Away day blues

Wainui were away today at Upper Hutt against a team who are pushing for promotion to Central League after narrowly missing out last year.  I was made welcome in the home teams club house and enjoyed the game from the balcony which I have to admit gives you a great view of all the action. 

I arrived just before half time with the lads already two goals behind but the general consensus on the balcony was all Wainui needed was to nick a goal and it would be game on.



Wainuiomatas half time team talk


The second half was a tight affair but Wainui shaded most of it in fairness.  They did have a couple of great chances that were agonisingly close, just the wrong side of the post both times unfortunately.  Then on a rare breakout for Upper Hutt, who I felt struggled to impose themselves on the game, they scored the all important third goal.  Heartbreak for Wainui but their heads never dropped, some of the home crowd were suggesting at this point that maybe the floodgates would open.  That wasn't the case as Wainui didn't give up the ghost and pushed on looking for some sort of a breakthrough.  A goal did arrive before the final whistle but it was at the wrong end as Upper Hutt sneaked in a fourth.

A view of the game from the clubroom balcony

And so it's back to Richard Prouse Park next weekend for a game against Miramar Rangers and with the Wainui crowd roaring them on next Saturday who konws maybe the first win of the season will be within their grasp, here's hoping!!

Marching on in the cup

Cup runs add an extra dimension to a football season and for Wainui it has been a long time coming.  Their last run in The Chatham Cup was 21 years ago when they reached the quarter finals only to be knocked out by Christchurch United.

This afternoon at Richard Prouse Park Wainuiomata advanced to the second round of The Chatham Cup with an impressive 3 - 0 victory over Seatoun from Wellingtons Capital 2 Division.  It's always nice to get a cup run going and maybe the boys can bring some of that form into Saturdays away game at Upper Hutt. 

First point of the season

Wainui finally earned their first point of the season with a well earned 0 - 0 draw with Wellington Olympic at Richard Prouse Park this afternoon.  Wainui soaked up the pressure from Olympic and with some great support from the clubrooms they managed to put some pressure on the ways team defence themselves.  And Wainui could have taken all three points if not for a disallowed goal with time running out and a missed opportunity from Joel Evans.



Some silky skills were on display today


They take a break from league action on Easter Monday when Seatoun come to Wainui in The Chatham Cup.  However next weekends trip to Upper Hutt in the league looks like a daunting task but again with the spirit they showed this afternoon against Olympic who knows what could happen!

On another positive bit of news from todays game everybodys hero Ralphie got his first clean sheet of the season, here's hoping for a few more from Ralph.

Meet The Undertakers

Todays game at Richard Prouse Park was an entertaining game between the Undertakers, Wainuis Division 6 team, and North Wellington.  Yours truly even kitted out and had a great chance to score after making a cameo appearance midway through the second half.


The Undertakers pushed for an early goal

A tightly contested first half saw the teams come in at half time with the scores level at nil all with The Undertakers coming closest to a goal with a flurry of chances just before the break.  All the hard work was undone shortly after the restart when a mix up between defender and goalkeeper saw the Undertakers score an own goal to gift North Wellington the lead.  Soon after I made my cameo appearance but the game was put out of our reach after the visitors scored a cracking second to kill the game as a contest.  We battled on and I came close with a shot that just wouldn't curve a fraction to the left but it just wasn't to be our day. 

Marcel Brunner lead The Undertakers from midfield

There was a  heavy loss today for Wainuiomatas premier team, going down 7 - 0 away to Wellington United.  Heavy losses are pretty hard to take but I'm sure the team as a whole will bounce back at Richard Prouse Park next weekend against Wellington Olympic. 

 It looks like it will be a tough game with Olympic flying high at the top of the table with three wins from three games but as they have proven so far this season it is not easy to take points off Wainui while they are playing at home.

10 men deserved much more than they got!!



Wainuis home game against Western Suburbs this afternoon was well and truly a classic encounter.  A cracking goal from a free kick in the first minute from Mark Manzone gave them an early lead and then a straight red card soon after could have dented their chances of a win but they pushed on looking for the killer second goal.  For most parts of the game it looked like Wainui had the extra man as the Western Suburbs team rarely threatened.

Wainui put the pressure on

Wests goalkeeper made three top drawer saves to keep his team in it and ultimately in the end the extra man counted for them as they caught Wainui on the break twice in the final twenty minutes of the match to earn themselves a hard fought victory.  Even with Wests being reduced to 10 men for the last five minutes wasn't enough for Wainui to push on for that well deserved second goal.

I shall be wearing my Ralph Chenery Supporters Club (RCSC) watch to all home games from now on in support of everyones local hero after being the lucky recipient of Ralphies autograph on my match programe for today.  Ralph had a solid game in goal this afternoon and was unlucky to have ended up on the losing side.  Here's hoping for some better luck for the boys next weekend.

A season of Saturdays

Wainuiomata AFC have recently returned to Capital Footballs Premier Division in Wellington for the 2011 season. Having played for the team until I decided enough was enough to pursue other interests I have decided to come back down to every Saturday game at their home park and record the highs and lows of every game on offer to me.  Teams range from the Premier team all the way to the Half Baked team of Capital Footballs division 15.

There has also been talk of the Res-Erection of the Ralph Chenery Supporters club for this season as he bears down on his 400th first team appearance and I'll try and bring some updtaes from inside the club if I can.  I was a member from a few years ago and even have the watch to prove it, I did have the T-shirt but it was such a wanted piece of clothing I had to let go of it on my travels to a fan from afar.

Unfortunately today the boys got off to a bad start going down 1-0 to a 10 man Island Bay team.  It was an unlucky loss however with Wainui having a goal disallowed for offside and spurning a great goal scoring opportunity right at the death.  A solid performance to start the season, just unfortunate about the result but there is always next week.