Maroubra United 5 - 2 Waverly Old Boys

Waverly rematch yields similar result

With a very limited pre-season, Waverly requested another game against Maroubra under lights which we were happy to oblige since it would benefit everyone.

The team had to fight their way to Coral Sea through the heavy traffic created by this interest in this game.
Would Waverly have a stronger side or a keeper even?

We had only 10 players in attendance by 7pm and Yoshi from the O45s kindly helped us out for the first half.
Playing against a strong breeze in the first half (we seemed to miss the coin toss?) we had no option but to
keep the ball on the ground and play to feet.

We started well with lots of possession with Pete playing numerous balls down the line to John, testing his fitness
levels. 20 minutes in, the cavalry had arrived allowing John a rest with Nap and Jason joining the fray and
Frank moving to right mid.
Soon after we won a corner which Nap floated in and was half cleared to Tom who smashed goalwards only
to be blocked by a player on the line, the ball fell to Frankie who intelligently smashed it at the same player,
then stuck a foot out and blocked the clearance with the ball spinning across the goal into the back of the net.
 
With Keith entering the fray, the midfield was starting to click, the ball was played forward to Tom who took a touch before smashing home from 20 yards
For the last few minutes of the half we became complacent, with some confusion over positions, Waverly got
some more possession in a forward position and pulled one back with an unchallenged shot from over 20
yards which was disappointing.

Anyway, at the break we regrouped and reorganised returning to  our usual format with Jimmy coming on at
the back, allowing Rod to move back to midfield with Nap and Keith.
With the wind at our backs it was one way traffic but sometimes it was hard to judge through-balls and a
number went for goal kicks.
Waverly did score 1 more but Tom, Rod and even Nap put the result beyond question with the Waverly
players visibly tiring and cramping. Not sure who got the assists but Leo seems to be claiming most of them!
The possession, movement and passing in the second half was excellent and we got our just rewards, putting the opposition to the sword even without our trusty Samurai.

We done guys and congrats to all the goal scorers!
Only one training session left to work on the finer points and be ready for the season kickoff on April 7th
Enjoy the Easter break and see you next Wednesday

Team:
Karl, Pete, Frank, Rod, Francis, Yoshi(O45s), George, Selim, John, Leo,Tom

Interchange:
Nap, Jimmy, Jason, Nelson, Keith,

Out: Yoshi, Justin, Terry, Kevin,Dennis

MaroubraUnited 2 -1 Camden Tigers

East beats West in Battle of the Bridge

On a beautiful Autumn afternoon with the Mercury hovering around 30C, the team returned to their spiritual
home of Coral Sea 3

Todays opposition were Camden Tigers no less, being keen followers of the Green Machine on the
blogsphere and they couldn't wait to finally meet our heros in person

We had another solid turnout with a packed bench to draw from, to be fair the bench was a bit small and
we almost had our first injury of the day when it collapsed under Jason!  

The team is starting to pick itself with everyone's roles in our 4-2-3-1 formation becoming clearer each game.
There was a delay at kickoff as we tried to locate a ref and luckily the PLR ref gave us his  assistant once we
promised to go easy on him (he said he would have just been over-ruling him anyway)!
The kid actually had a great game, very relaxed and no issues with him from either side.

We started reasonably well, taking a while to get our combinations and passing range going but slowly
started to control the game, creating a number of chances but lacking decision making with final ball.
Then after 30 minutes, the Tiger won a corner, more from our safety first approach rather than any attacking
flair on their part. A quality corner was swung in straight onto the penalty spot where their centreback  had
risen unchallenged to power home an unstoppable header.

For about 10 minutes after that, heads seem to drop with faith in our passing policy diminished, resulting in
the ball being hoofed forward at every opportunity which our forward players were not enjoying chasing in the heat.

The half time (or second quarter) break discussion was about concentrating on our passing game rather
than just trying to score at all cost.
In the 3rd and 4th quarters, the Green Machine were completely in control, creating numerous chances with shooting slowly improving but sometimes taking one touch too many

Two great goals were scored due to hard work and great movement by all involved:

1. Nelson - header from a cross by Terry following his overlapping run behind the defense.

2. Selim - Yoshi in centre mid brings ball under control, bringing the ball forward and plays through ball to Leo to slide it onto Selim who shrugs off his opponent to rifle a shot passed the keeper.

Well done guys and special mention to Selim for his tireless running which was rewarded with his first goal for us!

Overall, lots of positives but still a few things we can work on in training, such as set pieces

Team:
Karl, Frank, Dennis, Francis, Jason, Selim, Rod, Terry, Nap, John, Leo

Interchange:
Pete, Jimmy, Nelson, Yoshi

Out: Justin, Tom, Keith, Kevin

Maroubra United 0 - 0 Balmain

With two-thirds of the Management Team celebrating St Patrick's Day, several key players out injured (without calf's blood or peptides in sight), we entered the game against Balmain low on numbers with one fit reserve ready to be called upon. We also handed a Baggy Green cap to debutant Goalkeeper Karl, keen to make the number one jersey his own with local journalists on hand to analyse the rookie's performance in the custodians role.

We were lucky enough to start the game running with a gale force wind that only Captains of the Sydney - Hobart Yachts would be praying for. Balmain jumped out of the blocks with an attacking fervour but soon hit the breaks against a resilient Maroubra defence marshalled superbly by Jimmy with deputies Francis, Kevin and Dennis stamping their authority over their attacking opponents. Keeper Karl was called upon early in the game when a Balmain forward found some space at the edge of the box and not knowing who to pass to, decided to have a low shot, sending Karl diving to his left and parry the shot past the post which sent the local journalists reaching for their iPads.

After the early Balmain raids, the benefits of the strong breeze at our backs began to influence the game as we were camped in their half for 20 minutes, with the other 20 odd minutes spent retrieving the ball from the canteen and CSP1. When the ball was in play however, we did really well, patiently building up play, with our passing game showing signs of gradually coming together. We were unfortunately undone in the last third with several opportunities going wide of the mark with our best opportunity falling to our left back Dennis. After negotiating the tricky wind, Napoleon was able to swing in a corner which was headed away into the path of a rampaging Dennis who brought the ball under control, flicked it onto his "trusty" left boot and shot passed a hapless goalkeeper only to rattle the cross bar for a goalkick.

At half-time and the score at 0-0, the Balmain lads were jumping for joy thinking the second half would be easier with the wind advantage but the Maroubra reinforcements arrived with Stefano and Justin. Maroubra quickly scuppered Balmain's ideas in the second half of winning the game with Napoleon (and Rod in the first half before succumbing to injury) working tirelessly to stretch the play and the opposition down the flanks, utilising the speed and skill of John, Nelson and Selim. We created several chances again with John and Nelson having their shots saved by the keeper and Stefano with an overhead kick that narrowly floated over the cross bar and potential hamstring injury concerns alleviated.

With the game peetering out to a 0-0 draw, there were plenty of positives to take out of this game. I was extremely impressed with the attitude and commitment shown by every player and lots of positive communication which are key ingredients to forming a successful team. Despite our lack of goals there were encouraging signs and with lots of shooting practice in the coming weeks and working on combinations I am certain our fortunes in front of goal will improve.

Defensively we were strong and congratulations to Karl for keeping a clean sheet, the first of many I envisage and dare I say a smokey for the prestigious "Golden Glove Award" this year.
On the down side, we suffered a few injuries with Rod coming off at half time and Jimmy sustaining a hamstring injury but hopefully will be right to go when the competition starts in 3 weeks.   

Team: Karl, Dennis, Francis, Jimmy, Kevin, Napoleon, Rod, John, Selim, Leo, Nelson, Eddie, Justin, Stefano

Maroubra United 4 - 2 Waverly Old Boys

As the morning dew glistened across the Coral Sea pitch, the team arrived bright eyed for this 9am start.
First task for the day was to setup the field and somehow attach the nets to the new steel goal posts. The lads took the decision to start with the corner flags to build up confidence, then swiftly moved on to the crowd control barriers (critical for such a fixture).
Once completed, there was no option but to start on the nets with Terry fetching a chair to assist.
After about 10 minutes the first net was up and the lads stood back to admire their handywork - and realised it was upside down (I think) and had to do it again...
There were no issues with the second net for these now seasoned net erectors!

Todays opposition was the feared Waverly Old Boys with their lethal strike force who trashed us 4-1 last year. But with Vince moving out west and Irish Mike being deported (possibly - editorial license) they lacked numbers and a cutting edge.

We had a solid turnout including the first appearances of Keith and Nap for the season, adding some creativity to the side.With Karl unavailable, Wayne offered to go in goal for the first half.
The game was scrappy to begin with, with a lot of ping-pong soccer going on but we got an early goal through Leo. Waverly were holding on well, with us unable to control the game despite having an extra man. They managed to level after 20 minutes despite having 2 attackers against 4 defenders who were busy marking space - can and must do better lads!

As the half wore on and we made the most of our bench, keeping legs fresh, we managed to nick 2 more goals through Keith and Leo again with our passing game improving.

The half time chatter was about keeping the ball and concentrating on passing as this was a trial after all.

The second half was much better, with us putting together some lovely moves but still probably kicked the ball away more than was necessary.
Highlights included a Nelson rasper that dented the crossbar, Toms first of the season, Leo almost bagging another (if only he could jump!) and last but not least, the Waverly keeper scoring from a punt upfield with the ball bouncing over Jimmy and then our honorary keeper, Dennis, falling over as he tried to back track - it was brilliant entertainment boys - well done!

Overall, lots of positives but still a fair few things we can work on in training

Special thanks to Wayne and Jason for helping Waverly out for the second half.

Team:
Wayne, Kevin, Peter, Dennis, Francis, Selim, Rod, Terry, Keith, John, Tom

Interchange:
Jason, Frank, Nap, Yoshi, Jimmy, Nelson, Leo