The Skins Sweep to Victory

The Marist Skins remain in title contention for the Div 9 championship with a 4-2 win over the Petone Chuggers on a wind swept Cobham Park. Ground conditions were conducive to attractive football and the Skins obliged in the first half especially.

Playing with the wind the Skins went ahead after twenty minutes when defensive lynchpin Scotty Donaldson launched a rare raid into the opposition half before slipping a through ball which dragged the Chuggers keeper out and powerful centre forward Ray Hardy tackled the stranded keeper before dribbling the ball into an open goal.

The heavens opened as three further goals were perfectly orchestrated within 10 minutes. Workhorse central midfielder Aaron Watson claimed one with a 30 metre swirling shot. This goal was the third and was sandwiched between two beauties which came from nice Skins passing where much like his namesake Dr Watson, Aaron helped solved the Skins scoring mystery with two nice assists. Jim Boutcher and Oliver Davie were noted down as the scorers.

The halftime break left the Skins 4-0 up, but some gritty defending repelled plenty of long balls and shots as the wind continued to play a part. Finally after about 20 minutes the Chuggers scored with a long shot. But unlike their opponents, the Skins managed to stop leaking goals until the diminutive Chuggers speedster broke his way through the defence and claimed a second goal for the visitors with about 15 minutes left. The Skins stood strong where others would’ve faltered. The 4-2 win enabled the Skins to stay in touch with the leaders, with Aaron Watson claiming the Man of the Match award.

Things don’t get any easier with a physical away match against the top of the table Naenae Hypocrites on the cards. Last time the two sides met the Skins were humbled, but that was a holiday weekend and the Skins can hopefully take plenty of confidence with them from last week.

The Skins are back in the Game!

Marist Skins recovered from their worst defeat in years to beat the Lower Hutt City side 3-0 in their Div 9 game at Fraser Park on Saturday. In warm and dry conditions, this game was always going to take its toll and luckily the Skins had more players and managed to make the most of their opportunities better than the home team.

Playing with the sun at their backs, the green and whites lost Dan Popham early to injury, but had more opportunities than their hosts. Eventually striker Ben McCorkindale converted the pressure into a goal. The Lower Hutt defender chasing a ball back, panicked and Corks was able to pounce and shoot past an approaching goalie.

The Hutt side still had their chances, but a combination of good Skins defence, a couple of great saves by evergreen keeper Ray Hardy and some poor finishing after great lead up work cost the hosts.

At halftime the game was in the balance at 1-0, but the deserved buffer created when Jim Boutcher pounced on a goalkeeping error to slot the 2-0 goal was welcome relief for the visitors. The game then reached a stalemate as both teams struggled in the heat. The Skins eventually scored another and was created by good lead up work down the left and when Jim Boutcher cut a pass to substitute bull terrior striker Tim Pate who danced around the keeper and slotted it with his left peg, the result was beyond doubt.

The 3-0 result was a fair reflection, but both teams created some great opportunities and on another day and maybe a completely flat pitch, could've scored more goals.

Still, it was played in good spirits and was thoroughly enjoyable!

Game One The Skins Dominate

The Marist Skins got their 2009 campaign off to a comfortable 5-0 win over Petone on Saturday at Kilbirnie Park. This was true early season football with plenty of mistimed strikes and tired legs, but new signing Oliver Davie got the ball rolling with an early goal from a nice pass from stalwart Ray Hardy.

The Skins dominated with the strengthening northerly and finally made it count when a lobbed shot/cross by Ben McCorkindale sailed into the back of the net past everyone including the gutsy away goalie who gave a good account of himself.

It was difficult to know how many goals were in the northerly, but once the speedy Davie bagged two more, then the result seemed beyond reach of Petone.

Petone were always threatening on the counter thanks to the strong breeze, but often they turned over possession and left gaps in midfield for some gradually improving Skins passing to capitalise on. Enigmatic Tim Pate bagged the final goal after a break from Davie who then fed Pate who nutmegged the goalie from close range.

The match was played on a hard and fast pitch conditions and fatigue often left big gaps in midfield. The Kilbirnie track allowed for space up the flanks, but the cricket pitch area saw some interesting tumbles take place.

The Skins look forward to hosting Naenae next week. At this early stage this game looks crucial after Naenae had a 7-2 win in their opening game. Easter weekend is always an interesting time with player availability in question.

Be Warned, This Will Happen in Wellington This Winter!

Football starts this weekend for me as the team I manage (Marist Skins) take on the Petone formerly JJs at Kilbirnie Park at 12:30pm. We have added some spark from last year as the older team members slowly hang up the boots making way for newbies to take over the mantle. I have no doubt that this will happen somewhere around Wellington this season. Polish keeper Artur Boruc did nothing to enhance his reputation against Northern Ireland. It is similar to English keeper Paul Robinson's gaffe against Croatia, but not as bad as the ball boggled uncontrollably higher and this match was a friendly compared with the pressure cooker England vs Croatia in 2006. Given the poor state of the capital's football fields, this is not beyond the realms of possiblity and hopefully we are not on the receiving end.