Come on down to the clubrooms this thursday....

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This season has seen some great football and some promising stars of the future across the junior and youth programme. Furthermore a lot of our young stars and teams have finished in higher spots than last year and none more so than the top 11th Grade maroons - stand up the Spartans!

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Last week’s bye provided some welcome time off to recover from ‘that day at Riverhills Park’. The last game of our inaugural season in the NRFL provided Waiuku at home. The blues have had a good season and were upbeat after putting 7 past Ngaruawahia and beating Mangere, however, Franklin derbies are funny old things.

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As the fourth goal went in on the stroke of half time this match could go in one of two directions. The second half proved to be the direction we didn’t want to take. Despite pulling an early goal back to build on, we were outplayed, outclassed and taught a footballing lesson.

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After the losing ground in the first league derby of the season the Maroons went into the lion’s den that is Memorial park. Let’s face facts here – Manurewa were second place and a win would put them 1 point behind the leaders (Ngaruawahia) with a game in hand. The Maroons were aiming to improve on the earlier meeting this season where we held them to 0.0 for 60 minutes.

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The weather played a big part again for the Maroons on Saturday. With Bledisloe Park being declared an unplayable surface, the decision was taken to reverse the two Franklin derbies. Pukekohe made the short trip over to Massey Park in good form and upbeat after two good outings against Western Springs and Ellerslie. However, in a game of two completely different halves, the Maroons were left with some questions to answer and the season’s first league bragging rights went to the Blues.

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Last week a hard working Maroon side were unlucky not to get three points against ‘one of the hotter sides in the league’. This week an is-it-on-is-it-off trip to fourth placed premier league chasing Ellerslie would prove another test for a much improving Pukekohe side and, if it wasn’t for 7 minutes of fortune changing injury time, it was clear to see that the Maroons are more than just “an aberration”.

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Form suggested that a resurgent Western Springs side were coming to Bledisloe Park for their 7th win of the season. They came on the back of a 3.1 victory over 2nd placed Manurewa and a 0.0 at 3rd placed Fencibles. For the Maroons, however, it was time to deliver a much needed improved performance….

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Poignant words taken from Rainbow’s classic album. After last week’s 3 points at Papakura it was time to welcome the league leaders to Bledisloe Park. The score line suggests that this was one way traffic from the kick-off. However, for those supporters who braved the elements on Saturday saw Pukekohe battle hard and match Ngaruawahia for most of the match. Indeed for the first 15minutes in the second half it is reasonable to say that the league leaders were under some pressure and there was little to choose between the sides. The last third, however, saw some very clinical finishing by the visitors which cemented their place at the top.

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Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances. Patience also requires discipline, control, attitude and self-belief all of which were displayed by the players on Saturday and necessary in some appalling conditions. Such qualities contributed to a well battled 1.0 victory, our first league win of the season which enabled us to climb off the bottom of the table.

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This was Tom’s first comment after the final whistle on Saturday. A considerably changed side from the one that lost 4.0 to Onehunga Mangere on the first day of the season took the field after a well earned rest and began the journey into the second half of the season’s fixtures. For 75 minutes it looked like the 1sts were on there way to a well battled point if not grabbing all three.

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The 1st team has faced a hard week there have been a couple of injuries to overcome and, more disturbingly, derisive comments publicly made from club members about player performance and the ability of management and coaching staff. So it was no wonder that the mind set going into this game was unsettled and we were certain that the trip to Cambridge Utd presented our toughest game of the season to date. However, there is a strong spirit developing in the squad and a strong beleif that we are moving forward.

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On their last outing Manurewa had put eleven goals past Cambridge Utd and were clearly out to parade their league winning potential. However, for the first 45 minutes on Saturday there was not much to choose between the two teams and Pukekohe were on their way to cause a potential upset. The first team put in a performance full of potential and demonstrated that all is well with the development of the team.

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Once again it was time to give experience to the youth of Pukekohe AFC and show faith in the future of 1st team football. The Chatham cup match also provided our first of three outings against Fencibles Utd. It gave us the opportunity to provide two young stars of the future their 1st team debuts – Jethro Conway and Josh Wright.

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The team sheet for Saturday’s home game against a strong Ellerslie saw a major step in the restructuring of the senior men’s 1st team. In order to be competitive in the Northern League for next year the club has to look to the youth in order to move forward. It is clear that other clubs in our division have already started this process and now was the time for some of our young stars to get experience. There is never going to be a right time for young players to develop and it is important that any opportunity is given to gain experience. A youthful Pukekohe side took the field with a positive attitude and with a clear understanding of the nature of the task ahead.

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Based on early results from the other games in the Northern League Division 1 it is becoming clear that there are two emerging halves of the table. It is becoming evident that Pukekohe are in the scrap for points within the bottom half amongst Cambridge, Papakura City, Waiuku and Western Springs. The opportunity for our first win of the season was provided by a trip to Seddon fields and Western Springs.

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The launch of Pukekohe AFC into the Chatham Cup on ANZAC Day saw the fixture against Mangere Utd re-arranged to Sunday 27th April. With two games in three days the senior men’s squad was tested to its limit.

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Ngarauwahia had put 6 past Cambridge, overcome Fencibles 1.0 and were setting themselves as contenders for the league title. It was obvious from the moment we arrived that the day was going to be tough. With no formal welcome from the host club it appeared Ngaruawahia were not going to provide a hospitable atmosphere and were ready to get down to business.

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When the fixture list is published one of the first things to look for are the games where points can be gained. Saturday saw our opportunity to register the first points for Pukekohe in the new Northern League.

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The opening fixture of the new Northern Regional Football League saw the senior men’s 1st team pitted away at Onehunga Mangere at the weekend. We knew we were in a tough league but we never anticipated the series of dramatic events in the second half that were to see us leave Mangere Domain without any points.

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