R14 Mariners v The Nix

[Stoxxo]

Macca really needs a spell, his touch, his pace, his finish and confidence is all but gone. Agree with starting Sterj at 10, has the vision and skill.

 

[localpom]

You can see duke doesn't like being played on the wing. His style suits a target man striker, put him in front of the goal and he'll slot them away. The mind boggles at what could have been with the Duke > Flores combo given the chance and time..

Hopefully Mattys goal give him confidence and he can improve his game.

McBreen needs a rest, that's for te stellar effort last season mate but that stint in china has done you no good.

The defence looked much more solid tonight, not as many nervous moments even though the wind was always playing havoc.

Hutch needs to step up his game as captain and reel them all back in as they lose focus in the later minutes of the halves.

Mossy made his first sub too late (70th min) and wrong change.. McBreen had to come off.

We're looking good but two draws against the bottom 2 teams is too many lost point in my opinion!

To be fair, the Nix are maybe the best team in the league at the moment.

 

[midfielder]

IMO Matty had his best game since his return and was my MOM...

 

[Capt. Awesome]

I thought under the circumstances we played quite well. We tried a lot more long balls than usually because we are missing a competent CAM. The first part of the game was quite good. We went missing in the first part of the second half but overall not bad against and in form WP. I too think Mcbreen should take a rest for a week or two. Come off the bench.

 

[localpom]

IMO Matty had his best game since his return and was my MOM...

That's great. Tbh the Nix are pretty good this season (They hammered the WSW last week)and a draw there was always seen as a good result. Did Bernie get on?

 

[ryan]

Bernie got on for about 19 minutes

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Good call . A clear header in front & he puts it wide.Caceres please Mossy

Much better finish.

 

[true believer]

To be fair, the Nix are maybe the best team in the league at the moment.

I don't think we played poorly today. roar still the bench mark . but look out for piss ant town and the nix.

hay pom did you start a new job?

 

[localpom]

I don't think we played poorly today. roar still the bench mark . but look out for piss ant town and the nix.

hay pom did you start a new job?

Nope still on the same treadmill.

 

[true believer]

Bernie got on for about 19 minutes

Bernie got a little reminder of the physicality of the A-league .welcome home son.

 

[MrCelery]

Why, in the swirly windy Cake Tin, would give your penalty kick air and aim for the top corner? That's just plain dumb.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

In saying that Hutcho, as captain, should have let someone else take it.

I seem to remember McBreen's last penalty attempt was ok, (GF last year).

But of course, Hutchy was at fault allowing him to take this one.

I wish I had your vision Style. (Hindsight is a wonderful ability)

 

[Wombat]

Back in third..

How weird is it...we have minus goal difference and are 3rd in the league....WTF.

 

[Wombat]

sterjo comes on and creates 2 chances at 10 . i'll repeat myself danny needs a nana napp . start sterjo at number 10.

matt simon was fantasic . hutch very good . sains,monty usual quality

Hutchinson was better but no where near good.

sterj is best coming of the bench.

Monty wasn't quality.

Agree that Simon was fantastic.

 

[Wombat]

Good call . A clear header in front & he puts it wide.Caceres please Mossy

Terrible finish by Caceras but made up for it with a top quality roundhouse kick!

 

[Wombat]

We were shit again, lets not sugar coat it!

To be fair, the Nix are maybe the best team in the league at the moment.

You are Dreaming Pom!

They are shit. Highly physical and got away with a lot of hacking but they are an ugly Football side.

We are shit but at least there was some effort tonight.

 

[sydmariner]

I seem to remember McBreen's last penalty attempt was ok, (GF last year).

But of course, Hutchy was at fault allowing him to take this one.

I wish I had your vision Style. (Hindsight is a wonderful ability)

Then who should've taken the penalty then

 

[shipwreck]

Then who should've taken the penalty then

Trent

 

[Roy Law]

Simon Says​

Inspired by a vintage Matt Simon performance this was so much better; I certainly had not expected it but as we all know you can never write off the Mariners. Wellington Phoenix are the form team of the competition, coming off the back of three consecutive wins; the Mariners had been unconvincing in their last game so I was more than a little worried about this game. I should not have been. They took a well-deserved point and really should have had all three; but poor Danny McBreen can’t buy a trick this year.
In typically blustery conditions – Wellington is the third windiest city in the world – the Mariners were up for this game and in the first half in particular played controlled measured quality football.
Matt Simon started up front with Duke out wide and McBreen dropping back into midfield. Simon responded with his best game since his return; the real Matt Simon stood up today.
His goal was a belter: nice build up play, a touch on from Fitzgerald and the big man gave Moss no chance with a powerful volley. It wasn’t just the goal that stood out, it was his all round play, his leading of the line, his control of the ball, eluding of tackles and passing, and of course his relentless running to challenge defenders.
The whole team responded to his example: they defended as a team, they linked play well, and they took the game to the Phoenix. With Anderson and Sainsbury strong and intelligent in defence and Montgomery and Hutchinson calling all the shots in midfield the Mariners were simply a class above the Kiwis so it was a real surprise when Cunningham equalised in the closing minutes of the half. It was a well-taken goal, Cunningham skilfully sidestepping Roux to place a shot from the edge of the area beyond the despairing fingers of Liam Reddy, but it was very much against the run of play.
Phoenix, no doubt lifted by the late equaliser, started the stronger, pinning the Mariners back for the first twenty minutes. This was when the character of the Mariners was shown, defending with guts and determination, winning the loose balls. It wasn’t pretty to watch, conditions were against that, but the Mariners stood firm.
Having weathered the storm the Mariners then set out to win it and really should have done. After Simon came remarkably close with a dipping shot from distance which had Glenn Moss beaten but drifted over the bar the Mariners had the chance to take the lead when Sainsbury was first to a loose ball, Moss upended him, and it was McBreen who stepped forward to take the penalty. McBreen learned last year that the way to score a penalty is to blast the ball from the spot – he did that but got his angle all wrong and wastefully butchered the goalden opportunity. Where is Marcus Flores when you need him! I don’t usually swear but at that moment I was struggling to find any other words to use.
The Mariners finished the game the stronger and nearly scored again. Fitzgerald skilfully created a chance with a nice turn but hit his shot well wide, but five minutes from time the Mariners had a great chance. Monty’s excellent ball over the top was intelligently held up by Sterjovski and Caceres ran onto the pass, stepped past a defender, but just could not get enough purchase on the ball, Moss blocking with his legs.
I thought Mat Simon, Nick Montgomery and John Hutchinson showed great leadership today and I give the MoM to Simon who for an hour reminded us of the force he used to be before he left for Korea. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come.

 

[Wombat]

Firstly I would like to say Gillett is probably the worst ref in HAL. Clueless both ways.

The positives for us were we at least put in some effort.

We defended quite well.

Matty was brilliant and might just go on to save our season.

Great to see Bernie back.

I won't list the negatives.

Reddy 7. Looked good again. Double save was great. Distribution not perfect and maybe could have better on the goal but overall quite impressive.
Roux 6. Good going forward but still dodgy defensively. Will be brilliant in 2 years time.
Rose 5.5. Had a dig but decision making and passing poor tonight.
Ando. 6.5. Decent but still making a few errors.
Tesco 7. Good game but could have cut out their goal.
Fitz 7. Quite good.
Monty.6.5 Great work rate and fouled 100 times but passing to feet is still a problem.
Hutch 6. Better than in recent weeks but still created next to nothing BUT at least tried to be more positive.
Duke 6. An off night.
Macca 4. Absolutely terrible. Please Mossy put us and him out of this misery and give him a spell.
Simon 8. Easily MOM.

Sterj did well when he came on and Ibini showed some quality.

We really need to get back to basics like passing the ball to feet.

mom..
3pts Simon
2pts Tesco
1pt reddy and Fitzgerald.