Werder Weekly 2008 - March 21

Date

March 21, 2008

Participants

Simon Hutchinson, Kevin Nieman, Wayne Smith, Steve Tucker

Report

Perhaps it was the lighting over the pitch that caused Wayne Smith so much trouble in his opening game against Simon Hutchinson. Smith seemed just to be “off” with the angle of his flicks, as he either came up short or struck the wrong side of the ball causing it to go off at a slightly different trajectory to the one he expected. For once the Drey’s pitch was not blamed. Wayne opened the scoring in the sixth minute of the first half with a chip shot from the left wing over Simon’s goalkeeper. After the goal Hutchinson start pressing forward and was rewarded with an equalizing goal, from his only shot on goal during the game, with just one and half minutes remaining in the first half. During the second half Smith pressed for the winner with a string of seven or eight corners only to be frustrated. Simon’s would either flick a defender right in front of the ball to block the shot or make a good save with his goalkeeper. With just one and half minutes left in the game one of Wayne’s shot did get past Simon’s goalkeeper only to strike both posts and then bounced out of the goal mouth and struck a defender on the edge of the “six yard” box.

Steve Tucker described 3-0 victory over Kevin Nieman, on his pitch Highbury, as a “back and forth game”. Neither player could remember how the first goal was scored. Nieman said that the speed of Tucker’s breaks and shots had taken him my surprise for the second and third goals, catching him “unprepared”. Steve was particularly proud of the last goal, scored with just three seconds remaining in the game. Tucker started with the ball on his shooting line and with two flicks, with the same figure, he had pushed the ball the length of the field and into his opponent’s shooting zone. With his third, and final flick with that figure, he drove the ball into the goal.

The Drey was moved to be directly under the lights and it made a big difference to Smith’s play during his game against Tucker. Wayne said he got every bounce and roll of the ball, and his distribution of the ball to his strikers was perfect. He was 3-0 up by half time and Tucker did not have a serious shot on goal until after Wayne had scored a fourth. Steve pushed the ball through Wayne’s defense. Smith knew that Tucker would take a rolling shot, and rather than try to make a defensive flick he kept his hand on the goalkeeper. When the rolling shot came Wayne parried the shot away to safety. Smith pushed forward again and scored a fifth before the final buzzer sounded.

On Highbury Hutchinson and Nieman played out a goalless draw. Most of the game was played in the middle of the field. When Hutchinson was in possession of the ball he kept it in his opponent’s half. When Nieman won possession he was restricted to making long passes from his defense to the two figures close to the left side Hutchinson’s shooting line. Simon did manage four shots on goal, but only one was on target and was saved by Kevin’s goalkeeper. Kevin only had one shot, and while it was on target Simon saved it with his goalkeeper.

Nieman held Smith goalless in the first half that was described as “very even” by both players. Kevin played well, stringing four or five fast offensive flicks together to drive down the pitch and into his opponent’s shooting zone, but the final flick would let him down. Wayne’s first goal came from a shot that was ramped off a defender, over the goalkeeper, and into the far side of the goal. His second goal was scored from another ramp shot, with just 26 seconds remaining in the game. This time the ball rolled under Kevin’s goalkeeper. Nieman did come close to scoring in the last quarter of the second half. The ball was resting level just to the right of the penalty spot. Kevin’s long flick from his defensive line flew through a gap in Wayne’s defense and struck the ball. The ball beat the goalkeeper figure but Smith was able to trap the ball against the post with the goalkeeper’s rod to stop it from crossing the line and into the goal.

Hutchinson had the first two shots on goal in his game against Tucker, on Highbury. As the game wore on the ball increasingly spent more time in Simon’s half as Steve pushed forward in numbers, only to be frustrated by Simon’s defensive flicks and Simon’s defense swarming the attacking figures. It was not all one way as Hutchinson did beak from defense and took several shots at goal forcing Tucker to make a couple of saves with his goalkeeper. The only goal came midway through the second half. Steve’s shot from the right side of the pitch was easily saved by Simon’s goalkeeper. The ball bounced off the keeper and struck the figure that had taken the shot, which was still moving forward from the original flick, just in front of the “six yard” box. The ball deflected off the figure and into the right side of the goal before Hutchinson could react.

Smith scored the only goal of his rematch with Hutchinson, played on Highbury, with a shot from the right side of the shooting line in the third minute of the first half. From then on Wayne would bring the ball up the field only to be blocked from taking a shot on goal by Simon’s defensive flicks. The few shots that got passed the defense were blocked by “great” saves by Simon’s goalkeeper. At the other end of the pitch Hutchinson did get the ball near Smith’s shooting line but was unable to get a clear shot on goal. With just over a minute remaining in the game Wayne came close to doubling his lead. His chip shot beat Simon’s goalkeeper, but the ball struck the crossbar and went out on the far side of the pitch for a throw in.

Tucker won his rematch with Nieman, on the Drey, with a goal in either half. The victor explained that the game was a lot more even than the score suggested as Kevin had hit the goalposts a couple of times from rolling shots when Steve’s defense was “not too good”. The first goal came when Nieman gave the ball away from a throw in. Tucker played the ball through his opponent’s defense to the edge of the penalty area, and then his shot drove the ball into the top corner of the goal. The second goal was scored from a shot from the right side of the pitch that rolled under the goalkeeper.

It was another even game between Nieman and Hutchinson, which was played on the Drey. Both players had periods of possession as they tried to move the ball past their opponent’s defense and into the shooting zone, only to be frustrated by the other player’s defensive flicks. Simon scored the only goal of the game in the second half from a fast break. The ball came to rest just over the shooting line, between two of Kevin’s defenders, level with the center of the goal. While Nieman appeared to dither, Hutchinson drove the ball past the static goalkeeper and into the goal. After the game the players agreed that the goal had been Simon’s only shot on target as Kevin had not had made a save with his goalkeeper. At the other end Simon had made three saves.

Having beaten Tucker 5-0 in their first match Smith’s second game with Tucker, on Highbury, was a closer affair. The first half was goalless and in the second half Steve pushed forward in numbers. Wayne took advantage of the lack of defenders to push the ball forward to an unmarked striker and scored before Tucker could make a blocking flick.

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