Grand Final (16/8/08)
Well what can I say – in fact there is nothing I can say here that could adequately express today’s match and result – a massive, outstanding, amazing, absolutely incredible, unbelievable 5 – 2 win over the undefeated Premiers – Putney. We faced our nemesis and thrashed them. Poor Putney didn’t know what hit them. It started mere minutes from kick-off when Andrew struck – the ball rolled – seemed very slow, but sure, could have gone either side of the post, but in it went! The second was an absolute blinder from Alex from way up the pitch, the ball absolutely flew in the air – there was no catching this one and in it went. Two up, we were feeling pretty good, but the game had only just started. Then we were awarded a free kick, once again Alex was up to the challenge and booted it straight into the net. This was followed by yet another fantastic shot by Matt Hobson – four up! Then as luck would have it a little bit of a trip up or something happened and Putney were awarded a penalty which they struck hard and fast into the net – poor Mitch didn’t stand a chance of catching that one. So end of first half saw us at 4 – 1 and Putney looked very downcast at half time, we, on the other hand, were absolutely elated.
We hit the pitch with great enthusiasm for the second half and maybe got a little over confident as Putney put one in the net – fortunately this one was called offside, but the next shot they had wasn’t. Now the crowd was getting nervous – very nervous – could they catch us? Well, no, because Zechariah came up with the finisher, a brilliant goal taking us to 5-2. The opposition had no hope of getting past us now and it was game over.
So now the big question is – guys – was it something you lot ate for breakfast, or all those lollies? You all lifted on the day and played your absolute best. You played as a team should play. Now, just because those who score usually get a mention in the match report does not mean we have forgotten the rest of you, those goals just wouldn’t happen if it wasn’t for your hard work, all of you – holding everything together. So to Mitch, Eden, David, Daniel, Daniel, Matthew, Callum, Adam, Brodie, Maddison and Clayton – you did a superb job, as did our scorers – CONGRATULATIONS ALL OF YOU!

Semi Final Round 2 (9/8/08)
This was a first for the season today – a draw!! 0-0 with Hills Hawks. We’ve won, lost a few times but never had a draw. We got of to a great start with our guys putting on a fantastic performance right from the whistle. But then the Hawks lifted their game and it was obviously going to be very close. Half time saw no score but plenty of exciting moments especially the one where the opposition had a very near shot at goal just before the whistle. Andrew had a couple of very near shots as well and at one point was just in front of their goal ready to strike, it looked like their goalie couldn’t make up his mind whether to stay or come out – unfortunately for us he came out and managed to snatch the ball off Andy’s foot – very disappointing for us.
The second half saw a huge amount of defending from both sides, but we knew all we had to do was hold them to a nil all draw and we were into the Grand Final. It would have been nice to score a goal but we were all very happy with the end result. Now we have to go through ANOTHER nerve wracking week. I think it’s going to be a l o n g week. Our Man of the Match trophy went to Matt Burke who had an excellent game today – very focused and determined – well done Matt. We are now officially “finalists” and have to concentrate on a big win for next Saturday – Good Luck everyone.

Semi Final Round 1 (2/8/08)
SCORERS: Alex Szanto, Andrew Meikle
Welcome back team – another win - this time 2-0 over West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook. Great to have all the team back together again and looking as strong as ever. We had a tough match on our hands today with the opposition putting on a very strong show. They were very determined to win, they obviously wanted a shot at the Grand Final, but…. so did we!
Time was dragging on and we were well into the second half with not a goal in sight – you could feel the tension in the air – were we going to go down to a draw or even worse, a loss? Finally and to everyone’s relief Alex came up with the goods – it didn’t look like it was going to go in but it bounced over their goalie’s head and in it went – you could hear the crowd roar clear across Dural, it was THE BEST goal and boy did we need it. A few minutes later Andrew picked up the ball and put our second one in the corner of the net. Fantastic job guys, but next time we REALLY would appreciate it if you don’t wait so long to score, your poor manager and coach were having some very, shall we say, “anxious moments” as were most of the parents!! Once again the better team prevailed and well done to Callum who earned Man of the Match for a very solid and well played match.

Week 12 (21/6/08) played 26/7/08
A not so good result to report today – an unfortunate 3 nil loss to Putney. This was always going to be a very tight game made even more difficult with so many of our players still away on holidays. Putney scored two goals early in the first half and then one more at the end of the second half which means they win the Premiership competition. But – it’s not over yet!!!! We have the Championship Round to look forward to next.
Our team seemed to take a little bit of time to come together in the first half but when they did we saw some outstanding play – Mitchell doing a sterling job in goal, Andrew trying everything to score those elusive goals (what about the one that hit the post!!!) Matt Burke holding up really well in the back with lots of help from Eden and Daniel L. Zechariah had a blinder of game – a terrific performance! Adam played his heart out today as did Alex and Brodie. A great game Alex and congratulations on being awarded Man of the Match. A huge performance from our borrowed players Charlie Witt, Dale Shepherd, Harry Rivers and Kadison Danckert, helping out all over the field – a BIG thank you once again guys for being there, you were all fantastic.
Next week will see us all back on board and able to focus on winning the Grand Final!

Week 4 (26/4/008) played 19/7/08
SCORERS : Andrew Meikle (4), Alex Szanto (2), Maddison Hardy(2), Charlie Witt, Dale Shepherd
OK – now that was nothing short of fantastic – a huge 10 nil win over Thornleigh. It was a big ask – we told the boys that we would like to have a 10 nil win today and that’s exactly what we got – AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, BRILLIANT!! We had to borrow 3 players today who helped (in no small way) in our success today – “THANK YOU” Joshua McAdam, Charlie Witt and Dale Shepherd – you were just wonderful and very generous in offering to help us out today. It took Andrew 7 minutes to score the first goal today and we were not at all sure that this was shaping up to be a high scoring game. The opposition had a couple of very nippy little forwards who were very threatening. Then our team came together, a second shot from Alex, a third from Dale and a fourth from Andy made it 4 nil at half time. Things were starting to look up! Only six to go – could we do it?? Of course we could…..
Second half saw Andrew score twice in a row, then another from Alex, then one from Charlie and just to finish off – two more from Maddison. I couldn’t believe it – we had actually managed 10 goals and even better, conceded none. The game play was fantastic – controlled passing, excellent defence, tons of goals, just magic to watch. Thanks boys, you made my (and everyone else’s) day today and to date this is the highest scoring game of the season for the 13/3’s. Maddison – you were great, thanks for those two at the end, you well deserved “Man”? of the Match – congratulations.

Week 3 (19/4/08) - played 12/7/08
We win again, except not quite the kind of win we expected with West Ryde Rovers forfeiting the game due to lack of players! We understand how they must feel as school holidays is a notoriously difficult time for a lot a soccer clubs. We even had to arrange to borrow three under 12/5 players to help us out, so I imagine that they, along with our boys, were most disappointed at not being able to play. Never mind, we win, get 3 points and 3 goals. A big thank you to the parents of the 12/5’s for offering to help us out and hopefully our boys will be back on the pitch, in winning form, next Saturday.

Week 14 (5/7/08)
SCORERS : Andrew Meikle (2), David Koleth
Another win – this time 3-1 over Carlingford Redbacks. It was a fairly ordinary start to the first half with the Redbacks only able to field 10 players which should have made our job a lot easier, but it became apparent that this wasn’t going to be the case. We were down two players with Alex away and Daniel Lim having fractured his wrist (hope its not too serious Daniel). We also didn’t expect to see Daniel K. as he has been ill, but wild horses couldn’t keep him away and he played a great first half but then decided he had to call it quits as he wasn’t feeling the best. David scored the first goal of the match about half way into the first half which was pretty exciting, but as first halves go it was pretty uneventful.
After a short break and a change of goalie we hoped that the boys would be really revved up and out to win. The next goal came from Andrew off some great passes. Then the Redbacks struck and managed to sneak the ball into the net. One more goal from Andrew put us in a more comfortable position and we held the lead until full time. Clayton, as usual, had a rock solid game and really held up the back line today and was accordingly awarded Man of the Match for his efforts. Great job Clayton! So it was a good win even if it wasn’t the most exciting match we have ever had. As usual the team held together and came up with their 10th win out of 11 games played – not bad guys!

Week 13 (28/6/08)
SCORERS : Andrew Meikle (5), Matthew Hobson (2)
And I thought last week was a high scoring game – this wasn’t just a win, it was amazing – 7 nil over West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook. Who would have thought that this would be the outcome after a very ordinary (not to mention chilly) start, obviously it took our boys a little time to warm up. It as looking pretty dismal at half time with Andrew having scored our one and only goal and the opposition giving us a hard time on the pitch. The game looked like it could go either way.
Maybe it was something Gavin said at half time, but the guys came back on fire! Andrew went on to score four in a row which was pretty amazing and then Matthew Hobson scored two more. The crowd was going nuts! The backs were very solid and our forwards seemed to be just in the right place at the right time the whole match. It was a fantastic effort from the whole team considering we had to play over a raised cricket pitch in the middle of the field as well. It was a sound win over the team that is coming third on the table – not a bad effort guys. Man of the Match went to Matt Hobson for rounding off the game nicely with those two goals and bringing our total number of goals scored this season to a fantastic 34!!! Well done Matt.

Week 11 (14/6/08)
SCORERS : Alex Szanto, Andrew Meikle (3), Own goal (Maddison Hardy)
Another win – when will it ever end? A very high scoring game, 5-3 over Thornleigh. This is the first time we have played this team as our first match with them was washed out. They proved to be very worthy opponents even though they are in second last position on the table. It all started out very well with Andrew scoring the first goal and then Maddison assisted in the opposition scoring an own goal and rounded off with Alex scoring making it 3 nil. Perhaps we then let our guard down as Thornleigh managed to put away 2 goals in a row, finishing up 3-2 at half time.
Back on the pitch for the second half saw Thornleigh put away a third goal – we were 3 all and could hardly believe it. This went on for the most of the second half with both teams vying to score the 4th and winning goal. It seemed like an eternity but at long last Andrew came through with the goal we needed to put us one ahead and then, just seconds before the whistle blew, he managed one more to secure the match. It was an amazing game considering we were down 4 players due to illness and also considering how cold it was and how tired the boys must have been with no time off the pitch. Zechariah took a big boot to his knee, but to his credit he continued to play when he probably should have come off to recover, this and great play earned him Man of the Match this week.

SCORERS : David Koleth, Andrew Meikle, Own goal (Alex Santo)
And another win 3-1 (should have been 4 but we were disallowed the last goal) over West Ryde Rovers who turned out to be quite a strong team and kept our team (and parents) under a lot of pressure today. They had two VERY BIG players who would have easily been at home on an under 16 team and towered over our boys and made it a bit tricky for the not so tall members of our team. But, nonetheless we managed a sound win with David (as usual) putting in the first goal, this was then followed by an own goal which came off one of Alex’s corners, with a scuffle in front of their goal the ball somehow found the boot of a WRR player who put it in the net for us. A third goal from Andrew saw us up 3 nil at half time, but we still had to keep on our toes.
Mitchell was replaced by Matt Burke as goalie in the second half and both played really well. Unfortunately WRR took the opportunity to score a goal making it 3-1. A little later on Andrew scored again (which didn’t look offside at all- not to us anyway) but it was disallowed by the ref. It was a tough second half and with Eden unable to continue playing due to a sore foot and Zechariah not with us, it was hard work for our boys to make sure WRR didn’t score any more goals which they were very much threatening to do. Anyway, in the end it was a great win with heaps of effort from Daniel K. who was awarded Man of the Match – well done Daniel.

Game 9 (31/5/08)
SCORERS : David Koleth, Andrew Meikle (3)
We win again! Boy, hope we can keep this up – very exciting!! A great win today over Epping YMCA with, oddly enough, exactly the same score we beat them by the first time we played them at West Epping. David did his usual trick by scoring the first goal mere seconds after kick off followed up by another beauty by Andrew. We were 2 – 0 at half time and feeling very confident.
The second half saw another great shot from Andrew and calls from his team mates to make it a hat trick paid off with him scoring his third tremendous goal, bringing us to a 4 – 0 victory. As usual the team came together brilliantly with players like Zech, Eden, the 2 Matthew’s, Callum and others on fire today. Adam took a big hit to the ribs when he stopped the ball from going into the net with his body and yes it did hurt! We’ll be checking for a large bruise a little later on. Mitchell finished the game suitably dirty, but man of the match had to go to Andrew for his “three in a row”, well done Andrew.

Game 8 (24/5/08)
SCORERS : Alex Szanto, David Koleth, Andrew Meikle
And another win – 3-2 over Hills Hawks, except, this one wasn’t quite as easy as others have been. We got off to an excellent start when awarded a penalty after Andrew was tripped over in the box. Alex took the shot, cool calm and collected as always and the ball flew past their goalie into the back of the net Our next goal was an excellent pass by Brodie to David who took the opportunity to make it 2-0 at half time.
The second half goal was the header of the season! Only a few seconds after kick off Andrew leapt off the ground and struck the ball perfectly and very firmly into their goal – it was an outstanding move, wish we had a camera for that one. We were feeling good 3 nil up but the game was not over yet and Hills Hawks were a very determined team and they had a number of very strong players. Things started to heat up when they managed to score not one but two goals late into the second half. The fight was on to keep our winning position and the boys were under enormous pressure. But to their credit they held up and kept the opposition at bay. The whistle finally blew (seemed to take FOREVER) and the boys were ecstatic and relieved they had managed to keep the lead. Man of the match went to Brodie for a game well played and that superb pass. Well done once again guys!

Game 7 (17/5/08)
SCORERS: Alex Szanto,David Koleth(own goal?)
And yet another win to this amazing team, 2 – 0 over Carlingford Redbacks. Well played once again guys. Our first goal from Alex about 15 minutes into the first half was a terrific start. Then a little later on David struck the ball straight at their goalie, but instead of picking it up their goalie kicked it but misread how much spin was on the ball and it flew into the net! That made it 2-0 nil at half time which was a good place to be.
We had a change of goalie in the second half with Matt Burke taking over (and very enthusiastically I might add), giving Mitchell a well deserved run. The second half was a little tougher with our forwards finding it difficult to get past their defence line and even with a lot of running and passing the score didn’t change. Alex really shone today with some absolute ripper corners – they were awesome. Eden also played exceptionally well today and well deserved to be awarded Man of the Match. Well done boys.

Game 6 (10/5/08)
SCORERS: David Koleth, Andrew Meikle, Zechariah Hough
Well that was another fantastic game everyone, a very solid 3 – 1 win over West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook this morning. The first goal was a ripper which occurred in less than 30 seconds from kick-off. David got the ball from an excellent pass and took a shot at goal from the corner and in it went! Everyone did a double take and I’m sure most of us wondered if it had actually happened. It left their goalie scratching his head in disbelief! And as if that wasn’t good enough, another fantastic goal from Andrew saw us up 2 nil at half time.
The boys were full of confidence and on fire in the second half and really showed who was the better team with excellent passing and defence work. Another ripper of a goal off the boot of Zechariah saw us at 3 nil and unassailable. To their credit the opposition did manage a goal late in the second half and put on a bit of a scramble to catch up but it was all too late. It was a truly excellent game and Mitchell (our fantastic goalie) was made Man of the Match – well done Mitchell.

Game 5 (3/5/08)
SCORERS: Andrew Meikle (2)
A very exciting and close match today, which unfortunately ended in a 3-2 loss to Putney Rangers. Both sides were fairly evenly matched and we knew from the start that it was going to be very tight. The Rangers scored the first goal about 15 minutes into the first half but we managed to come back at them shortly after with a great goal from Andrew. Second half saw us at 1 all and we took to the field with great enthusiasm, but Putney struck again 2-1! Then wouldn’t you know, Andrew managed another goal - 2 all - and the crowd was going nuts!
Both teams were on fire and determined to score the winning goal. They both fought hard right up until the end, but it wasn’t to be our day because, with about 5 minutes to go, Putney scored the winning goal and we simply didn’t have time to get back at them.
It was a terrific game and our team played brilliantly. Great job boys! Man of the Match went to Adam for some excellent marking in the right back position. Well done Adam.