Unfortunately there is usually sub par game a season and it appeared that this match was ours. From the side line it looked like we could have competed on a fairly even basis but our team never really got going. The final score line was 11- 1 but with a little more commitment to the tackle, increased work rate and keeping possession of the ball the game would have been a lot closer.

There were highlights to the game and Nathan scored a memorable goal just before the end of the game which followed some good inter passing down the right hand side.

Michael and Sam made some telling tackles and their work rate was excellent. Harry,Gilbert and James all had moments of great defence and Caleb Dylan and Matt and Nick all had some good runs. Tom pulled off some decent saves and Chris soldiered on despite being injured.

It was good that the match ended on a positive note and we look forward to the next game which I am sure will see our team playing at their usual high standard.

The only thing we won on Saturday was the toss.  Captain (for the day) RoBo Keeper showed that sometimes he is lucky and he chose to start defending the southern end of the ground at Burringbar Park. The game clock started before either team took the field. The game started with a minute and a half already taken off the game.  This worked in our favour as we were short of a number players, and despite the keenness of the U13 superstars, we were always going to struggle.

After 3 minutes, Valleys got a short corner. Keegan broke and got sent to half way.  Luckily the push out missed the striker completely and the corner was defended.

Our attack was ineffective as too often we stood still behind Valleys players hoping they would miss trap and we would get the ball. Sometimes they obliged, but too often they did not.

They then embarked on a goalfest, with a goal being scored every 2 minutes.

In the thirteenth minute of the half, they scored. The first goal of came after a short corner that wasn’t cleared properly. The resulting attack saw a Valley forward run clear and a back stick hit went passed RoBo Keeper.

Half way thought the first half another goal by Valley put us behind 2-0.  This was scored from the field through another back stick shot.     

In the 17th minute they scored again from a brake away.  A clean hit from the top of the circle crashed into the backboard resulting in their 3rd goal.

There 4th goal was scored when RoBo Keeper stopped the shot from outside the circle. Robo Keeper kicked it straight back to the original shooter. The player hit the ball to another attacker to the left of RoBo Keeper, who deflected the ball into the goal.

They 5th goal was scored with 10 minutes left in the half. A hard hit from outside the circle was deflected by a Valley player and the ball went in goal.

Their final goal of the half was scored when the Valley’s forwards broke away.  Our defence was tired with most players already having played a long game in U13’s. RoBo Keeper slid at the attackers as they reached the top of the circle, but he got dragged.  Valleys scored in an open goal.

We worked hard for the final 7 minutes of the half to prevent any further scoring.  Finally the mercy of half time came! We were 0-6 down and it gave the U13s a break.

The second half commenced with the game clock starting a minute before we did. We were determined that no goals would be scored in this half. Nathan and EB were stand outs, as they lifted in the second half and mixed it well with kids double their size. RoBo Keeper saved heaps and was more vocal calling his players into position. We were also lucky, as quite a few umpiring calls went our way.

Our defence got a real workout. Keegan and Liam tried hard and were the only ones who could really keep pace with the opposition.  Princess Matt played strongly, but struggled to defend against the bigger, stronger and faster opposition. Nick, James and Harry also tried really hard, but they had trouble keeping pace and fatigue of the earlier game showed.

Our attack had limited opportunity, and Gilbert and Michael K kept trying to keep the ball moving forward.

With two minutes left in the half, Valleys finally broke through to score their only second half goal. RoBo Keeper laid down in front of the goal, only to have the Valleys forward flick the ball over him.

The final score was 7-0. I think we could have won this game, if we played like we did in the second half and had one or two the J’s that were away. We had snakes as the after game treat for this week (RoBo Keeper remembered them).

Fixtures

The big excitement this week was our first goal of the season which followed a great passing movement down the length of the field between Dillon, Nick and James W with the latter scoring a great goal. This put us within a goal of equalising and it looked like the momentum had swung our way in what had become an extremely tight game but alas it was not to be and the final whistle saw us going down 3 – 1.

Early pressure at the beginning of the game once again brought out some fine saves from Tom. Harry ensured the ball got back into the opposition’s half with some booming hits and James C, Nick, Gilbert and Chris all defended well. Dillon great work rate was clearly evident and he helped break down many threatening moves by the opposition. Despite the sterling efforts of our committed defence the opposition pressure told and we ended the half two nil down.

Our passing game improved dramatically in the second half and our team started to hold onto the ball and work it up through the mid field which swung the pressure back onto the opposition. As previously mentioned sustained inter passing resulted in a great goal.

Caleb, Matt, Nathan and Dillon worked extremely hard throughout the match and Michael pulled off some telling tackles and showed excellent tenacity.

Sadly Ben, Matt and Dillon were all injured to various degrees during the game and we wish them a speedy recovery.

Despite these disruptions the team performed extremely well particularly in the second half and their never say die attitude was clearly evident. Thanks to all concerned with providing us with such an entertaining game.

Unfortunately, Commercial scored a second goal just before half time; and Caleb Drinkwater took a ball to the knee, and had to be brought off.

During the break, Geoff explained to the team that they were playing too much down the centre, likening it to a cricket pitch. He asked them to try to take the play wider, which they did – with great success!

Five minutes into the second half, South West equalised with a great goal from Saibh; and 5 minutes after that there was some wonderful passing between Ben Moss and Saibh, which led to another near miss.

Caleb D. was able to come back on, and showed much more confidence in his attack. Sam Pederson grew in confidence as he found his position at right-half, making some strong tackles to hold back Commercial’s attack, and pushing the ball forward to Saibh and Kiera Wilkinson, another new addition to the team.

With 10 minutes to go, some great defence by Samuel Kenny led to an awesome run up the left by Ben Ward, and some more great passing, this time between Ben M. and Kiera. Some great hockey, which unfortunately did not lead to a third goal.
That had to wait for a run up the middle by James, who seized the opportunity to score his second goal of the morning, having already scored in the U13 game.

South West did not rest on their laurels, and kept up the pressure right to the very end, with another near miss from James, and yet another from Saibh.
It was the U11’s first victory for the year, but they fought hard for it and it was well deserved.

Once the game began it was quite messy with every player wanting to be in on the action. It was a much better game that the previous week with everyone doing his or her best to spread out and work together.

The team worked hard to be very strong in attack with everyone having a good go at scoring a goal. With only a couple of minutes left in the second half everything thing came together and we were lucky to put in the only goal of the game.

Congratulations to the team who worked very hard and should be very proud of their efforts. Next week it would be great to see everyone turning up on time so we can have a quick warm up session before the game. Good luck for next week team!

Some photos from previous game

Dave Cox, Match reporter

Dylan and Harry were unable to take the field this week and this meant that some players had to play in unfamiliar positions but the players concerned acquitted themselves really well.

The game started at a frenetic pace despite the weather, and it was good to see that our team was focused from the start. There was good commitment to the tackle and we were able to initially keep a powerful opposition at bay particularly with Tom in goals who had an excellent game and made a series of fine saves throughout the match.

Nathan and Ben had some great runs in the mid field and penetrated the opposition defence. Matt and Caleb were also responsible for breaking down several opposition attacks.

James C, Nick, Gilbert and James W all worked hard in defence and thwarted many threatening opposition sorties.

A drop in intensity just before half time saw our team let in two quick goals to make the score 4 nil at the break.

Once again we seemed to hit our straps in the second half and we had several promising attacks into the opposition’s half, but despite some great attempts we were not able to find the net.

Chris and Nick both had some great hits from the back and Michael came into his own as a roving striker.

The evenly contested second half saw us concede two goals with the last one being at the final whistle, but this was not a true reflection as to how close the game became.

Well done to our team for the tenacity and commitment they showed and I am sure players and spectators are looking forward to this weekend’s match.

At Easts Tiger Turf it was wet, wet, wet! The southern end of the field was full of puddles that would slow the ball every time it went there. We warmed up at the northern end, but that did not help us to learn about the tricky conditions.

Sub-0 lost the toss, so for the first half we were defending the puddles. Easts were able to pin us down and our clearances would rarely get past the puddles.

The first 10 minutes was sustained pressure that led to Easts winning a short corner and their first goal. Easts were lucky to get a deflection from the hit at the top of the circle that passed between Robo Keeper and the full backs.

The wet weather had the game resembling slow motion hockey. Unfortunately it was still being played at our end of the field. Easts passed well between players, and their second goal came from an attacking raid where their forwards passed well around the circle.

The third goal was a similar story, where a short corner hit out was a short pass to a player standing out of the puddles, who in turn passed it around the other attackers. Robo Keeper went to ground to save the first shot, but the rebound was passed around him and into the back of the net.

It took twenty minutes for us to get into the opposition half. Sub-0 went aerial to give us a chance to run up the right hand side. We only had a few chances in the half, and Gilbert and Spoony worked hard when the long ball was put through against the much older Easts fullbacks for no result.

Easts fullbacks quickly got the ball back. They aimed at the Princess from a 16 yard hit and took out his ankle for the rest of the game.

Nick worked hard, but tired after a full game of U13’s. Our attacking raids were short despite good efforts by Al, Nathan and Matt D. The Easts defence recovered well, returning play to our end of the field, resulting in more short corners.

Our team got more defensive corner practice than in a month of training, and Liam, Keegan, Princess (until he got injured), Michael T and Sub-0 all worked tirelessly.

One of the corners ended in another goal by a straight hit that none of the defence saw as it rebounded off the back board and side boards of the goal box.

Our only goal of the half (and the match) was scored after some strong defensive work and a great run. Michael T who passed the ball to Sub- 0 who was able to drag the ball around the keeper and score.

In the final seconds before half time the Serial Pest from Easts was allowed to run. He was clear with the ball at the top of the circle and executed a perfect tomahawk that just lobbed over RoBo Keepers head.

The half time score saw us down 5-1.

We were being totally outplayed by an older, better and more experienced team. At half time super coach Gareth emphasised tighter marking and better communication.

The second half was where we got to take advantage of the puddles and our defence played on a relatively un-puddled surface. We were able to mount some early pressure, until Easts’ passing allowed them to move to the other end. Easts won another short corner that was saved by the Goalinator.

Liam’s second half was impressive with plenty of running, it seemed he was everywhere and was putting lots of pressure on the opposition.

From a long corner Easts managed to score another goal. The goal was scored after the first shot was saved by Goalinator, but the far side winger was there to convert the rebound.

Their final goal came from sustained pressure. Passing between Easts forwards found a way around the Goalinator and through our defence.

Liam had an opportunity to score about half way through the second half. The ball found a puddle in the circle and held up enough for Liam to control it and take a shot. He was unlucky not to score as it was well saved by the keeper.

East then got a 3 on one break away. The Goalinator met the attackers at the top of the circle and shut down the move before the opposition had a chance to shoot. Keegan was determined to defend late in the game to ensure that no more goals would be scored in the rest of the game.

Easts got a stroke in the dying minutes of the game after Nick saved a certain goal with his foot. Stared down by the Goalinator, the Easts striker missed the net completely.

The score for last 15 minutes was nil all. Pity it was 7-1 for the first 45 minutes.

Our second half was a real improvement on the first, in very trying conditions. Liam and Keegan worked particularly hard, taking over the energy that is normally displayed by Dylan and Sean (who were unavailable this week – word has it they were out fishing… there was enough water on the turf they could have done that while playing hockey this week – Ed.).
The side showed enough promise to indicate that there will be a better result when these sides next meet. We had Milky Ways to conclude the game for another week.