Salmon make it two from two against the Nighthawks

Wellington United Salmon 5- Naenae Nighthawks 2
(Halftime 2-2)
Newtown Park

Scorers:
Craig Ireson- 3
Steve Westcott-1
Matt O'Driscoll-1

MOM Points:
Steve Westcott-3pts
Matt O'Driscoll - 2pts
Rhsy Jones - 1pt

The sun shone on a glorious performance last Saturday as a secodn consecutive win cements the Salmon in the top half of the ladder.

It was hot, and the grass was longer than usual on the hallowed ground of Newtown 1- Naenae are one of those teams which can upset you at any time so it was with caution that the Salmon took the field.
It soon became evident that, although they could play a bit, this Naenae team was alot bigger and slower than us and if we just excercised patience (our motto this year!) and persistence then points should come our way. Unfortunately our left edge, to nick a tired Rugby League phrase, was exposed by a through ball- richie Martin came to collect and the ball held up in the grass, leaving the keeper stranded- a neat lob into the empty net saw Naenae go 1-0 up- fair tio say against the early run of play. Undeterred Salmon found the equaliser- a perfectly weighted pass from Sam Mills put Craig through one on one- the attempt to go around the keeper almost came unstuck in the thick grass but a toe poke finish under the keeper did the trick.
Salmon now hit their straps and the non-scoring play of the game saw Steve E with a piratically precise cross to the centre and Matt 'Air' Fulton  rise like the proverbial to head just over the bar- impressive football lads.

Soon after Salmon deservedly took the lead when their right back tried to dribble out of trouble- Craig smelt the fear and dispossed him, squaring to Chris Banks who passed it onto a charging Steve Westcott- we've seen steve in this mood before, but Naenae were getting their first glimpse. a well timed thunderstrike that blasted the cobwebs from the corner of the goal. 2-1.

Salmon looked safe now, but it wasn't to be- With minutes to go before the break a well placed chip laned in the 6 yard box; Richie came to collect, but not quick enough-Their big striker poked it between his legs to equalise- 2-2 at the break.

Salmon didn't have to wait long to regain the lead- perhaps 10 minutes intot he second half a corner was taken by Craig- their keeper flapped and it seemed to have crossed the line, but in flapping he knocked it to the knee of Matt O'Driscoll who scored his second from a corner in two weeks for 3-2.
Now Salmon started to play- Jessup and Callum were stand outs at full back and it shows how much we dominated there to see them gallavanting forward. A contensious decision from Mike with the whistle semed to rile them and they fought back, but to no avail.  Ashby, returning from injury was runnign like a madman, and centre combos of Westcott, Fulton, Sam and then Mike Upchurch were dominating possesion. Rhys was now on also and feeding Craig with relish- Sadly Craig could not convert for his second- that is until Rhys unselfishly rolled a ball across the top of the box to the skipper who took the invitation- blasting high and handsome from 18 yards for 4-2.

15 minutes to go now, and all over bar the shouting and a few dangerous long balls from Naenae. Then Westcott found space on the right and delivered a mightily dangerous ball into the box from out wide- Craig snuck in to turn past the helpless keeper for 5-2, with 8 minutes remaining.

Enough time now for some late drama- a harmless sort of ball was met by the arm of Matt O'Driscoll as he turned in the box- Jessup had no choice but to blow for the penalty-Sad for Matt because he and Dan had both been so good at the back, especially in the second half. If Naenae scores with 5 inutes to go it could be all on-But their big striker was thwarted by Rich- once with the initial shot being stopped and then again as rich divwed at his feet when he followed up-It was quie some double save from the Geordie.

So it ended 5-2. A great result. fair play to Naenae- despite a mid match moan they were top notch blokes and came for a beer afterwards

Onwards Salmon, ever onwards!

Match Report- Cup Play off 2012

Capital Division Ten- Play off for 7/8 Places

Naenae Unify 3- Wellington United Salmon 3

(Half time 1-3)

Naenae Park

Scorer:
Craig Ireson (3)

MOM Points

Craig Ireson- 3 pts

Michael Ashby- 2 pts

Richard Martin – 1pt

SALMON SHARE THE SPOILS, AS RUBBISH PITCH RUINS THE LAST HURRAH

This was such a bizarre game it is worth writing up in full.

With the 22 man squad at full stretch salmon only just managed to field a fit 11 at game time, relying on ex-keeper Sami to take the gloves (freeing Rich Martin to mid field) and Sunday Blazer Mataio. With Dave Armstrong having to leave at half time to catch a plane to Auckland and James Stewart on injury watch, we knew from the outset 11 players wasn’t going to be enough.

Naenae Park had clearly seen better days, with three or four huge mud puddles in the centre, although the wings seemed in good nick. We got underway and made immediate headway down the left, with Ashby running smartly onto through balls from Sam, Mataio and Rich in the middle. It didn’t take long for the breakthrough, as the sticky pitch made it hard for Naenae to clear and Craig pounced on a loose ball just inside the box and chipped home over the keeper for 1-0.

The home referee soon evened things up when Naenae pushed down the right and into the box for the first time, the striker seemed to be clipped by Callum’s tackle and the penalty was awarded-although he himself admitted it was no such thing. The podgy striker made no mistake for 1-1.

But Salmon were on form- a Mataio through ball drew the keeper out wide and left, and Craig ran through to guide the ball into the empty net from 18 yards for 2-1.

Salmon were dominant now, especially down the left as Dave and Ashby kept working hard to create chances- Ashby had a great shot after a long run forward and earned a corner, and then soon after he scuffed a pass to Craig, and as the defence held off in expectation of the second attempt he chipped a great shot against the cross bar, surprising everyone.

Naenae must have sensed Ashby was the danger man because the next time he ran forward he was clattered from behind and, as he fell, he tripped his assailant. The red mist descended and what was an innocuous 50-50 became a serious assault- the guy jumped up and punched Ashby in the jaw; then stood over him like a maniac. All hell broke loose, but to the Salmon’s credit we kept it tight, and to Naenae’s credit they realised the severity and he was given his marching orders.

We made them pay immediately as the free kick was whipped in to the 6 yard box by Craig, and the keeper totally misjudged the speed, palming it into the net for 3-1.

With Dave due to fly to Auckland at half time we proceeded to try and make them pay but could not manage a fourth.

In the second half we started brightly again- Callum got goal side down the right and put some good balls across, Sam was played in a few times and Ashby kept up the running-Naenae pulled one back after about 20 minutes, it was well finished but was against the run of play.

When James pulled up lame after  25 minutes salmon lost all shape, on a normal pitch its hard to play with nine- on a quagmire its nigh on impossible. To our immense credit we managed to keep them out for about ten minutes but with ten to go they equalised and then we were just holding on-Their finishing was dire though-they had plenty of chances to win it. At the whistle it was 3-3 – if we had 11 men we would have trounced them, with 9 we only just managed to hold on.

Salmon lose to Naenae

Wellington United Salmon 0- Naenae Unify 5
(Halftime 0-4) Wakefield Park

MOM pts 
James Stewart-3 Tim Murphy 2 Nic Preddle-1

Not much to say lads except we paid the price for a fairly gutless first 45 minutes, allowing Naenae to outmuscle us and score four relatively soft goals. We had our chances early, and towards the end of the first half we rallied to get some shots away, but we never really threatened.

To our credit we manned up in the second half and showed a bit more grit, James and Tom M in particular began to stamp their authority on the defence, but Naenae scored a fifth and we failed to score at all, and even if we had four early, unanswered goals killed off any hopes of a famous Salmon come back.

The league is still incredibly tight and despite this set back we are still in the running- all we can do is learn from the experience and turn up this Saturday  against Petone and give them a run for their money.