WU Elite 3 - NW Rovers 2
Scorers: Andrew (2), Ciaran

Write up by Andrew

The last time we faced these guys at Alex Moore it was a close game so we knew we were in for a challenge but as it was our fourth game at home and we hadn’t lost there yet and it wasn’t  gonna happen here today. We start with our usual warm up of passing then a great session of goal shooting.

At the kick off Elite faced only 9 North Wellington players as the rest trickled in after 10 minutes. North Wellington had a few shots at the start of the first, a few askew and one parried away by Dave. The first 20 felt as though we were dominating enabling us to come away with a couple of chances on goal and one screamer by me that went way way over the goal posts, but nothing coming off. The midfield stayed composed with some great one twos between the attack and forwards which resulted in me getting on the end of a through ball. After 20mins, 1-nil to Elite.

Elite held most of the possession and the defence were effective at keeping the opposition attack out by pushing high and only creating long range chances for North Wellington with any through balls being pretty well cleaned up by the Elite defence. Todd showed some flash moves on the right wing, although nothing came of the cross it is worth a mention. At the 30 minute mark most strikers had a decent chance on goal with shots from Nick, Crespo and myself all having a go, all unlucky to come away without a goal.

North Wellington were not out of the game however and were putting up a battle in the midfield as well, at 35 Elite lost the ball in the middle and a through ball to a North Wellington striker lead to the equaliser. Elite reply minutes later with a pass back from  a forward into Ciaran  who powered a side volley shot into the top right corner, 2- 1 to Elite. Although we were up on the score line at half time, the two teams seemed pretty even.

Both teams came out at half time fired up. Minutes into the second a foul was committed on Stevo giving Elite an early free kick. A high cross by CJ went across the box to be crossed back in by Todd and headed in at the back post by Ciaran, the North Wellington keeper caught the ball in what could have been behind the line but it was too close to tell so it was deemed no goal. Following this I was denied by the pole. At the other end some Elite defending forced a long shot from North Wellington which looked to be on target but a good high save from Dave kept Elite ahead.

The third goal was about 20 minutes into the second where somehow I managed to win the ball over the North Wellington defence and slot it past the keeper. 3-1 to Elite. A wee scuffle half way through the second left both teams a man down. Despite the score line North Wellington didn’t give up and Elite couldn’t afford to get complacent. Elite conceded a foul in the box and North Wellington were awarded a penalty. The shot went mid height but Dave pulled off a great diving save to his right and with a yeah boy, crazy eyes and an air first pump the ball was cleared. The game was nearly over with only 7 to go Elite kept the ball, were composed and passed across the field but somehow Elite concede in the last couple of minutes, not sure how sorry. End score 3-2. Great game.

 MVP Points

1 point - goes to Dave for a great penalty save.

1 point - goes to Niall for refereeing a hard match with both teams unfairly yelling at him.

1 points- goes to Decs for controlling the mid field.

3 points- Toddy for some great skills up the side line schooling the other team and runs into the corners.

WU Elite 3 - TFTs 2
Scorers: CJ (2),  Flemo

Write up by Cory

The Mighty Elite 3 - 2 the Greek-less Greeks: The Great Escape!!

So on Friday night while I was sitting helping Dave fold the Elite Special Edition programme for the upcoming game against the Greek-less Greeks, I was thinking about the three previous battles we have had with the Greeks since I’ve been part of the Mighty Elite. Three really physical hard fought games and I’m thinking tomorrow’s game is going to be a nightmare to ref. What the hell was I thinking??

So it’s game day and instead of watching my usual Vinnie Jones videos I’m watching Refereeing video’s – in hindsight probably not the best choice. Sorry guy’s... May have lead to my 2 soft penalty decisions.

The new gaffer sends out his weekly fire up text. A little tame after last week’s but I’m hoping it has the same effect on everyone.

For the second week in a row we are back at our beloved Newtown Park. Can we continue our unbeaten home run and keep moving our way up the table?

The match began with our the Elite settled well and getting on top of the Olympic boys early, showing patience when on the ball and fighting hard for the 50/50s when at other times this season we hadn’t. For the first 25 minutes we did really well to keep the Greeks out of the game. The best chance up to this point going to the shins of Pete Archer. But mid-way through the first half we started to lose some of the control we had established. The Greek’s slowly started to come into the game. It took a brilliant save which was seen very late by Big Dave to prevent the Greeks taking a first half lead. Just after that the stand in referee Cory “Yuichi Nishimura” Taylor made what could have turned out to be a massive error when he didn’t call what was apparently a clear off side decision when Andrew was put through on the wing and crossed to ‘Shins’ Pete Archer. Luckily Pete missed the open goal. Disaster averted. Thanks Pete.

Not long after that the Elite missed their second open goal opportunity when a great cross came in from the right and Nik missed the header at the back post. To be honest I think his fringe got in the way. Elite’s best chance of the first half came from Andrew who turned his marker and had his shot saved by a desperate save from the Greek Keeper. The rest of the first half went without incident. Half time 0-0.

Could new Gaffer Adam’s men rue their failure to score in the first half? They were repeatedly denied by not the opposition keeper or the wood work but by the lack of killer instinct in front of goal.

I’m not sure what the half-time message was but the Elite boys came back onto the field looking very serious and ready for war. Whatever was said worked as right from the kickoff the Elite players were on the charge. Starting the better of the two teams and we kept the ball in the Greeks half for the first 10 minutes or so. The Greek’s first attack into the Elite half lead to Dec’s catching the Olympic striker on the back of the heel although the striker went down like a sack of potatoes and made a meal of the tackle there was still contact from behind. Direct penalty awarded. And although Big Dave made a valid attempt to save the shot the ball ended up in the back of the net. 1 - 0 Olympic.

The Elite player’s regrouped quickly and went on the attack. And not long after that a clumsy tackle from an Olympic player was enough to earn free kick. CJ bellowing orders from the back line that he is taking free kick. Every Elite player knew what is to come. CJ only had one thing on his mind. To shoot!! The free kick was a brilliant shot over the wall that left the Keeper diving at thin air as the ball was already in the back of the net. 1-1.

Seconds later...Disaster struck. Don’t know if his mind was still on the great free kick he had just taken or whether a touch of old age played a part but the usual reliable CJ had a Stevie G moment and make an uncharacterized error. From the defensive mistake the Greeks striker ran the ball in on goal and shot the ball pass Dave to put the Greeks up 2 - 1. For the next 10 minutes or so the game went back and forth with neither team taking the advantage. With about 20 minutes to go though there was an urgent defensive clearance from the Elite box. Which lead to a superb run by Andrew who beat the Greek keeper (who should have never come out for the ball) with a header and then slammed the ball into the back of the Greek goal. Despite the complaints from the Olympic players that he had fouled the Keeper. 2 - 2. Game on Boys!!!

Still there was more to come...Not long after the second Elite goal the Greeks had yet another appeal for a penalty which was waved away by the referee when the clumsy Greek striker (screaming blue murder in the process) tumbled under a fine Elite tackle. As play continued I could hear Dave in the back ground giving the striker a mouth full of get the **** up. Not long after this the Greek midfield broke away and forced a corner. After a great header clearance from the OLD gaffer CJ a rocket of a shoot came in hitting Adam in the face and despite the calls for a hand ball the guest referee yelled No in a loud voice. Apparently Adam was a tad lucky though as post match discussions revealed there may have been a hand defending his face in the box . But play went on...

After constantly pressuring the Greek goal for about 5 minutes after that the flying Ginga Chrispo makes a darting run into the Greek box and is hacked from behind. The call-in referee blows his whistle to award his second direct penalty of the day. Despite the whines of the Greeks about him NOT going down (bloody go down next time mate and make the referees job easier) the ref sticks to his decision as there certainly was contact made. Up steps the Silver Fox and hits a screamer of a penalty. 3-2 to the mighty Elite!! Well done lads.

MVP Points

2 - Adam 
Controlled the midfield well. Made several big tackles and lead team by example.

2 – Andrew
Made a nuisance of  himself upfront all day. Set the tone for the team at the start of second half. And scored a cracker of a goal.


1 – Pete
Played out of position and covered a lot of ground. Got himself in position to score twice.

1 – CJ
Scored a great free kick. Took charge of the defence. Made two crucial defensive clearances.

Write-up By Todd

Elite 1 - Tawa Bears 1

Back at Newtown park for 7 of our last 9 games, the Elite were keen continue their unbeaten home record and did just that with a well-earned 1-1 draw with top of the table Tawa Bears. 

Even before the match the Elite were under the pump, missing several players from the line-up, this was soon 
forgotten as the pre match txt came out, firing everyone up for the bear hunt. Steve-0 was  especially excited and turned up in camouflage thinking we were going hunting. Sorry Steve, this species is endangered. As Steve-0 changed back into his kit we began our traditional warm-up, with Andy on the receiving end of a verbal barrage for not getting the ball for the masters game going on at the same time. 

The only change to our warm-up under the new management was the axing of the pre-game shooting practice. This meant Decs could save his energy for the match instead of chasing after all his shots that go high and wide. 

The match began, with our traditional ref Niall looking noticeably different in the middle of the park. The Elite settled the quickest and were on top of Tawa, with our physical presence of Andy and CJ up front causing problems for Tawas over-sized defenders. We were solid all over the park, causing problems in the front third, keeping things tight at the back and neutralizing Tawas midfield. 

By mid-way through the first half we were in control but hadn’t found the back of the net, when we made a host of changes, including the return from injury of the humble Hernan Crespo. It took us while to adjust to these changes and Tawa were able to gain some possession and mount some attacks. By the end of the half it was pretty even, with neither team being able to get into the box very often and create chances (other than Andrew deciding his left foot was just for standing on a thus hooked his shot on his right toward the corner flag). 

At half-time CJ did most of the talking and it seemed nothing had changed with the new management. The message was to keep concentration right from the whistle. As usual it seemed we ignored our orders and Tawa started the better of the two teams and were rewarded shortly after with a speculative effort from their left-back somehow ended up in the back of the net. 

This seemed to be the wake-up call we needed and we got back to playing some decent football out from the back and eventually started creating chances, starting with an effort from Decs that everyone thought was a certainty. Decs somehow managed to miss his chance to level the scores (maybe we should have practiced our shooting). We didn’t drop our heads and continued to press for the equaliser and were rewarded for our sustained pressure about 10 minutes from time, when after some nice passing and failed clearances from Tawa, Steve-0 was able to thrust the ball to Cory, who slithered his way through the box and provided a tidy finish from close range to draw the Elite level. This is how the game would finish, with no further chances to sneak a win. The Elite were pleased with the performance, not letting Tawa settle or giving them any space to create chances. A strong performance all over the park meant we got a well-deserved 1 all draw and continued our unbeaten home record. With two comebacks in a row we carry some momentum into the next game, at home to Olympic. 

MVP Points

3- Cory

Scored the equaliser and toiled all day in midfield to shut down the space for Tawas danger men.

2- Damo

Threw himself into every challenge and won every ball in the air. Set the example for the rest of the team to follow.

1- CJ

Slotted into the backline midway through the first half and stayed there for the rest of the game directing traffic and cut out Tawa attacks.