Fathers day special Wanderers v Ngaruawahia 7th Sept 2014 A rather one sided season-ending contest at Porritt saw a half dozen goals, all to Wanderers and three red cards, all to Ngaruawahia. The relegated away side seemed determined to give outgoing Wanderers captain Ricky Broderson a decent send off. Broderson has starred for Wanderers for 5 seasons. He told us he committed to the club over a pint at the old Cobb n co at Chartwell. It was my first night in Hamilton after moving back to New Zealand. Mark Cossey collared me and I committed to playing for this club by signing a paper napkin. Id had a few beers and was a little hammered at the time but dont regret a moment of it. After losing the previous week in front of a sparse crowd, the gang at Wanderers HQ had hatched a cunning - Baldrick-like- plan. Lets play our last home game of the season on Sunday rather than Saturday. Lets get all the kids and their dads down for a Fathers Day outing and make it a special day. Chuck on a BBQ and hope the crowd is a good one. As it turned out, even the weather gods agreed with the plan. Cold and grey on the Saturday but a cloudless spring day 24 hours later. And, yep, a fantastic crowd, the best of the season. The BBQ plate was sizzling like a snare and the old club stereogram was put on the deck and turned up to 11. Now for the game. I remember David Gilmour of Pink Floyd telling me that you have to put on a decent show when you have a stadium full of knowledgeable punters. They have given up their time, you have to perform, give them their moneys worth. Goals and goals would be the perfect answer. For the first 45 minutes the performance of both teams was at times as disjointed as a coalition of left (ok, or left) wing political parties. But there were some nice moments in between to ensure the patrons werent short changed. Wanderers generally were on the front foot but despite a Federico Marquez chance where he slashed unsuccessfully at goal from the left it took the first sending-off- a Latham two footed tackle- for the home side to turn the screws. A goalmouth melee where Adam Luque had a shot blocked at a gnats-whisker distance from the goal line was shortly followed by a Broderson corner where a long ball to the far left saw Wade Molony steer the ball home. But instead of the flood gates opening for the home team, Ngaruawahias Jama Boss had a couple of decent attempts, one deflecting off the crossbar and a cross shot that sent goalie extraordinaire Vlad Frank soaring like a flying cat to pluck the ball out of the air. Despite more chances at the other end to Sunni Singh and Molony, the solitary Wanderers goal was the only tick on the score-sheet at half time. Those floodgates did open after the break. The ball-kids had entertained the crowd with a 6 a-side during half time and showed everyone how to knock in the goals. Speedy Sunni Singh took note and when he was put through by Marquez in the 48th minute, he slipped a nicely angled shot in. 2-0! Then probably the best team movement of the match, stemming from the back, ended with Jones crossing for Marquez to nod one past his old team mates for 3-0. The boys in green then suffered a second red card-Kinney- and were consequentially on the back foot as Jones zipped in from the left, slipped the ball out to sub, Logan Rogerson who tapped it back to Jones who duly knocked in his tenth goal of an excellent season. 4-0. Like a best man at a stag party Adam Luque got in on the action, winning a goal at the back, surging through and with a wall pass landing back at his feet hitting a long range shot past the weary Ngaruawahia custodian. 5-0. hen Rogerson shot from the left but only the right post preventing his maiden first team goal. The 6th goal and 6th Wanderers scorer for the day came to Alexi Varela who drove a shot in-off the post to really twist the knife. It seemed the away team were anxious to get back to Ngaruawahia when their third dismissal - Holten- occurred with a minute or so to play. The referee eventually ended their misery and, although not a good way to depart the top flight, Ngaruawahia seem too organised a club not to be knocking on the door next season. That is if their coffers can withstand the financial drain that all those red cards will impose on them. But the day was a success for the home team, 3 points in the kitty, Broderson clapped off the field by his team mates and for the hundreds of spectators basking in the sun, a decent day out. I collared Jamie Oliver, loyal Wanderers supporter after the match. He said. Hey blues fans, having savoured some tasty goals today hopefully youll have an appetite for more next season. Lovely jubbly
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 22:27:15 +0000
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