Match Report: QPAFC 0 Southend Black 0

By Phillip McCarthy

An uncompromising 90 minutes on a pudgy Bain Park failed to produce a goal on Saturday as the Queens Park AFC div 2 team locked horns with Southend Black.

Park started promisingly, but could not crack a Southend defence featuring a rock-of Gibraltar-like goalkeeper. The absence of some key players, such as Stu “tampon” Oldham and Nathan didnt help matters, but Park battled well and the 0-0 scoreline was a fair reflection as both sides failed to put away some promising chances.

Park attacked from several corners in the first half, and a couple of long-range efforts from Lindsay “exocet missile” Barnett weren’t far away. Southend had a tracer-like effort stopped by Phil near the line.

Pete “the banker” Driver and Shane “the gazelle” Spencer probed Southend’s defence constantly, while Justin also made some fine runs down the right flank. Sam showed some intricate footwork to turn and shoot for one of park’s better efforts. Dom battled bravely up front, despite nursing three stitches in his forehead from last week’s game.

In the backline, Phil, Simon, Rat, Lee, and Randy handled most Southend attacks with ease. Simon had a strong game, with some dizzying runs out of defence. In the second half, Southend went close with a header, which was batted off the line brilliantly by Jamie “you shall not pass” Fletcher (sorry about the LOTR reference), before being headed away by Phil.

The game lost a bit of shape in the second-half as a series of mini breaks by both sides were snuffed out. Park threatened to steal a win in the last few minutes, but both sides were almost out of puff after 90 minutes on the heavy Bain Park surface.

Final score 0-0

Player of the day: (proving pigs can fly, or at least run) Phil

Match Report: Queens Park AFC 2 – Southend 5

By Chris Chilton

 

Well, it had to happen eventually. After a golden run of flowing football and good form the boys were due for an off day. This was it.

Perhaps we can lay some of the blame on the lack of the traditional bottle of halftime port _ a hideous oversight by vice-captain in absentia Stu “Beckenbauer” Oldham.

Playing against a veteran side with a lot of skills and no shortage of confidence, Wad’s Warriors spent most of the first half chasing the pill in their own half.

With wave after wave of Southend attacks coming in it looked only a matter of time before the defence leaked but keeper Jamie “The Bank” Fletcher kept Park well in the hunt with a string of brilliant saves.

Eventually Southend got one through but Park still looked in the game, despite lacking the cohesion and touch passing accuracy shown in previous weeks. In fact, this was a day of miskicks, with just about everyone in a yellow shirt guilty of at least one unco flykick.

Tireless midfielder “Dangerous” Dom Yuen went down in a sickening head clash with one of the Southend players and came up covered in blood from a deep gash through his right eyebrow. Dr Anil selflessly took one for the team and whisked him off to A&E to jump the Saturday afternoon sports injury queue. Dom made it back to Sandy Point with a few stitches in his head. 

Spurred on by the sight of about half a litre of blood, Park launched its most telling attack of the half and from a goalmouth scramble Pete “the Postman” Driver delivered a deflection past the keeper and Park went into the hutch 1-all.

No port! 

Again, the second half lacked cohesion but there were some moments of lovely football, especially when Lindsay “Barnie” Barnett came on. Chris “CP” Pearson briefly moved from striker to the back to allow “Jet” Li to make his long-awaited comeback, but pushed forward again as Southend scored four unanswered goals. Good call. It set up Park for its play of the week.

It came late in the piece. Ian “Biggun” Edwards laid on a beautiful pass from centrefield to “Barnie” around halfway on the right wing. Barnie spotted a gap to his left upfield and put the ball on the spot for CP to drill it from 20-plus metres hard into the back of the net. Result!

5-2 was a fair reflection of the run of play and but for some brilliant saves by “The Bank”‘ Fletcher and gutsy one-on-one defence from Matt “Mutilator” Tongue at left fullback it could have been worse. Much worse.

Still, it shows that even on an off day this QP side is capable of some bloody good footie. The team has come a long way since the ritual 17-nil floggings we used to take back in the day.

 

 

AS EVER – go to this address for photos of this match: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29124609720

Match Report: Waihopai 1 – Queens Park AFC 6

By Glenn Williams

Invercargill     The Queens Park juggernaut sailed into the unchartered waters of third position on the points table on Saturday with a comprehensive 6-1 drubbing of a hapless Waihopai unit.

Led by a superb display by marauding midfield dynamo and 4 goal hero, Gary”Greedy Scottish Bstrd”McMahon, Park were completely dominant in all facets of play.

McMahons shorts will be much sought after next week as they were the same pair Chris Pearson wore as he put 4 goals past Enwood last week, in fact they werent even washed as skipper Glenn”Rat”Williams forgot Pearson had given them to him for laundering.

Queens Park started the match with 5 changes from last weeks line up, but soon settled into its stride,mounting wave after wave of relentless attack before the Waihopai defence finally succumbed and McMahon was on hand to bury his first for the day.

The onslaught continued from the restart, with the pacey wide midfielders Shane”Yarpie”Spencer and Mat”Sheffield”Tongue wreaking havoc at every available oppurtunity, backed up by McMahon and his very able sidekick Pete Driver and it wasnt long before McMahon had bagged his 2nd goal of the game.

Mat”The Hazard”Hassed and Dom”Dominator”Yuen were working well together on the frontline and providing excellent targets for their hardworking midfielders.

The Queens Park back four of Simon”Jacko”Jackson, Ian”Big Un”Edwards, Stu”Iceman”Oldham and Glenn”Rat”Williams and keeper Jamie”Fletch”Fletcher really had little to do but sit back and admire the virtuoso performance that was unfolding in front of them, but on the rare occasions Waihopai threatened the sortes were repelled with ruthless efficiency.

The next scoring action came from a corner kick, as Edwards rose like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes to nod home a well placed McMahon cross.

Not to be outdone, provider turned finisher for the fourth as McMahon completed a well taken hat trick to put Park out to 4 nil on the half hour mark.

This sparked wholesale changes on the Park bench with all 4 subs, Justin,Jay, Anil and the effervescent 60 year old Donald McQuillan entering the foray, with McQuillan clearly defying Father Time and showing touches of class and poise of a man half his age.

As so often happens though, the changes took a while to gel and Park headed to the halftime break without further addition to its score.

Due to the late withdrawal of Phil”Mr Reliable”McCarthy, the usual half time tipple was sorely missed as the wicked wind whipped straight from the Antarctic and chilled all and sundry to the bone.

The 2nd half began with more changes for Park as it sought to keep its large squad in the game and free from hypothermia.

The multi cultural element of this formidable Park unit was there for all to see as at one stage there were only 3 natural born Kiwis on the field.

Waihopai started the half much more strongly than the first, but again it was Park who opened the scoring and the roar could be heard from Tyneside as the impressive off season signing from Newcastle,Pete Driver, netted his 2nd goal for the club to make it 5 nil and all but seal the deal for Queens Park.

The game continued at a frenetic pace with both teams going close on several occasions before McMahon completed the scoring for Park with a well taken left foot strike that left the keeper with no chance.

Waihopai, to their credit, never stopped trying and with virtually the last kick of the game scored a well deserved consolation goal. Credit must also go to Waihopai for the excellent spirit in which the game was played in.

Player of the day for Park was the mercurial Scotsman, Mcmahon.

So its onwards and upwards for Park as it looks to the challenges and potential pitfalls that lay ahead in the coming weeks in its quest for an unprecedented top four finish.

Score: Waihopai 0 Queens Park AFC6

Player of the Day: Gary”Greedy Scottish Bstrd”McMahon:

Remember – for pix from this game, and many of the other QPAFC matches, go to this address:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29124609720

Match Report June 28: QPAFC 4, Enwood 0

By PhilMcCarthy

 

Invercargill   The mighty Queens Park second grade team played Enwood off O’Rorke Park on Saturday with an outstanding, comprehensive and composed 4-0 victory.

 

From the kick-off QP’s combinations began to press forward with surging attacks down the flanks. The team was mssing some of its regular stars but was bolstered by newcomers Ian, Nick and Chris. The first goal came mid-way through the first spell when Chris lashed the ball into the net after good lead-up play down the right wing from one of the day’s best performers, Blaikie.

 

Enwood rarely threatened (to score that is) and were kept at bay by a well organised defence with Ian and Nick directing matters well from the centre of defence. The “Rock” Chris Chilton was again on form at right back.

 

Further up the pitch, midfielders Pete, Shane, Blaikie and the impressive Justin were cutting the Enwood defence up. From a throw-in shortly before half-time Hazard made a stong run into the box and was brought down from behind. The referee immediately awarded a penalty and Chris calmly slotted it to make it 2-0 at the break.

 

Enwood pressed forward more in the first 20 minutes of the second half but could not construct many meaningful attacks despite some promising moves. Jamie made an outstanding save the one time he was tested, while Ian’s head was on the spot to deflect another goal bound shot.

 

The third goal was gifted to QP when Hazzard was pushed over as the ball was crossed into the box. Chris’s shot was blocked by the keeper, but the penalty taker was quick to react and banged it in from the rebound.

 

Blaikie and Shane were by this stage running the Enwood defence ragged. Chris slotted the fourth with about 20 minutes to go to cap a dominant performance up front. To calm matters down, QP captain Rat subbed on to bring some much needed cool thinking into the equation. 

 

The game began to get testy in the final stages and the referee decided to call fulltime a couple of minutes early. This came about as Rat was embraced by one of the Enwood players for his diplomatic approach.

 

QP bounced back well from last week’s disappointing loss to Knox, solidified its mid table spot – and is primed to jump into the top four if it puts together a few more solid performances.
Thanks must go to the Enwood player who helped collect the corner flags for us.

Player of the day: Chris
Queens Park 4 (Chris 4 incl 2 pens) Enwood 0

 

For photos from this game go to: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29124609720

Match Report: June 21 Knox Church 4 – Queens Park AFC 0

Invercargill         An otherwise dominant Queens Park AFC went down 4-0 to a polished Knox Church at Invercargill’s O’Rourke Park on Saturday.

Park had twice as many scoring opportunities as Knox, but it was the men in green and black who turned their few chances into goals.

Heads dropped as the pacey Knox striker turned one of his first forrays into the Park box into points after just 15 minutes of play.

Knox’s busy striker was to the fore again moments later, as a strong Park attack became a counter-attack that, despite goalkeeper Jamie’s efforts, broke the yellow line.

Down two goals so early in the game, Park’s resolve strengthened as its midfield and forwards fought to regain lost ground.

Nathan, Pete, Shane and Blakie toiled tirelessly to snare and offload good ball to Dom and Matt the Hazard, whose countless runs had the Knox defence scrambling.

Park’s attacking unit used probing passes and control of the high ball to carve through Knox’s back line and force their opponent’s busy keeper to make some fine saves.

But for every five Park excursions into the sometimes exposed Knox box came a rapid-fire counter-attack that showed Knox could turn what little ball its had into a shot on goal.

Knox’s pace up front was countered by Captain Glenn The Rat, Jacko, Tongue, and Stu, with the back four sending fresh ball to an attack hungry for goals – but still desperately unlucky not to score them.

Hungry or not, Park needed a shot-in-the-arm to by half time. Over a bottle of port, Club president Barney Barnett told his lads they were winning the spectacle, but had to redouble their efforts to win the game.

Park started the second half strongly, again dominating possession and scoring opportunities. With CC, Randy, Anil, and Justin came a new vigour to show Park was no easy beat.

Aggressive tackling and supreme confidence under the high ball saw Park’s backs, midfielders, and forwards turn hard-won possession into crisp passes and flowing, running football.

Dom was forced from the field after a savage knock to his knee, leaving a side that had the better of the ball but was forced to end the game without a goal.

Park coach Johnny the Wad said his lads worked hard against a team that managed to turn what scoring oportunities it had into goals. The final score could just as easilly have been 5-4.

Former Oamaru Mail sports reporter Phil McCarthy, on the Park bench after an apparently horrific fall in the game against Gore last week, said Park was unlucky to finish with the scoreline it had.

“We’re playing some beautiful football . . . but to win, we need to score more goals than the other team,” McCarthy may or may not have said.

Final score: QPAFC 0 – Knox Church 4
Player of the Day: Dom

Photo: Player of the Day Dom on another knife-through-butter run

 

Photo: Matt Tongue overwhelms the Knox goalscorer to start another counter attack

Photo: Shane and Nathan ready to turn the ball toward the Knox goal

Match Report: June 14 Gore Wanderers 1 – Queens Park AFC 3

Gore, June 14         The Queens Park Division 2 side forged its first two game winning streak in the weekend with a 3-1 win over Gore Wanderers, at Gore.

The home side was tenacious on attack and reslute in defence, but the resurgent Park retained some of its prematch form to grind out its third win from five games this season.

Gore Wanderers scored first after a strong run down the left flank, but Park’s reply was emphatic. Pete scored first with a fluid run and a devestating strike, and Matt Tongue’s deft, out-of-the-box chip had the visitors leading at half time.

Park started the second half in much more convincing fashion than it started the first, with flowing attacks takng the ball from defence to the Wanderers’ line.

Blakie took the score to 3-1 with a belter that lifted Parks spirits and reduced the spirited Wanderers side to chasing a target they wouldn’t meet.

Queens Park Park coach Johnny the Wad said his side took some time to shake the effects of the long drive from Invercargill to Gore, but that it regained its composure to play some fine running football.

The southernmost proponent of the Dutch style of football said the win showed his side, which had a tough first season last year, had taken its game to a new level.

Captain Glenn The Rat Williams said Park looked good when it strung its passes together, but that his boys had to build on their strong start to the season to turn the rest of the year to their advantage.

Scorers: (Park) Pete, Matt Tongue, Blakie; (Wanderers) That bloke on the wing
Player of the Day: Stu

Photo: Enigmatic QPAFC captain Glenn Rat Williams on the charge moments before dispossessing the gangling Gore striker.

 

Photo: Barnstorming Canadian cracker Randy Bell bursts through a tackle to let loose down an orange-covered flank.

 

Photo:  Tireless midfiled maestro Nathan Renfree forces a save from the Gore Wanderers keeper, after a remarkable solo run from the wing to the top of a heavily guarded Wanderers box.

 

Photo: Keeper and club president Barney Barnett is fouled as he clears the ball from the Gore striker. Only early bad luck in an otherwise complete goalkeeping display left the respected campaigner one goal shy of a clean sheet.