Around the Grounds
It was Westside merchandise day at the grounds this weekend, with caps, bucket hats and hoodies all on sale at the BBQ tent!
It was a perfect Winter’s Day with the sun shining and as always, plenty of smiling faces on the pitch enjoying some great games of soccer!
U7 Geckos
The Geckos had a good win against the MFC Gold Coast team this week.
They are playing well as a team, spreading out and making nice passes which scored them a win for this round.
Sergio won the Player of the Day award for good running, passing and defending.
U8 Bees
The Bees were away at Grange for a warm 10am kick-off on a fine sunny morning. Woody was out hurt, and Arch just came along for support. So we just had the one sub today.
The Bees were in control early, Harrison & Will patrolling the halfway line ensured the ball firmly stayed near Grange’s goal.
Ollie, Beau and Max had opportunities up front but the tight defense made shooting hard, Max eventually got a clean shot on goal and scored.
Halftime, 1 nil to the Bees. Oranges & watermelon recharge, followed by some lolly snakes kept the boys buzzing for the second half.
In goal Ben hadn’t seen much ball, but when called upon provided nice quick rollouts to his teammates. Eddie defended well through the middle and tried a header to successfully keep the ball out. A couple more chances fell for Beau, and later James from an excellent pass by Ollie, but not enough to trouble the Grange keeper who used his hands well and kicked over halfway providing constant breakaway threats.
The halftime snakes seemed to work, as the Bees retained their buzz to defend their lead out for another tight one-goal win.
Next week the Bees are away against their round 1 opponents – Mitchelton – who won 4-0 against a very new Bees team at the time. The Bees have improved a lot as a team this season, so it should be a good challenge!
Player of the Day awards this week went to Harrison – excellent defending, and some good runs forward; and Will – equally excellent defending keeping the ball away from our goal
U8 Hornets
The Hornets were on the road at the Grange this week and were lucky enough to do a warm-up with their fellow Westside Bees who were playing next to them.
There was a full complement of Hornets in the nest this week and the boys started the game well after having a solid training session during the week. Some nice passing from the midfield out to the edge from Mika and Fitzy, dribbling down the wing from Archie and Harper and crossing back to the middle saw the Hornets score a couple of nice goals in the first half.
Ned was solid in goals and made some nice quick plays to his backs, whilst Jasper as always never let a ball past him in defence.
The Grange never gave up and the Hornets went up 3-2 late in the second half. It was a tense final few minutes with plenty of shots on goal from the Grange, however, Patty wasn’t letting one past him. The Hornets came away with the win at the final whistle!
The ‘Kickin Chicken’ award went to Edgar this week who was solid in defence and also tried his luck up front, with Attis and Cooper receiving the HJs awards for great effort all game.
U9 Brumbies
The Brumbies played their second fixture against the Gap and after going down in their first encounter, were looking to improve!
It was a well fought match, with the ball moving nicely up and down the field from both teams with the final score finish 1-1.
Emily and Lily took away the Player of the Day Awards this week!
U9 Dingoes
Last Saturday saw us away to Bardon – a team who handed us our biggest loss of the year so far in the early rounds.
The Dingoes started well with the team stringing together some great phases and camping in the opposition half for the first 20 minutes – peppering the opposition keeper and hitting the woodwork on multiple occasions.
Losing a bit of shape in our hunt for a goal, Bardon was persistent and took the lead into the halftime break 2-nil with a long-range effort and getting first to the ball from some great saves.
Heads started to drop after Bardon put away a third from a penalty, but to the credit of the boys, they didn’t quit.
Finally getting some shape we pressured hard and got one back from some great play through the centre with Toby finishing in trademark fashion.
With only minutes left, TJ knocked the perfect corner finding Toby again with a commanding header finding the back of the net.
The crowd was wild and the team pushed for the equaliser but ran out of time.
One of our best games of the season and the Dingoes should be proud of themselves.
This week’s Player of the Day award went to Braxton for his game of the season in defence.
Max received this week’s training award for continual improvement and a positive attitude.
U10 Wallabies
The Wallabies were at home this week against local club Pine Hills Pythons. After a rainy game last week, it became clear that the boys do their best work in the sunshine!
The Wallabies were pumped from the get-go, with a cracking goal from Remy 5 minutes in. This was followed by goals from Dash and Rhys. The team put a lot of pressure on Pine Hills with plenty of shots at goal in the first half, which just missed the mark. The boys showed off their developing skills with lots of passing and talking to each other.
The 2nd half started with the score 3-0 to the Wallabies. The boys continued their strong gameplay in the final 25 minutes, with multiple shots at goal from Remy which were saved by the Pine Hills goalkeeper. Benson found the net in the dying minutes of the game, which was just awesome, as it was his final game of the season due to an upcoming holiday. Just before the whistle, Pine Hills scored, bringing the final score to 4-1.
It was probably the game of the season so far for the Wallabies. All the boys could have taken home an award, but Players of the Day went to Ben, for execution in goal during the first half, and Ethan, for always being in position and doing his job.
The team will miss Benson for the last 3 games as he is away with his family. Thanks, Benson, for your amazing defence, incredible power kicks down the line and great attitude!! See you at Presentation Day!
U10 Wolves
The Wolves were up against the Caboolture Cobras at home this Saturday. The team was in a buoyant mood prior to the match given the fact that they secured a solid 10 – 1 win against them at the start of the season.
The boys did not disappoint, they’re now chasing 100 goals for the end of the season, so it was all out attack. Alex was first out of the blocks with a really solid strike on goal, he ended up scoring 2 just missing out on a hat trick. Alex has progressed very well this season, moving from Central defence into a more attacking midfield role, having a huge impact in controlling the middle of the park and setting up plays.
As usual, Eli and Finn, who are basically neck and neck in terms of goals scored for the season, cleaned up again. Both securing hattrick’s. This was largely due to the excellent wing play again from the back lines, Fraser and Max, feeding the attacking wingers. Dexter was on fire whipping balls in from the right wing, using his strength and excellent ball control to keep possession on push into spaces.
Jack was also playing extremely well on the left-hand side – you can tell he has been practising his skills – excellent ball control and great striking of the ball. He picked up 2 goals. Noah and George also picked up a goal apiece – both doing excellent in midfield.
James was near faultless again, making really good decisions in the centre-back position, clearing the ball and also running into spaces and setting up plays. Given the comfortable position at half-time, Landon came out on the pitch to play in midfield, you can tell the training he has done with Ritz has paid off – he definitely held his own.
The final score was 12 – 1, meaning the Wolves are now on 85 goals for the season, with 3 games to go.
