Scores, goal scorers, match reports.

Under 11: Bye

Under 13: AUSC(2) 11-0 Gawler (Hannah (5), Loredana(2), Daphnie(2), Georgia, Sara)

 

Under 13: AUSC(1) 0-3 Para Hills East

Third Division: AUSC 1-1 Western Strikers (Kate Nelligan)
With the junior coaching starving fro ma long morning of yelling and thinking about missed breakfast, both departed to collect some healthy food from the local greasery aka McDonalds, upon arriving back the match reporter was clueless as to the starting line up. Also the continuous issue of learning names was als oplaguing his ability to decipher Kevin "It’s not a bald spot it’s a solar panel" Holohan’s formation. By looks of it, Kevin stuck with the standard, goal keeper in goals, 3 at the back with a sweeper sitting in behind them, 4 midfielders and 2 up front. I think it’s called a 4-4-2 formation.

Zeena lined up in goals again, looking more and more confident with each game she gets under her belt as a keeper. Shona and Genelle lined up as teh central defensive pairing, with one sitting deeper as the sweeper. The wide backs were Penne on the left, and sorry can’t rememebr who was wide on the right. In midfield….um, Ruth on the left? and 3 other players some where, wow I was obviously paying a lot of attention this week. Oh and Emily was upfront.

The condition of the pitch dominated the play as opposed to the individual skill of the players, as was to be expected given torrential rain that had been falling for 3 days. Kevin kept the subs rotating in order to keep the legs on the pitch fresh, where as as Western Strikers began to tire more and more as the game progressed. Move of the game occured when Wmily recieved the ball in the centre of the pitch 20 yards out from goal, took a touch, looked up, spotted a wide runner, put a lovely through ball between centre back and full back, wide runner crosses from goal line…..Kate Nelligan finishes from the 6 yard box, GOAL! Beautiful, a lovely team move rewarded in the best way possible. At some point the opposition also scored, can’t remember what happend, all the matches are kind of blurring together in my mind at the moment. Shona and Genelle worked hard at the back, often roving left and right and up the pitch to cut off attacks at the half way line before they could even began, well done girls. Penne usesd her pace to perfection when playing out wide to chase after attacking wingers to keep them under pressure. Upfront Emily hada few opportunites, and missed a one on one opportuity with the keeper (you were cursed, wearing number 7 is a sure fire way to not score too many goals, consider it’s my number and my scoring record is 1 goal in 4 years). Margaux worked hard in the centre of the park as did Kate. Overall the girls have much to be proud for and should thank the pitch, which saved us a couple of times when the Western Strikers’s err strikers were through on goal only to have the ball stop dead in the mud or for a foot to slip. The strong start to the season continues, onwards to victory Blacks. I’ll bring an otepad out for the next game so I can take notes or maybe I’ll pay more attention.

First Division: AUSC 0-1 Para Hills East
Wow, before I begin this report or whatever it can be classified, it needs to be said, the results so far for the first team do not do justice to the performances put in by the players. Coaching magician Javier made several more changes to the starting line up with further experimentation of players in different positions. Kathryn returned to goals this week with half a leg, in front of her was the formidable tackling duo of Rachel and Lia. Playing ad wide full backs were Liz and Zena (spelt correctly this week). Sprightly Celina was playing on the left wing, and her partner in crime was Dutch import Monique, with the centre of midfield being run by Rosie and Madeline. Up front was the crazy duo of Stephanie and Skye.

Looking at the water logged swampy muddy pitch infest with crocodiles and snakes, it was immediately evident, that the game was going to be a tough battle, not just against the opposition but also against the elements. To prove this point, Mother Nature gave us 5 minutes of sunshine in which team photos were taken, promptly followed by 10 minutes of torrential horizontal rain. Many a mobile phone got wet and water damaged, luckily the $2000 camera didn’t. With the heavens opening up the starting 11 made a bee line for the marquee, only to realise they had to walk out in to the rain on the pitch and play soccer, much whinging ensued, mostly by the folks on the side lines, who discovered a marquee without sides offered no protection against horizontal rain.

The match began in earnest with the defenders ready to put in 20 metre slide tackles in earnest. As predicted the game was end to end with the ball barely controllable mostly due to the fact that a firm footing couldn’t be ensured. The Blacks as always didn’t result to typical Australian soccer though and tried to play the ball on the deck, using their flair, and short passing skills to work their way up the pitch. Unfortunately as previously mentioned what let them down was the required braking distance of 10m to come to a complete stop, but still there were beautiful passages of attacking play. Accidental brilliance of the day goes to Skye…again, go figure. TT came out wide on to the right flank (one of the only areas that was green), received the ball for her to run on to, looked up and passed down the line to Skye who had pulled out wide to call for the ball. Skye, miscalculated, over slid the mark, threw a foot at the ball, and got a very nice slice on the ball which allowed the ball to spin past the defender in her back, at which point she some how turned and was now running down the wing with the ball. Beautiful soccer, intentional or not, we’ll never know, but if it works, it works.

Para Hills East in contrast to the uni, was resulting to pumping it long down the middle and hoping for the best. What they didn’t count on though was the uni willing to put their bodies on the line to win the ball against their usually larger opposition. Rosie could often bee seen flying across the pitch either to land a tackle or bouncing 20 metres off an opposing player after getting crunched. Natasha "Tash" Meachin also was importation in her hard tacking and ball winning. Between the two of them, the midfield developed a never die attitude and went in for most 50 50 balls, culminating in Maddie flying in to a challenge and leaving the other player rolling around on the ground after accidental contact between shoulder and face. At the back Lia and Rachael were often forced to chase long balls pumped over them which they duly cleared out to the sides or put wide up the wings. One of the tackle of the games has to go to Lia, who put in a lovely slide tackle on a Para Hills player running on to a ball. Making solid contact with the ball, absolutely clean I should mention, the Para Hills player went flying in to the ground and begin moaning in pain. The Para Hills side line demanded a booking, the uni side lines told them to pipe down and learn the rules of soccer. So to help in this endeavour, I have a few definitions below for any Para Hills players reading.

Sliding Tackle: "A sliding tackle or slide tackle is a skill in football (soccer) in which a player attempts to take the ball away from an opposing player or to win a ball by deliberately leaving their feet and sliding along the ground with one leg extended to push the ball away."

Associated Fouls
-When a player tackles an opponent to gain possession of the ball, making contact with the opponent before touching the ball
-When a player in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or
-using excessive force, kicks or attempts to kick an opponent, trips or attempts to trip an opponent

Now in no rules of the game that I am aware of does it say tripping over the ball should earn you a free kick and the opposition a booking. Whinging by the opposition over, lecture from the referee done, with play resumed. Much of the same continued, Para Hills hoofs long down centre, Tash ,Rosie, Li, Rachael and Maddie tackle, play out wide, wingers looking for strikers, Para Hills hoofs long down centre (Para Hills coach yells something loud, Blacks supporters giggle), rinse and repeat.

Of course then the game changed….slightly, Para Hills hoofs down the centre, Maddie shoulders midfielder in face, offside striker gets ball, ball crosses goal line for corner kick, uni defence relaxes, Para Hills pass the ball to 6 yard box, head band wearer shoots….ball hits back of net, referee awards goal. Referee gets abused by angry players, Para Hills celebrates, uni supporters get angry. With 2 bad decisions costing us a goal, changes needed to be made. The uni switched to a 3-5-2, looking to get further up the pitch and get back on level terms. Time was the enemy and with time running out, the uni took a gamble and switched to a 2-5-3. The girls picked up the game, with Bridge the Midge and Skye working over time up front creating opportunities but never getting a clear chance to shoot. Uni were left to rue their missed chances and ill fortune when the game ended 0-1 down in an undeserved loss. Heads up girls, next week we’ll get the Uni Blacks Male Cheer Leading squad out, complete with short shorts and pom poms, and we’ll get that win we have deserved for the past 3 weeks. Special mentions must be given to Maddie, Tash, Lia, Rachael and Rosie. Kudos to the supporters on teh sidlines for braving the conditions, and the match reporter has learnt to not goad Biomedical students because revenge is a dish served cold apaprently.