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Catriona Bennett posted on April 06, 2008 21:20
The opening fixture of the season saw Pukekohe’s newly established 4th team travel to Madills Farm to play Eastern Suburbs in AFF Mens Division 7. As might be expected, most of the players had not played together as a team before so it was always going to be a bit of a learning experience for all. Since we only had the bare eleven and Eastern Suburbs made full use of their rolling subs, all of our players had to work especially hard throughout the game. Although we were 3-0 down at half-time it was a game we felt that we could certainly get back into, since we had our share of possession and were able to put the opposition under pressure for extended periods of the first half.
Despite injuries to Mark Ellis and Mike Thomas (who was forced to put in a stint as goalkeeper), Pukekohe were still able to maintain pressure on the opposition defence which resulted in them conceding a penalty early on in the second half. The spot kick was duly converted to bring us back into the game and the whole team battled hard to create chances and resist counter-attacks from the opposition. The final score ended at 4-1 to Eastern Suburbs after one of their players managed to find the back of the net in a frantic goalmouth scramble in the closing minutes of the game.
Credit to both teams for playing a hard, but fair game. Thanks to all Pukekohe players for their work ethic and for their good team play and communication on the field, especially considering it was the first time that we had played together as a team and that several players were drafted in at very short notice. If we are able to convert chances into goals in future games, the level of commitment shown by our players can only bode well for the rest of the season.
Team: Neil Kraakman, Dave Wadeley, Brendon Henry, Shane Harneiss, Blair Mason, Mark Ellis, Tom Shakeshaft, Mike Thomas, Paul Hinton, Anthony Kwan, Jason Harneiss
Goalscorers: Dave Wadeley (pen)
Final Score: Eastern Suburbs 4 – Pukekohe 1
Next Fixture: Home v Western Springs, Saturday 12th April (2:45pm)