Tuesday, 19 August 2008

Round 1 - U10 Blue - Match Report

DATE: 16.8.08

OPPONENTS: MOOROOLBARK

LOCATION: ANDERSON PARK

TEAM EFFORT PAYS OFF

The blues were keen on revenge against Mooroolbark especially on our home ground.
It was great to welcome back John and Peter to the team
who were sporting their Mediterranean tans and jumped straight back into the thick of things.
A few of the boys were away, Michael overseas, Damian unavailable, & Corey busy welcoming his one day old baby sister into the family. (Congratulations to the family)
Christopher turned up hoping to play but the fever he had kept him from going on the pitch and so he supported his teammates from the sideline.
Due to Mooroolbark’s strong requests to play the off side rule our boys were caught a little off guard with this new restriction but with some reminding from the sideline they adjusted well and did not let that keep them from some very strong attacks up forward.
Marko was again brilliant in goals and stopped everything that our opponents threw at him with confidence and good judgment when meeting the ball.
Ethan and Billy did not allow Mooroolbark to have a clear run towards our goal, while Alexander and Stefan cleared anything loose that could have been a threat.
Declan and Justin defended well and also pushed the ball forward, while Peter on his return game got involved with a lot of the play and supported his teammates with confidence.
Tim created some great plays giving chances for some good attacks and Jake did a lot of running with the ball passing and crossing cleverly towards the forward line.
James threatened to score on several occasions out running his opponents well and Jack was making good use of space he created to fire some shots in.
It was James and Jack that combined on a corner kick in the second half that sealed the victory. James gave a nice pass to Jack who then cleverly dribbled around Mooroolbark’s attempts to defend, and with a great strike put the ball in the back of the net putting Doncaster ahead 1-0.
The visitors picked up the pace and desperately tried to equalize but the blues were equal to the task and also stepped up a gear not only defending with urgency but also threatening to score again. The full time score stayed at Doncaster 1 Mooroolbark 0.
The whole team played well cleverly passing and crossing, combined with some strong and solid defense and great tackling.
A big thanks goes out to the teams family’s and friends
that encouraged and supported the boys from the sideline constantly throughout the game.
The biggest support came from the Blues themselves that showed that strong teamwork in the end pays off.
Well done boys you should be proud of your efforts in such a tough game.
See you all at training on Wednesday 5.30pm at Donvale.

Manuel

Monday, 18 August 2008

Round 1 - U14A Boys - Match Report

North Caulfield vs Doncaster Rovers 17th August

Proudly sponsored by Wet Water Pools

This was the “make up” round but not the “kiss and make up” sort. It was good to arrive at the grounds to sunshine and a dry pitch with some grass on it. Pity about the lazy wind, it had the ice in it for sure as all the spectators could attest to.
Rovers started out into the wind and from the start had most of the general play with the defense on top with Luke, Matt, Nik, Michael Pic, and Joel repelling anything that came their way. In the centres Chris, Phil, Alex, and Drew were sharing the ball with some good passes and up front Nick Vass and Steve were keeping the defense on their toes. After about 10 minutes of end to end play Alex charged down a kick just forward of the centre and dribbled forwards around another defender to run at the goalie and get the ball past for a terrific goal.
North Caulfield had a couple of opportunities as the ball was going long distances with the wind, one free kick from 20 metres out went straight into our wall and was easily repelled. Rovers then went forwards and got the free but Nik’s shot just went over the bar. Nth Caulfield kept attacking and received two corners from play where Rovers should have at least forced the ball out wide for a throw in. On the second corner Luke went up for the catch but the bal just carried through his hands to drop for a simple tap in by the alert NC player, as the Rovers defense stood motionless and watched.
Just before half-time Michael Pal came on for Nick Vass and Elliot replaced the injured Chris, who had a twinge in the hammy.

Half – time: North Caulfield 1 : Doncaster Rovers 1

After the break Rovers came out determined to put another score on the board and attacked the ball with more intensity, this resulted in several free kicks to Rovers as Nth Caulfield was under more pressure. Alex took the first free but only chipped the ball slowly to the keeper. The next free taken by Nik lobbed the ball neatly just over the wall, allowing Alex to run onto the ball and lob it over the goalie into the back of the net.
There were several good passages of play by all the boys as they contested every issue, Pala forced a corner with good bodywork over the ball. Elliot had several good runs down the left. Alex put in a good cross that Steve almost got a head to. Michael Pic and Joel were solid down back and Matt was on top on the right.
However the save of the day had to go to Matt’s dad Gary who ran out of the park twice to rescue the only good ball Nth Caulfield had to play with!!
Nth Caulfield were pressing to make the equalizer and had a couple of chances but Luke was up to the task on one occasion and the ball well wide on the other. In the end it was a well deserved win by Rovers to get back into third position on the ladder. We had enough play to get at least one more goal but could not make the space on the forward line to put the ball away. Keep up the good play boys and take your chances.

Scores at full-time: North Caulfield 1 : Doncaster Rovers 2

GO ROVERS! .......... Keep up the good team play!