Game 6 - Jaguars vs Lower Hutt Scorpions

Result - Loss - 1 - 0

Player of the day - Sam - for a awesome skills with positive passing and tackling.

Strengths - Some great movement out wide to get the ball up field & pressure on their goal.

Areas to develop - Positional play (again).

After today's game I got onto the whiteboard and have developed a better plan for subs and positions so players are more familiar with their positions each week.

My wife also thought I should read this clip from today's paper. As a coach I will take the article on board as I do find myself becoming a little too vocal from time to time.

There were a number of times where players seemed to forget what position they were in and the important links (particularly through midfield) to get the ball into an attacking position were simply missing. This meant there were players bunching together & when we got the ball would sometimes kick away possession.

We didn't have very many scoring opportunities, and the ones we did have weren't capitalised on. We didn't follow though on our attacks, which Lower Hutt did and were lucky to win the game by a goal scored in the 10th minute, but I guess they put themselves in the position so they could score.

Having said that there were many positives to take out of the game.

Player of the day, Sam, played positively and made some superb passes.

The AJ twins were busy attacking & defending (I'm sure there were 2 of them on the field again).

Andy made some decisive runs, carving up the opposition. They were obviously concerned and dealt to him with some physical defence which saw him carried off the pitch.

Liam was solid in defence and has a strong ability to read the game, getting the ball into attacking situations.

Amanda made some tackles and passed well to team mates. I was impressed when she fell back into the defensive line when defenders took the ball up.

Cody seemed to be frustrated in goal, because he made a huge contribution to the second half with skillful moves up the right hand side.

JD played up the front and looked like getting in a position to score a few times.

Bosco was captain for the day and proved solid in defence. His big kicks turned around the opposition more than a few times.

I was surprised Vinnie didn't score as he got past defenders time & time again.

Aaron looked dangerous on the left wing every time he got the ball and was unlucky not to score some goals.

Josh kept the opposition scoreless in the second half and was called on to make a number of saves which he handled easily.

Vincent was another player who seemed to be everywhere, from attacking to defending. He made some great probing runs and looking to attack from everywhere on the field.

Practice this week will focus on positional play and getting those shots into the goal!

Game 5 - Jaguars vs Petone Settlers

Result - Loss - 5 - 0

Player of the day - Bosco- for clear communication.

Strengths - More positive 2nd half.

Areas to develop - Positional team play. Capitalise on goal shooting opportunities.

I was feeling disheartened after today's loss because I didn't think the scoreline reflected how the game evolved, however we didn't capitalise on our chances to score.

Players that went close to scoring were: Vinnie, AJ, Bosco & (Captain) Aaron.

I asked the team to score two goals early and our first shot on their goal was after 1 minute. In the 2nd minute Caleb (The Rock) was staunch in defence, diffused the attack and was key in getting the ball up to Vinnie who forced a corner in the 3rd minute.

Aaron and AJ combined well in the 5th minute and put pressure on their goal.

I was impressed with Aaron's attacking runs and he looked threatening whenever he had the ball.

AJ made the most of his mid-field role with great defence and storming attacks, I thought there must have been 2 of him on the field!

Cody made some great saves and we were lucky the scoreline was only 3 - nil at half time.

A positional change at half time saw us only fielding 3 in defence, but the strength of our back 3 meant Petone only scored twice in the second half. Cody, Liam and Caleb were solid making tackles and clearing the ball to the mid-field.

In the mid-field, Vincent connected well with the ball and I was impressed with his passing. I've been pleased with his continuous improvement, getting better every game.

Amanda was aware of her position and was able to provide useful linkages.

Andy also made some good tackles in defence and positive passing.

Josh took a few knocks, but brushed them off to save a number of goals in the second half.

Sam had his best game yet, making more tackles and looking for subtle passes to his team mates.

Vinnie is capable whichever position he is in. I was most impressed with his ability to win the ball with skillful tackling.

Bosco will be captain next week and after this week's excellent communication on the pitch should thrive in this role.

Focus for practice will include: fitness, physical play, capitalising shots at goal, clearing from our goal area.

I'm sure we can learn from the result and the players can support and help each other develop into a game-winning team.

Practice reflection

I would rate today's practice 8/10.

The highlight for me was a chase the ball game, where the players ran from cone to cone, passing the ball to each other.

The cones were arranged randomly and the players had to communicate with players around them while being aware of who they were passing to and receiving the ball from. We managed to get 5 balls at once!

Game 4 - Jaguars vs Stokes Valley Stingers

Result - Loss - 3 - 1

Player of the day - Aaron- for positive positional play.

Strengths - Strong defence.

Areas to develop - Positional play. Coach not to get frustrated!

A very early morning start caught us one player short at kick off and Stokes Valley capitalised with 2 goals scored in the first 5 minutes. They didn't score again until the final whistle.

Although we had chances to score we only put it through the goal once, after solid defence and some good passes, Bosco was able to direct it in.

I was disappointed with the loss because our team is better than the final score would indicate.

The highlights for me were:

- Aaron staying on his wing.

- Bosco's goal after great team play.

- AJ playing a solid all round game.

- Vincent's attacking prowess from the back.

- Caleb "The Rock" in defence.

- Vinnie attacking the wing.

- Cody turning defence into attack.

- Andy making some great tackles.

- JD looking for scoring opportunities at the front.

- Amanda looking for opportunities on the wing.

- Josh's magnificent goalkeeping.

- Liam centering the midfield.

I asked the players to focus on fitness, ball skills and positional awareness during the week. Darryn also reminded them to practice throw in's without lifting their feet.

Things I learnt was to get the players warmed up better, with their minds on the job from the first whistle. I will come up with some ideas to assist them at practice.

Team Jaguar

It was team photo night.

Hopefully the official photo looks more professional!

Game 3 - Jaguars vs Upper Hutt Cougars

Result - Win - 4 - 1!

Player of the day - Cody - for fantastic goalkeeping & positive forward play.

Strengths - Realise that teamwork wins games.

Areas to develop - Taking shots quickly & passing.

The game
It was a sunny autumn day as we prepared to take the field. Vinnie was captain for the day and won the toss, electing to kick-off and we played with the slight in the first half.

It looked like Vinnie was going to score the first goal from the halfway line with a huge punt up the field.

Our 4 goals came as a result of great team play.

The first was after Andy tackled a player and sent the ball upfield to Josh B who passed deftly to Bosco who sent it on to Joshua D who scored a great goal. It was worthwhile seeing the delight and joy on Joshua's face.

AJ scored twice. Once after a nice pass to Bosco, who passed it back, giving AJ room to score. AJ repaid the favour with a well-placed kick across the goal allowing Bosco to run on to it and put it in the goal.

The Cougars played well and had better positional play. They deserved to go away with a goal.

The highlights for me were:

- Vinnie's solid defence that saved a number of attacking plays.

- Caleb was reliable and didn't allow anyone to get past him.

- Vincent's ability to play a strong defensive/ midfield game that gives us extra striking power on attack but is fast enough to get back quickly on defence.

- Sam is improving with every game, making more tackles and looking for passes.

- Aaron moved to left midfield, then defence. His strong positional play creates space that allows us to exploit the gaps.

- Josh worked hard in the mid-field and I was proud when he offered to goalie the second half.

- Another player who provided structure to our play was Liam who showed up in the right place at the right time with a strong ability to read the play. I liked it when Liam took a shot at goal with his first touch, which just went wide.

We still need to develop our positional play and kicking skills.

It was great to win the game and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun which is what it's all about. Now we have to polish our boots for the photos on Monday!

Practice preparation

Thanks to Darryn for running this weeks practice.

Hi Darryn

Hope the marathon went well.

Positives from game - we can score & we can defend

Learnings from the game - we need to focus on positional play & make good passes. Team should be thinking about their role & make sure they're in a space to receive the ball.

At practice:
Let each player know their probable positions:
Utility (anywhere): Andy, Vinnie, Amanda, Vincent, Liam, Josh & Joshua
Forwards: Bosco
Mid field: Aaron, Sam, AJ,
Defence: Caleb, Cody,
Goalie: Cody & Aaron

Please talk through each position.
Forwards - stay on side up the front in space to score goals or set up passes to score goals
Mid field - Stay aware & busy, ready to receive, tackle or pass - take ball up & score goals or drop back to fill holes in defence.
Defence - Slow down attacking player, make tackles, pass ball up field, clear ball out of goal area
Goalie - focus, communicate

- Warm up
- Dribble round cones
- Hold up game - in 3s 1 player passes, 2nd player receives & holds off 3rd player for 10 seconds while 3rd player tries to get ball (but can't kick through legs).
- Passing practice in 3s (accurate).
- As above in 3s, but now with a defender.
- Game 6 vs 6 in grids - only 2 players in each part of the field - 1 attacker, 1 defender - can't go out of their area, so must pass & think about positions.

Any questions, let me know. Feel free to modify/ change.

Best wishes & thanks

Tony