Willy Schoppe posted on August 26, 2006 18:22
The Tunas seemed to have been affected by the unusual ground layout, they never got into their rhythm, passing, positional play, defence and attacking play simply never got off to a start. The Dragons dominated the midfield and with continuing quick ball up front put the Tunas on the back-foot through-out the game.
The few attacking chances the Tunas had were generally taken care of by a resolute Dragon’s defence, which successfully subdued the Tunas’ usually threatening strikers with their physicality.
It was only thanks to poor finishing of the Dragons which kept the Tunas in the game during the first half. The Dragons took the lead after nine minutes of one way traffic play. The Tunas rang the changes and used their interchange extensively, this seemed to provide the wake-up call the Tunas so desperately needed; with 16 minutes played Carlon was at the end of a three passes move out of midfield and made no mistake; the score was 1:1 and the Tunas looked on their way to yet another fairy tale ending…. For the reminder of the first half the Tunas looked the better team but, again, they lacked cohesion and chances for both teams were few and far between.
During half-time the coaching staff tried to focus the team for the second half but it felt as if this was the one game the Tunas simply couldn’t get themselves to get up for.
The story of the second half is told in a few words: the Tunas tuned out, the Dragons found an early goal and that was it … nothing to write home about, unfortunately.
HOWEVER; the fans, coaching staff and everyone associated with this sympathetic wonderful team, the Red Hot Tunas 2006, will remember them for all their heroics and entertainment they have given us this season! To celebrate we have scheduled an End of Season match, pitching the Red Hot Tunas against a team of supporters, families and friends.
We invite all curious enough to catch a glimpse of the magic this tough little unit is capable of to come and join us on Sunday, 03.09.06 @ 10.30hrs at Bledisloe Park on field 03.
PS:
As one of the coaches of the Red Hot Tunas I wish to say:
“Thank you to all you players, parents, care takers, grand parents, siblings and supporters. It has once again been a wonderful season and I am humbled and feel privileged to be associated with this team. Thank you for trusting me and 'enduring' me, my passion for coaching you as a team is only surpassed by your responsiveness and achievements. I am proud of you, The Red Hot Tunas, and I wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity to let people know!"
Kia Kaha Red Hot Tunas, Go Strong and Rock On!
Cheers,
`;o)
W