Tom Cramer posted on April 26, 2008 20:40
Pukekohe 5 Manukau City 0 Half-time 0 - 0
(Scorers: Keegan Saville, Scott Kerr (pen), Adam Moorhouse, O.G (2) )
Team: Trent Hirst, Brendon Henry (Gabriel Arnidello), Ben Johnstone, Andy Hey, Josh Wright, Chris Mahoney (Adam Moorhouse), Scott Kerr, Graham Spinks (Matt Green), Liam Elliott, Seksit Techo, Keegan Savile.
Unused Sub: Matt Stewart
After last week's disappointing showing against Western Springs, the Reserves were determined to get things back on track today against a Manukau side still searching for their first win of the season.
As the first half got under way, it appeared that this determination had translated into a steely determination to give the ball away at every opportunity, as pass after pass went astray. I'll quickly gloss over the first half which was notable only in the fact that Manukau missed a penalty. Trent wasn't troubled as the spot-kick sailed over the crossbar and into Pak n Save's carpark (See the great picture of the spot-kick going into orbit on www.37south.com). 0 - 0 at halftime was a fair reflection, a Puke side which couldn't string two passes together and a Manukau side which simply wasn't good enough to profit.
The half-time chat was about reinforcing that we were a far better side than we'd shown so far. It was all about getting back to basics, getting the ball down and playing the football I knew we were capable of.
The second half was vast improvement, goals from Keegan, Scott and Adam and two Manukau own-goals sealed the win but it could have, and should have been a lot more. Ben Johnstone forced the Manukau keeper into a couple of great saves and Adam contrived to miss more opportunities in front of an open goal than most strikers will see in a season. With a bit of luck and less woeful finishing, it could easily have been double figures.
A good win for the boys and hopefully they will get some confidence back from today's result and kick on for the rest of the season.
| Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goals For |
Goals Against |
GD |
Points |
| 4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
11 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
Man of the Match: Ben Johnstone. Solid at the back, then had a great game when he was pushed into midfield. Unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.