Swamp Soccer

The Onepoto pitch resembled a swamp after the Marist Skins vs Tawa Bears clash on Saturday. Persistent rain greeted early morning risers in Wellington and several hours later these two teams did battle. The Skins started slowly with a 4-3-1-1 formation to compensate for late arriving team members who were a much welcomed addition 10 minutes into the game.

The game was relatively even until a 10 minute first half blitz by the Skins in the messy conditions yielded three well taken goals. The first was created by a dangerous through ball by Marshall Benson which stopped in the mud just outside the box and energetic Skins midfielder Aaron Watson ran onto it beautifully. Watson took his time in an attempt to find a dry position to shoot past the stranded keeper. He went right, then left onto his bad side, then as the defence finally arrived he slotted it into the back of the net off his right. It gave the Skins relief as everyone was questioning his decision to take the ball onto his left in the first place.

The next goal wasn't long in coming as Tuong Nguyen was let loose with a great exchange of passing down the left side. He was causing problems for the curly haired blonde guy with two left feet in the opposition. This time he was let loose and made a great raking run before dragging it back to Ray Hardy who got onto the score sheet with a cooly slotted shot into the bottom left corner.

A minute later a corner taken was headered in by a poorly marked Ray Hardy for his second goal in two minutes. Both teams had some golden opportunities, but the heavy mud which was by this stage causing a sucking sensation in the wet counted against both teams. Mark Crookston made a brilliant forty metre run, but finished it off with a great demonstration on how not to finish from close range as his head went back and it went over the goal. The Bears also had some chances, but the Skins back four scrambled well, and the Bears had limited players with shooting ability in these conditions.

The Skins started the second half rather defensively and the game reached a stalemate, with neither team able to get many decent shots away in the slushy ground which was deteriorating as the game progressed. Centre back Donaldson put a headed corner over the bar for the Skins, his time will come. A penalty midway through the second half was saved by the mud soaked keeper when it went straight. The Bears then scored a run away goal as the Skins had most of their players up for an attacking corner with a chance to get their name up on the scoresheet.

The final score 3-1 was reflective of the dominance of the Skins who controlled possession well and took their goals well. The Bears toiled well and showed that they didn't give up, with their late goal.

Division 8 continues to throw up surprises. How did the top team Stokes Valley lose 8-2? That win helped one of the Skins main rivals North Wellington's goal difference. Stokes Valley didn't want to be promoted last year, would they not want to be again? Maybe they were short of players? The Marist Skins win miraculously was recorded as a 2-1 win somehow instead of 3-1. We will question that one! The Petone Chuggers went down to the lowly Spackos which is brilliant for the Skins.

CAPITAL 8:
North Wellington 8 SV Killer Bees 2
Petone JJ's __ Tawa Saintz __ Postponed
Lower Hutt City 3 Wgtn Un Salmon 0
U/Hutt Spacko's 1 Petone Chuggers 0
Tawa Bears 1 Marist Skins 2


P W D L GF GA Pts
SV Killer Bees 13 8 4 1 34 26 28
North Wellington 13 7 3 3 41 24 24
Marist Skins 13 7 2 4 28 16 23
Lower Hutt City 13 7 2 4 40 30 23
Petone Chuggers 13 7 1 5 22 21 22
Tawa Saintz 12 6 2 4 21 16 20
Wgtn Un Salmon 13 4 1 8 23 29 13
Tawa Bears 13 3 3 7 24 27 12
U/Hutt Spacko's 13 2 3 8 18 46 9
Petone JJ's 12 2 1 9 25 41 7