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McGrath's Babes

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 21:52:29 -0500

Tomas Mosquera challenges Waitara defender Scotty Pringle in the Duff Rosebowl final.

McGrath's Babes

By Robin Martin

It was former Manchester United coach Sir Matt Busby who famously coined the phrase “if they are good enough, they’re old enough” while building the side which dominated English football during the mid-1950s.

It’s also an expression that Ian McGrath slips into conversation when explaining his decision to lobby for his Francis Douglas Memorial College side’s entry into the Taranaki men’s premier league this season.

“It’s an old adage and a lot of it comes down to the judgement of the coach involved,” he says of his trust in the abilities of his schoolboys.

Many of “Busby’s Babes” – eight of whom died tragically after the Munich air disaster of 1958 – were in their mid teens when thrown into first team football but still went on to win the league in 56 and 57 and were runners up in the 57 FA Cup.

A former professional with Aldershot in the UK, McGrath can’t quite boast that level of success here but Francis Douglas has certainly made strides under his tutelage.

The college’s first XI finished a creditable 11^th at the National Secondary Schools Tournament in Napier earlier last month, which McGrath describes as a fantastic result.

“When you look at the teams that were ranked below us or even around us, for Francis Douglas to break into that category was just an enormous achievement for a college of our size,” he says.

“On top of that (striker) Tomas Mosquera ended up golden boot of the tournament with eight goals.”

With the injection of its senior players – McGrath, Geoff Andrews and Dom Squatriti – Francis Douglas won the local Challenge Trophy and was runner up in both the premier league and Duff Rosebowl.

“Given the odds stacked up against us at the start of the year, and with an awful lot to prove to many, many people our football has done the talking in a sense,” says the PE teacher alluding to some clubs’ reluctance to admit the side into the senior ranks.

For McGrath entry into the premier league was a vital cog in his plan to raise the standard of football at the school.

“The purpose of being in the (premier) league was really to get the boys … to play for the college on a regular basis at a level of football with far more intensity which was ultimately going to benefit their development with a view to inter-school competition.”

Job done one could argue, but with seven senior boys leaving at the end of the year the rest of McGrath’s scheme comes into play.

In his two years at the school he has implemented “three layers of quality” at 13^th, 15^th and youth grade with a view to a succession.

All of the junior sides excelled this season and the youth grade side, under the guidance of Waitara striker John Fletcher, won its league which bodes well for next season but McGrath isn’t expecting an easy ride.

“The second year is always hard because everyone knows about you and its harder to be up there winning again and again than it is to be the surprise package.

“But that challenge is a positive one and although I really am going to miss the guys I’ve had for two years it is quite exciting to see what is coming through.”

Fifa World Cup German 2006

Thu, 2 Oct 2008 02:36:06 -0500

My first experience of blogging came during the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany.

At the time I was a sub-edtior at the New Zealand Herald newspaper and I had managed to wrangle a press pass with the help of sports editor Chris Allen — cheers, mate.

German cusine

And, of course, the beauty of the internet is that even now I can link you guys to my efforts back then.

It was an interesting challenge to cover the World Cup as a Lone Ranger correspondent, sleeping on couches and doing over-nighters on the trains as I scrambled off to next off the 14 odd matches I had tickets for.

I had taken unpaid leave and was armed simply with a laptop and a Vodafone wireless card — unfortunately it was a Deutche Telecom gig and often my Vodefone connection was blocked at many of the stadiums.

What I quickly realised was that there was little point in writing match reports as the specialist football writers had articles ready shortly after the games and the night staff at the NZ Herald website posted their stories as soon as they landed on the wires on the other side of the world.

Winners are grinners!

My solution was to write about my experiences as a fan, running with the pack from city to city.

Luckily there was no shortage of material from the famed German sausages and Flensburger Pils to the crazy supporters from the countries represented in Germany.

Unfortunately many of the photos I posted are no longer on up on the web but check out my efforts and let me know what you think.

Taranaki champions

Wed, 1 Oct 2008 02:24:19 -0500

Hey there, long time no post I know and I deserve to be ignored.

Nevertheless, I thought I'd share the success of my beloved Waitara FC which has just done the premier league and Duff Rosebowl double here in Taranaki, New Zealand.

Taranaki comes under the auspices of Central Football here and the prems and Duff are the two most prized trophies locally.

Here's a couple of pic the local paper took of the match and find below an article I put togther for the same paper the Taranaki Daily News.

I know that presents some minor ethical issues but, hell, I sat on the bench for about 80 minutes.

Fletcher guides Waitara to Duff victory

By Robin Martin

A classy hat-trick from John Fletcher guided Waitara to a comfortable 5-2 victory in football’s Duff Rosebowl final against Francis Douglas Memorial College at Merrilands Domain on Saturday.

The veteran marksman’s first strike on 36 minutes broke the deadlock after Waitara had failed to make the most of its early dominance.

Dead-ball specialist Malcolm Bourgoise found Fletcher unmarked in the box with a pinpoint freekick after the striker had checked his run; he placed his header back across the goal giving the stranded Francis Douglas keeper no chance.

The college side, which had started tentatively and was perhaps lucky not to have conceded earlier, sparked into life after going behind.

Tomas Mosquera got free on the right and his miss-hit shot was cleared scrappily at the back post as his strike partners stood poised to pounce.

Francis Douglas player-coach Ian McGrath also hit a series of threatening crosses after his side won a succession of freekicks, but Waitara weathered the storm and went to the break with its 1-0 advantage intact.

Already premier league champion, Waitara etched its name on the Rosebowl trophy after the interval with a double-strike which effectively ended the contest.

On 52 minutes Bourgoise, playing for the first time after a lengthy injury break, was again the provider and Fletcher the finisher. This time Bourgoise’s freekick found the striker at the back post and he rose amid a pack of bodies to score with his head.

Just three minutes later Josh Herlihy smashed home a half-volley after Francis Douglas again failed to clear a Bourgoise cross.

In what had already been an entertaining match it always looked likely there would be more goals and first Fletcher completed his hat-trick – yes, you guessed it, with another header – before the college side got in on the act.

Andrew Crowe got Francis Douglas on the scoresheet in the 66^th minute, much to the joy of its vocal supporters, when he shot under Waitara keeper Ocko Martens.

The college side rallied briefly before Jason Osborne scored from close range to make it 5-1 in Waitara’s favour and end any hopes of an improbable comeback.

To its credit the Francis Douglas side never let up and its midfield enforcer Dom Squatriti was able to notch another late consolation goal.

Saved again

Wed, 7 May 2008 04:38:51 -0500

Well, you wouldn't credit it or perhaps you wouldn't if you weren't a long suffering Saints fan -- saved yet again on the last day of the season.

Only pity is that this time it was saved from the drop to League 1.

In Matt Le Tissier's hey day Southampton stayed up in the Premier League at the last gasp four times. It would seem old habits die hard.

Stern John was the hero this time around, scoring twice in a 3-2 win over Sheffield Utd at St Mary's.

Anyone remember who he is?

I think he's the dude from the Jamaican team, is that right?

Excuse me but it is hard to keep up with these things from way down here in Aotearoa.

Still here's hoping the Saints can turn things around and at least become competitive in the Championship.

It's such a bloody hard league to get out of once you've tumbled down from the Premiership.

More sides seem to just keep falling rather than bouncing back in the other direction.

I hear that old Rupert Lowe is heading back to the boardroom. Don't know if that is such a good thing but the way things are something has to happen.

St Mary's deserves better. It'll become a real white elephant if things don't improve.

And seeing Pompey in the top flight with old Harry, well, that just sort of hurts if you know what I mean.

Cheers out