2012 Awards-Brief recap

Another great night on Saturday (and another Father's Day spent nursing a sore head).

Special Mention must be made of the Tasmanian Tiger Callum Crane who went one better that Ashby's Silver in the Nudey 400 last year and won.
Thats right we have the fastest naked runner in the club- well done Callum

A full run down of team awards will be posted soon, but to recap the major awards:

Player of the Season
Richard Martin

Runners up
Callum Crane
Michael Ashby
Craig Ireson
 

Fresh Fish
Callum Crane

Runners Up

Ashby

Steve Westcott

Sam Mills

Fulton

Spirit of the Salmon (tie)
Dave Armstrong/Adam Holloway
Runners up
Richard Martin
Craig Ireson

Inaugaurated into the Order of the Salmon 2012- (Lifetime Membership)

Steve Jessup

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 finish 7th equal in the cup

Or last equal if your'e a pessimist.  A tough end to the year, we were scraping for players in the Cup and it showed, being held scoreless in the three round robin games and being beaten 1-0 by the fairly dire BNU Plague- The play off game was a mess- we staggered to a 3-3 draw with only nine players against ten man Naenae (They had a player sent off for assault- very Naenae). The way they played made you scratch your head at the fact that they drilled us 5-0 earlier in the season- how on earth we managed to let them do that ill never fathom.

Overall  a fun season- a reasonable finish in the League but a dismal cup-but the league was competetive and mostly close and, as always, the Salmon have potential if not the polish.

Salmon finish 6th in League

Salmon finish 6/8 in Capital Division Ten. A bit dissapointing as we were only about 4 points of finishing 4th, but a measly 6 points earned from the last 15 on offer meant the League run petered out.

Still having finished in the botton two in the previous two seasons, so at least there has been an improvement- and 17 points in total from 14 games is a lot better than the 11 we earnt last year.

4 match reports in one!

Mega synopsis of the last 4 weeks:

Waterside Karori Meke 7- WU Salmon 3

(Halftime 3-2)

Benburn Park, Karori

Scorers:
Craig Ireson

Matthew Fulton (2)

MOM Points:

Matthew Fulton (3)
Lane Nichols (2)

Tom Murphy (1)

Short synopsis

It was a chilling arctic wind and a waterlogged pitch which met the hardy Salmon who trekked to the cloud city of Karori for the rematch of the epic first round match in which Salmon snuck home with a free kick in the dying minutes. Alas, it wasn’t to be- despite taking the wind Meke got three early goals including an own goal from poor old James.

Salmon finally woke up with a tap in from Craig, set up by Mataio (our friendly ring in, now playing outfield as Richard Martin made a last minute dash to the game). The second was set up by Craig but finished off superbly by Fulton- 3-2 at the break- the second half stayed 3-2 for an age, but salmon struggled into the wind and failed to really penetrate. Steve Westcott made a mad dash to the line and was brought down but no penalty was given (Dave probably had sleet in his eyelids weighing them down). Meke scored another 4 and Fulton finished with a spectacular second from distance and a tight angle to pick up man of match. Had we started better and kept them scores in the first half then we could have won.

Naenae Unify 1- WU Salmon 4

(Halftime 0-2)

Benburn Park, Karori

Scorers:
Craig Ireson (2)

Steve Westcott

Matthew Fulton

MOM Points:

Louie McDougal-Moore (3)
Richard Martin (2)

Callum Crane (1)

Short synopsis

One of the games of the year- a rubbish pitch, no nets, a thrown together team and a biased ref in gumboots, but we played some of the nicest, most controlled footie of the season. Steve Westcott popped a ball over the top and Craig bet Sam to the ball, rounding the keeper to score after ten minutes. Then ring in Jonathon Hudson played a superb ball through for Craig to latch on and drive home for 2-0 at the break. Steve Scored a calm finish form the top of the box after 60 or so, then on a rare foray forward Naenae scored after Callum diverted a cross into the goal (and he played so well otherwise!) then Naenae came at us, but the defence was stout and measured. We broke away right at the end to win a corner and Fulton scored with his head with the last play of the game- A very good performance

Wellington United Salmon 1- Petone For Sure 5

(Halftime 1-2)

Wakefield Park

Scorer:
Craig Ireson

MOM Points:

Matthew Fulton (3)
Max Rashbrooke (2)

Richard Martin (1)

Short synopsis

Max’s debut and a good one at that- We were a bit rubbish early on again, and conceded a couple of goals to the old route one- then Lane failed to notice me hanging 5 metres off side so I got to score an off side one on one- Given how many times I am called up each season when on side I don’t mind taking the odd one like that.

What else? A game we could have won and they were definitely not 4 goals better, but good on them- they took their chances and wanted it more.

We went out for a few pints afterwards and Sunday was a long and far too bright day.

North Wellington 7 -Wellington United Salmon 2

(Halftime 5-0)

Newlands Park

Scorers:
Craig Ireson
Max Rashbrooke

MOM

Tom Haig- 3 pts

Stephen Jessup- 2 pts

Ashby-1 pt

The no nets thing must be catching! Any way they got them in the end and we were only delayed 20 minutes while we waited. Again this is a head scratcher- we played some very nice football but conceded 5 goals to their tidy forward ‘Jono’- The second half was ours, with a Craig poach from a keeper’s spill off Steve W’s long shot and a Max tap in form a double nutmeg corner- but them we conceded too late goals to blow the score out.

Again another game where we could have gotten a result if:

1.      We’d put away a couple more chances (Craig had two, Danny had one, Fulton and Ashby each conspired to miss the same chance!)

2.      Paid a bit more attention at defensive set pieces and eliminated silly errors along the back to make it more difficult for them to score.

In fact that’s the story of the season- compared to the past two years a HUGE improvement- but really we are left with what could have been. Just oen more win and draw would have seen us in fourth place, instead we are left once again just above the relegation zone.

We have tough cup draw (Norths, Meke, Plague) but have been the underachievers of the division I think- so time to toughen up and start achieving!

The cup is different- its one shot, and the game can change in an instance- the most important thing is to start well and make it damn tough for them to concede- oh, and Ashby- this would be a good time to get your debut goal mate!

Salmon avoid losing like the Plague

Wellington United Salmon 2- Brooklyn Northern United 1
Halftime 1-1
Newtown Park

Scorer:
Craig Ireson (2)

MOM Points
Adam Ray -3
Dave Armstrong 2
Callum 1

We won! Nuff Said? oh, alright- The Plague put up a pretty good fight, but were fairly toothless up front. We dominated and played nice football but couldn't put them away until about 12 minutes to go. it got pretty niggly becuase it was so close byt Dave did a damn fine job with the whistle, as well as putting a good shift in as left back in the first half. Both goals came from Craig- first was after their right back coughed up possesion (needlessly) after Ashby put him under some pressure- Craig pounced and driled the ball home. Second was via a long ball from Nic, which bisected the last man and Keeper- Craig took it off them and despite being fouled by the keeper managed to stay upright to prod home into an emptty net from 6 yards.

Overall a fun game BNU are good guys and came back for a beer in the club, but really we did it tough when we mostly outpassed and outplayed them.

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.