Papamoa FC v Papamoa Raingers
01/08/09

Time for the 2nd instalment of the long awaited battle of Papamoa. Could Raingers avenge their 0-3 loss in the first game against a Papamoa team coming off the back of a couple of defeats.

An almost full strength team, missing both keepers and Joey a late arrival due to last minute party preparations (happy 21st mate), set out on a storm threatening afternoon with hopes of retaining number 1 spot in the club. Not sure if Raingers were hindered by their lack of balls to warm up with but we had our expert under 9s coach Tristan leading us through my kind of warm up.

On with the game, a decent start from us playing with the slight slope and trying to gain some passing and possession momentum. We were rewarded with the first goal when the ball eventually landed at dancing Waynes feet who calmly rounded Steve in goal and slotted home from an acute angle. With Nathan rested the old guard at the back managed to snuff out the attacking threat of Raingers with Brendon showing his worth at right back with some excellent covering tackles. Not much for new keeper Stew to warm his hands with. As our midfield duo of Curtis and Greg gradually gained control Wayne again showed us his silky skills by beating several players several times and slotting home an inch perfect 25 yard curler in to the top left corner (not sure how much that right to left gusty wind helped). Raingers were starting to get pinned back with Tristan oddly not hung over on the left (hence firing only 2 feet over the bar this week) and Josh marauding down the right we looked comfortable at this point. Our 3rd came Wimbledon styly with Stews big punt up field and Dan the man breaking clear to beat Steve low to his left (not his strongest side we were told later). With the game heading towards half time Raingers pulled one back from a faulty off side trap and decent early strike. Not much else to report 1st half with dancing Wayne running the show even with 1 good leg after a Raybouldesque tackle from behind by Tony V (think this may have aided the 360 spins).

Couple of changes at half time, including a less than convincing performance between the jumpers from our captain, but Joey raced clear early on and extended our advantage after a series of one twos with Steve. The 2nd half was much the same just the other way round with Raingers doing the majority of attacking and us struggling to get out of our own half. The pressure eventually telling when we decided not to mark their centre forward who headed home from a well placed Tom cross. We were under the cosh a bit with Tom going close (Brendon again covering to clear off the line) and Allan hitting the bar from 30 plus yards. At the end of a strong 15 minute spell for Raingers they finally scored their third with another early strike slipping through the ungainly clutches of our keeper. Fortunately for us Tristan came to the rescue straight away, extending his 100% record of scoring when he hits the target, and although we spent the rest of the game defending we managed to hold on for the victory. Hopefully both Shane and Joey have recovered well after nutting each other to bring the game to a close.

Overall a just deserved 3 points to consolidate our 2nd position on the league although Raingers certainly had the chances to snatch a victory. We just didn't retain possession or play intelligently enough in the 2nd half to maintain our advantage. Good to see some inter club rivalry on the pitch and to share a beer after the game. Sure Raingers will come back at us hard next season but we'll take this year 8-3 on aggregate.

Heads down for the last 4 or 5 games and let's make sure we enjoy the rest of the season by securing 2nd spot with the cup run now over.

Final score - Papamoa FC 5 - Papamoa Raingers 3.

Goals for us - Wayne 2, Dan, Joey, Tristan
Goals for them - Josh 3

Unofficial PFC player of the day - Dancing Wayne for his electric feet, sterling effort and goal scoring boots (not the white ones)

Cheers
Simon