Good.... but not great.

We racked up another good score, but the Public Service left Upper Hutt a little deflated as we pretty much let the Upper Hutt Slayers (UHS) off the hook. The final score will show a command performance by the BNU Public Service, winning 11 goals to one. But with a 7-1 half time lead, it should have been much, much greater.

Upper Hutt had spent most of the season rooted at second to bottom on the league table. A 5-1 win against the Uni Bombers last week had seen them surge to third from bottom, and despite their position they did enjoy the 4^th best attack in the competition. Donnie’s mate had said they were handy enough up front but to stand in awe of a rather large player who occupied their centre midfield. In truth he did more than occupy centre mid, he covered most of it. Standing, we estimate, probably about 7’0”, weighing in between 150kg and 200kgs, he was actually a gentle giant. He did make the rest of us look rather small though.

So our second 10 plus goal game in as many weeks, this one was not nearly as satisfying. The specifics of each goal have been lost in a haze of strikes. But it went kinda like this.

Jarrod, back after 5 weeks away, came back and was on the score sheet inside the first 15, when the UHS keeper made an absolute mess of things gathering in a lob. Like a Japanese Zero pilot of doubleya doubleya two, Jarrod came screaming out of the sun to tap in the fumble. Then something happened that has only ever happened one other time this season. The opposition drew level. A poor clearance was gathered in by the UHS midfield who passed to their most dangerous player. He dribbled passed a couple of defenders, then fired in a bullet of a shot from 20 yards out that was only millimetres out of reach of a leaping Dom. Players from both sides applauded the goal, and to be honest it was probably the shot of the season. However to tell the story of the game, it was one of only three shots on goal that the UHS had the entire game.

BC smashed home our second from a Ben set up, then Ben from provider to finisher as he nudged in a pinpoint perfect corner by Donnie. Ben leads the BNUS PS Golden Boot standings with 15 goals. Then we scored three more in a six minute burst. A second to Jarrod was followed by a wonderfully struck own goal after Monty headed it in the direction of the goal but a defender jumped up to head it passed the wrong footed keeper. Finally BC pushed home his second, a lovely strike off his left. Donnie rounded out the first half scoring after his usual run of missed shots and loud expletives.

With such a strong wind negating the chip and chase tactics favoured by most of the teams in our grade, the Upper Hutt team never complained about conceding goals as, quite frankly, the restart put them into their best attacking position.

The first half, despite the score line, had been pretty arse in terms of our football. The considerable wind we had at our backs and the hard ground meant the ball was running away from our attack too quickly. It was probably one of the worst halves of football we have played, and speaks volumes for the quality of the opposition.

Turning into the wind would mean hopefully some better football. There were glimpses, but things just failed to click. Emu kicked off the scoring in the first half with a truly appalling piece of football. One-on-one with the keeper, Emu’s first attempt was a massive air shot, his second shot only going in because the keeper had turned away in disgust. Emu’s second goal was a much better effort. I very good finish after some great build up down the left through Dan. Nick, trying to score his first goal for the club, was given a great opportunity, in truth his first and only opportunity to date, but sadly pushed it too high and too hard, the ball taking a piece of the crossbar on its way out of the ground.

Dan got one, after dribbling past a few defenders and firing home. Jarrod finished off the scoring with his hattrick goal. He then jumped in for a spell in goal, being called into work almost immediately after a slip caused a miss-kick by centre back Monty that went straight out to the Upper Hutt attack, who promptly kicked it wide for another goal kick. The second half had some better football, but the UHS goal keeper was either different from the first half or just decided to play better as some great shots, particularly from BC and Jules, were well saved.

A late injection of pace and enthusiasm in the form of Dom did not result in the late goal flurry as in happened last week, as he’d left his crossing boots at home and despite acres of space and time, couldn’t drop a pass into the host of BNU PS players filling the goal box. Perhaps next week…..

Servant of the week goes to Jarrod for his three goal/clean sheet double. A nice return for him after being away for the last five games.

Dick of the week also goes to Jarrod. We have a team agreed goal to get all members on the score sheet by the end of the season. To date there are still five members scoreless. They include MattNich, Johnny, Nick the Greek, Mortgage, and AJ. We have attempted over the last two weeks, to shift these guys into better positions to score, once we're comfortably in the lead. In this case, regular right back, Johnny ‘The Travelling Man’ Fromont was catapulted into the front line. Now Jarrod, having already scored a double, found himself at left back. Dan at left mid, suddenly noticed a massive space behind him as Jarrod “followed up” a little too far on an attacking run. When questioned by Dan, Jarrod suggest that Dan drop back to cover him. It was then reported that Jarrod started calling Johnny back to left midfield so he could get back up to the front. Cheeky bastard. Honourable (or dishonourable) mention goes to Emu, who while on the sidelines was offered a sub by centre back Gimli. He strangely declined, though he’d been off a while. It all became clear minutes later when Jules who was running himself ragged up front, chasing numerous lost-cause through balls, came off for a spell. Emu was quick to raise his hand and come on up front.

Stats are our friend: We have now scored in our last four games more goals than 85% of the teams in Wellington have scored in their whole season. We have scored the most goals, and have the best goal differential (+68) in the capital by a considerable margin. With, in theory six games remaining, we are on pace to notch up 100 goals for the season.

Our next game is against the last placed, and owner of the worst defence in the grade, Porirua Mana College. Sadly though, it looks like we will be thwarted in our attempt to nudge the 20 goal mark by our old foe, the weather. Bastard.

The team: June 25^th vs Upper Hutt Slayers

Dom
AJ	Gimli		Johnny
Arnu
Monty	Donnie	BC	Ben
	Jules	Jarrod
Subs	Nick	Dan
Ref
Absentees	MattNich	Sam	Phil
	Mortgage
Goals	1st	2nd
	Jarrod 12’	Emu 48’
	BC 20’	Emu 55’
	Ben 25’	Dan 60’
	Jarrod 32’	Jarrod 80’
	O.G. (Monty) 34’
	BC 38’
	Donnie 42’

CAPITAL 13:

Island Bay Piglets    2    Porirua City          1

Upper Hutt Slayers    1    Brooklyn Northern    11

Porirua City Mana     1    Western Suburbs       7

Uni Lateral           0    SV Sunshine           4

Karori Swifts         6    Brooklyn Pints        2

Uni Bombers           4    Wainuiomata           1

Petone Martians       3    SV Destroyers         0

                       P  W  D  L  GF  GA  Pts

Brooklyn Northern     12 10  2  0  75   7  32

SV Sunshine           12  9  1  2  48  23  28

Wainuiomata           12  8  2  2  30  21  26

Island Bay Piglets    12  7  1  4  42  39  22

Brooklyn Pints        12  7  0  5  30  29  21

Karori Swifts         12  5  3  4  37  29  18

Uni Bombers           12  5  2  5  22  28  17

Porirua City          12  5  1  6  25  29  16

Western Suburbs       12  5  1  6  30  35  16

Uni Lateral           12  4  2  6  25  30  14

Petone Martians       12  4  2  6  29  46  14

SV Destroyers         12  2  1  9  25  46   7

Upper Hutt Slayers    12  2  1  9  33  56   7

Porirua City Mana     12  1  1 10  24  57   4