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Willy Schoppe posted on July 15, 2007 21:17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WX_4FNoto4 Deep Purple was the prevailing colour of the lips of those that gathered for the early morning 09:00hrs. kick-off at Bledisloe Park and you could be forgiven for feeling sorry for these poor little mites… The Devilz, it was save to assume, were only just waking up and breakfast was at the forefront of their thoughts at that time of the day. The 11:00hrs kick-off schedule for their assignment against the Papakura Rangers at sun bathed and wind burned Bledisloe Park loomed as a biorhythm spoiler, one the Devilz had encountered on a couple of occasions in this topsy-turvy 2007 season.
Coming off the confidence boosting 3: Zipp win against the Tuakau Panthers two weeks earlier, the Devilz gathered nice and early at around 10:15hrs and the pre-match warm-up routines were executed with brimming confidence and airy exuberance.
The Devilz looked ready to rock and you could see concerned glances from the other side of the park were the Papakura Rangers gathered and somewhat listlessly approached their pre-match routines.
From the kick-off the Devilz showed they meant business, no smoke but lots of fire and the Rangers were under siege; it took the Devilz four minutes to turn their dominance into hard currency; Rooney connected with a devilish through-ball from the right wing, sweetly dispatched by the recuperated Sweet Touch, meeting it at the second post, there was no second guessing, like drawn on a sting the ball found its nesting place at the back of the net. The score was 1:0 to the Devilz and the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WX_4FNoto4 Deep Purple coloured veins on the coach’s forehead got a bit of a breather.
The Devilz attacked the Ranger’s kick-off with a smothering fire-blanket like surge forward; five criss-cross passes across the Ranger’s half had the Rangers in sixes and sevens and Bergkamp put the Coup de Grâce past a non-existent Ranger’s goalie. The score was 2:0 to the Devilz with 5:11 minutes on the clock.
The Devilz went on to show their solidarity with the poor folks up north and created their own ‘power-cut’. The remaining 14:49 minutes of the first half went with so much none-eventful menace that some spectators were seen to engage in grass-growing watching competitions.
Half-time came and the Devilz and coaching staff confirmed to each other that they were not happy with the proceedings so far. Good intentions and undertakings were reaffirmed and everyone was looking forwards to a memorable second half;
Well, the highlights of the second half were the DEEP PURPLE veins of the coaches forehead and neck, progressively turning dark red as the game went on… the Devilz extended the lead to 3:0 after 09:30 minutes of the second half but then went missing in action, a devilish black-out of sorts set in and the Rangers were allowed to peg two goals back, the final score, 3:2 to the Devilz and several bruised vocal cords to the coach.
The Devilz have answered a call from their old sparing partner the Tuakau Panthers for this Thursday’s training for a 3 x 15 minute friendly game, allowing both teams to re-discover their form of earlier in this 2007 season.
PS: Rumours that Robert (Percy) Plant was seen after the game leaving the P&S car park in a ’74 Vauxhall humming ‘It’s been a long time since I Rock and Rolled’, are just that… Rumours!
Just remember folks, after the game is before the game… Next Saturday the Devilz will meet the Manurewa Raiders, and the thought of it will bring a smirk to Rene Higuita’s face…..
On another note;
We wish to thank Caltex for supporting our team this year with plenty of goodies for the player of the day –Thanks Caltex-.
The Devilz’ motto “… the Sky’s the limited!”
Lions meet ManU and the chill
The Lions hosted Bucklands Beach Man United on a chilly morning at Bledisloe Park, with all players available for action with the exception of David, who was away on a warmer part of the planet. Although school half term break and the high breezy conditions of the week meant that the Lions had not played for a couple of weeks, they were all very keen to get started. The coach was ready, and although confined to the comfort of a cool film director’s chair, this did not reduce his magical impact on the team.
From kick off the Bucklands Beach ManU outfit showed pace throughout their line up and were soon moving the ball around midfield well, only to be halted with the Lions defence made up by Sofia as goalkeeper, Grace and Jack. Up front the Lions were configured with Lachlan, Matthew and Scott having to work hard against the speedy opposition. Megan provided the midfield play for the Lions and when the half time whistle finally came, the relieved supporters saw the score at 0 – 1 to Bucklands Beach. The first half had seen the Lions players all having superb individual games, demonstrating good shielding, fake and explodes skills, but not really gelling as a team that we have been so used to seeing.
From the kick off to the second half some great creativity was starting to emerge from the Lions, as well as some awesome personal efforts. Keely & Conner showed great determination in defence and Evan making a fantastic "Save of the match" in his goalkeeping role. Grace was tirelessly covering great areas of the pitch and some great goal opportunities came for Scott and Lachlan, created from the back by Sofia. But the goal was denied by the metal work as two successive shots rebounded off each goal post – the supporters were enthusiastically displaying their passion. The Lions came back decisively to take the score to 1-1 and although at the final whistle, the score rested at 1 – 2 to 'ManU', the Lions had all enjoyed their match.
(Lion's Article kindly provide by Mark, Co-coach, Edwards. - Cheers Mark -)
WELL DONE – LIONS ROAR!