Round 11 - Vs Undertakers, Richard Prouse, 18 June

Elite 3  - 3 Wainui Undertakers 
​Write by CJ


Scorers: Ross, Patrick & Declan

So we had reached the stage when we needed to make the trip over the “hill” to the dark depths of the ‘Nui!

I got a sense of foreboding as Dave informed us that he needed someone (cue email to Niall & CJ) to run the team and play keeper as his knock was actually a small muscle tear & Adam was off to get on the chop for his old man’s 60th.   ​

This then led to the now common call out to the “ring-ins” which resulted in only one extra body for the Elite in the form of Marcel, fresh from his latest drinking session!!

We were to also learn that all attempts to get Leggett to the game ended in failure yet again!!  Will we ever get to see Chrispy’s brother to another mother along for a game.  I’m told he apparently looks something like this. ​

So Saturday rolled around and Dec was on pick up duty in his pimp ride and we headed off to the ‘Nui to the sounds of the dance anthems of the 90’s!  Maybe Straight Outta Crompton would have suited us better Niall…

40 minutes later we arrived at Dick Prouse Park to find it bathed in sunlight and looking quite playable contry to the tall tales being spun pre-match.  So off to the sheds to get ready for the lads to find the smallest changing room ever as the only option.  Cue another opportunity for Ganesy to get his tighty whiteys out or the poor man’s Ronaldo!

Time for the warm up and CJ’s attempt to recall the line-up for the day.  Talk was around winning our personal battles, win the 50/50’s (60/40’s in Damo’s case) and getting on top early to put the Undertakers away.  Toss of the coin (or key in which hand routine) was lost and with the help of the ref, the Wainui captain choose wisely and had the Elite playing into the sun first half, knowing this would change as the sun went behind the hills and the ‘Nui started to resemble Transylvania.

Kick off and play was pretty even for the first 10-15 minutes as the teams looked to get into the game.  The sun was playing havoc with the Elite back four with the ball regularly finding space in behind but the lads did marshalled well enough.

The Elite then started to put few passes together to get in behind the Wainui defence.  One such move put Patrick through and with the keeper in no man’s land, Patty passed the ball into the net. 1-0 Elite.
Soon after, a quick throw in from Roger was flicked on by Patty for an on-rushing Ross who also found the keeper out of position to net. 2-0 Elite.
At this stage Wainui broke an Elite play down the left hand side for the ball to fall to an unmarked midfielder who promptly hit the long ball through for their nippy striker who raced through and finish well even as Damo made a sterling effort to put him off. 2-1 Elite.
At this stage, the Elite then started to pepper the Wainui goal and after multiple goal mouth scrambles and misses opportunities finally a great interchange of passes lead to a ball meeting Declan’s outstanding run into the box and finally getting one past the keeper to make it 3-1 Elite.
That’s how the half ended, oranges!

The message at half time was that we needed to continue to take our chances and not let Wainui into the game.
For the first 10 minutes of the second half the Elite attempted to do this and had two glorious chances to go further ahead, only for one to sail over the bar and the other a contender of miss of the season.  However we were later advised by Ross that in fact his charge down hit him in the nads and he couldn’t feel his legs!

At this stage, the lack of numbers on the bench started to hurt the Elite with Wainui able to roll a number of fresh but old legs onto the pitch for the last 25 minutes or so.  This was to be their time to dominate the game and another dart down the right wing from the striker resulted in a square ball across the 6 yard box for the midfielder to arrive late and unmarked to put into the net, 3-2 Elite but looking and feeling like the walking dead!

After another rousing spray by Declan, the Elite started to get back into the game with Ross and Clem having a running battle with their fresh backline only to get very little from the ref. While we endeavoured, the Wainui team kept looking for their strike weapon upfront.
They did eventually find him on the left where he proceeded to beat all and sundry (with Marcel gamely trying to state the course) as he jinked into the box and finished well. 3-3 all.
Below is a good reflection of how many players he beat to finish and salvage a point for the Undertakers.

So honours shared but very much 2 points lost from an Elite point of view.
It was back to the clubrooms for a post match beer and speeches which went along the lines of:
CJ - “Well done on a point today and getting back into the game, could have been different result if we had taken our chances but credit to you”
Bruno countered with - “We thought we were even or better than you as a team and the result reflected that” – each to their own.

MVP Points:


3 points – Declan – Always available, good touches, non-stop chatter and kept going in front of goal and took his well off a great run!  ​

2 points  - Tim – Played well down the right hand side, got involved especially first half with some great balls into the box.

1 point – Clem – Kept fighting all day as he was kicked and pushed all afternoon without anything from the ref.  Did well to last to the end of the game before giving a bit back!