Voyle Park Rangers

MVP 25 May

MVP top points this week went to Paul. His cover defence, especially in the first half, kept us it in. Campbell (the controller) and Geoff (the huntsman) also had very strong games.

Dave Hill still leads the standings – and if there were bonus points for best play by a cripple, he would be streaking ahead.

Lester takes out team man. His voice and calmness on the ball is a real key to our midfield. This puts him into first place.

Rototuna 4, Voyle Park 0

A tale of two teams

• They were young, we’re old
• They’ve played together for 6 or 7 years, most of us have played together for 2
• They’re second division, we’re fourth
• They’ve won every game this year, we’ve lost every game.

 So on Sunday:

• They scored goals, we didn’t

 And that basically sums it up.

 Actually we competed damn well for 70 minutes and I really thought we might hang on for a 1 nil loss (in fact for a time, an equaliser was looking quite possible). The last 10 minutes were tough – injured and sick players hanging in there but in the end we let them have a score line that really did flatter them.

 No game on Queens Birthday

 Next game is Sunday 8 June, 1:00pm at home to Barnstoneworth

MVP 18 May

Actually a very difficult one this week as it was a good consistent team effort.

MVP

• 3 Chris (for plain old hard work)
• 2 Dave Hill (rock solid defense even with injuries)
• 1 Cam (lynch-pin in the middle)

Dave Hill screams into first place (and let’s face it - he’s always screaming). Chris joins Clayton in second place.

Team Man

• Runty (for becoming way more vocal - a noisy ‘keeper really helps the team defend)

This means there is now a five way tie for top spot (hell - maybe I should just give everyone a turn and a McDonalds certificate……)

Morrinsville 4, Voyle Park 2

Ahhh the joys of social football …..

The day started with promise, we had more players than they did (negated by having to ref but still!) and we scored a good first goal (great determination). They leveled and we hit straight back with another good goal within minutes - what could go wrong?

I suppose the fact that they then went and scored 3 goals could be classed as “wrong”. Looking on the bright side, a couple of their goals were great shots from distance that surprised even the goal scorers.

So the end result was Good Guys 2, Whingers 4

Still we all sat down and had a quiet chamomile tea after the game and sung kumbia to lessen tensions and rekindle our inner harmony (a repeat sing song will be held for early departing surfers next week…)

MVP for 11 May

For the week

• 3 Shane
• 2 Clayton
• 1 Lester

This puts Clayton into first place with a total of 4

Team Man

• Chris

There’s a four way tie for top spot

PSL 2, Voyle Park 0

T’was a hot autumn day. The lush green field and energetic supporters heralded a day full of promise and anticipation…….

Yeah OK we did lose but let’s consider the facts. PSL are a third division side, they beat us 6 – 1 in a friendly last year, and they had 4 subs while we managed with 10 players and a fat cripple. So 2 nil wasn’t a bad effort at all.

Shane was a true wing back – running forward with the ball, beating man after man while also tracking back and stopping their wingers out wide. Clayton was always an option out wide and delivered opportunities into the centre. Lester rock solid at the back – defending like a man half his age – maybe even ¼. Geoff and FJ completed their usual marathon.

I do think that the long grass could have been used more creatively by the two vertically challenged players on the left. Not that I’m saying that you were too short to be seen but……

Thanks to the power of optical illusions, we’re going to assume the first goal wasn’t an own goal.

Once again I think we displayed a very simple fact – we can play good football. Confidence on the ball plus a sub or two and I think the results will come

While I don’t think they read our website – I would still like to acknowledge PSL. They had 4 guys blowing the whistle during the match. Not only were they fair – but they all knew what they were doing. Hell they even correctly called offside several times!

MVP

This year I’m taking the honours roll to a whole new sophisticated level. Last year I just kept notes for most valuable player and team man of the year awards. This year points for MVP will be awarded after each game (3-2-1) and published. A team man per game will also be made. Hopefully this will cause you to fight amongst yourselves oops I mean compete for these honours

Scottbuild Pirates 3, Voyle Park 1

Well we went down but definitely showed some class when we strung a few passes together. Cracking goal by Gareth. There were also several good attempts so we could have easily scored one or two more.

The score matched the result from when we played them first up last season – and in the second game last year we lost 6 nil (our worst defeat of the season).

Awesome to see 3 subs and a referee. Certainly makes a difference when you can have a quick breather.

Thoughts from the game

• We look really good when we have positive passing with guys looking for space. Having a ready outlet for passing from the back was great, and the wide balls along the wings showed promise. We just need to do this for the full 80 minutes and not revert to panicking on the ball, or hiding from it.
• Pride in defense was also good. With the division 3 teams in the same league this year, we need to remain staunch in keeping goals to an absolute minimum.
•  Based on this game – I think we will be worrying a few of the higher placed teams this year

Key questions to come out of the game

• Is it a coincidence that a certain player was seen leaving an Indian Bookies place counting cash just hours after knocking a defender out of the way while scoring an own goal?
•  Is tackling with the nose a sign of insanity or just old age?
•  Is explaining – losing?
•  Is 11:00 am the new 10:00 am?

The First Friendly

Well it’s fair to say that the first game wasn’t without some challenges…… 3 people pulled out within a day of the game. One person was a no show. No goal posts. No subs. No bar manager’s cert. Oh and we lost.

 But despite the adversity, we had a good little run around.

 Thanks to the guys who helped set up on the school ground. Made for a nice change of scenery – and we had a bench/dug out for the subs (well if we had any).

 A couple of new faces meant we had 11 – which given the numbers who advised they couldn’t play, it wasn’t a bad effort really.

 Playing against the division champions from last year, the boys in blue went 1 nil up midway during the first half. Slightly against the run of play and admittedly it was an own goal – but good reward for defending hard and then Cam’s determined challenging for the ball.

 The opposition fired up after that and while we toiled hard, we went into half time 2 – 1 down. The second half started badly with a cracking own goal (no, not me this time) and it went downhill from there. The reality is an older team with no subs will always struggle against a good team with loads of extra players to allow for breathers.  7 – 1 was the final result.

 A special note here though – Bob may have been the oldest guy on the pitch but he absolutely shone in the last 10 – 15 minutes. He was a bundle of aggressive energy…. well played Sir!

 We displayed effective scrambling defence at times – and when we passed the ball, we looked quite good. With a full complement of players (ie 13 would be nice), I still think we will perform well.

 Remember no games over Easter or ANZAC weekend. Next game is on 4 May – I’m still waiting for the draw.