Mens 4th Team v Ellerslie

This weekend saw us travel to Waikaraka Park to take on arguably the stronger of the two Ellerslie sides in our division.  Although we did have a fairly strong squad this week, there were a number of changes in personnel and we were missing one player in particular - regular goalkeeper Blair Mason.  As a result our youngest player, Craig Upson, bravely volunteered to don the the gloves.

The opening minutes of the first half saw us struggling to find our feet and almost inevitably the score was quickly 1-0 to Ellerslie.  A well taken goal from Rhys Biddick soon saw us back on level terms, but Ellerslie quickly broke through to swing the scoreline in their favour.  What followed demonstrated our own ability to play some neat uncomplicated football.  A goal-kick saw the ball passed from one Puke player to another (without resorting to long balls or hoofing the ball into air) with Jason Harneiss ultimately putting the ball into the back of the net, all without a single Ellerslie player touching the ball.  Unfortunately for us, Ellerslie were able to add another two goals to their tally as the result of a couple of long balls over the top.  Following this Puke started to take the game by the scruff of the neck and put increasing pressure on the opposition midfield and defence, eventually resulting in a goal from Ezra Leffalaar.  More chances followed, but unfortunately we were unable to convert them (with a number of chances scrambled off the Ellerslie goal line at the last second).  Half-time saw the scoreline at 5-3 to Ellerslie, but with Puke looking the more threatening of the two teams.

The second half saw Puke come out of the blocks early and continuing to pressurise the opposition at every opportunity.  Even with a 5-3 advantage the Ellerslie team soon began to play panic football, often hoofing the ball off the park, as Puke continued to dominate the game.  Further pressure saw a Graham Spinks half-volley reduce the deficit to 5-4.  This resulted in some rather unsavoury verbal and physical intimidation from the opposition as they continued to feel the heat.  With just a few minutes remaining Ellerslie were able to grab another goal from an offside position.  The linesman correctly raised his flag, but the Ellerslie supporter officiating the game chose to ignore it and the game finished in a disappointing (for us) 6-4 win to the opposition.

Lack of a proper official undoubtedly cost us again this week.  Whereas Puke usually manage to provide a club based ref for most of our home games, it seems to be a very rare luxury for opposition teams to be in the same position when playing at their home grounds.  The result this week was that an Ellerslie supporter, clearly half-cut after a heavy night out, had to step up to the plate.  I’m sure most of us have heard the phrase “are you blind ref” mentioned more than a few times over the years, but “are you blind drunk ref” would probably have been more appropriate in this instance.

A few lessons learned from this week: THE GOOD – yes, we can and do play good football and just need to continue doing this over the course of the season ... THE BAD – not much to moan about here, we just need to close the gap between midfield and defence a bit so that we don’t leave ourselves too vulnerable to attack ... THE UGLY – it will be a rare luxury to have an official or club based ref at away games so we just have to live with it and make the most of our performances in home games this season.

Again, it was a very strong team performance this week but player of the day honours went to Ezra Leffalaar, who worked tirelessly in midfield and capped his display with a goal.  A worthy mention also goes to Rhys Biddick, who grabbed himself a goal in the first half and then put in a confident display between the sticks in the second half.  A very well done to every player on the park once again, despite the result it was another great example of the attitude and commitment within the team that will undoubtedly reap its rewards in the coming weeks ...

Team: Craig Upson, Roly McKenzie, Julian Smith, Pete Wild (capt), Cameron Williams, Matt Stewart, Ezra Leffalaar, Shane Harneiss, Jason Harneiss, Graham Spinks, Rhys Biddick, Kevin Mullane, Dave Wadeley, Neil Kraakman

Goalscorers: Rhys Biddick, Jason Harneiss, Ezra Leffalaar, Graham Spinks

Final Score: Ellerslie 6 - Pukekohe 4

Next Fixture: Home v Papakura, Saturday 25th April (kick off 2:45pm, Bledisloe Park)