SATURDAY 1st APRIL
U7 BTH Foxes vs. Dee Why Swans
The BTH Under 7 Foxes braved the wet lands of Collaroy Plateau to take on Dee Why Swans for the first game of the season. We won one, and lost the other, and the kids played like true champions. Bring on the rest of the season.
Men's All Age Teams secure 13 points out of a possible 15
With 4 wins and 1 draw
Great start to 2017
AL3's
BTH Raiders 3 - 3 Mosman
Raiders fight back twice to earn a draw against a tough Mosman side. Mosman came out of the blocks seemingly more organised and familiar with each others game. They were also more physical and it didn't take long before Mosman earned the first yellow card of the game with chants of "show 'im the cheese" from the sidelines. With a little more desire to win the ball, Mosman took the lead mid way through the first half, and within minutes were two up despite the strong suspicion of offside.
Into the break it looked a difficult task to get back into it.The second half was a different game and BTH started to pass the ball around better and win more balls. After a goal from Matt Bruce, the equaliser came from a stunning strike out on the right that hit the top corner of the net, delivered by Greg Lewin. Game on.
Against the run of play Mosman got a deflating third, but Raiders determination not to be beaten came through and Matt Bruce got a second to equalise 10 minutes before the end.
AL2 First & Reserve Grade
What a great way to start our campaign for the AL2s league title! Two solid wins against a physically tough Seaforth team. More importantly, we have posted six points and established a great start at BTH! Seaforth started the Reserves game with a ferocious tempo that caught us well off-guard. After taking out our keeper and centre back through strong challenges, they proceeded to slot away the opening goal after 5 minutes. After that, the team shifted into gear and Seaforth were limited to just one additional opportunity throughout the rest of the match. We attacked Seaforth’s goal with a number of chances and eventually, the first goal was scored. The second goal was put away in the middle of the second half. In the final 10 minutes, we were reluctantly awarded a penalty, which was spectacularly saved by the Seaforth keeper. The Firsts game proved to be even more intense. The Seaforth lads pushed to dominate the game physically with again, a number of illegal challenges and fouls across the park. However, we responded with strength and resolve and started to push Seaforth down the wings. The first half opened up a number of opportunities with the Seaforth keeper making several tremendous saves. Ending the first half nil-nil, the team lifted the tempo of the game in the second half and after creating several more chances, we eventually rolled the ball in with 25 minutes to go. This proved to be the decisive goal to wrap up the 3 points! A special mention and thanks to the lads from the AL4s who played a huge part in securing a win with the Reserves Team.
AL1 First & Reserve Grade
The long-awaited season opener was upon us on a beautifully sunny Saturday afternoon at Terry Hills Oval. Last season’s grand final winners Mosman were the opposition on BTH’s first game at AL1 level. The game started evenly, as expected both teams were feeling each other out. Captain Tom Graham and defensive partner Zac Brown looked comfortable and dealt with any real threat from ‘Jesus’ the Mosman centre forward. It wasn’t until the 20-minute mark when BTH really got a foothold in the game and started to knock the ball around well, Andrew ‘Goldy’ Goldrick and David ‘Ocky’ Ochert got busy and started to pull the strings and Hayden Waters was looking dangerous on the right, just our final ball was off. The first real chance came from a George Harle free kick that was spilt by the Mosman keeper and nearly fell in the path of the of the Onrushing Jason Lal, but the ball was scrambled away to safety. This was followed by some extensive pressure from BTH, Ocky had an effort from 20 yards hit the post, before Craig Dabinetts surging forward runs were causing all sorts of problems and Haydon smashed the bar from the edge of the area. Keeper John Massey on his return from a broken metatarsal was largely untroubled, a few punches and clean ups were dealt with relative ease, the one decent chance Mosman had was from a defensive error that Zac was onto in a flash and produced two great tackles. The teams went in 0-0 at Half-Time and manager Ratko Lovric was in general pleased with what he had seen, the message being keep it tight at the back and start to exploit the Mosman defence as much as possible. The second half was a more open affair, Martin ‘Marty” Middlehurst became more involved and started to make things happen across the park, Hayden and Craig continued to be a dominate force down the right-hand side and Jas Lal was busy being a nuisance up front, one decent chance he had he pulled just wide. The breakthrough came on 70 minutes, a wave of attacked ended in back to back corners for BTH, Marty whipped in great ball that was met with a bullet like header from Hayden to open up his account for the club, a great finish and a well-deserved lead for Lovric’s men. The last 20 minutes’ saw BTH have the better of the chance to further their lead, but the game finished 1-0 and a more that satisfactory start to life at this level. The Reserves won 3-1 before hand, a superb performance with goals coming from Jonny Turnball, Ryan Steele and Mousa Dayoub. A 6-point start to the season, well done lads, report below from Andrew Press After a grueling pre- season Reserve Grade had the pleasure of kicking off the AL1 season for BTH after a few years in the senior football wilderness. With squad depth that goes deeper than Donald Trumps pockets BTH, were very confident of a good result against a handy Mosman outfit. Led by Captain Johnathon ‘Chilli’ Gueudinot the game was played at a fast pace in the early stages as both sides looked to gain the upper hand and control possession. Joe ‘Joey’ Rushton was busy creating chances down the right side which gave the side plenty of go forward in attack. Sebastian ‘Man Bun’ Sherman was like a lumberjack at the back chopping down many dangerous Mosman counter attacks. BTH produced the first goal in the 15th minute thanks some sumba like one touch football from Josh ‘Donald” Tromp, combining well with Rushton. They were able to release Jonny ‘The Neck’ Turnbull who produced racehorse like speed toward goal. A classy finish and the Jonny had his first for BTH. Mosman reacted quickly to the goal by hitting back with a number of long balls into the BTH box, most of which were dealt well by centre back Jack ‘Cole’ Collins. One too many searching long balls into the box resulted in a Mosman equaliser in the 28th minute. The injection of Man of the Match Jackson ‘Jacko’ Williams lifted the home side. His distribution in the middle led to BTH hitting back with 2 quick goals from Ryan ‘Ironman’ Steele and Mousa ‘The Godfather’ Dayoub. BTH could’ve almost had a 4th a few minutes later when Jacko hit a well placed cross first time and it flashed just over the crossbar. The whistle blows and its 3-1 at half time with the home team well in control. Having been so impressed with the performance Managers Niko and Ratko, in their matching tracksuits, ditched the oranges and presented the team with half time souvlaki.
The second half was very evenly matched, tired legs saw some wasted opportunities from both sides and it felt as if one more goal from Mosman could turn the game. As a group BTH kept to the defensive structures learnt in pre-season and were able to leave keeper Edcardian ‘Ed’ Shaw sipping on a Tetley’s for most of the second half.
The game finished 3-1, a good win for a new young squad with a truck full of potential
U13-2s
The U13/2s were lucky to get on against Pittwater at Kitchener. With the wet weather limiting us to only one training session prior to the season opener it was always going to be a rusty start. Throw in a handful of new players to the team and our bare eleven versus Pittwater's 4 reserves and it was going to be interesting match.
As the boys worked out their combinations in the first half we were a little unlucky to concede a goal on what was really the only penetration of our defensive line. Late in the first half we had the opportunity to draw level after being awarded a penalty, but a solid save from the Pittwater goalie denied Matt the equaliser.
At half time, we talked about patience and playing smart football. It wasn't long into the second half before a second penalty put away by Sam had us level. A triple change in the Pittwater backline then saw it open up for us as we continued to attack down the left and the right. Harry scored the winner from a great sequence that started with a throw from our goalie.
A great effort from all the boys, playing their first 60 minute game of football and without any subs. Sam was the Honest Chicken player of the match.