Match Report – Doncaster Rovers U11 Kangaroos Yellow v Box Hill
After a season with victories few & far between, a trip to Wembley Park to take on traditional rivals Box Hill was undertaken with that extra sense of purpose.
Captain Todd McCarthy lead out the side which had been depleted by injury, illness & absence and from the kick off Box Hill attacked the Rovers flanks. They couldn’t though penetrate the defence with an inspirational performance from Liam Wilson at stopper repelling wave after wave. At right back Christopher Puljevic kept the talking up with Bertan Kaya at sweeper and Steven Pythas on the left hand defence proving too difficult for the opposition to penetrate.
Regular sweeper Chris Damatopoulos (recovering from illness) looked on from the sideline eager to join his mates. The backs played exceptionally to keep out Box Hill’s sustained attacks and it was only a few balls that came the way of stand-in keeper Miles Connolly who kept a clean sheet playing at # 1 with regular keeper Andrew Dilley absent.
As the game settled down Doncaster put together some constructive runs forward with a number of combinations paying dividends. Josh Hughes worked the right midfield whilst in the middle Nik Kasapidis and Steven Sercia cleverly worked the ball around the opposition. Up front the striker pair of James Theodoropoulos and Liam Cooper-Smith were then able to take advantage of the through balls to put pressure on the Box Hill defence.
At half-time the boys went to oranges having out-played their opponents and a 0-0 score representative of the lack of shots on goal. A change of keepers at the break saw Miles swap with Todd in the midfield and with time blown back on the boys attacked to the western end eager to go one step further than the 1-1 draw with Box Hill earlier in the season.
Having lost regular striker Stefan Pagotto to surgery earlier in the week, numbers were bolstered with Gerard Papoulis stepping up from the U10s. Playing from left mid-field his nerves were soon forgotten with some great runs down the wing and the ultimate prize of a goal to put Rovers up 1-nil.
Defence held tight and communication among the boys prevented Box Hill capitalising on a number of corners. Chris Dama convinced the coach (& his dad) that he was well enough for some game time and helped the side keep up the positive talking. Todd joined Miles with a clean sheet as keeper as the final whistle signaled a fitting 1-0 result. A just reward for some hard training.
The words of coach Jack Talia ringing true as the team song was sung …"timing & talking will bring results"
Well done guys.
After a season with victories few & far between, a trip to Wembley Park to take on traditional rivals Box Hill was undertaken with that extra sense of purpose.
Captain Todd McCarthy lead out the side which had been depleted by injury, illness & absence and from the kick off Box Hill attacked the Rovers flanks. They couldn’t though penetrate the defence with an inspirational performance from Liam Wilson at stopper repelling wave after wave. At right back Christopher Puljevic kept the talking up with Bertan Kaya at sweeper and Steven Pythas on the left hand defence proving too difficult for the opposition to penetrate.
Regular sweeper Chris Damatopoulos (recovering from illness) looked on from the sideline eager to join his mates. The backs played exceptionally to keep out Box Hill’s sustained attacks and it was only a few balls that came the way of stand-in keeper Miles Connolly who kept a clean sheet playing at # 1 with regular keeper Andrew Dilley absent.
As the game settled down Doncaster put together some constructive runs forward with a number of combinations paying dividends. Josh Hughes worked the right midfield whilst in the middle Nik Kasapidis and Steven Sercia cleverly worked the ball around the opposition. Up front the striker pair of James Theodoropoulos and Liam Cooper-Smith were then able to take advantage of the through balls to put pressure on the Box Hill defence.
At half-time the boys went to oranges having out-played their opponents and a 0-0 score representative of the lack of shots on goal. A change of keepers at the break saw Miles swap with Todd in the midfield and with time blown back on the boys attacked to the western end eager to go one step further than the 1-1 draw with Box Hill earlier in the season.
Having lost regular striker Stefan Pagotto to surgery earlier in the week, numbers were bolstered with Gerard Papoulis stepping up from the U10s. Playing from left mid-field his nerves were soon forgotten with some great runs down the wing and the ultimate prize of a goal to put Rovers up 1-nil.
Defence held tight and communication among the boys prevented Box Hill capitalising on a number of corners. Chris Dama convinced the coach (& his dad) that he was well enough for some game time and helped the side keep up the positive talking. Todd joined Miles with a clean sheet as keeper as the final whistle signaled a fitting 1-0 result. A just reward for some hard training.
The words of coach Jack Talia ringing true as the team song was sung …"timing & talking will bring results"
Well done guys.
