I think I should become a politician. After putting the game I’d attend this weekend up for the vote, and promising to go to the one that received the most, I totally ignored the will of the people and went somewhere else. I made a politically expedient call. Takapuna v Ngaruawahia was closer, it was chucking it down and this was an important match. I decided I knew better than the voters. Much like most politicians. I’d...
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My recent article covering the Matamata Swifts versus AFC Fury match has generated some decent feedback – by far the most I’ve had in the short time I’ve been running this site and writing about local football. Much of the feedback has been off the record so I can’t use it in an article. But it all just goes to increase my interest in AFC Fury and the journey they and their mentor, Dave Cook, are on. Love them...
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If Ellerslie AFC was a dude I’d buy him a beer. Maybe two. He’d be the kind of guy I’d like to hang out with. I’ve been to Michaels Ave a couple of times in recent years as part of a visiting team. Both times we were smashed, but the atmosphere in the clubrooms afterwards was warm, respectful and genuine. You don’t always get that. You can tell a lot about the culture of a club, and the people involved, by the vibe you get when you...
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Every time I visit a match I’ll take a minute long movie so readers can get a feel for the venue. In the latest in our One Minute At… series we’re at Matamata Swifts’ Matamata Domain for their WaiBOP Federation League Division 1 match against AFC Fury played on April 28, 2013. The game finished 5-1 to AFC Fury. Here’s a match report of the game.
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I realise that no matter how hard I try to appear unbiased, anyone who knows of my association with Matamata Swifts will instantly wipe that away and zero straight in on my biased-ness. That goes double for any attempted constructive criticism of the match officials. So how should I call this one? Bugger it. I’ll just call it as I saw it. For me, this was actually a great afternoon out because I got to be a fan again, if only...
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Every time I visit a match I’ll take a minute long movie so readers can get a feel for the venue. In the latest in our One Minute At… series we’re at Claudelands Rovers’ Galloway Park for their NRFL Division 2 match against Western Springs played on April 27, 2013. The game finished 3-0 to Western Springs. This clip includes their second goal. Here’s a match report of the game.
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Every time I visit a match I’ll take a minute long movie so readers can get a feel for the venue. In the latest in our One Minute At… series we’re at Melville United’s Gower Park for their NRFL Division 1 match against North Force (from Whangarei) played on April 27, 2013. The game finished 4-0 to Melville. Here’s a match report of the game.
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Today was a typically mucky mid-autumn Hamilton day and a quirk in the draw meant I had the opportunity to watch the city’s two teams that play in red. It was certainly an afternoon of contrasts. On the one hand, I saw Stevie Williams’ Melville United dispense pretty comfortably of their visitors from Whangarei. Later in the afternoon I caught up with NRFL new boys, Claudelands Rovers, and saw them bow down to divison 2...
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Every time I visit a match I’ll take a minute long movie so readers can get a feel for the venue. In the latest in our One Minute At… series we’re at Ngongotaha AFC’s Stembridge Road ground for their WaiBOP Federation League Division 1 match against Matamata Swifts played on April 20, 2013. The game finished 2-1 to Ngongotaha. Here’s a match report of the game.
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It seems that everytime I visit Stembridge Road in Ngongotaha it’s raining. Wet, grey, miserable, cold. I’m guessing this isn’t a constant condition, so it must be me. Ngongotaha is a village on the edge of Rotorua. It’s just down the road from the Agrodome, which is ironic, given the state of the pitch their match against Matamata was played on. As the mower was clearly broken someone from Ngongie could,...
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