, but when it comes down to it Uni are quite simply a better team, not a great team & not wuite as good as they think they are, but clearly the best team in this league, who should now go onto win it. But in football any team can have their day and if we meet them again in the cup we need only play like we did last Thursday to run them close again. 

We also showed we are good enough to foot it with any team in this league when we start strong and fight for the 90.

Wellington United Salmon 3- University Unicorns 9

Wellington United Salmon 3- University Unicorns 9

Half time (0-4)

Melrose

Scorers

Craig (2)

Danny

MOM

Lane Nichols (3pts)

Michael Ashby (2pts)

Stephen Jessup (1pt)


Salmon turned up for round two on a grassy Melrose with many of the lads who drew with JJs away, meaning we had to call on Danny for a hand and had a very light subs bench, with Stephen Jessup taking the Whistle in the first half to warm up.


We managed to compete for a good 30 minutes or so, and only conceded after Adam misread a bouncing ball, letting it land at their striker’s feet. He duly dispatched it for 1-0.


There it stayed for a long while, and although we attacked down the right through Steve Westcott and the left through Ashby we didn’t manage a single shot all half. Uni on the other hand started to find a passing groove and scored three quick goals before the break to effectively kill of the tie; this was doubly the case as Salmon spirits were flagging and without a single shot it looked unlikely we’d come back.


The half time talk was all about forgetting the score line and getting stuck in and enjoying the game. It seemed to work, since within 5 minutes of the restart, we had mustered 3 chances.


All this was undone by a combination of the defence standing off to let their strikers run with the ball and their strikers having an unnerving ability to find the net. Three more quick goals had the Salmon reeling at 7-0.


That’s when the famed, but oft unseen, Salmon fighting spirit kicked in. The midfield started to gel, with Lane, Steve W and Danny all finding each other’s feet. A quick ball to Craig’s feet had him turn in the box and find the lower left corner for 7-1- an unlikely comeback perhaps? Craig soon enough hit the bar again and Danny was pinging range finders on target but within reach of their keeper.


Not to be, two more goals from their lot had us staring down the barrel of our fourth double figure hiding. This seemed inevitable when their ref awarded a 50-50 hand ball penalty, after some heated discussion their striker fluffed the chance, hitting the bar. This seemed to spark the salmon back to life. Danny was set free and slotted home past the keeper, before the Salmon finished the game with a goal fo real quality. Jessup started the move from right back, passing to a deep lying Craig who found Danny; Fulton and Ashby drew their defenders wide with good runs and Danny and Steve wall-passed into range before Steve rolled the ball into the Skippers path for a 20 yard screamer.


It was justly deserved and showed what we are capable of with a bit of wit and polish. Although the score sheet makes for sad reading those that were there were buoyed by the fight back.


Three MOM points to Lane who out himself about and battled for the 80 minutes he played, 2 points for Ashby who created plenty of chances. 1 point to Steve who reffed well and then showed plenty of positive attitude at right back in the 2nd half.


With a quick turn around against fellow cellar dwellers BNU this Wednesday we have to put the negatives out of mind and pick up the positives.