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Miramar / August 2013

October 2013 | June 2013
    • Miramar v BNU 1sts - 25th August 2013
      • 2pm, David Farrington Park We headed to David Farrington Park to play Miramar in the final game of the season.  Following Saturday's results, we believed a solitary point would be enough to keep us clear of the relegation places.   The game kicked off with the intensity of a cup final.  The Brooklyn crowd were vocal in their support, the large travelling contingent of fans certainly made the lads feel 10 feet tall.  The game was being played at a cracking pace: a strong Miramar side featuring former All White Campbell Banks and current Solomon Islands International Henry Fa'arodo, was being matched by the heroes in red and black.   The first 30 minutes was fairly even.  Both sides were spraying the ball around with confidence and great speed,  the Miramar coach admitting the game was being played at Capital Premier standard.   The deadlock was broken when Miramar smashed a volley from the top of the box after 32 minute s, a quality strike that left Zen no chance.  Miramar doubled their lead 10 minutes later from a free kick, the Miramar player's run not being picked up, leaving him unmarked at the far post for an easy finish.  2-nil down and all to play for.   BNU were awarded a penalty right on half time for a handball in the box.  Paul Sanchez, who has been great from the penalty spot, strode forward with purpose, only to watch his shot go wide of the left hand upright.  The score remained 2-nil to Miramar at half time.   There was calm in the changing room, as we were creating a number of chances and our covering defence had prevented Miramar from testing Zen with shots on goal.  We believed if we kept to our standards we could get back into the game.  The next goal would be the most important of the match.   The 2nd half started at the same pace as the first.  We continued to press high up the pitch to prevent Miramar from getting into any kind of rhythm.  Their increased ball speed certainly tested us and the class and experience of their players was stretching us right across the pitch.  However, we were not giving up without a fight and were rewarded for our efforts when Paul Clune smashed home after 58 minutes to bring the score back to 2-1.  This also bought the crowd back into the game, they had been fantastic throughout.   Ben Goodwin, who had been introduced at half time, went close on two occasions shortly after, with almost identical shots from the edge of the area.  His pace and direct style were causing problems for the Miramar back four.  We were dealt a blow on 70 minutes when Campbell Banks finally got the better of Damian Gurnick, turning on the edge of the area, to beat Zen in the left hand bottom corner.  3-1 down, with 20 minutes to play.  It was time to gamble and throw numbers forward.  We had nothing to lose and everything to gain.   2 minutes later Banks was at it again, losing his marker and slotting his 2nd to make it 4-1 with 15 minutes to play.  You would forgive BNU if heads dropped, but not with this team, the lads weren't prepared to throw in the towel, and in true BNU fashion they fought for every possession and continued to push forward.   Tom Bisley and Ben Purser were introduced, giving us 4 strikers on the pitch for the final 15 minutes of the season.  Tom Bisley went close, not once but twice, but unfortunately shot wide on both occasions.   As we pressed forward, there were inevitably gaps left at the back and Banks completed his hat-trick with 3 minutes to play.  Just to rub salt into the wound, Miramar scored a 6th with the last kick of the game. 6-1 the final score which in no way reflects how close the game was.   As the lads left the pitch, and rightly applauded the large BNU crowd, our attention now turned to the Island Bay vs Seatoun match being played at Wakefield Park.  A Seatoun win would see us clear of the bottom 2.  We received update after update from our Chairman Martin Gray, who was finally able to phone through the result we had all been waiting for, 2-1 victory to Seatoun.   Back in the Miramar clubrooms, there was a mix of cheer and relief as we believed we could now reflect on a season of highs and lows.   Strong performances, in this our last game, from Captain Andy Cochrane, who was all industry and quality in the middle of the park, Damian Gurnick, who put his body on the line time and time again, and Man of the Match Simon Barker, who won everything in the air and reminded everyone of his undoubted talent.   A special thanks to the crowd who really helped the lads dig deep right to the end.  You guys were fantastic!   I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Martin Gray, Adam Brownie and the Committee for all of their support over the last 2 seasons.  Special thanks needs to go to our physio Dan Sainsbury and my team manager Annie Bannister for all of their hard work and high standards set and maintained throughout the season.   Finally, I would like to publicly thank the playing group for their contribution to the 2013 season.  It has been a pleasure working with you all this year.  You have represented this club in the best possible way, on and off the pitch.  You all bought into the plan and genuinely wanted to play football the way it's meant to be played.  Andy Cochrane and Simon Barker led the team each week with class and integrity.  Without them, the task would have been so much harder.  Thank you both.   I look forward to seeing you all this weekend at the Prize Giving.  Hopefully we can sit down over a beer and celebrate what has been an eventful season. Dene Bannister
      • Accepted from BNU match reports
      • Tagged as:
      • seatoun
      • brooklyn
      • miramar
      • island-bay

        • Island Bay, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand/Aotearoa (OpenStreetMap)


    • WOAP: Bitchinheat
      • When the amazing people behind Wellington on a Plate offer you tickets at the last minute to the very popular and sold out collaboration between La Boca Loca and Parrot Dog  Brewery, you might be surprised at how hard it is to find someone to go along with you, because apparently there is a plague in town, but then you might remember that your poor public servant father is having a shit of a time lately and deserves a special treat, so all is well. Wellington’s ParrotDog Brewery plays host to a delicious evening in partnership with Miramar’s La Boca Loca Restaurant. They are serving up several hot and fresh Mexican dishes, prepared on-site at the brewery amongst the shiny stainless steel tanks. Each dish will be matched with its own flavoursome craft beer. There will even be some Mexican music courtesy of DJ Chefito and local beer with locally made Mexican cuisine: Vamos! This would have been a gorgeous event to be at in summer, with little stalls set up for each food & beer pairing, and keg tables set up to rest your glasses on. The bunting and the lighting was lovely (though not suitable for taking photos with your phone), but with concrete floors and big stainless steel tanks, even with the number of people around, we were all wearing our coats. Me being me, when Will took the microphone and told us there were five things to taste and we could have two each (at least), I wondered if that would be enough to eat, but I had forgotten the filling power of beer! So, on entry we were each given a taster of a specially brewed beer made with a Mexican herb that is as yet unnamed (the beer, that is, the herb has a name which I have very usefully forgotten EDIT: but now they’ve told me on Twitter, I can tell you it’s Epaozte), then each of the five dishes were matched with another beer. Steak & mushrooms served on thick polenta-ish pancakes was served with a Bitter Bitch IPA, wild boar was shredded and matched to a Dead Canary Pale Ale, dessert which was like a deep-fried crunchy whoopie pie came with a Dogg dark Ale, and the Bloodhound red IPA came with a slightly odd but still delicious Kina soup, done in a chili sauce with a special kind of corn. That one definitely left a spicy tingle. My favourite beer and food though was the butterfish ceviche topped with crunchy grasshopper salt (actually made from grasshoppers), served with the Flaxen Feather  blonde ale. The grasshoppers were really tasty. My dad got tipsy and requested Mexican songs from the guitar player/singer, who obliged, the brewers and the chefs floated around answering questions,  and all together it was a super pleasant evening. I’m pleased the ladies got to use the inside toilet while men were relegated to the portaloos outside in the wind. What surprised me though was that there was also a beer & food event at Garage Project tonight as part of Wellington on a Plate (where they were keeping all the beards normally associated with craft beer) which surely would have made it a bit of a Sophie’s Choice for hop heads – except that the Garage Project do was with Monsoon Poon, and you know how we feel about that. But while we’re on that subject, last week, we were at the Localist Jam at the City Gallery, and in between bacon donuts, we were astonished to hear Mike Egan from Monsoon Poon and also head of the hospitality association (EDIT) Restaurant Association say there is no Mexican restaurant scene in Wellington. That would probably come as a bit of a shock to La Boca Loca. And Viva Mexico. And Caliente. And Tequila Joe’s (even if that’s Tex-Mex). And Sweet Mother’s Kitchen.  And Hot Like a Mexican. Perhaps what he meant was he has yet to open an expensively designed venue to serve a  bastardised version of the cuisine at inflated prices to cater to the Churton Park crowd? But there’s already a Flying Burrito Brothers, so we’re mystified… The post WOAP: Bitchinheat appeared first on The Wellingtonista.
      • Accepted from Wellingtonista Blog Feed
      • Tagged as:
      • miramar

        • Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


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