More postponements and a mix of foul weather and unplayable grounds means the JPL Cup Final is played on Sunday, September 7th at Richard Prouse – where the day dawns bright and the pitch is in great nick. Unfortunately the postponement means both teams lose players, and we are without Tom & Jimmy for the seasons showpiece match. The boys have trained well and as a team are raring to go, they’ve got a couple of years payback due after losing all games in the past 2 years by the odd goal to their neighbours.

We start the game at pace but concede a soft goal to LH, 0-1, no shortage of boys committing to the defensive challenge but twice before the half we hand LH goals by not clearing smartly. The good news though is we are creating chances up front, Dan and Lachy are tireless and with Greg playing the game at real speed up the left the LH defence is under the hammer. Ben hits the bar with a penalty and Lachy hits the same bar from 25 yards with a direct free kick, but we are tied at the break thanks to tidy finishing from Greg and Dan. The strong LH midfield are being met head on in the battle by Spike and Scott E, both working tirelessly ably supported by Antonio & Cameron out wide.

The second half instructions are team work, and a little smarter defensive work and the back four after an early hiccup respond. LH do take the lead again, but the second half belongs to the strength and determination of Ben and Keelan in the middle of defence who have the better of their high profile opponents. Out wide Connor and Scott O are using the ball well, and we shift our attacking focus to the right side of the field a little more. From a corner, as LH struggle to contain Keelan, Antonio poaches a chance – his first goal of the season – and we are level once more, 3-3. An exhausted Dan passes the torch to Cameron, who causes problems on the right and is part of the build up as Greg caps a superb game with his second and our fourth goal. LH can’t make the most of half chances and are finally overcome by a true team performance from the lads in red.

Congratulations to all players, the spirit and team work a pleasure to watch from the sideline, no heads dropped even the slightest despite falling behind 3 times and the collective joy at the final whistle a fitting way to wrap a most amazing season of football.

Result; Lower Hutt 3 Stop Out 4 (2:2), Scorers; Greg (2), Dan and Antonio.

It seems ages since we last played, but the boys have trained with vigour when the weather allowed and as Capital Football move to plan C we move to Memorial Park to host Wests in one semi-final of the 12th Grade Cup.

The first half is a tight affair, we shade the better of some chances but the ball won’t go in. The defence is staunch, with Tom & Keelan strong in the centre and aside from a couple of corners West are reduced to long shots that don’t trouble our goal. In the middle of the park Jimmy & Scott are dominant, their partnership going from strength to strength as they feed the ball out to Ben & Lachy on attack. We turn at the half locked at 0-0 and the message is to use the width and the top 2 inches a little more in our attacking play.

Scott O and Connor come into their own in the second half, supporting the flank play of Greg and Antonio with intelligent runs and we sweep forward with vigour on attack. The deadlock is finally broken thanks to unselfish play from Lachy who sets up his partner in crime, Ben for the first goal. Lachy gets his own reward a few minutes later with a sharp shot that the keeper can’t hold to make the lead two and then Spike scores with a diving header that is a contender for goal of the year.

The team doesn’t let up, Wests battle but they can’t contain the wave of yellow shirts pouring forward, there’s a second for Ben and a well taken goal for Greg to complete the scoring in front of a vocal, appreciative crowd.

The reward for one of our most complete team performances is a place in the Cup Final against neighbours Lower Hutt.

Result; Stop Out 5 Western Suburbs 0 (0:0), Scorers Ben 2, Lachy, Greg & Cameron M.

Finally we’re on to the Super Sixes, and after a few postponements we head to Mazengarb to take on the rapidly improving team from Kapiti.

The ground is two faced, a firm and relatively dry centre but the sides and goalmouth have small lakes forming that fill to the brim as the rain keeps coming through in some heavy showers at times. We start well, Ben enjoying a chance to play in the middle as Jimmy has a run upfront with Lachy. The first 10-15 minutes belong to us as the boys look to play the game at pace and are accurate in their play. Chances won’t quite fall and some go begging during a period of play where we have a number of corners while on attack. Our reward finally comes from a quickly taken free kick, Lachy looping a first time volley over the keeper from 20 yards out. Full marks to Tom, he picks Lachy out from the free kick on halfway. Unfortunately we snooze and allow Kapiti a cheap equaliser, the defenders somewhat undone by the ball catching in the puddles and the long grass in the goalmouth. We still dictate play though, chances are opening up and our second goal is a superb piece of football as Scott O wins the ball at left back, a deft pass has Cameron in space and his pass forward sets Lachy goal bound, a sharp finish and we lead at the break 2-1.

Unfortunately we can’t continue to dominate in the 2nd half, there’s just enough of a head wind to play into with the rain pouring down to compromise our play. Tired legs and the heavy ball mean passes start to miss their targets and Kapiti’s physical approach starts to dictate play. The boys can’t seem to drive play down the “drier” right hand side and we waste energy in the ponds down the left hand flank. Kapiti peg us back and we are all grateful for Davey who picks this most horrible of Saturday mornings to play an absolute blinder. Kapiti are having two attacks to every one of ours and Davey makes several one on one, and a few full length diving saves to keep the score tied at 2-2. After such a buoyant start to the game there’s some relief at the final whistle to leave the coast with a share of the spoils. The boys have learnt some lessons about handling a flooded pitch which it seems will prove necessary to learn from in the coming weeks.

Result; Kapiti 2, Stop Out 2 (1-2), Scorer; Lachy (2)

Player of the Day; Lachy Waugh

Last game of the first round has us at home against league leaders Lower Hutt, our 2nd place secured – so it’s bragging rights we’re playing for, as well as a chance to measure ourselves against the top team. Their 9-1 spanking of Miramar the week before has helped focus the boys on the task at hand.

Our goal before the match was to not waste the first quarter of the game settling into using the top two inches; and despite conceding an early goal it’s pleasing to see the boys playing smart football from the word go. Our flank play is entertaining and LH struggle to contain our play. Scott Oldham (playing his old team mates) is playing well from left back, linking well with Greg and Lachy in particular to launch our assaults. On the right flank Cameron and James are giving their much larger opponents a roasting with their pace and guile. We get reward for our endeavour from a well worked attack from a corner, Scott Ellis putiing the body on the line in a melee of players to score. After some work at training lately it’s great to see the boys make use of attacking throws and corners to rattle the Hutt defence. We head to the break at 1-1.

The breeze is against us in the second half and the Hutt boys use it to advantage to slowly dominate; in much the same manner we dictated the first half. There’s smart work and toil at the back from Tom and Keelan (playing through the pain barrier), with Connor and Antonio kept busy as well. Unfortunately with time running out the Hutt forwards create an opportunity that they convert and we’re out of time to manage a comeback. We’re beaten on the board but we have played our part in an entertaining and intense clash.

Result; Stop Out 1 Lower Hutt 2 (1-1), Scorer; Scott Ellis

Player of Day; Cameron “Spike” Martin

We head to Whitby and the challenge is a Wests team, who like ourselves find themselves towards the right end of the table this winter - after previous years being cellar dwellers, (just like us). A win today will confirm 2^nd place in the league for our team.

Once again we are slow to settle, it is some 15-20 minutes before we have players putting their foot on the ball and playing with their heads up. During that first quarter of the game there’s chances for Wests, but Keelan is strong and quick at the back and Davey is his usual safe and unflappable self in goal. We finally start to play with some width, Greg and Lachy working well on the left while Jimmy makes some sharp runs down the right. Ben breaks the deadlock with some determination up front and the team as a whole start to relax into our game, with width on attack and composure through the middle of the park. It’s only a short time till Lachy bags our second and but for a kind bounce or two we could have had more before the half.

The second half is for the most part all about control and some at times fabulous football out wide, both Scott O and Connor overlap well with their play down the flanks and only some desparate defence keeps us from adding to the score. Scott E hit the woodwork from some 30+ yards while other chances for Dan, Lachy, Cameron and Jimmy just won’t go in. A series of corners does bring reward, Keelan is up and causing mayhem for their defence, allowing Lachy some freedom which he relishes and the scoring is complete at 3-0. After a muddled start the team has turned on some of the winters best football in perfect settings on a beaut pitch.

Result; Wests 0 Stop Out 3 (0-2): Scorers Ben, Lachy 2

Player of Day; Ben

We finally got some game time and the challenge for the boys was a double header of football.

Saturday comes and we’re at a sticky Naenae Park to play hosts to a sticky Island Bay team who despite their pedigree sit at the foot of the table. We start brightly, Keelan strong out wide and supplying numerous crosses – but in front of goal we are poor and many chances go begging, and their keeper grows in confidence as the half progresses. There’s some frustration creeping into our play, and as well as some poor ballwork we’re missing the top two inches in our play as well. Despite the toil of our flank defenders, Connor and Scott, as well as James in the middle we are not playing smart football. Despite the wind advantage we turn at the half tied at 0-0.

The second half sees growing confidence from the IB lads, they score and continue to take the game to our boys. While the intent and desire is there our play lacks the needed composure and when we do attack well we’re having one of those days in front of goal when the ball just won’t go in. Losing Keelan at half time dents some of our attacking purpose, and though Cameron & Dan work tirelessly there’s no joy for us. Come the fulltime whistle we congratulate IB on a staunch team effort and their first win of the season.

Sunday dawns bright enough, though the breeze is sharp. We host Miramar at Fraser in a match that if won will see us regain 2nd on the table. Every player brings a keen attitude to the match, each looking to improve on yesterday’s game. Keelan fresh from the spa pool is in central defence with Tom, which means Scott E and Jimmy can renew their midfield pairing of last season.

Right from the word go this is an evenly contested match, chances at both ends go begging, both goalkeepers making good saves. We take heart from the fact that our ballwork is better, our teamwork & buildup has good structure and last but not least we’re playing into the wind which is proving to be a factor. We turn at the half 0-0, and the coaches words are more of the same, with patience chances will come.

Tom and Keelan are strong in defence and smart in their distribution. They use Scott O, Connor and Spike to launch our attacks down the two flanks. Cameron is tireless in his work, creating attack out wide and toiling in defence when needed. Jimmy and Scott E start to dominate their larger opponents in Miramar’s midfield. Upfront Lachy and Ben, with support from Greg are doing everything but score; they’re backtracking and putting in a lot of work helping the midfield. A series of corners and goal mouth scrambles but the ball won’t go in, that is until Tom buries a poor clearance of a corner, from 20 yards the ball balloons the net; at last we have a goal this weekend!

A few minutes later Jimmy breaks down the wing, cuts to the by-line and turns the ball back for Dan to slide home a second goal and it’s great reward for two games of great toil for him. The match is safe at 2-0 and the boys are to be congratulated for a very thorough team effort, and those top two inches were an integral part of the win.

Scores; Stop Out 0-1 Island Bay (halftime 0-0)

Stop Out 2-0 Miramar (halftime 0-0) Scorers: Tom & Dan

Players of Day; Tom & Keelan

A wet and cold morning at Nairnville to take on an Onslow team who are bouyant after they upset Miramar last weekend. That result helps focus our lads for what proves to be a tight match in the chase for a spot in the Super 6's.

Ground conditions deteriorate reasonably quickly and it impinges the boys' attempts to play their short passing game, but the endeavour is good and the structure of the team especially at the back is pleasing. Antonio, Connor and Scott O are working hard in their defensive roles but most pleasing is all 3 come forward intelligently trying to provide width and the extra player we need to break down Onslows' staunch defence. There are some infrequent bright moments in attack but chances are tough to get a hold of in the conditions, and at the other end we're glad of the smart work of Tom & Scott E whenever Onslow try to break quickly. At the half it's all locked up at 0-0.

The chat at half time is to not panic, to improve the close control and if everyone lifts their game just 10% then things will come together. Dan, Keelan and Jimmy work well opening up the right hand side and that looks pormising as an avenue to goal. Instead though the lead comes through fast work from Lachy down the left, he draws their defence and then switches play intelligently into the path of Ben who cooly puts away the chance. Unfortunately the lead is short lived, tired legs at the back exposed on a sharp break and at 1-1 we have it all to do again.

Greg is having a very good run at centre mid, supporting the work of Lachy and Cameron down the left in particular but as hoped it's the work down the right that provides an opening for Dan to slide home the winner in what is his best game of the winter so far. Connor epitomises the "attack" philosophy of the defenders as he strolls forward into shooting positions on a couple of occassions. There's a few nerves and tense moments in the last five, but Dave is as always a very safe pair of hands in a bit of a rear guard action to close out the match and we claim our fourth win in five starts to maintain second on the table.

Final Score; Onslow 1 Stop Out 2 (0-0); Scorers; Ben & Dan

Player of the Day; Connor Scott

Great to get a fine Saturday morning again and the boys are fizzing to improve on their last showing. Preparation & attitude before kick off impresses the coach - but nothing like the impression that the opening 3 minutes of play makes on all spectators and the Kapiti team!

Lachy puts away a sharp strike on our very first attack and our second attack ends with a goal kick for Kapiti. The scuffed kick is despatched into the unattended goal by Greg and we have a dream start and a two goal cushion. Strong play down the right has James and Keelan combine well, the little and large of the team becoming quite a combintaion in attacking play and they tee up the ball for a wonder strike by Spike that takes us out to 3-0. The flank defenders, Connor and Scott add width at times to our attacks and play continues to create opportunities for the score to mount. The usual substitution of rolling subs is seamless, Cameron and Dan are both involved in attacks and Antonio enjoys some freedom down the left side supporting the front players like Ben who toils for his fellow strikers all half. By the half we have a 5-0 lead with Scott Ellis coming forward from sweeper to strike his first goal of the season.

Full marks to Kapit who roared back into the game in the second half. Though time was always against them they had grabbed a couple back to trail 5-2 with about 10 minutes to go. Tom & Scott though steady the defences, & Davey makes a couple of tidy saves before strong play from James in the middle of the park turns the game our way once again. Lachy snaffles a couple of sharp chances to wrap up the result, a thoroughly deserved 7-3 win, though the stuttering second half means we still have plenty to consider at training this week.

The width and speed of our attacking play is again encouraging to see as a coach and as understanding grows between the players in the middle of the park then our ability to dominate future games for longer periods should only improve.

Final score; Stop Out 7 Kapiti 3 (5-0): Scorers; Lachlan 4, Scott E, Cameron M & Greg

Player of the Day; Scott Ellis

Our third match of the season had us travel to Trentham to play Upper Hutt. For a few of our team there were mates in the opposition to play and the challenge for our players, parents and the coach was to put the focus on the football rather than any personal issues. The hangover of last week's large win over Karori was also a factor affecting preparations.

UH were fizzing from the word go, and in a script reminiscent of the night befores' Super 14 match we were behind after just a few minutes to a well taken goal despite coming into the game on top of the league table. UH players were shading the 50/50 challenges and their play was full of intent. Chances were actually rare at both ends of the park in a game played at a frenetic pace, our boys by now wide awake and realising they were in a contest. We had some dominance late in the half, a number of corners and a post hit but the ball just refused to go in the net. Half time brought a gentle reminder from the coach that football is a team sport and we needed to revert to holding positions and our passing game of width if we wanted to take some control of this game.

Unfortunately the second half was a replay of the first in most aspects, the boys playing with plenty of endeavour and effort but the chances refused to fall our way. The UH side refused to roll over and our play continued to have a congested, rushed feel to it as players hustled out of position. On a sharp break UH put away a rare chance and we were down 0-2. Some bright play out wide thrilled the crowd but unfortunately it took till just moments before the end for us to put the ball in the net. Final score, 1-2 and some deflated young men exhausted after 60 minutes of high endeavour.

Despite the loss there were positives in the way Connor, Scott and Antonio all had good matches at the back, while Cameron van Greunings' midfield play improves with every outing in a red shirt. Tom had a strong match coming forward till he ran himself to a standstill 10 minutes from the end. Jimmy once again had a tigerish match in the heart of a busy midfield, but in the end as a team we couldn't dominate in the white hot heat of a local derby played in Arctic conditions.

There was also other pieces of good news, there was no school Monday, so no listening to bragging mates in the school yard! and the sun did come up (eventually) the next day!

Final score; Upper Hutt 2 Stop Out 1 (1-0) : Scorer, Ben

Player of day; Cameron van Greuning.

We host the highly fancied Karori team for our second game of the new season, our last three results against this team include 1-6 and 1-7 lessons in football that our boys are keen to address. The boys well aware that last weeks mixed showing will need to improve if we're to really get ourselves established at the top end of the table. Some positional changes mean a couple of the boys face a fresh challenge as well.

The weather is perfect, the pitch looks superb and the boys turn it on in spades. Their strength and pace up the flanks is balanced by some control and solidity from the back four & midlfield. Karori are struggling with the pace and we race to a 2-0 lead as the boys take their chances early on. There's looks of wonder from both sets of supporters when Keelan scores a third and we take a 3-0 lead into the half.

The half time team talk is best summed up by Spike noting that last year he'd been 3-0 up against them at half time only to lose 3-5! The boys take onboard the lesson and continue their assault on the Karori goal. Ben completes his hat trick with a punishing strike to make it 4-0 and James caps a good game with a good finish to make it 5-0.

At the aftermatch there's plenty of smiles from parents and players, & congratulations from Karori for a top shelf performance. The reward is top spot in the league after just 2 games. The manner of play and team camaraderie the most pleasing aspect for myself and those who have been associated with the coaching of these boys in recent years.

Result; Stop Out 5 Karori 0 (3-0) : Scorers; Ben 3, Keelan & James

Player of day; Scott Oldham; Honourable mentions Ben van Noorden, James Marsh & the rest of the team!!!

The new season brings the 12th JPL a team with many new faces. After a positive day at the Kapiti pre-season hopes are high for the team to perform well this winter.

Tawa at Redwood is the season's first assignment, and the weather is cool and threatening rain as we get underway. Tawa are industrious, with good structure and the match is a keen contest. We are pleased to take a 1-0 lead into the half, a fabulous strike from over 30 yards from Keelan the bright spot of a half when we really are fortunate to be ahead. David in goal has made several superb saves; Tawa really should be ahead by 3 or 4 after 30 minutes.

We regroup at halftime, make a couple of positional changes and start to wear Tawa down with periods in control of play. Spike is part of a better defensive effort, lending his energy to the team cause. In much the same way we scored against the run of play in the 1st half, Tawa conjure up an equaliser from a twice taken in-direct free kick. The good news is that the team rallies immediately. Jimmy takes a free kick 30 yards out that curls past the defence and Lachy gets the lightest of touches to steer it into the net, 2-1. The defence holds firm and a few minutes later we have for the first time in 3 years started a new season with a win. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but we'll take it and thank Tawa for a keenly fought contest.

Score: Tawa 1 Stop Out 2, (0-1): Scorers; Keelan & Lachy

Player of Day; David Silcock, with an honourable mention for Cameron "Spike" Martin.

Photos: Hugh van Noorden