Finals Round 2 - 11/8/7

No score, but we could have got it 3-0, one shot on post, one missed point blank, one ruled out due to someone else being offside (would have been my 5th goal of the season too you jerks. Wait til I find out who it was…).

First time (in three meetings) we havent had to carry any injured players off. See how it goes against them next week in the final.

Finals Round 1 - 4/8/7

Playing everyone in correct positions makes two goals difference. Hmmmm….

Game 10 28/7/07 (postponed from 16/6/07)

Round 9 - 22/7/7

Scorers: Chris -2, Nick, Fish, Wes, Pete

What a difference having subs makes. That and the fact that more than half the team were playing in their proper positions. But to the game. I would like to start off by saying that 9am on Sunday mornings should not exist at all, let alone to be outside and running around in. Nevertheless, we managed to pull out one of our best games of the season so far, and early pressure saw Nick get a goal to start us off. He then turned provider for Chris’ inch perfect header to double the lead. Displaying some brilliant passing football, Jesse and Heman continued to fashion chances and we kept the lion’s share, or should I say the Puma’s share [/bad joke] of possession throughout the game. Just before halftime, Fish (playing game 3 out of 4 for the weekend) stumbled the ball across the line from close range, and we felt confident at halftime.

The second half saw Redbacks come at us strongly, with Ranen making some fancy saves using some choice selections from his diving repertoire to keep the clean sheet, ably helped by a strong backline, including Howard making his debut at centreback. Pete and Roger at fulbacks distributed the ball well to keep Jason and Wes with plenty of action on the wings, with Wes cutting in field, beating 3 players before pulling out an unstoppable shot from longrange for his first goal of the season. Then it was Pete’s turn for his first goal as we dispatched a penalty Jason had won with his marauding run. At 5 up we slowed down a little and let them attack a bit more, to their credit Redbacks played the whole game at full commitment and in good spirit. But a quick breakaway through Erik and Scott from the AA/14s saw Scott put Chris through for his second of the game.

Big thanks to Scott, Fish and Erik for filling in for us. Now for next week, and hold on to our one point lead and hopefully win the Premiership next week.

Round 14 - 14/7/7

What a difference a week makes. After having one of our best games, we just had one of our worst. Despite missing 4 players (and having one more injured early one in the game), this week we had planned on borrowing players from the AA14 team playing before us. But no, the weather provided us with the two clouds necessary for us to have no home game and go earlier to another oval, thus removing all hopes of fielding a full team. Also having no ref allowed the intimidation stakes to be raised a little higher, but on the day our luck seemed to run out. A solitairy shot on target (well I say on target, it just scraped in off the far post) resulted in a goal conceded in the first half, some good chances of our own were foiled at the last second up the other end. But the longball tactics of the opposition won out against our backline consisting of two regulars, the ensuing reshuffle saw only a couple of our players playing in their normal positions. But yeah, we are still in the lead, thats some consolation.

Round 13 - 7/7/7

Scorers: Jesse, Herman

Round 12 - 30/6/7

Scorers: Simon -2, Chris, Heman

Our second meeting against Eastwood turned out to be much better than last time, when the biggest shock result of the division so far had resulted in our only loss of the campaign. However this time, the 1st vs last battle had a truer ring to it, and us having our players turn up before halftime helped too. Early pressure saw Jesse thread a great ball through the defence for Chris to slot calmly past the keeper. We welcomed back Ranen after 7 weeks out, and he made some confident saves, but our slack defending saw the teams go in level at halftime.
The second half however saw us eventually take control, as Nick’s cross found Heman via Chris to put away his shot. More chances were created through Jason and Wes on the wings, and Eastwood’s danger men were shackled by our defenders, with Steve in particular having a great game. Simon put the icing on the cake with two goals to give the scoreline a more convincing look, and we stay in first place.

Round 11 - 23/6/7

Scorers: Chris -2, Roger

Another bruising encounter with our nearest competitors, but one we maybe should not have let slip as we went ahead both 1-0 and 3-1 only for injuries to play their part and contribute to losing the lead. Especially with a dubious call for their equalising goal at the end (not as much as their last minute penalty the last time we met though). Oh, and Chris got kicked over and punched out. No cards though. Good thing he had already got his two goals, both set up by some good work down the wing from Wes.
But it was at the start of the game, with Roger changing leftback for leftwing due to our late-comers, showing great resolve to put away his first goal for the season. Special mentions also to Tom, instigating several attacks down the wing, Simon for shutting down players in the middle, Jason for his first yellow and Wes for his assists.
Also Howard’s valiant effort in goals, as he became the 5th player to have played goalie for us this season.

Round 8 - 2/6/7

Scorers: Nick, Chris, Steve Morsillo

Same score as the round 1 game against these guys, but a very different team having taken to the field. Due to injuries Herman made his debut in goals not having played there since… ever? We also had to call on Fish, Brendan and Steve from the AA18s who did an awesome job helping out, Steve getting on the scoresheet for our second goal.
The game started brightly with Nick getting close enough from a Simon special corner that not even he could miss to put us up within the opening minutes. The game had plenty of attacking moves from both teams, and Simon turned provider again for Steve M to chip the keeper. 2-0 at half time.
In the second half a miscommunication in the defence saw Kenthurst get one back, but a marauding late run from Steve Jurd saw Heman’s square ball trickled in via Chris’ deflection. Despite carrying numerous niggling injuries into the game, I think the fact that Herman was in goals made us all defend a lot harder. Next week should be fun though, 9am start.

Round 7 - 26/5/7

Scorers: Andrew -2, Howie, Herman

A very impassioned but well refereed game played by two teams with energy to spare started less than convincing for us and we were on the back foot for the first ten minutes. After weathering the early pressure though we were able to take the game to Hawks and fashioned some chances with Howie and Wes on the wings, Wes making his return after 5 weeks overseas. However it took until late in the half for a long freekick from Dan to be scrambled in by Andrew for his first goal of the season. This was shortly followed by an attack on one of our players by a Hawk right in front of the ref who showed him the red card. 1-0 at half time.
The second half again saw Hawks come out strongly, and narrowly missed several chances. A few more hotheaded moments resulted in a couple of yellows, but towards the end Howard set off on a run and rifled a shot into the net to put us 2 up. A good cross was then turned in at close range by Andrew for his second of the game, and Herman got a header in to make it 4-0 as requested in our pre-game prayer. A big thanks to Scott from the AA14s for filling in for us.

Round 6 - 20/5/7

Scorers: Chris, Heman, Jesse

A dodgy start saw us go down 0-1 within the first minute and again a bit later on, but we fought back [twice] with Simon making some great crosses for Chris and Heman to make sure we went in level at half time. A cagey second half was resolved with an inch perfect freekick from Jesse returning us to winning ways. Still lots to work on as our defenders were left isolated too much, but what a difference a good ref makes. Big thanks to Tim for filling in at goals the last two weeks, and Dave for today.

Round 5 - 12/5/7

No comment. Apart from pointing out that Glenorie oval is obviously a mini’s field.

Round 4 - 5/5/7

Scorers: Herman, Nick

Our first points dropped in the season . Early pressure paid off with the “To brothers” combining with Jason playing a great cross for Herman to finish with a header. A stray corner saw Nick head goalwards only for a Rovers player to head it past his goalie for us to go 2-0 up. However a defensive lapse saw them get one back before halftime.
With minutes to go we were made to regret all our spurned chances from earlier as somehow a penalty was given against us. Several of our players left the field injured. Luckily for them this time it paid off and the ref gave them two goes at the penalty and it finished level. C’est la vie. We are still first.

NW

Round 3 - 28/4/7

Scorers: Chris, Jason, Nick, Heman

Hooray, our 3-1 jinx is broken! Our unbeaten record did look to be in danger for a while as Putney had us on the ropes for the opening part of the game, and their pressure paid off as they took the lead. Once we woke up though, we took the game back and Howard’s low ball across the box saw Chris slide in an equalise. He followed this up shortly with a brilliant heeled pass for Jason to “To”-bash home and put us in the lead at half time.
The second half was more of the same, with our defence and Steve and Pete in particular shackling the opposition forwards. The chances were continuing to be made up front, even allowing Nick to score a left-footer in a scramble in the box. The 3-1 jinx loomed large, but we fought (literally at times as the game got more heated) and were rewarded with Heman controlling well in the box and getting the magical fourth.
A good game with three more players getting their first goals of the season, making it 10 goals from 7 different players. Now outright first on the table. Booyah

NW