Maroubra 1 - 3 Queens Park

New Kit fails to Inspire

The team were decked out in the full new kit for this fixture, complete with sponsorship (Many Thanks to ProTherapy)

The warmup consisted mainly of sitting around enjoying the sunshine and when the game started, this Queens Parks side quickly took control of the game, easily over-powering our midfield with their movement and work rate.

Maroubra had to work hard just to stay in the game, conceeding multiple corners. Eventually the pressure told, with their stocky full back left unmarked at the back post to head home
We did manage to put together some moves late in the half with Tom hitting the post and a couple of shots off target
Soon after they cut us to pieces through the middle, leaving their striker to tap home but he somehow skied it over the bar - so 0-1 at the break and still in with a chance
The Gatorade was put to good use to rehydrate in the heat and Leo gave a rousing team talk.

The second half started well for us with John making some great breaks down the right
Tom was put clean through and had all the time in the world to took it away but just as he was about to pull the trigger, he was blatantly taken out by a blade of grass and the ball rolled into the stationary keepers arms.
Despite this setback we keep pushing and soon after John Jimmy put George through with a delicate ball who then showed Tom how it should be done, smashing home with the keeper again staying glued to his line.

With 25 minutes left, could Maroubra stage a great escape?
Well, No - The Queens Park midfield upped it a gear and retook control.
Set pieces continued to cause issues with another corner somehow being scrambled clear but soon after yet another was finished off by the same guy with a powerful header going in off the post.

The heat was impacting us more than them as they took advantage of our substitution mix-up to quickly break and slot home their third after we lost possession in attack and had only 10 men on the pitch.
Luckily the game soon ended before our goal difference could get any worse.

So lets keep positive and work to improve at training, improve our fitness, striking up better understandings between players and of everyone's roles in the side.

Team:
Karl, Pete, Jason, Rod, Francis, Terry, Steve, George, Selim, John, Tom

Interchange:
Jimmy, Keith, Kevin,  Leo, Frank, Dennis

Out: Nap, Yoshi, Justin, Nelson

Maroubra United 4 - 3 Dunbar Rovers A

Green Machine stun Champions in 7 Goal Thriller

The Maroubra 35's returned to the winners circle following a gutsy 4-3 win over Dunbar 35-1's on a warm, sunny day at Coral Sea Park. With several stars unavailable due to annual leave and injuries we were fortunate to hand out League debuts to our new midfield "enforcer" Steve and "twinkle toes" George. 
With a tough and physical initiation to top flight football last week and a long list of unavailable players, Sportstab and several leading football analysts gave the home side little chance of victory today. A week in football however is a long time and not over-awed by our more illustrious opponents and the sizeable crowd in attendance, we started the game in a composed, relaxed manner while Dunbar were more interested in playing possession football at the back.

The deadlock was broken with a moment of brilliance down the right wing from Yoshi ducking and weaving through 2 defenders to get a cross into the box which trickled along the ground and into the path of Terry to shoot across the goalkeeper and roll into the side netting sending the Maroubra faithful into a frenzy. 1-0!
Not content with a 1-0 lead, Maroubra pushed on and were rewarded again with some great lead up work by the midfield. Steve was on hand putting Tom through one on one with his defender and as per normal, brushed him aside with ease and had enough time to drink a beer and decide where he would place the ball in the back of the net. 2-0!
Maroubra went into the halftime break leading 2-0 and in high spirits shutting out the Dunbarians with a strong and resilient defensive display.
The next 45 minutes however was going to be the acid test and an opportunity for the Green Machine to exorcise last week's second half fade with the expectation of a Dunbar fightback.

The fightback started in earnest with Dunbar winning a series of corners early on and shooting from distance with one blistering attempt which Karl was able to get a hand on to which subsequently hit the cross bar and deflect out for a corner. Within a handful of minutes later, and several players starting to fatigue from the sweltering heat, Dunbar were able to get back to 2-2.
After a lengthy spell on the bench and with Dunbar taking ascendancy of the game, it was time to re-energise the midfield with Yoshi, Steve and George introduced back into the game. The momentum quickly changed as Maroubra pressed on opening their counterparts defence with some sublime short and long passing interchanges as several opportunities from Tom, Steve and Keith unfortunately either missing their target or saved by the keeper. 

With the Dunbar defence on the back foot, Maroubra were eventually rewarded with some more enterprising play from Yoshi down the right wing, cutting inside to goal and pulling the trigger which was parried into the path of a rampaging Keith to slot the ball pass the keeper and restore the lead. 3-2! Unlike last week, the Maroubra side threw the conservative play book out the window and went for the jugular looking to kill off any chance of another Dunbar revival.
The pressure eventually was too much for the Dunbar defence and they were cut apart again with a brilliant through ball to Tom by Steve and while keeping his defender at arms length was able to chip the goalkeeper for his second goal of the game. 4-2!
Dunbar Managed to pull one back in the dying minutes but the Green Machine wasn't to be denied
A great team effort and 3 well earned points in the bag, everyone put in a solid performance and we didn't drop our bundle when they got back to 2-2.
Thanks to Terry and Yoshi for the drinks - boy, did they taste good!!

Goalscorers : Tom (2); Terry; Keith
Team: Karl, Kevin, Francis, Justin, Jason, George, Jimmy, Terry, Yoshi, Frank, Tom
Interchange: Napoleon, Steve, Keith, Peter

Maroubra United 2 - 3 Dunbar Rovers B

Dunbar's Tower of Terror steals points from gallant Maroubra

The eagerly anticipated start of the 2013 season finally got underway at Coral Sea on Sunday.
With heavy rain in the days leading up, the pitch was in remarkably good condition thanks to the excellent work of the ground staff.

With Jimmy away and cards for Steve and George failing to arrive, we had the full permissible squad of 18
players available to choose from.
Not having trained or played in 10 days, the Green Machine were sluggish out of the blocks, regretting indulging in one too many Easter eggs!

Dunbar seemed to have a height advantage in every position across the park except Keeper, which they utilised to their advantage with route 1 football and with 20 minutes gone, Maroubra found themselves behind.
Rather than loose focus this seemed to galvanise the team and with some positional changes it wasn't long until we were not only back on level terms but leading 2-1 and in command of the game.

The first was one of our typical team efforts with some solid buildup play excellently finished off by Nelson (ok, punt forward from Karl..).
The second was the opposite with Pao receiving possession in his own half and then waltzing forward as the
opposition moved to close down any passing options for him, so he just kept on going with space continuing to open up in front of him. Finally with a clear sight of goal, he let rip from 25 yards with a clean shot which landed in the left corner of the net, far from the keepers reach.

Little needed to be said at half time apart from continue what you're doing but the second half didn't go as
planned. Dunbar had regrouped and came out strongly with a very physical approach which left both Yoshi and Leo requiring medical attention within minutes of the half resuming.
They definitely managed to disrupt our game and were continually putting us under pressure at the back, eventually forcing an error allowing them to equalise.
We still manged to recreate changes with both Selim and Tom coming close and John being taken out when
leaving his marker for dead - some refs would have deemed it a red card offense!

With 10 minutes to go, Dunbar crossed high to the back cross and Karl jumped to fist to safety but the lanky
frontman rose even higher, meeting it firmly and planting it in the net.
From there is was an uphill battle and Dunbar held out until the whistle

While not an ideal start to the season, for a squad with 10 new players there were still encouraging signs and with time everyone will get more used to playing together.
All the squad put in a solid shift, interchanging well and supporting each other throughout which bodes well for the season ahead.

So lets keep positive and work to improve over the coming weeks - there's a long season ahead.
Congrats to Nelson and Pao (Justin) who are now our joint top scorers for the season!

Team:
Karl, Pete, Frank, Dennis, Rod, Francis, Terry, Selim, John, Leo,Tom

Interchange:
Nap, Jason, Nelson, Keith, Kevin, Yoshi, Justin

Out:
Jimmy, Steve, George