Match report vs Tawa in the Cup

WU Salmon 2- Tawa AC 7
(Halftime 2-3)



Scorers:
Craig

Dan M.



MOM Pts

Dan M- 3pts

Sami- 2pts

Mataio- 1pt



Although soundly beaten by another almost Cricket score this is another one of those games where the final score does not tell the full story and the Salmoln were competitive for large passages of the game, let down only by lapses in concentration at either end. Although it was a joy to be transferred to Newtown #1 it probably suited the fast running, quick passing ACs more than us, since the boggy cratered MacAllister would have been ideal for our trench warfare style.


Our ranks were once again bolstered by the Sunday Blazers FC this time towering centre back Mataio, and we also had the late seaosn return of Stevie jessup.



Salmon could have taken the lead in the first minute as Tawa started very sleepily and Craig made a dash down the right, as is now commonplace he eleceted top shoot straight at the kepper than try and pick out the run from Dan M, now promoted to a starting position up front. The first exchanges were very even and although it was inevitable that one of Tawa's forays would eventually result on a goal it was against the run of play in many ways. Their next two goals were very soft however- firstly a free kick for the Salmon was taken quickly by Craig but the close set wall blocked the shot which fell invitingly for Tawa- with the Salmon still trudging forward for the set piece Kahu was caught out and attempted a risky halfway line offside trap, a clever idea since he woul;d have been outnumbered anyway- but Referee Jessup said no go and the Tawa striker made his way unchallenged from halfway to the box, rounded Sami and scored. Their third was softer, a weak goalkick was met by the striker who dribbled into the box and finished past Sami, stranded once more.



It seemed as though Salmon were now going to be blown out of the water, but a stroke of luck and some fine battling opened the door. Nigel played a telling long ball over their shortest defender who misjudged the flight, allowing Craig to collect on top of the box and skip past the keeper to finish in an open net for 3-1. Then the moment that briefly turned the tide. Tawa were through again with some nice passing, Sami seemed to be beaten but he came out to narrow the angle, and like a lithe cat, or maybe more like a feral Polar bear, he punced on the ball at the winger's feet saving a sure goal- a quick and accurate kick upfield was met by Nigel who flicked a quick cross/shot into the box which was once again misjudged by Tawa, Poacher Dan was on hand to steer a shot past the keeper in the 6 yard box for 3-2 with the final kick of the half.


Salmon should have had the momentum in the second half but to be honest Tawa were a class apart- they dismantled us- 2 of the 4 second half goals were soft and 2 were very well taken- i won't go into too much detail about the second half, but we were never really in it- Enrico had a fine cameo pulling off soem great tackles and was devishly unlucky to concede an own goal, their final goal- it was not his fault at all. There was a collectors item in the second half however- Craig's debut at Centre back for the last 12 minutes- perhaps a sign of things to come? no chance!


We did enough with our first up win against the Bears to avoide the wooden spoon cup play off-instead we get to play the Gulls for the honour of 5th place- there is no other team i would sincerely like to beat this year than Seatoun so this is it boys, a chance to finish on a high.


A reminder that voting is now open in the team awards-please exercise your democratic right of One Fish-One Vote

Salmon crash out of 2010 Cup

We lost 7-2 to Tawa ACs today- despite the final score we were quite competitive (in parts). We shipped 3 early and soft goals before battling back to 3-2 at halftime.

Heads up Salmon, there is always next season.

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

Wgtn Utd Salmon vs Tawa AC-Match Report

Wgtn Utd Salmon vs Tawa AC
MacAllister Park
3/4/2010

Wgtn Utd Salmon 2- Tawa AC 3
(HT- 1-1)

Scorers:
Craig Ireson
Dave Armstrong

Team:
..............Kahu..........
Richard....Simon......Enrico*......Dave
Danny......Ben...Jonathon Hudson*....Sean Anderson*
..........Lane....Craig

Subs:
Nathan Rattray*
Chris Scott*

MOM points:
Ben Norman- 3
John Hudson-2
Dave Armstrong-1

(*indicates Salmon debut)


Match Report:

Deja Voodoo all over again for the Salmon as the firstchance of points go begging

Salmon turned up to the new season with 5 debutants in the line up, ready to take on Tawa Saintz at a rock hard MacAllister. The first sign of something awry was when the Tawa captain told us the draw was wrong and that were in fact Tawa AC. This was the same team we had played in a fierce storm at MacAllister in June last year.
They were a handy side, but then again so were the Saintz, so whoever we were playing it was going to be a tough start to the season.

The other glitch in the Matrix was that Sami, so often late but always reliable, decided not to turn up and not to let us know. Worse still he has our only pair of keepers gloves. Luckily Kahu had opted in, and he was happy to go in goal, albeit with one very shabby keeper’s glove.

Salmon started much the stronger, building attacks up the flanks and competing well in the middle thanks to the determination of Ben Norman. Despite the possession we failed to penetrate deep into Tawa territory- our first real foray came after ten minutes, when a Danny through ball had Craig twisting and turning past his man, but the cross-shot to Lane’s head held up in the wind and was easy pickings for the Tawa keeper. In another Matrix-esque déjà vu the Tawa keeper was another B. Norman, our Ben’s brother in fact. Brad Norman had in fact played one game in goal for the salmon a few seasons back, breaking his leg in the dying minutes. The Salmon had bought Brad a guitar to aid his recovery, but he was not to be so charitable to us, denying Salmon goals with an extroverted keeping style.

Tawa started to find some rhythm but Simon had put his impending fatherhood to the back of his mind and was leading the Salmon defence well. The back four was disrupted as Enrico, debuting at centre back, pulled up lame on the cricket pitch and was replaced by fellow debutant Chris Scott. Another newbie, Nathan, who has joined us from Petone AFC, spent most of the first half doing a great job with the whistle.

However after 20 minutes a sweeping cross field move from the ACs was finished sweetly and despite a fairly even share of possession Tawa had the lead.

Salmon were now in danger of going off the boil but the counterattacking breakthrough came from the foot of Kahu in goal, who was launching 50 metre howitzers into the wind. One such clearance went as high as it did long, and seemed to mesmerize the Tawa defence. Craig took advantage of their indecision and ran through onto the kick as it landed ten metres into their half. The skipper stunned the ball with the outside of his left boot, looked up to see the keeper back pedalling and launched a dipping left foot half volley from 30 yards out. The ball swayed from right to left as it traced an arc into the top left hand corner-from almost nothing the Salmon were back in the match with a quality goal poach. Salmon consolidated to go into the break with honours even.

The second half saw Salmon running with the wind, and Salmon were making good yards down the left through Dave Armstrong, and two other debutants John Hudson and Sean Anderson.

However an errant back pass had Tawa take the lead again after only 15 minutes, as their striker stole the ball from the last man and calmly finish past Kahu.

Tawa now looked to grab a further advantage, and some rather dubious referring form their lot saw them have three free kicks within five minutes- one for a fine tackle by Dave Armstrong that left their striker grounded after he tried to push the ball through Dave.

Dave was to make amends when a John Hudson corner was flicked on by Lane Nichols, it landed at the far post where Dave reacted quickest, kneeing the ball into the net. Dave scored one of his backside last year, and one with his knee this year- he has taken over the mantle from Jol Bates as the appendage goalscorer.

Salmon pushed for a winner, but to be honest we were running out of puff- Tawa finished stronger and fitter- a series of three corners in the last five minutes proved s too much for the Salmon to defend- A failed overhead kick from Tawa on the edge of the area had the ball fall at a midfielders boot- he drilled it low and hard-surely a routine save for Kahu? It was not to be, Nathan and Kahu got mixed up on the line and the ball rolled under Kahu’s body. Tawa celebrated like they’d just scored a 40 yard left footed half volley that had hit the top left corner- to be honest they were lucky, albeit fitter and more determined in the end. Salmon pushed again with some good running from Danny, but it was fruitless and Salmon ended the match pointless, but upbeat about the battle.

Just like in 2009 salmon had spurned a chance to take points from the first game. The difference? In 2009 Salmon had squandered a 3 goal lead to lose 4-3 to a team that was clearly no better than us. In 2010 we battled toe to toe against a team that was on the whole younger, quicker and very hard to break down.
If we battle like that in matches to come, and manage to raise our fitness then the luck will start to swing our way. Oh, And we need to get the keepers gloves back from Sami!


Craig

Ian Wilson's Goal-2008

Richard Hallam posted this vid on Youtube a year or two back. It is from the 2008 season, about midway through. This was kind of a turning point game for the Salmon. We had been doing quite poorly, had in fact been beaten by the Tawa Saints in the second game of the season. Then they came to visit us on a warm, but blustery day at MacAllister Park. This is just a few minutes before half time. We had been attacking with the strong wind at our backs the entire half trying to get a goal up before Tawa took the win. Their keeper was taking an age with every goal kick to kill the clock. You can even hear his team moaning at him to hurry up in this clip

It was their downfall, as Ian Wilson swept in to nick the goal, and then we hung on for dear life in the second half.

Great goal-great vid. C'mon Richie we need more on youtube!