Apr 09, 2016
Under 12-2
After a draw in Round 1 we were keen to secure our first win for the season. A beautiful Saturday morning saw us travel to the latte sipping region of Mosman to take on the sky blues. With only 10 of our 12 players available we were grateful to Daniel, Amy and Jamie (from the 11s) for filling in.
Allan Border Oval looked a picture and we played some football that was worthy of the venue. In the great conditions we used the width and generated a number of chances. For the second week running we left some goals on the table by not converting our chances.
Jack put us head in the 10th minute with his second goal in two weeks for early domination of golden boot with a great breakaway that was well finished. Other chances that came off the post or that went just wide was the story of the remainder of the game.
We still have some work to do on our defensive structure and marking, but we never looked challenged at the back with Matthew securing our first clean sheet in goals. A good solid effort from all to secure our first win of the season.
3 Points: Lewis, 2 Points: Jack, 1 Point: Harry
Apr 10, 2016
W14/1
BTH 2 defeated Avalon B 0
8.30am at a dew drenched Avalon field is always a tough start to a Sunday, but we certainly turned up this week and delivered a pleasing performance. Our defence was very effective and determined. Our attack created lots of opportunities with some lovely passing raids. lzzy scored 2 great goals but we could have easily landed a few more. Great win girls.
Apr 10, 2016
Ladies O35 Div 1
With several key players absent due to ref duties, appointments with Italian gelato and pizza, injuries that have had time to mend and enough is enough and another hired as match day photographer the Divas were keen for their first win in 1st Div and quite possible as it was against another team pushed up into 1st division unwillingly.
The Divas dominated the first half. There were several near misses, lots of commitment to the ball and great defence from our back line. Sturms was given the thankless task of marking their key player "Ronaldo" after she scored 5 goals against us in one game last year.
With the high altitude of Beacon Hill Oval where the air is thin and the sun beats hotter than usual our faces turned a rosier shade of red with each passing minute and the lack of oxygen saw subs come fast and furious in the second half (it had nothing to do with our fitness or lack of!!!!!!).
But then, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, a breakaway with Ronaldo of course, dodging left then right then she put on the afterburners to get in front of our defence and slot it in the bottom right corner of the goals. Down 0-1.
There were several segments of play where we could have easily got a scrappy goal and after some great skills Rosie to free herself of the defence only to have the goalie save her great attempt. Damn that goalie!!!! Long, floaty shots from Nels and Sturms could easily have gone in if a strong nor-easter had kicked in just at the right second.
Not our day. We made 15 other ladies happy and received the runners up trophy for the day. Next time Divas. Keep plugging away, be there for your team, play hard (not too hard though cause that gets you into trouble!!!!!!!) and have fun. We will not be holding up the Premiers trophy this year but if we learn a little along the way about the game of football that for some reason we all decided to start way to late in life then it has been a good season.
We look forward to Shauna returning to the paddock after getting the all clear of long standing injuries this week, Chelle back from ref duties, Jules can continue eating pizza and pasta for another week and who knows, there could well be some more amazing action shots from the hired photographer again next week. Stay tuned.
Apr 10, 2016
Ladies All Age Div 1
On Sunday we came up against Seaforth on their home turf and whilst we came away with a draw (3-3) it by no means reflects the hard work our team put in.
We got off to a great start with a fantastic run down the wing from Laura before crossing it to the centre for Sam to score. Seaforth came back with a break away play through the centre to bring the game back even. Then with some fancy footwork Holly booted one in the back of the net putting us 2-1 in front going into half time.
The second half was full of frustration with multiple shots on goal unsuccessful and a few decisions not going our way. Seaforth came back to score two more goals in the second half and with Sam scoring her second goal by converting a difficult penalty the game was back even with only a few minutes remaining. The whole team lifted and pushed hard all the way to the whistle with the game finishing at a draw.
A special thank you to all the supporters for your continued encouragement throughout the game its much appreciated.
Well fought ladies, the next game is ours!!!
Apr 10, 2016
WU12-1 Diamonds
The WU12/1 Diamonds had another great, competitive match this week against Mosman at Georges Heights. The girls came away with a hard fought, well deserved 1-0 win.
The girls have been training hard and practicing the core, basic skills and this was reflected in the game with the girls looking for each other and producing some lovely passes and attacking combinations. Ryleigh finished off a nice run of play to score a beautiful goal just before half time.
We had to work hard in defense in the second half and especially in the final stages of the game. We were under pressure and this has identified some areas for us to work on with our marking-up (goal side) and structure. Alani was outstanding in goals and made some spectacular saves as Mosman finished strongly.
We also had to make a few quick changes due to injury and this gave the team insight into the importance of understanding all the positions on the field. Fitness is proving to be a key ingredient now we are on the full sized pitch and well done to the whole team who never gave up.
Special thanks to our wonderful team of parents who arrived early and had the nets set up before the opposition. Mosman made comment on how fabulous it was to see the Away team so actively helping out!
The 3/2/1 this week went to Alani/Ryleigh/Holly.
Let's keep shining gorgeous Diamonds.
Apr 10, 2016
WU12 – Emeralds
Another great game from the Emeralds. Very unlucky - going down 3-2 to Beacon Hill. Huge improvement over last week’s game. Emeralds dominated most of the second half with 2 late goals by Beacon Hill against the run of play. Great goals from Tayla and Charlotte and some great keeping by Georgie.
The whole team played their hearts out with lots of red faces at full time. Special mention for Zoe who had the reddest face!
Well done team.
Apr 09, 2016
AA2 Reserves
After a first up Win, Round 2 saw us travel down to Nolan's to play Harbord Seasiders.
In the 1st half we created many chances with the long ball to our flanks and front men but we did everything but find the back of the net. Our midfield did not control the game as we had planned and saw them out numbering us and moving and passing around us with ease but fortunately our back 4 was solid. Half time found us at 0-0.
We knew we had to come out in the 2nd half and pull it together but unfortunately it just didn't happen. We once again panicked on the ball with our flanks and strikers having very little support as the gap between them and midfield just grew. In saying that, we created lots of good goal scoring opportunities this half but it the Harbord goalkeeper was having a day out and he made numerous point blank one on one saves to deny us a Winner.
Harbord kept coming at us but our back 4 were equal to the challenge and we never really gave them a sight on goal.
Miles Luxton put in a super shift and was a rock at the back for us today. A good result for a young development BTH Side against a strong Harbord team.
Final score: BTH Raiders 0 Harbord Seasiders 0
Coaches player - Miles Luxton
Players player - Miles Luxton
Apr 09, 2016
AA2s First Grade
After a good win in the first game of the season the Raiders were looking to capitalize against Harbord. The Gaffa Nate Gray knew they were a strong team so asked The Lads to go at them from the outset. That we did and it was Jackson Williams was on hand to finish off a nice bit of build-up 10 minutes in with a well struck shot 22 yards out into the bottom right hand corner on the volley. Within 5 minutes it was 2-0 as Sam Savage latched onto a cross the keeper was anticipating with a Zlatan-esque volley from a cross from the right side of the field from Nathan Heath. Raiders looked sharp and in control playing a tight passing game which lead to Jason Sorbara cutting back into space on the edge of the box and tucking the ball away nicely into the bottom corner. It wasn’t long before that man Adam Kenneally was terrorising the defence again weaving around players and taking a shot inside the area only for it to be deflected over the stranded keeper, 4-0! It could have been 8 or 9 at this point only for their keeper making a string of excellent saves that normally would have found the net.
We piled more pressure on when Hayden Jewell made a brilliant run down the left and whipped in a lovely cross for Esteban Cruz to get his head on directing the header under the keeper. We went into the second half believing we could put another 3 or 4 past them seeing as we seemed to have our shooting boots on, and we managed to find the net a 6th time through that man again Adam Kenneally, with a beautifully placed free kick and a touch of luck to bobble over the keeper. We seemed to think the job was done at this point and switched off for the best part of 20 minutes, gifting the home team a header from a corner into the side netting, 6-1. Their second came 10 minutes later when a controversial call from the ref resulted in a free kick just outside the area. The striker chose not to lift it over the wall but go direct into the keepers side, confusing John Massey and leaving him flat footed, 6-2. In the final 10 minutes they were awarded a penalty from a rash challenge but they placed it down the centre leaving John Massey to make up for the earlier mistake with a superb save with his leg keeping it at 6-2.
The win, although a good one, felt like a draw because of the two goals conceded so sloppily, but there were many positives to take from the game like the work rate of everyone especially the midfielders, the talking between the back 4 and the number 6, and the accuracy of the strikers. There is always room for improvement and we will be back stronger and more focussed next week.
Final score: BTH Raiders 6 Harbord Seasiders 2
Coaches player - Nathan Heath
Players player - Jackson Williams
Apr 09, 2016
U18/2s
After copping a drubbing in our first game of the season, the 18/2 boys were looking to bounce back against Seaforth. This was always going to be a difficult task, with a short roster and a number away- so we were thankful for to four from the 18/3s (Bryn Young, Harrison Rand, Luke Gordon, and Sean McCracken) who agreed to back up straight after their own game and play for us. We started the match with only 8 on the pitch and incredibly had an early chance to take the lead, but conceded shortly afterwards.
Once the four extras arrived 15 minutes in, the game turned around completely and we took control with some beautiful passing football. We created chance after chance, hitting the crossbar twice and the upright once and butchering several more proper opportunities, before we finally strung three goals together. Barney Donaghy slotted home a great far post shot after some impressive lead up play. From a corner kick, Rob Fenn curled in a tricky cross which went in off an opponent’s head. And then Lochie Grieg pounced on a turnover on the halfway line before a great individual run and finish. We started to tire in the final 15 minutes, conceding a sloppy goal, but the team rallied to hang on for a 3-2 win.
While it really could have been much more emphatic, it was a gutsy three points under the circumstances! Special mention to Vincent Wuenstal, who did an outstanding job as sweeper, to Luke Gordon who played almost 180 minutes of football over his two games, and to Josiah Monin and Sean McCracken who selflessly accepted to cover the goalkeeper role.
Apr 09, 2016
U10B Ravens
This week we started players in unfamiliar positions to gain experience in other areas. The players all coped exceptionally well as Wakehurst lived up to their tough reputation. It took some outstanding defence to break the Typhoons down. Our defence was not only relentless but intelligent. Balls won in defence were spread wide and up field or kicked out for safety. Players are still adjusting to the bigger field size and did well to pace themselves better this week… “are you sure you want to be a midfielder?’… LOL. With our defence under control our natural goal scorers took over.
Solid team performance with a 6-0 victory for their efforts.
Apr 09, 2016
U10a ‘The Rats’
The U/10 A's played a phenomenal game on the weekend. It was beautiful to watch. Everything from their passing to their shooting was executed perfectly almost every time. They created space where there was no space, and played with both precision and speed. Avalon gave them a run for their money, keeping them at bay at half time at 1-1. But in the second half, the BTH boys turned the tables and brought home a 4-1 victory. They should all be very proud of what they achieved on Saturday, and I think we are all eager to see them progress and develop as a team throughout the year.