13th Blue Grind it Out in the Gale

The forecast said wind and thats what we got, and in plentiful quantities. The only question was would it also bring rain? Yes it did , not for the whole match thankfully, but enough to make the players wonder why they were playing and the spectators wonder about the man with the accent waxing lyrical about English summers at home?

But the match - Pukekohe against Manurewa, cousin (playing) vs older cousin (coaching), teenagers against the elements, man against nature, human against the weather god...

If ever there was a game of two halves then this was surely it, with and against the wind, friend or foe? Pukekohe had the wind advantage in the first half and the result was that the ball seldom crossed into the Pukekohe half. The other interesting result was how the Pukekohe keeper stayed warm in a half where he never touched the ball?

Both teams learned a lot about playing in the wind and both coaches learned a lot about whistling in the wind as their cries of ... well who would know because from the other side of the pitch we couldn't hear a thing!

With some good passing football and patience Pukekohe scored, through the boot of Callum, part way through the first half. In fact Pukekohe spent most of the half camped in the attacking third and the hearts of all were pounding as attack after attack, and shot after shot just missed the mark or were saved by a well performed Manurewa keeper. It was 1-0 at half time but could easily have been 6-0. Unscored goal of the day (sounds Irish) went to Brandt for a superb strike from outside the 18 yard box that rattled the woodwork.

The second half saw Manurewa use the wind to set up waves of attack. Early in the first half I was chatting to a spectator and was jolted back to the game by the father of the Pukekohe keeper running down the sideline shouting out to his son in goal - the ball had been knocked through into the 18 yard box and Manurewa strikers and Pukeohe defenders were racing from all corners to reach it -the Pukekohe keeper showed the greatest confidence in his backs that I have ever seen anywhere by turning his back, strolling to the corner of the goal and bending over to adjust the placement of his water bottle. As a desperate lunge by a defender played the ball over for a corner the keeper looked up and around and wondered what all the fuss was about - well done Jacob, relaxed under fire!

It had to come - a goal for Manurewa - a mis hit shot spiralled high in the air and what on any other day would have been a simple keepers ball turned into a nightmare as the swirling wind caught it and it bobbled into the goal. 1-1, now what was Pukekohe made of ?? With spectators shouting encouragement Pukekohe battled strongly into the wind and with 15 to go persistence paid off as Callum again latched onto the last ball of a great passing move and finished skillfully to make it 2-1. 

The final 15 minutes again saw Pukekohe have to withstand numerous Manurewa attacks and the keeper, and the defenders in front of him played desperately to maintain the 2-1 score to the end. A hard fought win on the most testing of days.

Well done to the whole 13th Blue team for showing what a determined team you are - they played some nice football in difficult conditions. They discovered that to beat difficult elements you have to play good team football. 

Well done Teo for leading your boys to another win. Congratulations to Gavin for POD and thanks to Russell for whistling the first half.

GO THE MIGHTY 13th!