U10 BTH ‘Bears’ (1) 3 vs Curl Curl ‘Geckos’ (2) 2
After all the rainy days, the sun came out to brighten up Bambara. Following a brisk warm-up that included a mud roll stretch, the Bears got the brief to just have fun and to enjoy the game.
Off the whistle blows, game on. Both sides pushing forward to score and defending with great gusto, both teams had waited too long for a dry day. Ten minutes in, Curly Geckos score from a well struck corner kick. Bears pressed forward but got caught on the counter again, small mistake failed to clear and a sneaky Gecko got a shot away to score. The mighty bears pressed forward an on half time Laura, who missed half of the season with a broken arm popped up and scored her season opening goal.
Couple of changes at Half-time saw young Will in goals, keeping the Bears in the game with a handful of brave saves and quick reactions by playing the ball out wide. Curly Gecko keeper, kept the bears at bay when he pulled off 2 great saves. Was it going to be a goalkeepers’ day? It wasn’t enough though, Lucas found himself put into space and obliged by scoring the equaliser. The game is level and with 5 minutes left to play, something special was about to happen. The Bears won possession and pushed forward, only to be denied by the big boot of the curly fullback. Liam took a gentle touch to control the ball and send a great pass out wide to Sarah, who then found some space to run inside, she put in a simple pass to Elliot, flick back to Reese who put in the killer pass to Lucas.
Bang-Kaboom …. GOAL GOAL GOAL! Winner Winner ‘Honest Chicken’ dinner for Lucas, our player of the day and the Bears.
A great comeback win for the Bears, who after been moved up a division have been unlucky to find themselves on the losing end the past couple of games. The takeaway from this game, was the enthusiasm, skill levels and sportsmanship coming from both teams.
WU9 Rubies v Narrabeen Sapphires Won 3-0
The Rubies got their first win in four games with a solid performance at Boondah. The Rubies dominated the first half but couldn't break a strong Sapphires back line. The deadlock was broken however early in the second half when Olivia went on a strong run down the left wing and managed to finish from a tight angle. Olivia doubled her's and the Rubies' tally shorty after with a shot from the right after some great approach play from Zoe who had a cracking game. Leah finished the scoring following a mazy end to end run down the left. It was a great team performance. Abi took out the Player of the Week award for holding her position well, especially in defence and taking her time on the ball. Lauren had a great second half outfield after doing her part to keep the clean sheet in the first half, while in goal.
WU10 Sapphires V Harbord Sapphires 16-0 Win to BTH!
AL2
We’ve added 4 more points to the tally, retained a top 4 position in the Ressies and have moved clear in 1st position at the top of the table! Let’s keep it going! RESSIES The Ressies faced a Beacon Hill side on Saturday sitting just below us on the table, so it was vital to get a good result against them. They came out strongly just like the first time we played them, but some very good pressing by us in defence put them under pressure and gave us a lot of chances early on, we just couldn’t put them away. We went into halftime 0-0 after a solid half. Second half followed a similar story, we had a clear dominance of possession and more shots at goal, but we were just short. A break in play from Aidan’s injury left for an intense finish, as we pressed hard for the win but the game was to stay 0-0. Overall it was a great result, not only another clean sheet but the draw meant we kept the 3 point buffer above Beacon Hill who are just below us in 5th. If we can continue building momentum going into the end of the season we can secure our top 4, bring on Forrey next week! FIRSTS Both teams started the match with a level of intensity that reflected the joint 1st place position on the table. Beacon came out the stronger of the two teams and launched a few decent shots on goal, which were magnificently saved by Big Mike in goals! We settled ourselves after the opening 10 minutes and started to dominate the midfield through Lachy and our newest player Jason (welcome to the squad)! 20 minutes in and Mauritizio battled hard on the left and after turning the Beacon boys inside out, he unexpectedly crossed a beautifully positioned ball to the opposite side of the box, which Kieran latched onto and volleyed into the back of the net. Both teams created a few more chances, and unfortunately, one of the Beacon strikers slipped through and equalised half an hour into the first half. 5 minutes before half time, a corner kick was centered in the box, and a melee ensued … the ball ricocheted off the cross bar, hit the keeper, hit the post, hit a Beacon player, was swiped at by one of our boys and then eventually, Kieran headed it in from half a metre away with a diving header! 2-1 at the break! An inspiring team talk from the gaffa saw the lads focused and keen to retain the lead. It was a very tight game from there and the mounting pressure was showing. The Beacon crowd were getting more and more frustrated as their team were unable to capitalise on a few good plays. A couple more narrow misses and the crowd and the Beacon bench were howling at the Referee. With 15 minutes to go, a trademark long throw from the Captain, glanced off a Beacon defender’s head and he scored an own goal. In the final 10 minutes, Beacon pushed almost every player into our half, desperately trying to get something from the game and it paid off with 5 minutes to go, and they scored their second goal. A tightening of defensive shape and we held them off for the last 5 minutes to seal all 3 points!