11 July 2010 - Div 3

Paekakariki 0 - Stop Out 3

Nicola 2, Louise 1

A fine day greeted us for our second trip up the coast this season.

Unfortunately the pitch didn't live up to the good weather as the cricket block in the middle rendered a large chunk almost unplayable.

We started with the bare 11 with a slightly cobbled together look to the team but everyone soon settled into their roles. We attacked on the right, where much of the play was compressed trying to avoid the bog in the centre, but despite creating a number of chances, couldn't get into a shooting position.

At the other end, Paekakariki occasionally broke free but when they managed to get around the defence, they were completely off target. Amelia again anchored things in the centre of defence and Louise also looked comfortable in goal and was quickly off her line to prevent any danger.

We ended the first half in a dominant mood but just couldn't find the net.

Reinforcements arrived for the 2nd half in the form of Nicola who had already had a game for the 1st's and she immediately proved to be the difference by beating the defence and the keeper to put us ahead.

Louise had swapped the keeping duties with Hannah at half time and also looked to be enjoying the possession up front. She was able to carry the ball into the area and slotted it into the net. We enjoyed a good spell camped in the opposition half for most of the second half and the passing amongst the team was a joy to watch.

Nicola put the result beyond doubt with a well taken third goal to finish off the afternoon nicely and ensure we all went home happy.

Div3

Stop Out 2 - Naenae 0

Georgia, letesha 

(match report to follow) 

20 June 2010 - Div 3

Stokes Valley 0 - Stop Out 2

Stacee 1, Georgia 1

Another wet day for the 2nd game of the round saw Stop Out away to Stokes Valley on a pitch which looked to be holding a lot of water.

Before kick-off the weather looked brighter and we hoped it would continue for the duration of the game. Stop Out started strongly and attacked down the flanks with Jenny feeding balls through to Stacee on the left and Rachel pushing up the right.

Stokes Valley had a few players who looked capable of troubling us at the back but Amelia and Cathy had their strikers well marked and neutralised any danger. Mid-way through the half, after a number of fruitless attacks, we worked ourselves into a good space on the right.

When the cross came, it went through a couple of defenders where Stacee was on hand to tap it home.

1-nil up at half time and the weather had taken a turn for the worse so we were expecting the heavy going to take its toll on the opposition. We kicked off into the wind, which had picked up, and had a period of dominance where forced a series of goal-kicks. Their keeper must have been tiring as her clearance fell straight to Georgia who didn't hesitate in sending it straight back goalward to make it 2-nil.

The game see-sawed for the next 15 minutes. We continued to push forward with Emma anchoring centre mid-field and keeping things under control for the most part. Hannah, in goal, still had plenty of work to do but was equal to the task and made a couple of crucial saves. As the half wore on, we had a few more chances with several players getting into good scoring positions but the mud underfoot really disrupted any chance of getting a good bounce.

With the weather continuing to deteriorate, everyone was glad when the final whistle went and we could head home with the 3 points safely in the bag. Another confidence boosting performance for the team in this division and the result sees us looking comfortable amongst the more competitive teams in division three. In the conditions we grafted hard for the result and hopefully we'll have a drier, firmer pitch in Kapiti this weekend so we can really play some football.

6th June 2010 Div 3

Waterside Karori vs Karori, Ben Burn

(Nicola Bowden 4)

We turned up to Ben Burn park as the rain continued to fall and sheltered under a tarpaulin. Promotion to Div 3 meant we didn't know much about the strength of our opposition but were expecting to be pushed harder than we had been for much of the 1st half of the season.

Brooke won the toss and chose to defend the shallow end, without the artificial cricket pitch in the middle.

Immediately after kick-off the ball stopped dead in the standing water which was several inches deep in places. What followed resembled water-polo as both teams splashed around trying to get the ball to move more than a few metres and passes stopped short in the puddles. We looked most dangerous on the break as their defence pushed forward but keeping the ball moving into the box was proving difficult as the long grass and water held it up.

Persistence eventually told and Nicola had figured out how to fight her way through the water. Three breaks and three goals followed as she found the net with two solo efforts and one great assist from Louise.

3-nil up at half time and things looked comfortable but there was still. 45 minutes of rain soaked football to play.

In the second half, Karori also seemed to raise their game as they also adapted to the conditions. This allowed them to make more progress through the middle, where they dominated, and they had several chances on the Stop Out goal. Fortunately their shooting was well off target and Steph was rarely troubled. The long ball clearance from goal was our best attacking weapon and Brooke and SarahY on the right, fed balls to Nicola who once again, in a one-on-one with the keeper, found the back of the net.

Karori continued to press through the middle of the park and were making most of the play but Jenny (player of the day), seemingly everywhere, was always there to close down the attacks. She disrupted anything coming through on the left and brought the ball forward again through the middle and back to our strikers. The game see-sawed with plenty of end to end football but there were no further goals and the full time whistle was a welcome opportunity to get out of the rain. 4-nil and a great start to Div 3.

This week we're at home to Waikanae, who inflicted our only loss so far this season, so we're looking to reverse that result this time round.

Kick-off is set for 1pm (assuming the rain doesn't have the final word).

23rd May

Brooklyn NU 1 - Stop Out 8

Sophie Burley, Nicola Bowden 2, Emma Hamilton, Louise Mackay, Nikki Bouzaid, Steph McMillan (pen) & Sarah Young

This was the last game to complete the 1st round of competition and the final game in Div 4 so there was little pressure on the team. We did want to continue the good work from the previous games and looked to
consolidate our place in the division. The team started by taking the attack to Brooklyn and won a free kick outside the box. Sophie stepped up to take it and drilled it low and hard towards the near post. The
keeper looked to have it under control but only managed to brush it on the way past and into the net.

After being off the pace for the first quarter of the game Gig finally seemed to shake the mud off her boots and began to take control of the mid-field. A period of pressure saw Nicola work her way into the box and
slotted home the second goal just before the half hour. Less than 5 minutes later, Emma was the next to make the most of some fairly average defence with her shot eluding the keeper and drifting into the net.
Nicola found another before half time giving us a comfortable 4-nil lead.

Brooklyn made more of an effort in the second half and they had one striker who was easily the fastest player on the pitch and gave Sarah, Courtney and Hannah a few scares. It didn't take long though before
Louise hustled her way into the penalty area and got just enough of a touch on the ball to take it past the keeper and across the line. A bit of a lapse in concentration saw Brooklyn get a couple of players forward
and they seemed to have little trouble rounding the defence before burying the ball in the back of the net.

Further Stop Out dominance eventually saw another mistake from Brooklyn as they handled it in the box and just like Wgtn Utd a couple of weeks before, Steph, with huge cheers from the supporters on the sideline,
raced up from goal to claim the spot kick. She had to have two attempts as the referee spotted an encroachment but it didn't matter as she calmly placed it wide of the keeper. Gig also got into the act with her 1st goal of the season from a well hit ball from the edge of the box.

Rounding out the game was a great goal from SarahY who lofted a shot over the keeper which dipped under the crossbar for an 8-1 final scoreline.

Overall we were a bit quiet and a couple of the goals were a little ucky but we finished the round with 51 goals and promotion to Div 3 secured. Job done. The next half of the season will be more interesting
and will hopefully provide a higher standard of football. It starts this weekend 1pm at Hutt Park against North Wellington.

2nd May

Wellington Utd Radlers 0 - Stop Out 9

Nicola Bowden (4), Steph McMillan, Louise Mackay, Georgia Mills, Rachel Knight, Emma Hamilton

Newtown Park was probably the best surface in Wellington and the team were looking forward to playing on the turf.

Stop Out started well and had all the possession getting forward down the right with Brooke and Rachel. We looked dominant and the pressure eventually told when a defender handled in the box. Sticking to the pre-game plan, Steph raced up from goal to place the ball on the spot.

It was keeper vs keeper but there was no stopping the ball. 1-nil Stop Out.

Despite having all the territory and posession for 20 minutes and having several chances on goal, Radlers managed to keep the ball out. Our back four kept a lonely vigil around the halfway line waiting for the occasional break but the play was compressed into a small space with all the opposition hard on defence. This meant we were tripping over ourselves in an effort to find a shot on target which just didn't come.

Eventually the deadlock was broken and Rachel and Nicola, with two, put the game beyond any possible comeback.

In the second spell we gave ourselves a bit more room and this resulted in good goals with a long range shot from Louise, a powerful drive from Emma and Georgia finally got on the scoresheet after threatening for much of the game.

Nicola returned for another cameo appearance and she clinched her hat-trick with a great effort through the centre. She got another before making way for a re-shuffle that saw Hannah put on the gloves and Steph have another run out in the field.

The Radlers stuck with it and threatened on the break but Jenny and SarahC were on hand to clean up any danger. In the end we comprehensively outplayed Wellington Utd and deserved the 9 goal winning margin. This week it's crunch time where we have home advantage at Hutt Park against Wainui Ziggys for the last promotion slot.

25 April

Waikanae 2 Stop Out 1: Nicola Bowden

A trip up the coast for the top of the table clash was always going to be a difficult task after the nature of last weeks game, however, we looked strong on paper and were confident of being competitive.

We got off to the best possible start when after 20 minutes Nicola beat her marker & once inside the box calmly slotted it past the keeper. The lead only lasted 5 minutes as Waikanae attacked on the break and made the most of some defenive uncertainty, giving Kath no chance in goal.

What happened next was a sign of things to come - & summed up our afternoon, after some good build-up Nicola beat her defender to latch onto a good pass from the midfield - she slotted the ball home but was called back by the ref for a very tight off-side call. Minutes later Nicola was again in the area with the ball at her feet, turning her marker inside out - when the defender took her legs out from under her we all expected the referee to blow & point to the spot - incredibly play was waved on...somehow you just know there isn't going to be a happy ending.

One all at the break and we started the 2nd half on the back foot, Waikanae dominating the middle of the park. The pressure told and this time they fired in a shot that had goal written all over it from the moment it was struck. To their credit Waikanae looked hungry & we were backing off 50-50 tackles and giving up possession too easily.

It took till the last 15 before we regained composure & started to dominate. The re-introduction of Rachel on the left added a new dimension & we startd to create chances. Georgia ran hard & gave their defence a headache but just couldn't quite get a finishing touch. Louise also forced a good save from their keeper from long range - while throughout the game Catherine showed excellent skill & commitment, holding the defence together. In the end we left frustrated at what could have - and should have been.

We have 3 games left until the end of round 1 and our destiny is still in our own hands - but we'll need to secure good results in all our games to ensure promotion. Next up the Wgtn Utd Raiders at Newtown Park !

18 April

Stop Out 21 Wainui 0 : Nicola Bowden 6, Rosa Bach 3, Rachel Knight 3, Letesha Townsend 3, Louise McKay 2, Sarah Young 2, Amelia Stewart 1 & Cathy Fussell 1

Another fine day for football saw the team on home turf for the first time this season. We were expecting to be able to get on top of the opposition side but it was important to get a good result in order to ensure we remained in the running for promotion at the end of the round. As things turned out, Wainui were comprehensively outplayed and really had no answer to a relentless attack by the Stop Out team.

The signs were ominous after the kick-off when Louise broke through the Wainui defence and inside 60 seconds, shot wide of the keeper. Just after the two minute mark, Nicola had worked her way into the box and slotted the ball home. From here on in, it was a steady stream of balls through to the strikers who wasted few opportunities to put it in the back of the net. It wasn't all plain sailing as Wainui put up a spirited defence and broke free on a couple of occasions but they really lacked the necessary coordination and composure to really disrupt the one-way traffic. We went into the half-time break with the score at 12-nil.

The second half started with a change in keeper as Steph handed over the gloves so she could have a run out in the field, but otherwise it was the same story as the 1st half with all the play being down the Wainui end. There were plenty of opportunities to take to ball forward and for long periods Hannah cast a lonely figure alone in the goal as the only player in the Stop Out half.

Nicola, who had bagged a double hat-trick, came off but the other players picked up the slack and goals were shared around the rest of the team with three others getting hat-tricks of their own. Scoring had become almost routine by this stage but Amelia probably picked up the most memorable one with a shot from long range that rocketed into the top corner. 9 goals rounded out the second half and the 21-nil final scoreline wouldn't have looked out of place at a rugby match. It's hard to draw too many conclusions from this performance as the difference between the two sides was vast but we stuck to the task and kept the pressure on throughout the game. Next week sees the team away in Waikanae where we'll face what looks to be the toughest test of the division.

11 April

Tawa 0, Stop Out 2 : Louise McKay 2

A fine Sunday saw the team travel out to the wild west of Onepoto where we took on a Tawa team who had dropped down a couple of divisions from the previous season and who were an unknown quantity. Again, numbers were down through injury and school holidays but at least we had the luxury of a sub this week. With only three recognised defenders and several attacking options, the plan was to score more than we conceded and take the points that way. On a huge field the 3-5-2 formation allowed for plenty of room in the midfield.

The wind blowing mostly across the field was a major factor in the game. Much of the play in the 1st half was down the left hand side and saw Jenny making the most of her speed to go around the defence. The mid-field combination of Gig and Brianna meant there was always someone available to backup and turn defence into attack.

On 21 minutes Louise got into a good position inside the penalty area and placed her shot just wide of their keeper who could only palm it into the net. That settled things down a little but at the other end, we came under pressure from a number of break-aways which for the most part were comfortably dealt with by Rosa and Sarah C. Stop Out continued to push for another goal and had Tawa boxed in for the remainder of the half with both Tesh and Georgia making things difficult for their defenders. It was obvious that two or three of the Tawa players had played higher grade football before and were solid at the back, so we went into half time 1-nil up.

Late in the 2nd half, we put the result beyond doubt after Sarah Y beat the defence to then square the ball across the goal box. Louise made no mistake in firing it into the back of the net and there was no way back for Tawa. We continued pushing players forward and SarahC linked up nicely with Brooke who was able to feed Louise, Georgia and Sarah Y who all got themselves into good scoring positions but couldn't quite slot the ball away.

It finished 2-nil but it probably could have been 4. Another good shakedown for the squad and another three points in the bag. Next week we face one of the Wainui teams, again of uncertain strength, at home.

4 April

Petone 0, Stop Out 3 :Jenny Hibbert, Rosa Bach, Brooke Mildenhall

A cold southerly change and a brief rain shower greeted the team at Sladden park for the first game of the season. Easter weekend meant people away and the team started with the bare 11. The game started out evenly with both sides getting a feel of the ball and testing out each others defences.

Midway through the 1st half after a number of forays down the touchline, Jenny broke free on the left before working her way into the penalty area and directing the ball past the Petone keeper into the net. 1-nil.

It stayed that way until half time with both teams having chances but neither able to gain much advantage. The second half started with the wind favoring Stop Out who made the most of it to keep the ball in the opposition half.

After a period of intense pressure Stop Out were rewarded with another goal when a ball from the left was delivered across the penalty box and Rosa, having pushed forward out of defence, drove her first time shot into the goal.

The third goal was a complete piece of football involving defence, midfield and attack. It started when Nadine dispossessed a Petone striker outside the penalty box. She then sent the ball up to Kendall on half-way who then found Brooke waiting on the right to knock it home.

Other highlights were Louise making a couple of good runs forward. First beating the defence to setup a one-on-one with the keeper, which went wide and another, turning the defender, who up-ended her resulting in a penalty which we were unfortunately unable to convert.

The last few minutes saw Stop Out dominate territory and possession but weren't able to find another hole in the Petone defence and it finished 3-nil to Stop Out. Overall a good first run and great result with players getting familiar with each other and working on new combinations.

Jeremy Bowen Coach