RESERVES TEAM
Even from the warm ups on Saturday everyone looked focused and the energy was awesome. This is important to remember, we had prepared well at training that week and we all turned up early to the game ready to go. Sure enough, early into the game we got the opening goal after a perfect through ball from Deano to Pasc to finish. Continued attacks through the first half put their defence under pressure, but we were unlucky to concede 2 goals, with the wind against us and good long range shots from Manly Vale. We went into halftime 2-1 down but still very positive and a sense we could get the game back.
Second half we came out and continued to press. Our attack was focused on direct balls to our strikers, who put endless pressure on their backline who continued to make errors and turn over the ball. This is how Pasc scored his second two, consistent pressing and aggression. Mick also placed a perfect corner (with a bit of help from the wind) to pick up his first of the season. The energy, positivity and support from everyone was awesome, a great win where our strikers and mids lead the way in defence, setting up a platform for all of us to attack. Second half I can remember maybe only one or two decent attacks or shots from Manly Vale.
Good Points:
Energy: everyone lifted that bit extra, got the game early, you could feel the energy throughout, even when we were down we didn’t drop and stayed positive – great support from firsts too on sideline!
Defence hungry from the front: Our strikers and midfielders pressed so hard it forced errors and gave us possession, they could never really mount any attacks due to our pressure and made it easier for our backs.
Through balls: Perfectly timed through balls from Deano, Mick in particular and our mids gave our strikers space to run onto it and shoot and score. Building some great partnerships in attack.
FIRSTS TEAM
A strong start to our second match, the Firsts team exploded out of the blocks with a single-minded outcome. We held possession for most of the half and created a number of changes, however, the post foiled a few quality attempts with other trickling to the keeper and scraping wide. 20 minutes into the first half, a driving run from Javey through the middle, a few quick one-twos, a ricochet and Javey smashed the ball from outside the box into the top left hand corner of the goal – an early contender for goal of the season! The first half also saw the Captain – Lachy McDougall take the field for the first time this season. We continued to dominate possession and created a few more chances, and yet the first half ended 1-0.
After finding ourselves in the same position the week before, there was a strong message throughout the team at half-time and the lads fired up. Within 8 minutes, Jason Sorbara slalomed past several players and rocketed a shot from outside the box straight past the keeper and into the bottom left hand corner for our second. From that point, the flood gates opened. Jordan Humpherson raced down the side of the field, battled past the left back and the keeper and whipped the ball toward the goal where it was met by Kieran who was Johnny on the Spot! A fourth followed a few minutes later through an own goal that was created through Mauritzio’s tenacity to attack Javey’s cross.
At this point, Vale looked depleted and we kept going. Another goal from Jason Sorbara, two more from Kieran Jellis and David Sheldon, wrapped up an 8 goal thriller! A fantastic performance from the entire team start to finish! Also a special shout out to Mitchell Yeoman for two massive games!
We had two big results and were able to pick up six points which takes both teams into the top 4 for each league. Let’s make sure we continue to work hard and focus on our next match.
