Taking on The 'Ancient Ones'

I made my last trip of the season to watch Wainuiomatas reserve team play their final game of the season at a sun kissed Richard Prouse Park.  It was a local derby of sorts with the Lower Hutt Ancient Ones coming from over the hill with some former players in their midst, most notably Jeff McKenzie and Trevor Evans.

'Oi ref, you can't do that'

Their was the odd bit of banter going on between the two teams during the match but the game itself suddenly sprang to life when the Ancient Ones were awarded a penalty.  Our local hero Ralphie was making an appearance in goal made a superb diving save to keep the scores level then instigated a quick break out from defence.  Wainui broke down field at pace and all of a sudden the ball was in the back of the net, 1-0 to Wainui and cue scenes of celebration on the sidelines.

Wainui failed to add to the scoring and eventually Lower Hutt wore down a resolute home team defence to level the game and take away a share of the spoils.  And with that draw the season for the reserves is over and they just missed out on promotion finishing in fourth place, a great effort for the boys but their is always next year!!

Safe for another year

Wellingtons Football Central Premier League season is over and the boys from Wainui have avoided relegation after results in Division 1 went their way last Saturday, great news and something that has been well deserved for the boys after showing such commitment all season long.  Wainui almost caused a huge upset as they pushed a classy Wellington United team all the way in an enthralling final game of the season at Richard Prouse Park.

Rowen beats his man

Having already beaten Wainui 8-1 earlier in the season Wellington were looking for another big winning margin to improve their chances of snatching the league title away from Upper Hutt.  Wainui started brightly putting Wellington under some early pressure and forced the visitors keeper to make a great save to keep the scores level.  Wainui conceded a goal soon after however after Wellington caught them with a breakaway goal kind of against the run of play.  They threatened to rack up a big score again but two wonderful point blank saves from Simon Rippon kept Wainui in the contest.

Just before half time Steven Quirke brought the home crowd to their feet as he rose highest at the back post to level the game with a fine headed goal.  Coming out after the break Wainui were palying some great football and the band of travelling supporters were by now beginning to get a bit frustrated at their teams lack of goals.  Wellington to their credit turned on the style and produced a goal midway through the second half which brought Wainui to life again.  Callum Patterson was inches away with a curling effort which floated just passed the post but it was substitute Andrew Oliver who raced onto a through ball and sent the ball into the back of the net with a neat finish which drew a huge roar from the crowd gathered outside the clubrooms and sparked some wild celebrations. 



Josh putting the pressure on

 Wellington showed their true class again after concedeing another equaliser and calmly broke forward minutes later to put themselves into the lead for a third time with the clock ticking down towards full time.  Their was time for a bit of rough stuff and a red card for young Joel Evans before the final act of the game though.  Wainui sent in a free kick and with goalkeeper Simon Rippon up front to try and salvage a draw the ball broke amid the panic at the back for Wellington and appeared to strike a defender on the arm, surely a penalty but the referee waved play on and full time was called moments later.

And so another season in Wellingtons Premier League has been secured who knows what next year will bring.  Their are still some games left to play with The Undertakers still racing to avoid relegation and the womens first team playing for their end of season cup competiton. 

Performance of the season??

Wainui made the relatively short trip over the Wainui Hill to face Stop Out at a blustery Hutt Park Raceway this afternoon.  Stop Out played with the wind at their backs and took an early lead with a ball that drifted over Simon Rippons head and held up just enough for Stop Outs' striker to nod into an empty net.  After beating Wainui well earlier in the season Stop Out could have been forgiven for thinking that todays game would be no different but Wainui had other ideas.

After conceding so early in the game Wainui played the game along the ground not wanting to put the ball into the air too often, the wind was so strong the ball would just blow back to where it was kicked from.  John MacKay was excellent again down the right again and created some good chances with the use of his trickery and at the back some composed defending from Neil Barclay and a couple of great saves from Simon Rippon kept Wainui in the game.

Witht the wind at their backs Wainui came out for the second half and pushed forward from the off, they did have a couple of scares in their own goalmouth but the defence was always in control.  The equaliser duly came with 25 minutes left to play when Paul Wood beat a couple of players down the left, squared the ball for Callum Patterson whos shot was saved well by the keeper, the rebound fell for Stephen Quirke who blasted home from close range to the delight of the travelling fans.

The boys did create some more chances but the wind interefered with the flight of the ball and Stop Out to their credit also defended well when they had to.  The game drew to a close and with that brought Wainui another point in their race to avoid the drop.  This was in my opinion Wainuis best performance of the sesason,  and the win would well and truly been deserved against a very good, well organised Stop Out side.  So one more game to go for the season next weekend against Wellington United, if they can play like they did today who knows what might happen at Richard Prouse Park next Saturday!!

Weekend round up

It was a busy weekend of football here in Wellington and quite a few of Wainuiomatas teams were in action.  It's always good to see an almost complete weekend of fixtures that haven't been cancelled due to the weather although at this time of year the grounds generally aren't in the best of shape......

Div 4 :  Wainui 8 0 Island Bay Massey *What a win for the seconds, our local hero Ralphie got a start but the goals didn't begin to flow until Phil Hawtin made an appearance from the bench, this puts the lads 3rd on the table.

Div 6:  North Wellington Villa 2 3 The Undertakers *Great result for The Undertakers which takes them off the bottom of the table

Div 15 : Uni Cycles 1 7 Wainui Half Baked *Another big win for Curt and the boys leaving them in second place pushing for promotion.

Div 17 : Wainuiomata 6 0 North Wellington Bombers *It looks like the 3rd team have won promotion but I may need confirmation on that.

Womens Div 4 : Wainuiomata 2 0 Petone Pumas *This win ensures that the womens 2nd team don't finish bottom of the league, good job.

So a great weekend of results for the club, zero defeats can't be a bad thing.  This weekend in Wellingtons Football Central Premier League is a big derby for Wainui over the hill in Seaview against Stop Out.  It wasn't the greatest of results the last time the teams met from a Wainui perspective so it's a case of redemption for the boys this time around.

Rain fails to keep the home crowd away

On a cold and wet Saturday afternoon Waterside Karori were the latest team to make the trip over the Wainui Hill to take on the lads in Wellingtons Football Central Premier League.  Having made Karori work hard for their 2-1 win earlier in the season I was wondering just how this game would pan out.  I came equipped with my trusty rain jacket, little help it turned out to be as the rain persisted for the entire game.

Joel waiting for the long ball to drop

Karori dominated for most of the first half but Wainui defended well and kept them scoreless.  Although there was just one moment of panic when a cross wasn't cleared and a great shot from the Karori attacker came back off the post and into the path of another Karori attacker who somehow missed the shot with the goal at his mercy.

Rowen gets a shot away

The second half was a much better performance from Wainui who managed to create some chances while still putting up a fair old defensive display of their own.  Joel Evans had the best of these chances when one on one with the keeper he looked destined to score until, somehow, the centre back tracked back and did enough to force Joel to shoot just inches wide.  A much improved second half unfortunately brought no goals from Wainui but they did salvage at least a point.

Back in the clubrooms after the match the referees were applauded for a job well done and Josh Wilkie won man of the match for a great display at the back for Wainui.  News also came through that Western Suburbs lost again keeping them rooted to the bottom of the table in the race to avoid relegation.  Next weeks game is agaianst Stop Out, I just hope the weather improves before then.