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August 9th
(Southern Fed Premier)
August 16th (Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit 0, v Roslyn Wakari 1;
The league champs came to town determined to hang on to its unbeaten form and fronted up with their strongest team.
Real winter conditions today, the worst of the season for the last game on Spirit's programme.
Spirit played into a strong westerly wind in the first half and created enough chances to tuck one away against the run of play but
it wasn't to be.
Keith Hawkes being guilty of a real wasted chance at the 9 minute mark when he shot wide after a great set up ball from John Herdman.
Roslyn's Richard Smith then stamped his authority on the game with a cracking goal in the 23rd minute when he angled a 20metre shot across
Spirit keeper Richie Jones and into the net.
That takes him to 14, equal with Ben Chambers, and Smith gets another chance next week when Roslyn completes its programme against Queenstown.
The second half was a real dog fight in the conditions, with John McCarroll a stand out in defence for Spirit
and Kris Wheeler playing a blinder in midfield for Roslyn.
Plenty to keep the crowd interested though as Referee Brent Best booked at least 6,
maybe more, two of which went to Spirit's Karl Hawkes who
as a result will miss the first game next season.
Karl got an early shower but it was only a few minutes before everyone else trudged off.
MVP's:
From my perspective there were guys who played better than Daniel Ashby but
at 16 going 17 he is from memory the youngest player to
play a full 90 minutes for Spirit, and he played well enough to get my vote.
Kris Wheeler a real work horse is my Roslyn selection.
NOTE:
Spirit central defender Paul Potrac was taken to Hospital just prior to the
game today
with chest pain & breathing problems.
Paul is OK, he has been discharged and the diagnosis is it's a virus issue.
He assured me in his usual humble manner that his non-appearance had a bearing on today's result.
Southland Spirit 0 v Dunedin Tech 0;
In a word...disappointing.
But at least the lads didn't submit to the first goal, maybe they should have.
I have no doubt that the pre match drama with "pottsy" clearly unsettled the team. It's not an excuse but a
reason for some inattention to the job at hand.
Spirit had many chances (as many as four) to get a grip on the game in the first half but poor finishing and a very good
goalkeeping effort from Tech's Player Of The Day, stand in, "Graeme Healey" meant the sides went to the break
scoreless.
The second half was a more even affair and it was remarkable to think that this Tech team was buried 9-1 last week.
My spies tell me the difference was definitely in the goalkeeping performance.
August 1st
(Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit 2, v Northern 1;
First Premier League game under lights in Invercargill and yes it was a success.
A good turnout in the stand and the corporate boxes and main lounge were well patronised.
Russell Thomas stirred up plenty of support for Spirit with the sound system, but the four young ladies from Northern
almost stole the show with their endless energy.
If I said Spirit went a goal down after 17 mins you wouldn't be
surpised....well don't be, they did.
Tim Dalman struck the blow for Northern.
The signs were ominous though as Spirit became more settled and threatened a couple of times before the
break.
A super goal just one minute into the second half tied it up for Spirit.
Ben Chambers touched the ball on to Stephen Black who could have "had a go" but chose instead to
volley it across to the unmarked Jonny Cox who volleyed it home. All one touch
stuff...very cool.
A finger tip save from Richie Jones at the eleven minute mark kept Spirit in the game
and a good job too as the pace was hectic and the odds on the next team to score
winning the game reducing.
Northern certainly putting a lie to their third from bottom position.
With time up "Big Ben" Chambers did it yet again. He won the penalty and duly scored
it his 8th from 8 for the season. (I can't remember a record like that since Danny
Blanchflower's days.)
Northern felt agrieved at the decision, and expressed
it, but them's the breaks.
Spirit leapfrog near neighbours Queenstown and go to 3rd place on the points table.
Ben plays his last game for us next Saturday against Tech as he leaves for home on the 11th.
MVP's:
Stephen Black gets the nod for Spirit.
Tim Dalman is my choice for Northern.
July 26th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Mosgiel 1 v Southland Spirit 2;
To give Spirit some chance of a win away I stayed at home today.
It worked....seems my presence brings the worst out of them.
A good win for the lads in a game that Spirit dominated and should have won by more.
The feature was the work of the chosen midfield trio of Jez Jones, John Herdman and Karl Hawkes.
Mosgiel scored first through newcomer Jorge Martinez in the 20th minute.
Something to ponder:
That's seven in a row where the opposition has scored first.
Makes me wonder if the Spirit lads are last to score on a night out as well
:-))
Back to football though and Spirit hit back at the 40 minute mark when Ben Chambers met a Karl Hawkes free kick and headed
home the equaliser.
12 minutes into the second half and "Big Ben" got his second this time direct from his own free kick.
John Herdman had to leave the field with a cut on his face. (he's OK i'm told.)
The head to head between Ben & Roslyn's Richard Smith for the Golden Boot
honours is enthralling with both getting 2 today to remain tied on 13.
Now it's on to the Northern game next Friday under lights.....be there.
July 19th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Caversham 2, Southland Spirit 1;
It all went wrong for Spirit today.
They met a fired up Caversham team that played to its capabability and to be honest was a goal better than our lads.
The ref did us no favours at all, a view that was sort of shared by the Cavie coach at the after match.
And if that wasn't enough, the teams placed 1, 2 and 3 all won their games.
Spirit started with more confidence than i've seen this season and gave Cavie plenty to think about.
However with a cruel hand ball decision against John McCarroll Cavies Ian Mandry
stepped up for the direct free kick
around 25 metres out and placed it wide of Richie Jones
to put Cavie up 1-0.
MVP's:
For Cavie, undoubtably Nick Brandford at center back.
For Spirit, John McCarroll who despite that "rough justice" put it behind him and played a strong game.
July 12th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit -4 v Green Island -1;
I make no apology for focussing on Jonny Cox this week because a hat trick of
well struck goals in front of the home crowd is well worth
the attention.
July 5th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Otago University 1 v Southland Spirit 1;
It was decided this morning that this game was to be postponed, however Otago Soccer chairman Barry vanGorp
didn't realise that the Spirit lads were already up in Dunedin. When he found out the decision was reversed.
The pitch was waterlogged on the fine side and had partially frozen snow on
the shaded side but the two teams gave it there best shot.
Both teams had lots of changes with University holidays affecting them and injuries
and withdrawals affecting Spirit.
As a result John Herdman played a full 90 minutes (First time
for Spirit I think).
Uni scored first after about 15 minutes with a good 20 metre strike by Paul
Hendricks.
Spirit had most opportunities in the first half. Keith Hawkes shaking the woodwork once before Tristan Baldey was
upended in the area and "Big Ben did it again" scored goal No-11 penalty
No-7 in the 35th minute.
The second half was pretty scrappy stuff and both teams were glad to get off the pitch in the end.
June 14th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Queenstown 3, Southland Spirit 2;
A hat trick for the lads.
v Dunedin Tech a goal down in four minutes.
v Caversham a goal down in four minutes.
v Queenstown a goal down in four minutes.
This was typical of the encounters we have come to expect from these two teams.
Some very good skill mixed with some strong "no nonsense" defence and some outstanding goalkeeping.
It could have been 5-5 but for 5 spectacular saves.
Two from Richie Jones for Spirit and three from Chris Pearson for Queenstown.
Queenstown struck first when Stephen Black made a rare mistake and chested the ball too far forward
only for Tom Davies (I'm told, earlier in his career he was a Welsh under 18
Rep) to
stroke it past the Spirit keeper.
The local team dominated for a while, but a good long ball from Richie Jones down the middle was helped on by
Jonny Cox to Ben Chambers who duly tucked it away to level it up 1-1.
Now it was Spirits turn to get some ascendency, and when Queenstown keeper Chris Pearson bought down Tristan Baldey
(I think) in the area
the Ref pointed to the spot and Ben obliged with penalty take 6 from 6 to give them the
lead 2-1.
Queenstown weren't to be denied though and Tadashi Takao bought the best out of Richie Jones with a stinging shot that Jones
saved well but only back to Takao who volleyed his second chance into the net right on half time. 2-2
The second half was end to end stuff and both defences worked well cancelling out opposition attacks with
some hard but fair tackling and the odd "heart in the mouth" flash of nonchelance (i.e. pissing around a bit....)
In the middle of it all though Tadashi Takao curled a great free kick into the top corner of the Spirit net from
20 metres out to grab what turned out to be the winning goal.
I should mention that Chris Pearson's saves from first a Ben Chambers free kick and then minutes later
from a Karl Hawkes effort were really worth the trip to see....damn it...and
saved the day for Queenstown.
My MVP's:
For Spirit I thought Paul Potrac had as good a game as i've seen him have.
For Queenstown it had to be Chris Pearson.
June 7th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit -5 v Caversham 3;
Whew....A first half played at pace with a 1-1 scoreline.
Then a second forty five chock a block with goals and action.
Stunning stuff.
Spirit (like they do) was a goal down after just four minutes when Cavies Player Of The Day Ian Mandry curled a free kick in from 20 metres.
Cavie looked sharp, but Spirits defence was up to it and when a good break out and a delightful defence splitting chip from "Big Ben"
ended with Keith Hawkes volleying home the equaliser the sting went out of Cavie for a while.
1-1 at the break was fair but no indication of what was to come.
Cavie came out like a team possessed, forced four corners on the trot and bought out a magnificent save from stand in Spirit keeper Keith Neiborg.
Then this happened:
57 mins Karl Hawkes put Spirit 2-1 ahead with a well placed 25 metre strike.
58 mins Ben Chambers (a rare but very good outfield goal) made it 3-1.
59 mins Ian Mandry closed the gap 3-2 in similar fashion to Karls goal.
61 mins Jonny Cox extended the lead 4-2 (and then left the field with a shoulder injury).
63 mins Simon Hicks (Caversham) was Red Carded for persistent dissent.
70 mins and a super Ben Chambers heel pass set Tristan Baldey up to make it 5-2
With the numbers favouring Spirit they played great build up football but the Cavie defence was determined to hold them out.
Caversham ended the scoring with a late consolation goal.
My MVP was left back Stephen Black, he is playing out of his skin at the moment and did the job when Cavie
might have got some control of the game.
A great result, and a good boost for the lads as they head to Queenstown next week to do the business.
May 31st
(Southern Fed Premier)
Dunedin Technical -1, Southland Spirit -1;
If you want to play an expansive game of football then Culling Park Dunedin is not the place to go.
The ground is simply too small, and players are in each others faces all day.
Having said that, Spirit thoroughly deserved their point and can be a bit sad they didn't take them all.
The first 15 minutes were about as bad as i've seen for a while but i've explained my reasons why.
During that time though Paul Potrac held back a Tech player in the penalty box, and James Webb
stroked the ball home for a 1-0 lead.
Spirit was giving all they got during some fiesty play, and ref Wayne Rayner had his hands full keeping it under control.
And to make matters worse a southerly wind blew up favouring Tech who applied real pressure to the Spirit defence.
Tech's playmaker Mike Eisenhut showed some class touches, and it took a while for Karl Hawkes to get to grips with him, but he eventually did.
At 43 minutes the Tech goalkeeper made a mess of trying to get to the ball and clearly obstructed
Tristan Baldey.
Up stepped Ben Chambers and in went penalty number 5 for the season. 1-1 With the tail wind to come.
Wrong...Like a blessing from heaven (for Tech) the wind died right down meaning no wind advantage for Spirit.
They didn't need it really though because the game came alive and spectators finally had something to cheer about as both teams
began to search for the winning goal.
Ben Chambers led the way with some clever and innovative touches, while down the left flank Stephen Black, Karl Hawkes and
Keith Hawkes were combining well and causing all sorts of trouble.
The goals never came though with Spirit having three "good" opportunities to seal it.
Spirit played out the last five minutes with ten men as keeper Richie Jones handled outside the area and was red carded.
MVP's for me were Andy Boyens for Tech (played midfield and is very good).
And for Spirit Ben Chambers and Marty Black impressed.
If only we could put the chances we create away !!!!!
May 24th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Northern 1, Southland Spirit 0;
Southland
Spirit missed a great opportunity to consolidate its top placing in the Southern
Premier soccer league when it was beaten 1-0 by lowly placed Northern in
The
game featured the return to Spirit of Southland’s 2002 Footballer Of The Year
Tristan Baldey. He (Baldey) showed
little effect from his imposed 30 day stand down period following his transfer
from
Saturday’s
game was clearly a “game of two halves” with the Northern attack dominating
the first spell and Spirit dominating the second.
Spirit’s
Jonny Cox left the field with an injury, and was replaced by Keith Hawkes. This
meant a reshuffle of the Spirit team and Baldey was moved from the right wing to
a midfield position.
Spirit supporters are now asking questions of Ben Chambers out field capability. Chambers came out with a reputation as a striker. Six goals is fine, but only one from outfield play (the rest from set pieces) is an area of real concern.
May 17th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit 2 v Mosgiel 0
Southland's 2002 Footballer Of The Year Tristan Baldey has returned home but had to sit this out as he's on a 30 day
stand down from
his former Aussie club and today was day 28.
A fairly soft penalty after 4 minutes when Ben Chambers was "allegedly" fouled was slotted home by Ben to give the lads a great start.
(We'll take it...)
That's as good as it got though in the first 45 as Mosgiel dominated, missed a couple and Richie Jones in the Spirit goal kept them at
bay with two finger tip saves.
Perhaps a highlight was the duel between Mosgiel's Mike McKenzie and Ben Chambers.
They went at it a bit, with McKenzie having the better of the first half exchanges.
Whatever was said in both camps at half time changed the complextion of the game.
Spirit came out blazing and Keith Hawkes hit the upright with a stinging shot in the first minute.
A bit of Mosgiel panic and a free kick to Spirit outside the box so up stepped Ben and hit a stunner into the net.
Spirit looked much sharper and Jonny Cox went on a couple of solo runs but hit wide both times.
Mosgiel had some moments, with Shane Danielson always a danger up front.
Brazilian "Fillepe" showed some nice touches, but my Spirit "Player Of The Day" John McCarroll did the numbers on
them and limited their opportunities.
Although one piece of Fillepe magic almost set up a late consolation goal but for some good work by McCarroll's partner Paul Potrac.
So the Spirit lads can have a few "quiet ones" and celebrate because right now they're top of the league and that's what it's all about.
May 3rd
(Southern Fed Premier)
Green Island 1 v Southland Spirit 3
Southland
Spirit moved to second place on the Southern Federation Premier soccer league
points table with a well deserved 3 goals to 1 win over
It
was a game that Spirit was expected to win and they did so with some authority.
Controlling it from the outset, scoring first and re building its lead after a
period of play that
English
Import Ben Chambers opened the scoring for the Ascot Park Hotel sponsored Spirit
team at the 20 minute mark when he received the ball on the edge of the penalty
area turned past a defender and drove the ball into the net.
Ten
minutes from half time a Chambers free kick was deemed to be handled by a
Green
During
this period good play by “player of the day” Paul Potrac and his co defender
John McCarroll was instrumental in repelling most of these challenges.
Ex
All White Graham Marshall gave Green Island a lifeline twenty minutes into the
half when he made a strong run from his own half and fired in a 25 metre strike
that eluded Spirit goalkeeper Richie Jones to make the score 2-1.
Spirit
then regained the dominance it had in the first half culminating in a fine goal
by Keith Hawkes to re establish it’s two goal margin at 3-1.
April 26th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit 3 v University 2
A dream start for the lads as a Karl Hawkes corner after just two minutes was palmed into the net
by University keeper Dave Evans. 1-0
Coach John Herdman went with the fully fit Richie Jones between the sticks for Spirit and played Mike Riach (the other keeper)
in a defensive outfield position.
With a strong wind at their backs, Spirit players were overhitting through balls to the pacey Jonny Cox, and failed to
control the midfield.
Ben Chambers reputation preceeded him, and he was being closely watched by a couple of Uni defenders.
Spirit though clung to it's lead till 5 minutes from half time when "the very skillful" Hayden Laird turned their defence inside out and laid a perfect cross to Tak Muveswa (Zimbabwee student at Otago Uni) and he slotted home from close range. 1-1
Till Uni took the lead the second half was not good entertainment, with both teams making elementary mistakes. At the 79 minute mark the Spirit left flank was once again made to look foolish as Laird himself put Uni in front 2-1.
That gave our lads the wake up call they needed, and they responed
magnificently.
On 86 mins A Karl Hawkes corner was headed back across the goal mouth by Stephen Black and Mike Riach volleyed in the
equaliser 2-2.
Now sensing this was not all over, Spirit played with the fire they had lacked all day, and when Jeremy Roberts
chased through and won the ball with sheer persistence Keith Hawkes was on hand to
drive home the winner in two minutes from time 3-2.
My MVP was Stephen Black at right back, although Mike Riach got the team's Player Of The Day Award, but it really was an
ordinary performance by a team capable of better.
To use an old cliche though "A wins a win....we'll take the points".
April 12th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Roslyn Wakari 3 v Southland Spirit 2
A disappointing result for the Spirit lads today.
Jonny Cox was a late withdrawal from the team after suffering an achilles twinge at training on Thursday,
and his marauding runs down the right flank were sadly missed.
The 0-0 half time scoreline was a fair indication till then, however Roslyn looked sharper in the second
half and Sean Brand produced the first goal two minutes in.
Karl Hawkes levelled it for Spirit at 1-1 three minutes later after some good work by Marty Black.
Roslyn's more experienced players were testing the Spirit defence, and they regained the lead
2-1 fifteen minutes later through Chris Wheeler.
A good run into the area by Karl Hawkes was illegally halted, and Ben Chambers netted his second penalty in a row
to put Spirit back into the game at 2 goals apiece.
Fifteen minutes from time Roslyn got the break they needed and Ian
Sawyer sewed the game up at 3 - 2.
April 5th
(Southern Fed Premier)
Southland Spirit 4 v Queenstown 2
A "muddling" performance
first up by the Spirit lads, but a wins a win, and a late goal to clinch it 4-2
after tremendous pressure showed they were up to it.
It took just 11 mins for Ben Chambers
to get on the scoresheet when he was entrusted with a penalty to give Spirit the
early lead.
Tadashi Takao replied 10 minutes
before the break with a direct free kick that he curved round the Spirit wall
and into the bottom corner of the net.
1-1 at half time and Queenstown looked
the better of the two teams.
7 mins into the second half and a
glancing header from Chambers sent Mike Walker clear and he slotted home 2-1
10 mins from time and Spirit were
"on their way" when Jonny Cox oustripped the Queenstown defence and
scored with ease to make it 3-1.
But the resort team were never out of
this and pulled one back just two minutes later, Tobi Reid volleyed a stunner
into the Southland Spirit goal and oh oh it was 3-2.
Queenstown attacked relentlessly and
Spirit showed signs of cracking until along came the goal of the game just 2
minutes from the end. Mike Keen slipped a well judged pass to Jonny Cox who
deftly chipped the ball through to Jeremy Roberts (sub for cramped up Ben
Chambers) and Jeremy did a delightful step over to out wit the visitors keeper
Chris Pearson and cooly slotted home to complete the scoring.
My player of the day for Spirit:
Stephen Black (Left Black)
For Queenstown: Barry (Buzza) Folster
(Inside Forward) - who is a class act, he embarrassed our defence at times.