Ground Transfer

DIVISION EIGHT:
Wgtn United Salmon  v Marist Skins transferred to Ngatitoa at 12.30pm

On State Highway One, turn left, north of Paremata Bridge.
Three playing fields.
Headquarters of the Paremata Plimmerton R. F. C.
I don't even trust the directions I read!
Hmmm
Or maybe here
Piss-poor maps

Remind Me Why The Skins Don't Practice Again?

Training heated up for the World Champion Italian team when two females did an underwear streak. They are preparing for the EURO 2008 tournament, which I am excited about! This has never happened to me before, but is an indication that matches aren't the only places for streakers to gain notoriety.

Aparently one of them was Miss Venezuela in 2006.

Marist Skins Go Down in the Mud!

The Marist Skins went down to a more passionate Petone Chuggers 2-1 at Kilbirnie on Saturday. The home team were dominant in the early exchanges and deservedly went up one nil when left wing Tuong Nguyen slotted a defected shot into the bottom left corner. The Skins could've been up by more, but were undone by the experienced Petone Chuggers goalie. The match turned on its head after 37 minutes when a ball hungry Chuggers forward capitalised in the mud and slotted to score the equaliser.

This goal for the Chuggers, spurred them on, as they finished the first half strongly and got the go ahead goal just before half time. This inspired finished to the first half was the defining period of the game as the Chuggers sent players forward in numbers and they were dangerous on attack, outnumbering the Skins defence.

The second half was even, but the Skins with the breeze at their backs were unable to equalise. The final result was typical of the match, where the Chuggers were more hungry for the ball and adapted better to the mud against the lethargic Skins. It also sees the Petone team leap frog the Skins onto 12 points. This result typifies the topsy turvy nature of Capital 8 this season!

This result is the kick in the pants that the Skins need and hopefully they will be back on their games next week against Wellington United Salmon!

Golden Boot

The Marist Skins Golden Boot Award is a Three Horse Race

5 Scott Crookston
3 Ray Hardy
1 Mark Crookston

Our attack hasn't been our strength this season, but Jimmy will no doubt join the list at some stage!

A Big 0-0

It wasn't the wrong result: we had the better opportunities in the first half and they had the better in the second. All keepers made fine saves and the shots were of reasonable quality. Dion, an ongoing revelation this season, was gently teased for his pre-match regime,


but, given his remarkable suppleness during the game, I'd say it was paying dividends!

Many positives to be taken from this, not least the resilience of the defence and our creativity on attack. This looks to be a tight but good division.
Willy and Scotty admiring Thomas' form even before his goalkeeping heroics...




Anyway. Has anyone seen the superb Nike ad featuring Wayne Rooney? It is very fine indeed.

How it was done...

And some Aussie pros re-enacting it...

An Inspiring Nil All Draw?

It is with some satisfaction that the Marist Skins claimed a nil all draw against Tawa Saintz at Onepoto Park. On a warm Wellington day and wide pitch, the fitness of both teams was sorely tested. The Marist Skins squad of 13 for the match was depleted through injury in the second half, forcing target man forward Ray Hardy to miss his flight to Club Med Tahiti, but that is the commitment of these celtic warriors.

The Tawa outfit had the youth and speed to be threatening all game, especially after they subbed their two fast forwards with two faster forwards. But the experienced Skins had their fair share of chances, including a header into the crossbar from Ray Hardy, while controversy shrouded the game in the last 9 minutes when midfield lynchpin Mark Crookston was taken out near the edge of the box. Not surpisingly the free kick was awarded millimetres outside of the box. It is hard for referees at this level to make the big calls, given the closeness of the contest.

The first half was a dogged battle with both teams evenly matched. Some great plays by both teams created chances, but some great defensive work and some wide shots kept the stalemate.

The second half was dominated by the Tawa Saintz with a lions share of the chances on goal, but despite their fresh fast legs causing problems for the Skins defence, bombed a few sitters. There were plenty of other dangerous raids by both teams, but the defence of both teams was impressive. The Saintz dominated possession with 57% possession.

The Skins defence remains the best in the league and with some great saves by keeper Thomas Liddle, gained a morale boosting draw and the point will be crucial in the chase for the Division Eight title. Midfield livewire Mark Crookston was tireless and gained the plaudits of the talent scouts on the sideline.

New Nike Commercial

They aren't household names like The Skins boys!

Stoke? Meh.

City Ground, Nottingham. This is partly my blog, so I'm sharing my joy with you. So there.

The Passion of Football

Where's the Passion in Rugby?

Stoke City got promoted to the Barclay's English Premiership and check out the passion of the fans! It is inspirational! There is more passion and emotion with relegation and promotion than there is at the top of the table.

That is How to Score Them!

The only thing to dry up on this grotty Wellington day were the goals. As the guys above show you, it doesn't have to be smoked into the top locker all of the time to be a successful goal. We managed to still score a 2-0 win over the lowly Upper Hutt Spackos in the wet, somewhere in the murky depths of the Hutt.

Despite playing several Skins out of position, we managed to keep a clean sheet, which was satisfying as a defender, while wet conditions and too much time in front of goal saw us only net a 2-0 win. Many easy shots missed the target, but a couple of obscure shots (especially the second goal) gave us a 2-0 buffer through a goal in each half.

Ray claimed the first goal when a long range shot/cross was nudged past the keep by two hairs on Rays head. This was much needed after we struggled to absorb the Spackos featuring a resurgent Tim Pate up front and attacks from their star player. Once the Skins got into their groove they dominated possession and territory, but Spackos tactics of chipping our defence for their star and a fastly tiring Pate became repetitive yet dangerous at times.

The second half saw far more chances for the Skins, but alas it took until the 69th minute for Scott Crookston to make up for some massively over struck shots, when he beat the keeper to the ball and with the keeper sprawled on his haunches shot a falling away grubber into the goal from the left hand edge of the box. It was quality football. The keeper got up and threw his hat on the ground in disgust, yelling "You suck!" or something of that nature (I was on halfway at the time!). IT was hard to know who he was talking to!

The Skins then shut up shop and ensured they took the points. It is the sign of a good team who can win when they may not have played to their best ability!

It will be interesting to see if the re-introduction of J Boutcher puts added pressure on the strikers.

The results are below, with the top two teams dropping points to the Tawa teams, so our game against Tawa Bears (from Div 9 last year) will be an epic this coming weekend. Hopefully our result gets recorded.

CAPITAL 8:
North Wellington 0 Tawa Saintz 1
Petone JJ's 1 Wgtn Un Salmon 6
Lower Hutt City 0 Petone Chuggers 1
U/Hutt Spacko's __ Marist Skins __
Tawa Bears 1 SV Killer Bees 1

P W D L GF GA Pts
SV Killer Bees 5 3 2 0 12 9 11
North Wellington 5 3 1 1 17 5 10
Tawa Saintz 5 3 1 1 11 8 10
Lower Hutt City 5 3 0 2 16 12 9
Tawa Bears 5 2 2 1 15 13 8
Marist Skins 4 2 1 1 8 3 7
Petone Chuggers 5 2 0 3 9 12 6
Wgtn Un Salmon 5 1 0 4 12 14 3
Petone JJ's 5 1 0 4 11 18 3
U/Hutt Spacko's 4 0 1 3 6 23 1