21st August 2005 - ANU Pirates (2) v Brindabella (0)

With a full complement of Pirates, we took to the high green grass at Kaleen to add another victory to our belt. Ever confident, and with only our mouths warmed up (well, it's too late in the season to break with pirate tradition) we thought we had better practice some corners.

Crossing Clare put in two beautiful balls before the cheersquad on the sideline had woken up - with one to be tapped across the line by Jess, and the other headed ever so gently by Esther. All this within the first 10 minutes of the game! We are good.

All season Wendy has been champing at the bit to have a run on the field. The team was reluctant at half time, being ONLY 2-0 up - better wait till we get one more goal.

Jules had other thoughts.
Something along the lines of 'wait till you are coach, then you can make the decision. Ha!, Wendy is playing striker!! Ha ha!'

So we made her run and run and run, and she may never want to run again. Many close chances at our end in the second half, but one doesn't want to rub in victory too much, and we're saving some goals for next week. Superb defence from our solid team meant the ball hardly made it near Jess who ably took on the role of keeper.

Well done girls on another rock-solid Pirate performance. Has anyone warned Lanyon?

Anna Reid

14th August 2005 - ANU Pirates (1) v O'Connor Knights (0)

Another sunny Sunday morning saw the ANU Pirates and friends* win the toss (that's two weeks in a row - go team!). With the sun on our backs we ran like champions, passed like pros and played like a true team. In the last minutes of the game a scoreless draw seemed imminent but Donna was having none of it. Donna "not on my watch" Cathro calmly crossed the ball in a manner that can only be described as pure perfection. There was little time for awe however as I found myself in space , struck the ball first time and rejoiced as it slammed into the back of the net. Upon scoring we raced back to our half and proceeded to defend like a bunch of crazies. We weren't to worry however with Wendy in goals and our solid defence led by Amber the opposition had no chance. In any case they were too busy bitching to have a real shot. The final whistle blew and everyone's hearts resumed beating. WE WON!! 1-nil! And as I said the last time we met O'Connor - the moral highground is good, but winning is better! We had both this time around after a fabulous effort by all. A well deserved win - YAY Pirates!!

And I scored.

Steph Marimuthu

*Big fat thank yous to Kelly, Linda, Ness, Leanne, and Bron who all played like champions - inspirational!

7th August 2005 - ANU Pirates (1) v ADFA (0)

... Ok, so just to set the scene.....insert match report titled....Some random Thursday night - ANU Pirates (1) v Filthy ADFA cheats (2) (Game to be replayed) here.

So after an agonising three week wait to show those ADFA cheats how to play, we were lucky enough to be given the 1 o'clock time slot on this fine sunday. The mighty Pirates looked somewhat fresher than usual, (well, there's always an exception, big night hey Cat!), and although ten minutes before kickoff we were still about 9 players, a coach and a strip short it all came together nicely just in time!

From the first ball the Pirates were dominating the game! Passing was superb, and a strong attack brought about many chances for the ANU side. A defence equally as strong shut down all of ADFA's couter attacks which managed to frustrate the opposition (nice work guys!). Unlucky not to go into the half time break with a few goals up their sleeve, the Pirates looked to their mighty coach for words of wisdom. Moves were made for more attack, and the second half brought even more chances for us. Jess managed to come out on top from every tackle, and combined with solid passing from all up front, the game was all ours (we just needed to get that damn ball in the goal!!)

After all the build up, Clare managed to take a superb shot and slot it into the top left corner... (Or so im told, once again i was distracted and missed the crucial moment!!) But we were up! I have never seen Anna so excited!! Solid defence for the rest of the game meant that ADFA were never going to get anywhere near equalising and so we did it!! We beat them!!

Nice work guys! Keep it up for the rest of the season and we will be unbeatable!!!

Lucy McGarva

31st July 2005 - ANU Pirates (2) v Belsouth (0)

It was a nice sunny day in Calwell where we were to meet a team we should have beaten eariler in the season. Everyone was pumped for a huge game surprsingly very few were hungover except of course for Clare....who is always hungover or drunk!

The first half was kind of boring with the only interesting thing being Kath Vanzetti, who fell over lots and somehow whilst falling over managed to give a free kick away for a handball. Ten points for the somersault though!!

The second half was much more interesting with Clare and Anna continuing their great partnership up front with some super passing. Lucy also had a blinder and was the rock in the midfield, not only was she making some great passes she was also stopping the counter attack by Belsouth.

She was also the person who won the penalty, she says she fell over, but we will all never know....

The penalty was calmly slotted by yours truly and gave us the lead that we so deserved.

There were a few cracking shots which unfortunately hit the bar, one by Clare and another by Bronwyn, who played awesome considering she didn't know many people on the team.

The game was finally put out of reach of Belsouth by a wonderful goal by Jess who jinked past a few defenders, lined up her shot and calmly put it away.

Special mention to Esther who had a great game down the wing and also the defence who did a solid job, i don't think Belsouth even had a shot on goal thanks to you guys!!

Thanks also to our ring ins Vanessa and Bronwyn and nice job eveyone and here's hoping we make the finals! If only to see another great Kath somersault!

Here endeth the match report.

Beers before training tonight...5:15 uni bar!!

Cecilia Tran

Some random Thursday night - ANU Pirates (1) v Filthy ADFA cheats (2) (Game to be replayed)

It was a cold and frosty night as the fearless Pirates set sail to RMC to face the ever oppressive ADFA. Just because they defend our country, apparently it's reasonable for ADFA to defer matches and make us come to their rubbish fields.

Not ones to be daunted, the hearty pirates passed the ball like professionals and Anna slotted in a goal very early in the first half.

Tragically, ADFA retaliated almost immediately. This was not because they're skilled, but because the Pirates are a friendly breed and like to give the opposition a glimmer of hope. The game started to get interesting after that as both teams increased their intensity.

ADFA didn't follow the script they'd been given (i'll bet they think wrestling's real too) and scored a cracker of a goal just before half time.

The Pirates came fighting back hooks, eye patches and all in the second half and spent the first 10 minutes shooting. Steph kicked a blinder of a shot and...and...

(and the lights went off. They decided to call off the game with half an hour left to play...filthy cheats!)

Captain Diddly (AKA Clare Louise)

19th June 2005 - ANU Pirates (0) v Lanyon (1)

5th June 2005 - ANU Pirates (3) v Brindabella (0)

29th May 2005 - ANU Pirates (2) v O'Connor Knights (2)

A sunny morning (just for a change) saw the Pirates keen to bounce back from the previous week’s 2nd half slump. From over the horizon the Knight’s did appear – their cursing and swaggering striking all down with fear. Blades of grass were seen to quiver. Seems they were spoiling for a fight.

The game began with O’Connor driving the ball in long and quickly from the kick-off, setting the tone for the 1st half. Their attack was stoutly defended but still they kept rudely kicking the ball straight back into our half. Running themselves into the ground, the brave Pirates kept a clean sheet until an unlucky own goal. With few forays towards the Knights goals it took a swashbuckling strike from Emma to draw level. By this stage, cracks were beginning to show in the Knight’s make-up.

Words of wisdom from our illustrious coach, :-), fired us up after the half time break and we spent more time attacking the goals. Turns out that this didn’t suit the opposition and they developed a nasty habit of lying down in front of the ball … all in the guise of a tackle. Two quick goals saw us in deep trouble. But with both the moral high ground and the soccer gods on our side, the second was called off-side resulting in much squawking from the sidelines. Back into attack and a handball resulted in a penalty. Enter the Knight’ chorus

O’bullshit, O’bullshit, what’s with the call ref
Why isn’t he listening, he must be f@#%in deaf

Despite all the song and dance, the penalty was calmly converted by CC, the game ended in a hard fought draw and we all happily went home cursing like Pirates (or is that Knights). The good work by all bodes well for the rest of the season … starting with, I predict, a 3-0 win over Brindabella.

Wendy Merritt

22nd May 2005 - ANU Pirates (2) v Belsouth (3)

After a slow start, Sunday morning saw the Pirates’ passes flowing and we were up at Belsouth’s box knocking. Unfortunately, the frigid goalie would not let any of our advances in. This, in combination with overly polite Pirates who insisted on passing instead of shooting saw many missed chances. I was guilty as anyone so upon finding myself in space again I thought I’d better have a crack this time before someone said something.

So I instructed my brain to tell my foot to hit the ball. Some seconds later my foot appeared to comply and by some miracle made contact. After congratulating my foot I joined everyone else in craning my neck to see what was doing. The ball went up. It stopped momentarily. It came down. The goalie was in prime position to crush my dream. But the sun. She was momentarily blinded by that flaming star and (as Cass generously suggested) the brilliance of my shot. Time stopped, the planets aligned, I think I may have stopped breathing, and the realisation suddenly hit me – “holy hell, it might actually go in”. The ball fell to the ground but the net didn’t move. Everyone went nuts. I was confused. What the hell just happened? Had Esther the Enforcer tapped it in for me? But I was assured she hadn’t and the universe had decided I had suffered long enough. I HAD ACTUALLY SCORED!!! The score was one-nil and thanks to some awesome defending including Kymmy’s inspirational body roll and kick to clear the ball, it remained that way until half time.

The second half saw more acrobatics as Cecilia strove for gold in the diving. She missed out on the medals unfortunately, but was awarded yellow for an ankle tap on some girl. However, this was not before she won herself a penalty. She hit the ball effortlessly and it sailed poetically over everyone’s heads (including the goalie’s thankfully) and the score was 2-nil. However in soccer, just as in Star Wars, life is not without its unexpected twists. Belsouth crossed over to the dark side and whipped us with three quick goals. It was "The North Side Strikes Back" and the Pirate alliance was in tatters. Lost us the game, our complacency had, as Yoda might say. Despite the best efforts of our defence including the valiant Fariba and Nicky who ran their guts out, the final whistle blew and it was 3-2 for Belsouth.

But I scored.

Steph Marimuthu

15th May 2005 - ANU Pirates v (Bye)

8th May 2005 - ANU Pirates (1) v Weston (0)

A Masterclass in Football Management.

Question: How do you defeat the best attacking team in the league?
Answer: Make them defend.

With that in mind I set out the team in an attacking 3-4-3 formation that finished the last game so strongly despite defeat. It turns out that Weston also used the same formation, so the first half was a very tight affair, however ANU after a slow start, began to dominate Weston limiting them to a single shot off target. However we also lacked a cutting edge in the final third and the first signs that a single goal would decide the outcome becme apparant.

At half time the entire team lined up behind a single tree to get some shade cause they were too lazy to walk to the nicely forrested area all the way at the end of the field. I informed them that Weston had won last week 10-0 and they resumed the game this time knowing, not hoping, that they were the better team.

It showed, and while they are mostly alll lazy and/or alchoholics off the field, they worked hard on the field for one another, something the Weston players lacked. Our domination continued, Weston failed to regroup and the ANU intensity started to yield shots and chances. After several dangerous breaks it looked as if Jess had broken the deadlock when her dribble and run ended with a powerful shot that agonizingly ricocheted off the underside of the crossbar only for the resulting goalmouth scramble to end in nothing. But within 5 minutes Anna found the ball just inside the area after some slick passing and arched her shot clean over the keeper to nestle in the goal. I went nuts. The rest of the team needs to work on their celebrations. Jose Mourinho style I switched to a 5-4-1 and the girls defended solidly to grind out a thoroughly entertaining and deserved 1-0 victory!

A wonderful team victory and it is a work ethic of this standard that will see us finish Premiers and Champions if we train hard, play as a team and do so every week!

Julian Stockwell

1st May 2005 - ADFA (3) v ANU Pirates (1)

Sunday morning. 9:30am. Mild frost. Slight westerly wind. 5.6 degrees celsius. That’s what the Pirates were up against for the first match of the 2005 season. Oh, and did I mention the ADFA team. The pirates made a cracking start to the game, with solid attacking plays, and even more solid defence. It wasn’t until a lucky break from one ADFA attacker, that saw the pirates step onto the plank they were about to walk. With the pressure from the ADFA team increasing up front, our mighty pirates kept up their form, and the game was looking evenly matched. An unlucky rebound off the goal post saw ADFA slot in their second goal, and start their victory laps. Soon after, an unexpected lob from well out, made it into the back of the net, and the game seemed set from there. The pirates however would not give up. The pressure increased up front, and the passing was something of which Beckham would be proud. The pirates were on the come back with a beautiful goal from the one and only Anna Reid. Nat ‘Natty’ Harding, was unlucky not to score soon after, after being brought down inside the box and rewarded with an indirect free kick. The shot came within inches of putting the Pirates only one goal behind. However, the game ended all too quickly, with the final whistle giving the ADFA team the match. Was a great game played by everyone though, and heads up for next time guys!!

Lucy McGarva

Team