Werder Weekly 2008 - February 15

Photographs from today are in the Werder Weekly slide show

Date

February 15, 2008

Participants

Dominic Hutchinson, Simon Hutchinson, Kevin Nieman, Wayne Smith, Steve Tucker

Report

The Werder Weekly relocated to Simi Valley again tonight, and for the first time it was played in Steve Tucker’s garage.

Kevin Nieman took on Dominic Hutchinson in the first game of the night. The score was closer than would have been expected with the amount of possession Nieman enjoyed. Kevin took the lead at the beginning of the first half with a chip shot into the top left side of the goal, as Dominic flung his goalkeeper to the right. Dominic’s defense kept Nieman wide forcing him to make shots from tight angels for the remainder of the first half. Kevin’s second goal came in the middle of the second half with another chip over Dominic’s goalkeeper. Dominic pulled a goal back near the end of the game with a “power shot” that was blasted under Kevin’s goalkeeper.

Steve Tucker and Simon Hutchinson were even for the most of the game as both players tired to cope with what appeared to be slope to one end of the pitch. The playing “downhill” the player had to cope with the ball running away from him, and the “uphill” player experienced the ball coming up short. Both players had shots at goal, but there were just a few that required the goalkeeper to make a save. The only goal came soon after the start of the second half when Tucker, playing “uphill”, pushed the ball through Simon’s defense and quickly shot in at the near post.

Wayne Smith was rampant in his game with Nieman winning 5-1. Despite struggling to “rediscover” his chip shot, after “losing” it on Sunday in the second round of the Maricopa Cup, Smith was 2-0 up at half time. Both goals were ground shots, the second came after Kevin had stranded his spare goalkeeper. Three times Nieman stole the ball by flicking a player into the way of Smith’s forward balls only for it bounce of Kevin’s figure and roll onto one of Wayne’s figures. Smith was four up when he was taken by surprise by Nieman’s goal. The ball was in front of Wayne’s shooting line and in front of a defender. Before Kevin could take his next flick Smith start advising him what he would do in that situation. With two quick flicks Nieman had pushed the ball into his opponent’s shooting zone and scored before Smith had finished his sentence.

“That [goal] was the only piece of luck I had during the game,” Kevin lamented at its end.

Playing on the sloping pitch the first half was pretty even between Dominic and Tucker, with what was described by both players as "lots of end to end play". Midway through the opening half Tucker scored his first having finally found a way through Dominic’s packed defense. The second half was more one sided as Tucker scored three more goals before Dominic called for the ‘mercy’ rule.

“I feel I am getting my touch back,” Steve said after the game. “Dominic’s defensive positioning was well played. My finishing was fair but Dominic’s goalkeeping was panicky. When he took the time to flick he flicked well.”

Simon was on the attack more in the first half of his next game as he played “downhill” on the sloping pitch. He scored the only goal of the game in the first quarter from a ramp shot off one of Nieman’s defenders that dropped, from height, behind the goalkeeper and into the goal. The second half was very even as Kevin struggled to cope with the “downhill” slope as he would hit the ball too far.

Kevin asked to provide a quote after this game: “I switched from Juventus to the Italian national team after sacking them hoping to inspire offense and failed… miserably.”

A goal in either half was enough for Smith to beat Tucker. The first was scored from a rolling shot after a quick break through Steve’s defensive line. Wayne was so dominant in the second half neither player could recall Tucker having had possession in his opponent’s half. Smith’s sustained pressure, keeping possession for seven minutes, finally paid in the last few minutes with a goal from a rare chip.

A quick goal and another midway through the first half gave Smith the half time lead against Simon. In the second half Simon did have possession for periods of time but struggled to push the ball through Smith’s defense into the shooting zone. He did manage three shots, two saved by the goalkeeper and the other just wide of the post. By pushing forward Simon left his defensive line weakened and this gave Wayne the opportunity to score the final goal of the game in the middle of the second half.

Smith beat Tucker 1-0 with a first half goal. It was in the seventh minute Smith pushed the ball into the shooting zone, passed the ball into the middle of the penalty box’s line, touched up from the left wing, turned quickly, and drove the ball into the left side of the goal. At the start of the second half Wayne had a chance to double his lead with a left handed shot, but Steve’s goalkeeper made what was described as a “big save”. While Tucker held the ball for quite a while in Smith’s half he had just a few chances inside his opponent’s shooting zone.

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