Around the Grounds

It was a tough weekend of games for our Westside teams this week with a bag of mixed results. Some stiff opposition made it difficult for some of our teams to get the win – even though they tried their hardest!

Our teams will be looking to shrug off the losses and get wins back on the board this week for the first round of wet-weather catch-up games.

U7 Geckos

In Round 9 the Geckos played MFC Darwin. It was a slow start for the Geckos with hard opposition. As the game progressed our team started to create space and pass up the field.

There was good tackling and the Geckos finished with a hard-fought win. Bailey had a great game, great running down the line and he managed a long-range goal in the second half rewarding him with the Player of the Day Award. Well done team!

U8 Bees

A full-strength Bees team ventured a long way from their hive out to Moggill for a midday insect showdown with the Moggill Wasps.

The Bees started strong – with Beau and Max looking very dangerous upfront together and it wasn’t long before an alert Beau intercepted a goal kick to fire the Bees to 1-0 nil lead.

James narrowly missed a shot on goal, while Woody was looking dangerous in support up front. Beau was unlucky to be denied a second goal which was called back by the ref.

The ever-reliable Harrison and Will kept the Wasps out with strong tackles and nice passes up the wings. And when goalkeeper Ben was called upon a few times in the first half, he blocked all Wasp raids including a brave dive on a ball during a mad scramble in front of the box when the Wasps looked certain to score. Another clean sheet for Ben as the Bees led 1-0 at halftime.

Following a half-time orange and watermelon recharge the Bees started strong again, with Beau grabbing his second goal for a 2-0 lead. Ollie was looking quite dangerous upfront before an unusual Bees lapse gifted the Wasps a goal in front, and with renewed hope the Wasps scored a nice second goal to level 2-2 with 5 mins to play.

On top for most of the game the Bees didn’t deserve a draw, and the boys found some energy to mount a fight back! Some nice work from Max and Eddie ensured the ball stayed up front. Archer shot from distance which was blocked by the Wasps, but the rebound landed nicely for Archer to shoot again, this time passing the defender and keeper for the Bees to fly ahead 3-2 up.

2 mins to go ..Max broke away down the sideline and calmly shot past the keeper for a 4-2 finish. It was quite an exciting and entertaining game for the parents, and worth the drive – well done Bees!

Coaches’ awards:

Beau – excellent running all game during the midday heat, and two nice goals.

Ben – excellent first half clean sheet, and brave save. Excellent support and sideline cheering for his team mates too.

Ollie – nice positioning up front, unlucky not to score in the second half, and demonstrated shielding from training.

Archer – his first goal of the season, and great positioning and support play.

U8 Wasps

On Saturday the Wasps travelled to Albany Creek for the first of two games in a row there.  It was another glorious winter day and once everyone found the right field we were away. A tight first half saw us eating oranges down 0-1… the frame of the goal denying us a first half goal!

Blake picked up the Player of the Day award for his tireless efforts and positioning up front. Leo worked out how to kick long and Riley was involved in everything but Ellis’ defensive efforts kept us in the match and he picked up the special mention this week.

Despite several chances we were unable to trouble the scorers with ACE worthy winners on the day.

U8 Hornets

The Hornets took on a very big and physical Brisbane City outfit this week and they had their work cut out right from the start.

The City team had some good skills in attack with dribbling and passing and found the net with 2 first-half goals. Our keeper for the first half – Attis – was not happy with City putting a dent in the Hornet’s winning streak, however, was able to put together some nice passes from goal kicks to find his teammates in space.

The boys never gave up the whole game – with lots of midfield work from Archie, Cooper, Ned, Mika, Patty & Fitzy – but unfortunately, the Hornets found themselves too bunched up for the majority of the match and could not find the back of the net – even though they got away a few shots on goal.

Harper was our second-half goalie and had a solid performance, however, the City team were able to slot a few more goals in the second stanza and take away the win.

Jasper was again solid in defence for us, taking away the Hungry Jacks Player of the Day award.

Attis received the ‘Kickin Chicken’ award for his keeping and passing efforts.

After having a solid training session with DoC Greg this week, the Hornets will be looking to get back into the winner’s circle!

U9 Dingoes

Another cracking Saturday morning for football saw the Dingoes away at Albany Creek.

We addressed the need to start quicker with more energy in the opening stanza of our matches and were unfortunately caught napping with a goal against us in the run of play early on.

We started to grow into the game and drive the ball forward with Max breaking from the half on multiple occasions and seeing his efforts saved from an opposition goalkeeper who was playing out of his skin. Toby who was deputising in the sticks for the first half was looking equally confident until a long shot took an unlucky deflection off a Dingo – giving our keeper no chance of saving and we went into the halftime break 2-0 down.

A quick water break and some words of encouragement got us back into the second half – Leo and Noah doing well as our defensive cover repelling attacking raids, but some uncharacteristic mistakes transitioning out from the back on goal kicks saw us give them some easy chances on goal and before we knew it – we were down 4-0.

With a lot of long faces starting to develop amongst the team it took some individual magic from TJ with a cracking effort from a distance to get us on the board with under 10 minutes left in the contest.

The team celebration seemed to spark some fight in the boys. With Toby being unshackled from goals in the second half, he tormented the opposition and scored a deserving goal, and the unlikely comeback was on at 4-2.

Will was strong and putting his body on the line whilst back in goal making some great saves. With the wind in our sails, Jax was running the midfield and distributing balls to the flanks and able to find Brax who helped himself to a fantastic brace of goals.

Unfortunately, Albany creek found a fifth goal in the middle of our late revival and the full-time whistle went giving the opposition a 5-4 win.

Another 2 minutes and I believe we could have pegged back the deficit and win the game.

A great lesson to our boys on playing a full match and to never give up – a fantastic game to be part of.

The ‘Kicken Chicken Player of the Day went to Toby – a strong first half in goals and was the catalyst in a second-half comeback including scoring a well-deserved goal.

Our Zarraffa’s training award for the week went to TJ – always working hard and utilising the new skills he’s learning. Well done Dingoes!

U10 Wallabies

The U10 Wallabies were at home this week against North Lakes Brumbies. The boys had a strong training session during the week and were keen to continue their winning streak.

The game opened with Westside dominating from the get-go. Strong running and great gameplay from the team with lots of shots at goal in the first half. Cooper showed great pace and Dash had some awesome runs down the line. The Brumbies had a stellar goalkeeper who kept the score 0-0 at halftime.

The Wallabies found the net in the second half with the final score being 1-0. The boys have come a long way and are starting to make good decisions as a cohesive team. Dash and Sam were awarded the Players of the Day this week. The boys are all looking forward to the make-up games over the holidays!

U10 Wolves

Coming off the back of four solid wins scoring 35 goals, it turned out to be a tough day at the office for the Wolves team coming up against the UQ Titans. In typical style the Wolves were all-out attack, creating a lot of chances and finding themselves up 1-0 at halftime.

The UQ Titans however were the most physical team to date, and at the end of the second half were unable to capitalise on counter-attacking opportunities, with the final score ending up 2 – 1 to the Titans.

The Player of the Day Award went to James Rosos – our hero Central Defender – who managed to stave off a lot of counter-attacking opportunities.

U12 Warriors

This week saw the Warriors at home hosting Samford Rangers. With Coaches Matt & Harry on the road for their U23 FQPL game in Toowoomba, our DoC Greg took on the coaching honours for the day.

The Warriors showed glimpses throughout the game of what they can achieve when they work together, however, they were unable to come away with a win on the day.

Marcus was awarded the Player of the Day award for his solid defence and runs down the wing from the back.

A big thanks to Greg for helping out on the day and giving the kids some constructive feedback throughout the entire game.