Bay 2 Game 3 - Papamoa Raingers v Otumoetai 4

Well our third game was upon us already and unbelievable to some we are sitting pretty in the league as present ,if this can continue? Only our legs will tell. After last weeks 4 0 win against a mixture of Brazilians Chileans and whoever a certain coach from a other club can persuade with means the mind doesn’t want to go into, the feeling was quite positive especially in the way we played the ball and took chances.

We somehow managed to squeeze into our new kit and oh no the deep heat and other creams came out, no joke the amount ash and vaugn rub on the whole team come out looking like crying Japanense tourists.

So the game gets under way and just felt like a pre season friendly, a bit off over play at the back and our old cat in goal saw more action in the first five minutes than the previous 2 games but sporting his new 1980s Iranian goalkeepers jersey he calmed matters down and we all realised that the game had actually started.

From our second corner myself managed to out jump their midget centre half to plop a header goalbound, after a bit of a scramble Tony V was there to poke it home. 1 0

After anothere 20 or so minutes of flat football in windy conditions the ball came to the feet of myself looking up and seeing their goalkeeper picking his nose I hit  25yrd goalwards. 2 0

Just before the break anothere goal Tony V once again poking in I more.

The half time team talk was more about the hell pizzas being put on by the home team and wondering if the bar took eftpos.

Second half was the worst football played this season,still a few chances created and with big Gareth, Ash, Nick, Alan and Ian soaking anything thrown at them it still was pretty comfy. Still time for Vaughn to put his trade mark tackle in and spice boy (white boots) slotting into midfield and creating chances a 4th looked coming.

Guess what they score from nowhere at the death so its 3 1, a strange game not the same buzz as last 2 weeks (the conditions,the pitch ,the thought of hell pizza and beer???) but a win so job done.

Next game this Saturday against Tauranga 2 p.m. at home.

Man of the match Steve Baldry for wearing that jersey.

Dipstick of the day Nick for looking for match balls while in the bag on his back (brilliant).
 

Bay 2 Game 3 - Papamoa FC v Otumoetai 3

Papamoa took to the pitch on Saturday hoping to build on the previous weeks performance , all looked to be going to plan when centre forward Joey McKenzie opened the scoring on the five minute mark , finishing off a sweeping move that had started well inside Papamoa's own half .
Things got even better for the home side shortly after when Tristan Wood played a neat ball forward to Reuben who in turn played a quick through Ball for Joey to run onto , without breaking stride Joey curled a 25 yard screamer in off the left hand post .. 10 minutes gone 2-0 Papamoa . The game then turned very scrappy for the next 20 minutes with both teams making changes , Ian Yates was withdrawn on the 20 minute mark ( pulled hamstring ) and replaced by Josh Hitchcock and the goal scorer Joey McKenzie was replaced by Daniel Anton .
With 10 minutes left of the first half and Otumoetai looking like they were happy to try and see the half out 2-0 down , Papamoa's captain Simon Helm through himself into another crunching tackle winning the ball and playing it out wide to Greg Anton , a quick look up and Greg played a smart ball down the line to Reuben who skinned the full back easily and coolly slipped the ball past the helpless Otumoetai keeper .
Half time saw Papamoa make another change , Brad Hodgson coming on for Greg Anton an the right side of midfield, at 3 - 0 it looked like Papamoa would push on and put the game well beyond Otumoetai in the second half , this wasn't to be the case as Otumoetai tried to get a hold in the game by turning into a more physical contest , unfortunately for Otumoetai with the likes of Helm , Woodin and Hodge in the Papamoa line-up that was a battle they were never going to win ! The Papamoa forth goal will go down as one of the more bizarre efforts this season with Nathan Ruddell ( Booked last week and still to pay the $25 fine i may add ) covering brilliantly at centre back to snuff out a rare Otumoetai attack , launched the ball up field only to see his 50 yard clearance bounce once over the keeper and end up in the back of the net .
The next action would see a frustrated Stewart Woodin talk his way into the ref's book and Otumoetai sneak a late consolation goal which was hard on the Papamoa back 4 of Nathan , Shane , Josh & Luke + keeper Craig Martin who had been rock solid all day , there was still enough time left for Stewart to hit the post from 20 yards and Simon to be denied a stone wall penalty before the ref blew for full time .. final score Papamoa FC 4 Otumoetai 1 .

Not quite the performance of last week , but we'll take 4-1 and move on , plenty for managment and players to go over at training on Thursday !
Next week will have to be a big improvement as we take on 2nd place in the league Opotiki away from home .

Goals ; Joey 2 , Reuben 1 , Nathan's Fluke !
Booked ; Stewart Woodin
POD ; Josh Hitchcock