Soccer

Hi again,

On Saturday the 1st of August my soccer team played a team from Huntly. The half time score was 1 – 1 and I was playing in my preferred position, striker. We hadn’t had a close game like this all season so my team was really excited. We took the lead early in the second half but it wasn’t long before they got another goal to level the scores. With about 15 minutes to go I got a chance to take a corner. It was a high and close to the goal corner. It hit the leg of one of my team mates and when in. Straight after the corner it started raining really hard and after a couple of minutes everyone was soaked. We were told to defend but got the ball up the other end for another corner. I took it again and played the same ball into the middle and got the same result, another goal! We were once again defending but couldn’t keep the ball out of the goal. It was we were winning 4 – 3 and with only about a minute to go we knew we could hold Huntly of and win. We were thrilled when the final whistle blew, we had one the game!

I’m pleased with how we played. I think it was one of our best efforts all season and we got the result we wanted and deserved.

Bye for now, Gregory.

Production

Hi again,

This year my school is doing a production called ‘Little Stars.’ It’s a show like American Idol with five main contestants, their parents, the three judges, two hosts, the studio audience, bad auditions and the band. I’m in the band playing the trumpet and I sing the Sponge Bob Square Pants theme song as my bad audition. For this I wear shoes with long socks and shorts as well as a Sponge Bob sweat shirt. I think it is quite funny. Little Stars is a singing competition. The uncle of one of the contestants, Preston, is one of the judges and convinces him to ruin the dress of the best singer in the competition, Jessica, so she’s embarrassed on live Television. It back fires though and the other contestants cut a hole in the back of Preston’s jeans and he is embarrassed himself. Jessica goes on to win the competition and performs at her own concert. 

On Tuesday we will be performing twice and a few more times in the week for anyone to come and enjoy the show. I’m really looking forward to performing this week after all the hard work put into this production.

Bye for now, Gregory

Soccer

Hi again,

On Saturday I played soccer for my club, Pirongia, against a team from Hillcrest. It was an away game for us and the field was bigger than the fields we normally play on. The start of the first half was very even with both teams having a couple of chances but not scoring. With just over 10 minutes to go in the first half I took a corner. It was low and went straight to a Hillcrest defender. The defender couldn’t control it and the ball popped out on the edge of the box. I was waiting for it and with the ball slowly rolling towards me I smashed it into the back of the net. We were winning 1 – 0. It wasn’t long before Hillcrest found the back of the net themselves in the first half, unfortunately three times. At halftime we were down 3 – 1 but we were only two goals down so we still had a chance. In the second half we didn’t score any more goals. I had a couple of tight chances but the goalie saved them. Hillcrest on the other hand found the back of the net twice before the full time whistle was blown to finish the game. The end score was 5 – 1 to Hillcrest.

Even though my team lost this game I think we are really improving. I can’t wait for our next game.

Bye for now, Gregory.

News Item and Soccer.

Hi again,

Recently I was watching the TV1 news and saw a very funny item. A scientist had predicted the end of the world when another planet, either Mars, Venus or Mucury will collidewith the Earth because of a slight wobble in the atmosphere. A scientist said it will happen in 3 Billion years time. Oh no, I won’t get my 3 Billionth and 13th birthday, maybe I should celebrate it now!

On a more current event my Pirongia soccer team played Glenview on Saturday. We had played them before and lost to them 1 – 0 but knew we had a chance to win this time. I was playing my normal position, striker, in this game. We had a pretty good early start with a couple of chances but unfortunately found ourselves 1 – 0 down at half time. I had a couple of shots on goal but they were hard chances. My best opportunity came in the second half after my team mate had a shot on goal and the ball hit the keeper. The ball came towards me quickly but unfortunately I mistimed the shot and went the wrong side of the post. It wouldn’t have made any difference to the end result of the game as they scored again and we lost 2 – 0. We were beaten by a better team.

Recently I got into the Waikato under 13 Reps Soccer Team and I’m very pleased that I get this opportunity.

Bye for now, Gregory.

New Zealand v Scotland 20/20 Cricket World Cup

Hi again,

Recently the New Zealand Blackcaps played their first World Cup match. It was against Scotland. The Blackcaps were the favourites to win but a day before this game England lost to The Netherlands so The Blackcaps still had to play hard. It’s normally a 20 over game but because of rain it was reduced to 7 overs each. Scotland batted first and made a great total of 89 for four in the seven overs but thanks to The Blackcaps’ batsmen they chased it down with another over to spare. Jesse Ryder was top scoring in this match with 31. New Zealand currently sit 2nd in the pool stages of the tournament with another game to be played but they are already guarenteed a spot in the top eight.

Bye for now Gregory

Super 14 Final, Bulls vs Chiefs. All Blacks Selction.

Hi again,

On Sunday morning the Bulls played the Chiefs in Pretoria. The Chiefs had a great start scoring a try early on in the match but for most of the  game it was all Bulls. I got up at 3 : 30 in the morning to watch my local team play. I went back to bed just after half time as it was obvious who was going to win. The end score was 61 – 17 going to the Bulls way. It was the biggest winning margin in a super rugby final. I was disappointed that the Chiefs lost and I was hoping for a much tighter game but I’m pleased that they managed to reach the final in the first place.

The All Blacks for the upcoming test against France and Italy have been announced. They are Mils Muliaina (captain), Cory Jane, Joe Rokocoko, Rudi Wulf, Richard Kahui, Conrad Smith, Isaia Toeava, Ma’a Nonu, Stephen Donald, Piri Weepu, Jimmy Cowan, Brendon Leonard, Jerome Kaino, Tanerau Latimer, Adam Thomson, Liam Messam, Kieran Read, Brad Thorn, Ali Williams, Isaac Ross, John Afoa, Neemia Tialata, Tony Woodcock, Wyatt Crockett, Andrew Hore and Keven Mealamu. I think Graham Henry and the selectors could have rested players like Joe Rokocoko and Keven Mealamu to make room for players like Chiefs winger Lelia Masaga, giving him more experiance because the games are only against a French team with lots of rested players and Italy. It makes more sense for new players to have more experience before the next World Cup.

Bye for now, Gregory

Soccer and Squash

Hi again,

On Friday night I played my first game of squash in the Waikato under 13 boys tournament. I was seed 6 and was playing seed 3. I’m F grade at the moment and was playing am E2. This was my first game this year playing under a new scoring system. It’s called par scoring. The games are now first to 15 rather than 9 and it is point a rally unlike having to gain a point off your own serve. I don’t really like the new scoring for a couple of reasons like, if you are losing and the score is something like 9 – 14, you might be on a big comeback and you accidentally hit the ball into the tin. It’s the end of the game and sometimes the end of the match. Anyway my first game was against a higher graded player than me so it’s no surprise I lost in three games. 15 – 10, 15 – 9, 15 – 8. I think I played well in this game because we were often matching each other point for point.

On Saturday I played soccer against a Cambridge team. At half time the score was 4 -0. I had scored 3 of them. In the second half Cambridge played a lot better and only restricted us to another 3 goals. The end score was 7 – 0. I scored 4 goals in the whole game and that took my goals telly to 6 this season in 4 games.

Later that day I played my second game of the age groups  squash tournament. I was against the seed 7 who was also graded as an F. I won easily in 3 games. My last game of the tournament would be the next day against another F grader. I had beaten him before but he had improved a lot, so I knew it wouldn’t be easy. On Sunday I played my last game of the tournament. I got off to a pretty bad start losing my first two games by quite a lot. The third and fourth games were much better for me winning both of them. The game went to five and we were both tired after the four games we had played. We started off evenly but unfortunately in the end I lost that game 15 - 7. I was pleased with how I played.

I really enjoyed the games I played this weekend and I’m looking forward to the next tournaments I play in.

Bye for now, Gregory.

My Weekend

Hi again,

On Saturday I played soccer for my club team, Pirongia. It was an away game for us and we were playing in Hamilton. The goals were massive and we could tell it should be a high scoring match. I was captain in this game and I was playing in a Midfield attacking position. It took about 15 to 20 minutes for the first goal to be scored but both teams had plenty of chances. Hamilton Christian School scored first. Not long after that they scored again, we were 2 – 0 down. The score stayed this way until the end of the half. We had plenty of good ball in the other team’s half but there were problems with our finishing. Very often in the first half I had given a perfect through ball to our strikers but they had bad misses. I had a couple of good long range shots in the first half but the keeper managed to stop them. It didn’t take long after the second half started, that another goal was scored against us. The score was now 3 – 0. Our strikers continued to have chances but couldn’t make the most of them. We soon found ourselves 4 – 0 down thanks to an own goal. With about ten minutes remaining the home team slotted another one in the back of the net, we were being thrashed. Everyone on the field was so tired and more gaps were starting to open up. I received the ball somewhere between the goal we were defending and the half way mark. I decided to take a chance and run with it. I easily beat a few players and soon found myself with just one defender to beat. I had one player to the left of me in a great scoring position but I decided not to pass to him because of the other attempts on goal. I wrong footed the defender and found myself one on one with the goalie. I nudged the ball a bit closer before smashing it straight over his head. The end score was 5 – 1.

After the game me and my family drove straight to Auckland. We were going to see the Crusaders take on the Blues at Eden Park. My Dad’s boss was paying for the tickets and our accommodation. Eventually we arrived at the Hotel we were staying at. We were staying in a penthouse. We had a good view of the city and a great view of the lights at the town hall. At half past five we left and took a bus to the rugby stadium. We got there early as we were being served dinner there at six o’clock. The game didn’t start until half past seven so we were waiting around a bit watching some kids rugby game and the motorbikes jumping from a ramp, doing a trick and final landing. Eventually the Crusaders and Blues ran out onto the field and I waved my ‘GO CRUSADERS’ banner in the air. It was a great game but in the end the best team won, The Crusaders. The final score was 15 – 13. Even though only one (dodgy) try was scored it was a great game and it was worth going. We took the train back and went to bed at about 11 o’clock.

On Sunday we woke up early to have a McDonald’s breakfast before walking to the sky tower. We then had a quick visit to the museum before heading back home. It was a great journey we had to Auckland and I’d like to do it again.

Bye for now, Gregory.

IPL

Hi again,

Recently I’ve been watching the IPL on TV. IPL stands for Indian Premier League but because of bombings in Pakistan, a country near India, the IPL was  moved to South Africa. The IPL is a 20/20 cricket match between eight teams – Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Chennei Super Kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers. The owners of each team bid money for players from all over the world and sign players for a minimum of five years. Many New Zealanders currently play in the IPL such as Brendon McCullum playing for Kolkata Knight Riders and Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder both playing for Bangalore. Unfortunately no New Zealanders have successfully scored big runs this year but Blackcaps captain Daniel Vettori has taken quite a few wickets recently. The IPL greatly benefits young Indians as in one 11 man squad you have to have at least 7 Indians and you’re only allowed up to 4 overseas players in one team. This means some 17 year old Indians get to play with and against great cricketers like Matthew Hayden, a retired Austalian batsman and current quick bowlers like Dale Steyn. This must really increase their confidence for the future. The IPL winners receive a great trophy with all of the world’s precious gems on it. My favourite team in the IPL would have to be Kolkata Knight Riders. I think they have the potential to be a great team with Brendon McCullum and Chris Gale opening the batting and Ishant Sharma opening the bowling but for some reason they haven’t been playing well and they find themselves last on the the IPL table and second to last on the good sportsmanship table. I hope Chennei Super Kings win the competition this year. They have a great team that includes Matthew Hayden, the leading runs scorer in 2009, Jacob Oram, Albie Morkel, MS Dohni, Muttiah Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini. This team is currently second on the IPL table and has a great chance of winning this year as they were runners up in 2008. I think the IPL is a great event and I think there should be more like it.

Bye for now, Gregory

Soccer

Hi again,

On Saturday I played my first game of soccer for this season. We were against Ngahinapouri and it was a home game for us. The game started at 11 o’clock and it was a fine day. I played Midfield Attack in this game. The first half went well for us, leading 2 – 0 at the break. I scored a pretty easy goal from just inside the box because of the goalie’s mistake. He kicked the ball straight to me and I had an open goal to shoot at. The other goal in the first half was an own goal. One of my team’s players crossed the ball and the defender kicked the ball into the back of the net. I was pleased with the first half of the game and I hoped we would continue playing that well. Ngahinapouri got a goal pretty early in the second half to make the score 2 – 1 but our defence held strong for the rest of the game, not letting another goal past them. In the end, we won the game 2 – 1. It was a good close game but I think my team deserved to win in the end because we were a way more organised team. I’m pleased with how my team played as I didn’t think we looked that good at training and I’m pleased with my goal and how well I played for the first game of the season.

Bye for now, Gregory