Around the Grounds
Round 4 catch-up games from the wet weather earlier in the Season were played on the first weekend of the school holidays. A number of teams were down players so they did the best they could with the available players. It was great to see some of our younger players filling in for the older teams to help field a team or provide some reserves for the games.
U7 Goannas
The Goannas played a friendly against the Westside Geckos and found a few fill-ins for the game. Junior Coordinator, Shane, stepped into the Coaches role with Coach Anthony away for holidays, whilst U8 Hornets – Patty & Jasper and U8 Bees – Max & Will, joined Kayden and Elliot to form the Goannas team.
With the U8 boys getting involved, the Goannas and Geckos spread out over the pitch and made use of some good passing to move the ball around the field. The Goannas went into half-time with a couple of goals from Kayden and Elliot after a tough first half.
The second half saw the Geckos make a comeback with a few nice goals coming from Lucas, however, Kayden finished the game with 4 games to his name and the Goannas got the win in the end. For their massive efforts throughout the whole game, Kayden and Elliot took home the Player of the Day awards.
U8 Wasps
School holidays were kicked off with our second trip in a row to Albany Creek. Once everyone finally worked out confusing rules for spectators, we were underway.
It was another arm wrestle in the first half. Our best chance came when Blake was 1-on-1 with the keeper before being brought down from behind. In the second half, we were camped in defence, and it started to look like a game of AFL the amount of time we used our hands.
Ellis was a worthy recipient of this week’s Player of the Day award for his solid defence but ACE was ultimately the worthy victor.
U8 Hornets
The Hornets took on The Gap Aberdeen in an evenly fought-out match. We had Okinda from the U7 Geckos fill in for us this game with Ed away on holiday and Archie a last-minute casualty with a foot injury. It was good to see Archie in full kit to support his team though!
The Aberdeen boys had the size advantage over the Hornets, however, it did not scare the Hornets off from any challenges for the ball. Mika had his first attempt as goal-keeper in the first half and did an amazing job with saves and kick-outs, maintaining a clean sheet! After having DoC Greg take the boys for training during the week, they utilised the space on the field more in this game, spreading out and passing the ball to teammates. The score was nil-all at the half-time break.
Fitzy was our second-half goalie and followed in Mika’s gloves, making some great saves and finding his teammates with some quick goal kicks and throws. He also maintained a clean sheet for the half.
After some great attacking dribbles from Ned and Patty, a ball was crossed into the middle with Cooper finding the back of the net for his first goal of the Season. The Hornets finished the match 1-0 victors!
A solid effort again from our boys, with Attis and Jasper taking control of the defence and Harper, Ned, Cooper and Okinda working tirelessly to move the ball through the midfield. Patty, Fitzy and Mika were all over the pitch like usual, pushing hard up front in attack and getting back in defence to help out.
Great all round game Hornets!!
U9 Brumbies
The Brumbies took on Toowong at their home ground with one of the toughest matches to date, but the Brumbies fought hard.. they rallied through to halftime and played well as a team. Ruby was everywhere on the ball and some good breakaways were made by Lily and Freya. Strong defence in the 2nd half from Maia & Quinn and Emily showed courage to keep playing despite a solid knock to her ankle in the first half. Piper showed resilience in goal in the first half despite sun directly in her eyes and some strong saves by Amber in goal in 2nd half kept Toowong from further damage.
Amber and Ruby were awarded the Player of the Day awards for fantastic goalkeeping and being everywhere on the field when needed.. Toowong also said the Brumbies were their toughest opponents all season.. Well done girls!
U10 Wolves
The Wolves had a good hard-fought win on Saturday against Mitchelton Victory on their own stomping grounds. The Victory certainly posed a real challenge to the boys. After the Wolves scored an early goal through Noah, Victory soon answered in kind, and was repeatedly able to get through our defences. If it wasn’t for some brilliant saves by goalie Landon, the scoreboard would have looked very different.
The game was physical too, with the ref giving a Victory player a yellow card for going in “studs up” without apparent intent towards the ball. Dexter showed some really brave play, bearing the brunt of that physicality, which saw him collect a boot to the face late in the second half.
An inspired goal by Jack brought the score up to 2, and for a while, we were all on tenterhooks at 2-1. The boys kept it tight for the last few minutes and the final score was a 2-1 win to the Wolves.
Players of the Day went to Noah for sheer tenacity, and Max for his all-round Man of the Match Performance. Great effort from all the boys, who are more than holding their own against the bigger Clubs!
U12 Warriors
The Warriors were on the road to take on The Grange for their Round 4 catch-up match with a 2:30 pm kick-off. Like a number of teams, they were down on players and thankfully had Kai from the U11 Bears fill in for the game to give the team a substitute.
The first quarter of the game saw the Warriors stay competitive, however, didn’t find much space in attack and struggled to get any territorial advantage. Sam P, Flynn and Arlen worked hard through the midfield, with Eva directing Theo and Dash at the back and maintaining a solid defensive line. Sammy G kept the Warriors in the game with some amazing saves in goals, however, the Warriors went to the half-time break 2-nil down.
Lenox and Rhys had a quiet first half not seeing too much ball up front, however, they swapped into midfield for the second half and found themselves working hard moving through the middle half of the field in both attack and defence.
Flynn put his hand up to have a go-in goal in the second half, and the lack of reserves made for some very tired Warriors players, with the Grange scoring 4 second-half goals.
The Warriors put in some great effort during parts of the game with Sammy G taking home the Player of the Day award for his outstanding keeping efforts.
