The Squad

Following the final pre season win over Wellington United Div 7, the Marist Skins management had little hesitation in naming the following players for the forthcoming Capital 8 campaign.

Full Time
Dan Popham wing/back
Marshall Benson centre mid
Jim Boutcher striker
Dion Chamberlain wing/back
Scott Crookston mid/goalie
Mark Crookston wing/back
Scott Donaldson centre defence
Glenn Campbell defence
Aaron Watson centre mid
Ray Hardy centre mid/defender/forward
Darren Reid centre mid
Anthony Williams centre defender
Tim Pate right back

Stephen Toplis either part-full time

Part Time
Symon Ross centre mid
Tuong Nguyen left mid
Christian Redgewell right back injured
Rohan Fernando left/right mid
Thomas Liddle midfield

Friendly Update

Rumour has it the game will take place at Seatoun at 2pm Sunday. There should be an update of some kind...

This has been confirmed. Let's hope we have a team.

Friendly and Draw Update

There is a friendly this weekend (11am Sunday at Kilbirnie Park). Short of numbers currently, but we shall see. The Cavs start their season this week, poor sods!

The draw is out for the Saturday after...

CAPITAL 8:
Lower Hutt City __ Petone JJ's __ Fraser 2;
U/Hutt Spacko's __ North Wellington __ Awakairangi 1;
Tawa Bears __ Wgtn Un Salmon __ Kura (12.30);
Marist Skins __ Stokes Valley __ Cobham.
Petone Chuggers __ Tawa Saintz __ Petone Memorial 4.

Cobham, eh? It'll be like playing on concrete, but there are far, far worse places to play. My recent memories of Stokes Valley are battering them completely and still losing. JJ's used to be a Marist team, and the Bears of Tawa got promoted with us (a good team). Feedback on the others all welcome.

Week 1: That didn't really go as we'd hoped

I'll be honest: I don't know how many we conceded. We scored 2, I believe, one a smart finish by Ray and the other a late strike by Jimmy, but it was scant consolation for a mixed performance. Some of the movement and passing was excellent, but some of the communication mix-ups should have been avoided. That is why we have a pre-season.

Raiders are a good team. They close down hard and fast, with a few challenges that might be considered a little too hard and fast. They have an excellent striker, quick and cool-headed. And they were organised and reasonably disciplined. The Skins were less so on most counts. There is a lot of loosening up, communication practice and refresher playing needed.

There is another friendly in 2 weeks, and hopefully a match next weekend, even if just a 5 a side kick around. Clearly we need to get used to each other again and, as Aaron pointed out, we need to get used to kicking the damn ball around. It really isn't the same as we've been used to in the other forms of the game.

After the game:

Pre-Season Friendly #1

Our first friendly match takes place on Sunday 16th March at 2:30pm against Willy's brother's team. Looks like Cobham at 2:30 for kick-off.
Goalie - Thomas

Defence
Scotty
Glenn
Tim
Mark
Dion

Mids
Scott
Tuong
Marsh
Ray #1

Forwards
Ray #2
Stephen
[Jimmy wants to play]

The Final Countdown

As the dust settles on another summer, the linament comes out and the backs start being cracked as the football season is about to commence. Too professional for pre season training, the newly promoted Marist Skins will rely on a diet of pre season friendlies and natural fitness to get themselves to middle table position in Capital Div 8.

They may be short on youth, but never underestimate the experience of a side with thousands of senior caps between them. Although short on speed and flair, the green and white striped Celtics will rely on experience, guile and a stroke of genius to remain competitive in the 2008 season.

The timetable for the season is friendlies on March 16th and 30th. The two weeks between friendlies provides adequate recovery and Easter Egg time. Then it is the real deal. Division 8 represents a tough uncompromising step up from Div 9, but the plucky Marist combination must be backing themselves for a mid table position when the first competitive game takes place on 5th August.

For the fans, administrators, coaches and players, so many questions remain;

1) how many players bodies will survive past the first few weeks?
2) can the Skins cope with one specialist striker?
3) what will the step up from Div 9 be like?

Place your bets and add your comments!

Skins manager

Key Dates

First friendly is 16th March
Second friendly is 30th March
There may be others with luck

...

First league match is April 5th

Squad Announcement

This has been edited to put satirical comments in. Any criticism, it's the manager's fault.

Full Time
Dan Popham (attacking wide boy/player)
Marshall Benson (patrolling tank unit)
Jim Boutcher (the Enigma - how the heck does he score?)
Dion Chamberlain (versatile but possibly somewhat brittle after last season's misfortunes)
Scott Crookston (newbie - I'd tease, but he's faster, fitter, more skilful and probably smarter than me. He smells.)
Mark Crookston (Newbie's brother. Jack of All Trades, and master of several of them)
Scott Donaldson (Ron Knee)
Glenn Campbell (Rhinestone Cowboy and committed defender, with all that euphemism implies)
Stephen Toplis (or part time) (forward - or so a young lady claimed after the last drinks - Boom! Boom!)
Aaron Watson (central to the team. At least in positional terms)
Ray Hardy (the Swan - looks like he glides effortlessly up and down the pitch. Surely deceptive?)
Tim Pate (or part time) (Shady)

Part Time
Symon Ross (attacking midfielder, perhaps less comfortable than most in the green and white hoops for some reason)
Tuong Nguyen (so fast he can play two positions at the same time. Handy when the strikers have training wheels)
Christian Redgewell (harder than he looks, which may say more about his looks than his hardness)