Game 12 vs JPC - Rotorua

It has been an absolute privilege to be the coach of the Tauhara College 1st XI for the last twelve years. I have calculated that there have been over 125 boys who have moved through the squad during that time - a fairly exclusive, yet significant group of young men. All of whom have had an impact on the squad as a whole and on me personally. I am still in touch with so many of them and value the contribution they have all made to our team culture over the years.

Football has always been secondary to being part of the team. Our values have centred around the mentoring of the younger members of the squad by the senior members - and then handing over the batten to them each year as players rotate through the year levels and head off to pastures anew. The constants have always been based around playing hard and fair. High expectations of sportsmanship, loyalty, fair play and quality banter have always been at the forefront. The interactions between students across all year levels have been so valuable and a joy to watch. The van rides and Macca’s trips are always just as important as the footy!

I coached for seven years before Marty joined the squad in Year 9 - and then another five years until today when he has just finished his final game for Tauhara. It seems like a natural point in time to end this chapter and hand it over to someone new.

So on to today's game …..

Playing away to JPC is always a daunting prospect - made all the more difficult by this afternoon's murky conditions and the morass of a swamp which is their playing field. It is always tricky to maintain close control of the ball on an uneven playing surface - and so it was to be. We started off with the intention of putting this game to bed quickly - with fire in our bellies and strong intentions we monstered the opposition in the first stanza. However, against the run of play, JPC ambushed our defence and pounced onto a goalmouth scramble like yr 9 student in a lolly scramble. Their striker powerfully struck the ball into our goal and we found ourselves, once again, 1 - 0 behind and chasing the game.

We stuck to our game plan and tried to play the simple game of pass and move - pass and move. Sean Barbour struck the upright, up where the spiders live, with a thunderous drive and numerous other attacks were thwarted by their desperate defence and sound goalkeeping. Our patience won through in the end with Sean Barbour and Kierren Flower combining with two sublime attacks, both resulting in Sean assisting Kierren to score with pinpoint accuracy in both the passing and shots. Kierren scored a third just before half-time, smashing the ball into the roof of the net, up where granny hangs her washing, to keep up his ridiculous record of hitting first half hat-tricks!

Even with my extensive articulate eloquence I have completely run out of superlatives to describe the most fervent fluidity and flamboyance of Kierren Flower’s scoring prowess. He has been absolutely on fire all season and scored another 4 goals for us today - bringing his tally for the season to 25 goals! It may seem like we are a one dimensional team, playing long balls through to Kierren for him to run onto with his pace, driving forward till he is in one on one with their keeper and slotting the ball into the back of the net. I assure you, when watching our team, we are multi-faceted in both attack and defence, although Kierren, through guise and skill, is often the player to finish off the move, our goals are more often than not constructed through great passing and movement from our back line, through our midfield, out onto our wings and then into the path of our strikers in the box. A joy to watch!

Captain fantastic Marty O’Brien pushed forward for the last ten minutes of the game. He had spent the preceding 60 minutes prowling around our backline snuffing out any semblance of an attack from the opposition like a terrier hunting down a rat, ruthlessly shaking the life out of it and tossing it aside before moving onto the next rodent on the opposite wing. He drove into the box, beating player after player with a deft touch and a swivel of his hips. He was clipped from behind and went down in a heap - Penalty to us! Marty’s last attacking touch for his beloved Tauhara 1st XI was slotting a pen past the despairing dive of their keeper - into the auld onion bag it went, bulging the net and sealing the win!

The final score was a hard fought 5 - 1 victory. There were a few sub-plots and dramas along the way today - but not for these pages, come for a chat if you want the juicy deets! Today’s result means that we are finishing the season at the top of the table. An absolutely huge accomplishment for this group of lads, only achieved through their sheer positivity and determination both on and off the pitch. It has been hugely rewarding to be part of this group and to see them develop as a team - they deserve every success both today and in the future.

Thanks for all of the kind comments regarding my Weekly Football Reports over the years - I have enjoyed the process but will not really miss the expectation to write after getting home from an away game at 8:30pm every second Wednesday.

Thanks also to all of the staff and whanau who have consistently turned out to watch week after week, your support is definitely appreciated by the lads and myself.

Lastly, the biggest thanks possible to Janine Giddy. Your support and encouragement over the years has been priceless. Your organisational skills are exemplary and your ability to “talk footy” incessantly with me the day after our teams have played is sooo appreciated!! I am sure you are the reason why I am late to most of my classes on a Thursday!!! Hopefully I will now be able to spend more time watching the girls 1st XI!

Thanks to all of the players who have been part of this team for so long and to the current crop of lads - I am excited to see where you develop in the future - I will be your biggest fan on the sideline!

Signing off for one last time.