This weekend....

Hi everyone,

Game on Saturday is away at Halswell B at Halswell Domain. Ther are two Halswell sides in the division - B and C - so this is supposedly the better side. We will ahve to work hard to get a result. And have sdome ofr the luck we have been missing.

Let's hope we pickup up some tips from the senir side who won 4-0 last night.

Halswell is pretty far so leave in good time and see you there at 9am.

English Cup win.....

Great night last night.... Coastal Spirit 8 Woolsten Tech 3... Jayden, Pat, Vaughan, Hikairoa, Jaime and Connor came along - and thanks to Mark, Pat's step-dad for the lifts.

Not sure how much they watched as they spent most of the time playing soccer behind one goal and raiding the Coke machine.

Sor anyone interested the next round (QF) is next Wednesday - Coastal Spirit against Cashmere Wanderers.... more than happy to do it again.

No game this week - so see you all Tuesday.

Another loss, I'm afraid.....

Looks like it will be a long year. It was a darn sight better than last week. We fought and fought all game and never gave up. The results are going against us but if we keep putting in performances like that we will get something along the line.

In training last Tuesday I had asked the kids to work a little harder and support each other more during matches and it was great to see how much they worked - no-one harder than Jayden in midfield - the deserved man of the match. There was very few times our backline was as exposed as they were last week. We still need to concentate on that. Justin proved a great keeper...and was fresh and strong in the second half. Jan was immense in the middle and Dylan, Vaughan and Hikairoa worked hard too. Jaime and Connor were solid as usual and Pat was as tricky as ever.

We do need to concentate a bit better and try to be first to every ball - we are being a wee bit out muscled and we can immprove that a bit.

This morning I saw that our next game was against the Western Pumas who are the only team below us on the table and I was looking forward to a mrale boosting win.... but this afternoon came the news that they have pulled out of the competition and the draw has been re-done. The good news being that all results so far are expunged and we start again. So we can still win the league!! :)

No game this Saturday but training as usual on Tuesday.

down but not out.....

Well, we're not last :) A very disappinting game where again, nothing went right for us. I knew from the outset it would be tough as I remembered how strong all three Ferrymead teams were in our grade last year but an 8-0 loss is hard to take. It was hard for the team to take as well as their heads went down a bit in the second half as we went into damage limitation.

I can't fault the kids.It is demoralising when nothing goes right for you and the goals keep raining in at the other end. Jan was a well-deserved palyer of the day for his saves in the first half and tireless work in the second.

So where do we go from here? I have been playing 3-2-1 and maybe this is too conservative. When the ball gets up to the forward then he hasn't had the support needed to keep the ball up there - and as the ball comes back our it bypasses the midfield as they attempt to support him. So I might try an extra forward and one less at the back. This is a bit risky but worth a go I think. I would gladly hear all parents suggestions :)

Next week is a new week and hopefully the breaks will go our way.

Training tomorrow from 4.30pm - 6pm. We have work to do - on corners and positioning particularly.

Lorcan

Training ....

Good training session this week. Thanks for the effort, all of you.

Saturday we have a home game in Cuthbert's Green against Ferrymead Bays B ko 9.30am. Those from the 9th Grade New Brighton and Rangers teams last year will remember the Ferrymead Bays teams - they were all strong so their B team will be strong and we will need to be at our best. We will be missing Nick who is away for the weekend so there will be 2 subs. It is Justin and Jan's turn to share goalkeeping duties.

A couple of wee niggles I want to clear up.

1) We are a team. There should only be encouragement of each other - at games and at training. Please be positive toward each other - if we are fighting each other, we can't beat other teams.

2) The games and drills we do at training are meant be fun first, and improving your skills second. Kids messing around, kicking other's balls away and "acting the maggot" as we say in Ireland :) - take the fun out of it and don't learn anything. Training isn't school, but we are there to practise and get better. So please - help me out and don't be a maggot.

Right - rant over, let's play well on Saturday.

First game - and a loss... :(

A 7-0 loss is never a good thing but did the scoreline reflect the play? Were they really 7 goals better than us? We had not one stroke of luck all game - 3 of their goals were great saves by our keeper that squirmed back over the line; we had chances and the ball bounced the wrong way, every break seemed to go Burwood's way.

Yep, Burwood were big and strong and very skilful and deserved their win - and I will be surprised if we meet better teams in this grade. I know I'm a perpetual optimist but I did see many positives coming out of the game. I was really proud of our lads and lassies - never once did their heads go down, every ball was contersted, there was no angry words within the team and - against a big, strong team - we kept trying to play football. One move down the left in the second half involving passing between Vaughan, Patrick and Jaime was a joy to see.

Justin deservedly got man of the match - he was everywhere and his enthusiam and work-rate was infectious. The defense were stretched at times with Burwood's midfield pouring though but I thought Connor, Justin, Jaime and especially Nick in the second half were tenacious tacklers. We have clever and intelligent players in the mdfield in Vaughan, Jayden and Patrick with Hikairoa and Jan as the ball-winners - we will play some lovely football this year. And when we do - Dylan will score the goals.

So it wasn't the best of starts but hopfully we can put the loss behind us and get some better results in the future.

Tomorrow!

Quick Reminder - we play Burwood A at Clare Park at 9.30am this Saturday.

Clare Park is at the intersection of QEII Drive, Burwood Road and Travis Road. PLEASE be there by 9.10 at the latest.

If there is cancellations thoughout the season I will send out an email or you can go check here ......

http://www.christchurch.mainlandfootball.co.nz/mf_cancellations.htm

.... or call me on 021 025 65 173 or 382 1077.

See you tomorrow!