YDS battle back to snatch a draw!

Arriving at the Colin Maiden field, the YDS found a pitch in near perfect condition, mainly due to the fact that it was also Auckland's cricket ground! Unfortunately, the squad were again hit with players being unavailable, resulting in yet another changed team. However, thanks to Thomas McKee and Jesse Smyth Kirk who came over from the Reserves to help us out when we were desperate, we were able to put a starting 11 out and have a single sub in new boy Allan.

Kicking off against the team that ran away with our division last season, we quickly knew it was going to be  testing time as Uni Mt Wellington played the ball with speed, accuracy and confidence. In the first ten minutes we were chasing shadows at the back and only good tackling from Shaun, Thomas and Harry keeping Uni Mt scoreless. However, with Jesse coming more and more into the game and assisted by Kyle Watson in an unfamiliar role of central midfield, we started to push forward and with the hard running of Shane, Adam, Dylan and Roddy, were also asking questions of the opposition. Weathering the initial onslaught, we were beginning to grow in confidence when luck deserted us. From a corner the ball was headed out to the edge of the box. However, a Uni Mt player shot from outside and the ball was going well wide when it struck another of their players, deflecting past Ryan and into the net. Nothing Ryan or the defence could do and it was 1-0 to Uni Mt. Picking ourselves up, we battled back in an effort to grab an equaliser. Unfortunately though, we were once again being stretched at the back with some precision passes which we were desperately trying to cut out until again, our luck ran out and a Uni Mt player was able to chip Ryan, who still managed to get a hand to it, but not enough to stop it going into the net. 2-0 to Uni Mt!! At this it would  not have been a surprise to see the young lads in the team let their heads go down, but credit to them, they got stuck right back into the opposition. Within minutes of going 2-0 down, Jesse picked the ball up on half way and started a mazy run, dancing around 4-5 players before burying the ball into the back of the net. A great individual goal and it was now 2-1 to Uni Mt, who appeared flustered at our response.

Going into halftime, we talked about our strengths and weaknesses, agreeing that we had to keep the ball on the floor going forward as we were dwarfed in that area and were losing out every time. I moved into midfield, allowing Kyle to rejoin and stiffen the defence and we knew we could come back at Uni Mt.

Into the second half and we were playing with more confidence and starting to cause real problems with Uni Mt. We just could not find the finishing touch! A couple of great runs down the flanks from Adam and Shane calved open the defence but were stopped short by either questionable offsides or fouls that went unpunished. Still, it showed how Uni were concerned with our youngsters and now big gaps were appearing due to tired legs! Talking of tiring legs, I found I was suffering and so handed a start to Allan, who moved up front, with Adam moving to central midfield and Roddy to the left wing. With Adam and Jesse appearing to control midfield, we mounted several attacks that came close, but none more so than when Jesse put in a pinpoint cross and Roddy climbed to head it. from just outside the 6 yard box. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep it down and over the bar it went. Then, with time almost up, a long kick from Ryan was missed by the Uni Mt defence and Dylan came racing through as the keeper advanced. Entering the area, there was a clear shove from the Uni Mt defender on Dylan, who was forced to collide the the keeper, sending him flying. At that, the ref blows and indicates a penalty which caused a ruckus with the Uni Mt players and resulted in one receiving a yellow card. Up then steps Jesse and calmly puts the ball beyond the keeper! 2-2 and we deserved nothing less!! Running back to restart, we felt we could still take the game, but immediately from kick off, the final whistle went. Given our patched up team and that we had gone 2 nil down to a very good footballing team, I was more than happy to leave with a point. Unfortunately, several Uni Mt players were not so happy and continued to argue with the appointed referee, resulting in a defender and the keeper shown red cards! Man of the match gets harder to give each week as Adam Moorhouse and Shaun Morris had particularly strong games, but the award went to Jesse for his experienced touches and two good goals.

Many thanks to those fans that came along and to the efforts of all the players involved. Next week we are at home to Ellerslie at George st, KO1pm so any support is more than welcome.