For a team struggling with players absent through injury, illness and work commitments an away game with a 1pm kick-off against Western Springs was never going to be easy ...

Sure enough the signs were not good when we were forced to kick off with only 9 players, two of which were making their 4th Team debuts.  Western Springs were able to take advantage with a couple of early goals.  The arrival of Neil, Shane and Mike brought us up to 12 players, but we still struggled to find our shape and were 5-0 down with only 20 or so minutes played.  Slowly, but surely we found some composure and were able to mount a few attacks on the opposition goal.  One such attack on the verge of half-time led to a rare Dave Wadeley goal from open play, courtesy of a Neil Kraakman cross.

The second half saw us continue to battle with Jesse Bleeker again working hard in the lone striker role, but with plenty of support from the midfield and defence.  Western Springs were able to grab another two goals during the half, the last of which was a spectacular overhead volley from just outside the 18 yard box which Blair had no chance of stopping.  The Maroons kept the pressure on, forcing a number of corners which we were unable to take advantage of.  Cue Jim Hey ... inswinging corner ... keeper fumbles ball into the back of the net ... goal!  No less than we deserved.  Unfortunately that was the last of the goals and the match ended in a disappointing 7-2 defeat.

It’s getting harder each week to write-up these match reports when we still haven’t registered a single point so far this season, but we have to focus on the positives.  Armi and Leo both had solid debuts, bringing up the number of players used (so far) by the 4th Team to 39, and the team as a whole never looked like giving up despite being 5-0 down so early on in the game.

Despite being a fairly bad tempered match (perhaps in need of an official referee), the most encouraging comment came from the Western Springs captain at the end of the game – with the way we play and the players that we have it’s hard to understand how we haven’t managed to pick up a few points during the season.  No question we do need to score more goals and concede less, but the simple fact is if we could skip the opening 20 minutes of every game then we would certainly be in a much better position than we are now.  As I’ve said before though, all we can do is keep on battling and show the same commitment and determination that we have been doing and it will only be a matter of time before we put an end to our losing streak ...

Team: Blair Mason, Armagan Sabetian, Tom Shakeshaft, Shane Harneiss, Leo Dawood, Dale Austin, Mark Ellis, Neil Kraakman, Jim Hey, Dave Wadeley, Jesse Bleeker, Mike Thomas

Goalscorers: Dave Wadeley, Jim Hey

Final Score: Western Springs 7 – Pukekohe 2

Next Fixture: Home v Drury United, Saturday 28th June (2:45pm)