Oz Hyundai NSL.

[nelsonone]

I took my nephew and niece to see the inaugral NSL match of Wellington Phoenix Football (soccer) Club yesterday...vs Melbourne Utd last year's NSL premiers

The match was attended by 15K people....about 10K more than I expected.....and the quality of the football was pretty good....well for Aus standards...it aint exactly like watching Liverpool vs Man U....but it was enetertaining and the skill levels surprised me....

was a 2 draw which took a great fightback from Wellington as they were 2-0 down with less than 20 mins to go.....the crowd really got behind them and the intensity realy lifted after they goaled.....and when they scored the second goal there was one almighty roar which lasted about a minute.....and there were a few close chances after that which had the crowd on their feet several times.....

was a geat game overall...and the kids want to go back in a fortnight.....so i might just make it a fortnightly treat when I am in town

[Mav]

Watched this on Foxtel Nels (l'm a Melb Victory Member this year, after going to about 6 games last year)

Was a good game, and in the end was happy to escape with a point.

Wellington's second half quite impressed me.....especially the Brazilian "Daniel"....even though he did miss that penalty.....so things are looking good for Wellington this year, based on their opening game, which was much needed after NZ Knights peformances.

A League is getting bigger and bigger it appears.....even though Hobbsy says it's a waste of time.

[nelsonone]

Yeah would be good if they could hold their own end up Mav.....and judging by yesterday looks like they might have a chance at finishing somewhere in the middle of the table....they looked a little lost in the first half unsurprisingly as it was their first match together in the competition and dropped their heads a bit after the penalty against them but to their credit kept fighting

Daniel was great at forward left midfield.....I actually thought his penalty went over the line after hiiting the crossbar and bouncing down and slightly back as was the other Brazilian in Central defence (who unfortunately gave away the penalty at the other end)....but there was no replays at the ground.....I think that this might be the FA policy on potentially controversial decisions???

It'll be interesting to see the match in a fortnight....... they play Newcastle Jets....could be a form tester

[Mav]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

I actually thought his penalty went over the line after hiiting the crossbar and bouncing down and slightly back as was the other Brazilian in Central defence (who unfortunately gave away the penalty at the other end)....but there was no replays at the ground

No....was deffo not over.

You have ya one eyed specks on Nels ? 55555555

We have replays on in the Melbourne games.........however we more advanced of course.

[greenwood]

Did not get to see the game on TV, but saw the goals on the news. The NZ team looked a lot better than the ones who have played for the last 2 years.
Could not believe the crowd figure at 15,000, compared to what they got with the other team.

In Perth we get all of the league games (even home games) live every week on Foxtel, so if you can get access to Foxtel in NZ you should be able to follow all of the away games as well.

I hope that Perth play a lot better than they have over the last couple of years, is such a shame to see how bad they have been after all the sucess they had in the old NSL.

Will be a very interesting year I think and do not think we will get the runaway leaders that we got last year, and a 6-0 final result.

Anyway goodluck for the rest of the season

[Mav]

Originally Posted by greenwood

Anyway goodluck for the rest of the season

Cheers....and welcome to the Board

[fun2have]

i enjoyed the first round of games, the wellington side good effort and well done to the fans there.
perth vs newcastle i thought was a terrible game, maybe the wind could be blamed.
newcastle vs phoenix i hope phoenix do well so the pull a similar crowd again.

[nelsonone]

we don't get every match here on TV....but there is a one hour highlights package show here in NZ which gives a pretty good run down of the games....the Qld match looked like it was pretty exciting too....was it Adelaide they played???

was in Sydney the past couple of days and caught a highlights replay of Phoenix vs Victory on Foxtel.....yep Mav it didn't go over the line....damn!!!........and you are right.... I didn't have the big bins on!!!!55555

[Mav]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

we don't get every match here on TV....but there is a one hour highlights package show here in NZ which gives a pretty good run down of the games....the Qld match looked like it was pretty exciting too....was it Adelaide they played???

was in Sydney the past couple of days and caught a highlights replay of Phoenix vs Victory on Foxtel.....yep Mav it didn't go over the line....damn!!!........and you are right.... I didn't have the big bins on!!!!55555

Sat Nov 24 Melbourne Victory Vrs Wellington.....Telstra Dome Melbourne....see you here Nels

[nelsonone]

Originally Posted by Mav

Sat Nov 24 Melbourne Victory Vrs Wellington.....Telstra Dome Melbourne....see you here Nels

Not altogether a bad idea mav......will give it some thought!!!

[greenwood]

nelsonone, got to see Wellington v Central Coast last night live on Foxtel, was a disaster 1st half for your team with them conceeding 3 goals and looking like Chelsea when Glen Johnson plays for them. All 3 goals came from the RH side of defence.
After the 3rd goal I thought that they would give up, but credit to them , they hit the bar twice in the 2nd half and had enough chances to have got the three goals back.
I think if they show the fight that they did in the latter part of the 1st half and all 2nd half, they will give a good account of themselves this year.
At least they were competitive, something that the last NZ team was not. Good luck for the rest of the season

[nelsonone]

cheers Greenwood.....yeah caught that match here as well...

looks like thay are gonna be a second half team...same same last week....

CCM's look good don't they...plenty of attack and full of good innovative players

I'm surprised at the level of football I am seeing in the Hyundai NSL....its getting better each year.....

another draw for your boys mav....thought they'd win that one

[greenwood]

Did not get to see much of the Perth game this week, but I suppose most people would accept a point away in Melbourne.
I was very impressed with the way that Wellington fought to the last minute, the coach has obviously instilled some good spirit in the side.
All Perth need to do is start sticking some goals away and things will be a bit better, the longer it takes them the worse the crowd will be getting on to them.
Anyway there is always next week.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by nelsonone

another draw for your boys mav....thought they'd win that one

Yes...a little disappointing again.....that's no wins from 2 games and pre season games (5)....but l get the feel that some form is not too far away.

Yhey had a good crowd in....31,500....l didn't get there due to prior engagement.

Next week is a tough assignment as well....away to Adelaide.

[nelsonone]

shoot great crowd.......some of the UK First Div teams would be lucky to pul that sometimes......I have promised the niece and nephew i'll take them next Sunday afternoon vs Newcastle Jets......should be a more even sided match

Phoenix have 3 home matches this month....that will make or break them

[Mav]

Watched some highlights last night.....saw some great skills from Juninho of Sydney FC....now the sad news released today is that he is out for a month with a shoulder injury.

[Mav]

Hey Nels....maybe we should (or you should) change the Thread Title to "Hyundai A League"....what you think squire ?

[nelsonone]

Originally Posted by Mav

Hey Nels....maybe we should (or you should) change the Thread Title to "Hyundai A League"....what you think squire ?

Yep....good idea!

could any of the mods who see this change this thread title to "Hyundai A League" for us aussies please

Many Thanks

nels.

[Mav]

Well Central Coast Mariners last night, win their third game from as many games.....now 7 points clear.

l will be staying in tonight watching the Adelaide Vrs Melbourne Victory game, a replay of last years Grand Final of course....should be a cracker.

[greenwood]

Mav will try and see as much as I can in the pub tonight, but the Aussie rules final between West Coast and Port Adelaide is on at the same time, so no chance of having it on the big screens.

We have Sydney here on Sunday, but both teams have players missing due to International and Olympic duties, so will interesting to see what sort of quality the game is.

It is a shame that the teams are not at full strength, because this is one of the big crowd fixtures of the season under normal circumstances.

Anyway is a good chance for Pperth to get one over on Sydney early on in the season

[nelsonone]

phoenix went down to Newcastle Jets 1-0 but played a pretty good match at home in front of 12K people........they missed so amny chances and to me look to have played all over the Jets but a deflection from a free kick well outside the box turned into the net past the WP goialkeeper late in the match....

WP just can't sem to convert....even missing shots with open golals

Oh well....was a good day out with the niece and nephew....they seemd to enjoy the pies and mercahandising.....55555

[Mav]

Missed the last 2 games due to being on a plane.

Adel Vrs Melb was good viewing erspecially the second half....we nearly fcuked them.

Any chance of Perth scoring ?

[greenwood]

Thats it Mav, knock the team with the best defensive record in the league. All we need to do now is put that little round thing between the posts

[Mav]

Originally Posted by greenwood

Thats it Mav, knock the team with the best defensive record in the league. All we need to do now is put that little round thing between the posts

Ahhh scored one

Victory now have the jitters infront of goal

l see your team had its second win Nels