 Photographs from today are in the Werder Weekly slide show |
Date
July 25, 2008
Participants
Adam Carlson, Dominic Hutchinson, Simon Hutchinson, Kevin Nieman, Wayne Smith, Steve Tucker
Report
Last weekend Wayne Smith and Steve Tucker had played in the ASA Nationals and they regaled the others with their exploits and were eager to try and tactics they had seen at the tournament. The group was joined by Andrew Carlson, Adam’s younger brother, who had come to see what this game was his brother talked about.
The first two games of the night ended as goalless draws.
It was hard to extract information from Adam Carlson and Dominic Hutchinson about their game. There were no shots, no saves, and Adam reported after the game that it was “A pretty boring game, neither of us played well.”
In the first half of the other game Simon Hutchinson struck the near post of Kevin Nieman’s goal three times, and forced him to make a save with his goalkeeper. At the other end Simon had to make a quick save with a flick of his wrist to deny a long shot from Nieman. The second half was not as exciting as the game became a midfield battle. Kevin kept losing possession in Simon’s half, and Simon struggled to find a way through his opponent’s defense into a position to get into a decent shot on goal. At the end of the game neither player could recall making a save with their goalkeeper or making a shot that was on target in the second half.
For the first three minutes of their game Wayne Smith kept possession and attacked Steve Tucker’s defensive line, but was unable to break through it. In the third minute Tucker broke from defense, pushing the ball up to the half line, then pushing it into Smith’s shooting zone with a rolling flick, and shot the rolling ball towards Wayne’s goal. The ball struck Smith’s moving goalkeeper and it pushed the ball into the side of goal. Two minutes later Wayne equalized with a chip shot from the left side that went into the goal at the near post. Midway through the second half Steve flicked a figure from his defensive line up to strike the ball on Wayne’s shooting line, but the figure struck one of Smith’s defenders leaving a four inch gap in the center of Tucker’s defense. Wayne declined the back, using the defender who was struck to push the ball into midfield. He used the same figure to knock the ball over Steve’s shooting line. He shot for goal with the third and final flick with the same figure. Tucker’s defensive flick struck the moving figure that continued on and knock the ball into the lower left of the goal. After the game both players commented on how even the amount of possession had been.
When asked to describe his game against Adam Carlson, Steve Tucker replied “There was a first goal”, it was the only goal scored in the first half. Tucker admitted it was not his best shot and added that Adam had saved better shots earlier. The shot from the right rolled under the goalkeeper and into the goal. The other two goals were scored in the second half. The first was a chip shot from the left that went into the goal at the far post. The other was from a ramp shot off a defender that dropped into the goal behind the goalkeeper.
Kevin Nieman felt under siege in the first half of this game with Wayne Smith. In the opening few minutes Nieman made a save with his goalkeeper that the impressed Smith called “incredible”. Smith had put a figure into a position to get a good shot on Nieman’s goal. Kevin’s defensive flick put a figure “just millimeters” in front of the ball. Wayne calculated where he would have to strike the ball to get it on target. He hit the shot perfectly and the ball popped up in the air, ready to drop behind his opponent’s goalkeeper. At the last moment Kevin pulled back his goalkeeper and its hands tipped the ball over the cross bar. Smith’s first goal came shortly after, in the fourth minute, with a low shot from a steep angle on the left in at the far post of the goal. From then on Kevin descried the game as “All Wayne’s offense”. The second goal came when Smith broke from defense, with two flicks he was into Nieman’s shooting zone and shot before Kevin could keep up with the play. After the game Kevin was proud that his goalkeeping had kept the second half scoreless, and he added that having to play with so much defense meant he had no offense.
Steve Tucker scored three first half goals against Kevin Nieman. After the game Nieman reported that his defense was “not good”, and on too many occasions he had flicked his defense out of the way of Tucker’s offense. “Steve’s flicks were dead on,” he continued and added that Tucker had had most of the possession. Despite this Nieman did have four or five shots on goal during the game. Neither player could remember how the goals were scored. One they said was a “dribbler” that had snuck into the goal. The two goals in the second half had been taken near the “D” at the top of Nieman’s penalty area.
In the first three minutes of the first half Wayne Smith won three corners as Simon Hutchinson defended in numbers. This was to be the pattern of the first half, Smith on the attack and Simon defending numbers. Wayne scored a goal from his only unobstructed shot at goal, from a steep angle on the right. The rest of the time when Smith would get into a shootable position Simon would flick a defending figure in front of the ball. The second half started as the first half had been played, but as the half proceeded Simon had more possession and forced Smith to play with a massed defense. Wayne’s second goal came midway through the second half. The ball was resting in front of the left post in Simon’s penalty area. Smith flicked a figure from his side of the half way line that struck the ball, chipping it into the left corner of the goal. “Most impressive,” was Smith’s description of the shot. Simon did get the ball to the edge of Wayne’s shooting area & into his zone, winning corners several times, but was unable to get a decent shot on goal. After the game Smith pointed out to his opponent “Did you notice that when you had the ball I had everyone in defense?”
Andrew Carlson watched his brother’s game with Dominic Hutchinson and Wayne Smith play Steve Tucker before playing Dominic and Adam in “demonstration” games. He said he enjoyed himself and we hope to see him at a Junior Summer League night in the near future.
Results
| Adam Carlson | 0 | v | 0 | Dominic Hutchinson |
| Simon Hutchinson | 0 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Wayne Smith | 2 | v | 1 | Steve Tucker |
| Steve Tucker | 3 | v | 0 | Adam Carlson |
| Wayne Smith | 2 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Steve Tucker | 4 | v | 0 | Kevin Nieman |
| Wayne Smith | 2 | v | 0 | Simon Hutchinson |