Around the Grounds
Round 13 saw plenty of goal-scoring action around the grounds and some impressive team play going a long way to securing wins for some of our Westside teams. We were lucky to watch some entertaining games of soccer on both Field 1 and Field 2!
U6 Tigers
The Tigers Round 13 fixture was at home against Samford Wanderers. The Tigers started the match with a quick goal by Oscar in the first minute. The early lead, and perhaps the Tigers high confidence off back-to-back wins may have contributed to complacency, that lead to breakdown in our defensive play which allowed the Wanderers to wander around the pitch for several goals.
The team had a handful of moments of great passing with several good attempts on goal by Ryker and Theo to get back in the match but were unlucky. Max managed to find the back of the goal for another goal but that was the most the Tigers can muster for this match going down 6-2.
The Players of the Day awards this week went to Max H and Ryker.
U8 Hornets
The Westside Hornets were up against the Westside Wasps in their only derby match of the season. The boys had been talking about the match for weeks, so it was a relief when the day finally arrived!
The Hornets were down 3 players this week, and had not been successful in securing subs from the usual sources. Despite this, the boys were raring to go for the early start. The team utilised a similar formation as the previous few weeks with Liam F and Oscar holding the CB positions. We were all hoping to see Liam F’s solid right boot in action again and we still reckon he could score from halfway!!
Straight off the bat, the Wasps came out attacking. The Hornets answered back with strong defence. The ball travelled back and forth, up and down the field with both teams taking shots on goal. Once again, keeper Liam M put his body on the line to stop the goals. James, Ned, Mase and Salvi ran themselves ragged in attack. It was clear that the teams were very evenly matched; going into halftime the score remained 0-0.
After a good rest and some oranges at halftime, the Hornets came back out renewed. Ned and James combined in their usual dramatic fashion, putting James in prime position to slip a ball past keeper Pierre, for the first goal of the match. 1-0 to the Hornets!
The remainder of the second half continued in similar fashion to the first half, with both teams having lots of chances but being unable to convert into goals. Both keepers did an excellent job. The final score was 1-0 to a very exhausted Hornets. The boys were all good sports and shook hands, and combined for a group photo. Although the honours on the day went to the Hornets, the real winner was Westside Grovely FC; the depth of talent, skills and sportsmanship in both teams was amazing to see. Coach Falcs couldn’t decide on a Player of the Day award, as everyone gave it their all, so it was slushy vouchers for everyone!
U9 Falcons
The Falcons Round 13 fixture was at home against Brisbane City Plusnin. The Falcons faced the City side previously in Round 2, going down 6-nil. That was a tough defeat for the Falcons early in the season.
Fast forward to Round 13 and it was a different contest to watch. The Falcons took charge of the match from the start with great attack and defence to minimise City’s chances on our goal. The boys also controlled the play in the middle and kept charging up the field with several attempts on goal but were unlucky.
City managed to get on the scorecard with two goals off a couple of lucky loose balls in front of our goal to capitalise on the opportunity. Both teams kept competing for possession and the Falcons were determined to get at least one goal, which came in the final minute of the match. Archie got a clear breakaway to score a fantastic goal before the final whistle. A solid performance from the Falcons against a very strong side. Well done boys.
The Player of the Day awards this week went to Archie and Harper.
U9 Vultures
The Vultures hosted Moggill with a neat 7; Ellis, Likit, Leo and Archer all away or unwell.
The first half was tough going for the Vultures as we struggled out of our half against probably the top U9 Division 3 team. Edgar in goal had plenty of practice, making some fine saves to keep us in the game.
Henry, Eli and Theo in the backline gained some great experience defending against a team who passed well into the centre. Archie and Fletcher began to make some 1-2 passes, a break by Archie and a nice pass out in front of Fletcher provided our best opportunity of the half, but we were unable to finish.
2-0 at the break to Moggill.
In the second half Theo moved to wing and James tried fullback, both going very well in new positions – James made a few nice passes to Theo which enabled him to run down the wing and take a shot. Edgar was kept very busy in goal, impressing this team & the crowd with super saves!
4-0 to Moggill in the end, an improvement over our 6-0 loss in week two. With some hardened football in the legs, and all players back next week, the Vultures will be hungry for a result.
The Player of the Day Award went to Edgar for some fantastic saves which impressed his team and the crowd.
U9 Raptors
U10 Dingoes
After last week’s big win, the highly anticipated match between the Dingoes and the UQFC Lions took place. Unfortunately, the Dingoes faced a defeat with a final score of 10-4.
Throughout the game, the Dingoes seemed to struggle, appearing off their usual form and experiencing difficulty maintaining balance on multiple occasions.
In contrast, the Lions showcased great skill in maintaining their positions and finding space. This proved to be an advantage for them, allowing them to dominate the game and secure a victory.
Despite their challenges, the Dingoes displayed effort and determination in attempting to regain control and create scoring opportunities. However, they were unable to overcome the Lions.
Although the Dingoes fell short in this particular encounter, they undoubtedly learned from their struggles. We look forward to seeing what the next match brings.
U10 Brumbies
U11 Wallabies
The U11 Wallabies played away against Pine Hills FC United.
The Wallabies maintained possession throughout the first half resulting in a goal from Charlie and a goal from a penalty shot from Ethan. Our defence shut down every break away Pine Hills had up until the final seconds before half time when a goal was conceded.
The second half started with a quick goal from Pine Hills which had the Wallabies on the back foot. A third goal from Pine Hills left the Wallabies scrambling to get back in the game.
The Wallabies came back into their own for the rest of the match but were unable to capitalize on any of their attacking plays.
Players of the match were Eddie for his positioning and game play, Jack for his positioning and distribution and Nash for his brave goalkeeping and work rate while in midfield. Congratulations!
U11 Wolves
Following on from back-to-back home wins, the Wolves were back on the road this week, up against Toowong. Having suffered their worst defeat in years to them at the start of the season (7 – 1), the Wolves have been training super hard in preparation for this game. In the prior game, Toowong had been super effective on the breaks, not only technically good on the ball, but finding space in behind and wide of the defence.
In some sense, that loss set the tone for many defence-oriented training sessions, with the boys running multiple scenarios, such as; compact formations, underloaded and counter attacking defending. Also, in preparation the boys have been working on their low driven passes, to be more effective at maintaining possession playing out from the back. There’s been big improvements in this area. We also re-visited defending corners, as an inability to defend in swinging corners was the decisive factor in 3 / 4 games early in the season.
The boys were pumped and ready to go. As expected, the game started with high intensity. It was good to see the defence holding to an effective shape, Maxi hit a great driven pass down the line at one point, just as we had practiced in training. For the most part, it was 50 / 50. The Wolves were looking dangerous on the break and created chances. Finn / Eli / Dex and Teo were all highly effective at running with the ball and making good combinations. Not everything was working, the Toowong defence was also very effective, but you could see the positive intentions from the players.
One thing in particular that the Toowong boys do well is getting their opposite winger to ghost in behind the defensive line and find space at the back post. This was happening repeatedly, but for the most part the defense was in good enough shape to intercept or clear dangerous balls in the box. Landon was challenged multiple times throughout the game and performed exceptionally well, being decisive with oncoming through balls and making good saves.
The Wolves went 1 – 0 down when Maxi was dispossessed attempting to play out from the back, in hindsight a quick clearance or better cover would have prevented this. The Wolves continued to create opportunities, securing a penalty from a hand ball. Eli stepped up to take it and unfortunately hit the crossbar! If only Toowong didn’t have old saggy goals, it probably would’ve gone in otherwise. Just before half-time, the Wolves conceded a second following some confusion. It appeared the ball had gone out, hard to tell from the opposite side-line, basically everyone had stopped play except for one Toowong player who picked it up and scored. Not 100% sure the ref was even looking, but you have to play to the whistle.
The half time talk was mainly motivational, as they were performing really well, it was definitely 50 / 50. The defence were encouraged to watch out for the runners at the back post, and for the attackers / wingers to try to release the pass a little earlier to prevent their defence from closing us down. Come on Wolves!
The second half started with the same intensity as the first, the boys were going after it and Toowong were getting counter attacking opportunities. The defence continued to hold tight, at one point James executed an arched run perfectly to prevent a 3rd goal. Exactly as we had done in training, his overall positional awareness is first class, without him at CB we’d be in trouble. Noah and Alex both played well in the middle, Noah maintaining his consistent high-level closing down and winning balls in the midfield. Alex had a run on the right wing at the end of the game, showing some great pace and awareness.
Towards the end of the match, Toowong were coming at us hard, we conceded a few corners. Glad to say, they were all defended excellently. Dex is very effective at the near post at either heading the ball out or clearing up the line. Landon also, having to dominate the box at points. The Wolves continued to create opportunities on the break, Eli tested their keeper a couple of times and narrowly missed a chance at the end of the game under a lot of pressure.
All in all, a very positive performance and significant improvement from the start of the season. Two easy to fix defensive errors was the difference. The Toowong coach mentioned how well the boys were set up at the end of the game. I think he knows we’re coming after them hard next season!
Player of the Day awards went to Landon and Noah. Landon was on fire in this game and much needed, great to have a specialist goalkeeper in the team. Noah, as per usual, was rock solid, tackling hard and effectively and starting to strike the ball really well. 5 games left, 4 at home and the 1 remaining away game is at Taringa who were nowhere near the level of Toowong. The challenge is 5 wins to come home strong and see out the first season at this level with a bang.
U12 Gliders
Described by one onlooker as, ‘the best game yet,’ the Gliders faced Grange Thistle’s U12 Girls for a home game in Round 13.
The teams were well matched with plenty of movement up and down the pitch throughout the entire game. The Gliders had all players on deck this round with three subs in rotation and the midfielders were joined by the usually shy Elvie for a short time at the beginning of play. Nina, Sophia and Scarlett did a fantastic job cheering her on and telling her where to run next.
Grange scored a goal early in the game followed by a few further attempts at goal which, thanks to Blair, didn’t get through. Our defenders were playing particularly well with big strong clearances from Alex and Isla and a great kick up the sideline from Tabatha.
Scarlett’s running and passing in the midfield have really come along and the teamwork between forwards, Freya, KB and Katie just seems to get better each week. There were some tense moments for onlookers as the Gliders looked close to scoring; a big kick from Charlotte, a beautiful turn by KB and some great hustle by Nina and Sophia but at half time the score was 1-0 to the Grange.
After a reminder from Coach Jez to move around for throw-ins, get the ball down the line and create more space, the Gliders retuned to the pitch. KB made an attempt at goal early in the second half which unfortunately went wide. Katie made a spectacular run at goal, which had just a bit too much momentum behind it, ending in a collision with the Grange goalie. Fortunately, neither girl was badly injured. KB and Sophia together made a further attempt at goal but without success.
At the other end of the field the Gliders were working just as hard in defence. Tabatha played her most physical game yet and Charlotte and Alex were working well together and seemed to be reading the minds of the opposition, anticipating play. There was another great save by Blair, but only a few minutes later, Grange scored again.
The Gliders retaliated by taking control of the game in the final minutes with Katie moving the ball forward through the centre followed by an attempt at a late goal by Freya.
Both teams worked hard the entire game with plenty of shots at goal from both teams. Blair looked like she’d run a marathon by the end of it and it’s likely the Grange goalie felt the same way.
Freya and Alex were named Players of the Day and both received Red Rooster vouchers. It’s wonderful to see the players growing in confidence and teamwork as the season progresses. Thanks for a great game, Gliders!
U12 Warriors
