Round 1 - VS VUW Scarfies, April 1, Melrose Park

Write-up by Niall

Elite 8 - 3 VUW​

New Season.  New grass.  New teams.  New faces.  New boots (for some).  It’s a fresh season for The Elite, and where better to start than our spiritual home, Melrose Park.

In a Cap 6 first, the opposition were already out warming up before all the Elite arrived, looking young and eager.  Normally that’s something that gets our lads going, but not in this case.

The game kicked off with our 2 starting midfielders getting bossed a little bit, and the Scarfies using the ball over the top to give us a bit of trouble.  This resulted in a quick 2-0 for the thespians.  The first goal coming from a scuffed shot that ended up falling to their other striker to pass into an open net.  Lucky goal, but we really shouldn’t be allowing 2 free shots on the edge of the six yard box.  The second goal was a bit of defensive lapse, which allowed their striker to run free and score an easy goal.

Great spirit by the lads though, and we kicked back into action.  The Elite were getting a lot of joy down the channels and 2 low crosses were turned into their own net by Scarfie defenders. 2-2.

Just before halftime, Shane got free on the left and beat the keeper with a classy finish. No one was more surprised than me after witnessing his finishing in pre-season.  3-2 to the good guys at halftime.

After some childrens snacks to replenish the glucose levels, the Elite restarted the second half and got down to business.  Clem continued to make hay down the left and put in a lovely ball to CJ to hammer home with his left foot from about 8 yards.  After feeling like we had some breathing room, we unfortunately let them back into with a jammy fucking goal from a corner.  Adam cleared the ball right into a Scarfie and it cannoned back into the next.  4-3.

Jay seemed to take that goal personally and returned the favour right after the game kicked-off again.  He got the ball wide right, skinned about 4 dudes and then blasted the ball into the top corner at the keepers near post.  Early contender for goal of the season (until later).

The pressure was building now and the Elite pulled further away when CJ got his second, a functional toe-poke with his right after the French maestro played a beautiful cross-field switch to him.  Big Angus decided to get in on the act, cooling slotted a knock back from the edge of the box into the bottom left corner.  Class finish.  7-3 Elite.

The Scarfies young fellas were clearly getting a bit grumpy at this stage, with a few juicy challenges flying in.  The ref probably should have been a bit stronger and cut that out, but he seemed to have an issue keeping up with the play.

Shane stuck the knife in with a delightful lob to double his tally for the day.  Game over.  8-3.

MVP Points
Really hard to dish these out after such a dominant performance, so no offence to guys who didn’t get any points.  So many to pick from today.

3 – Shane.  2 goals on his official Elite debut.  Ran all day down the left and was a constant outlet for us.  Caused the Scarfies a lot of problems.
2 -  Angus.  Really shored up the defense when he came on, and then made our midfield solid when he moved into there as well.  Classy first goal for the Eilte.
1 – Clem.  Didn’t score but was the catalyst for a lot of our good play.  When he plays in the channels, holds the ball up and brings others into the game like he did, we are a much better team.