Around the Grounds
It was another perfect weekend of weather for football, with a number of our Westside teams coming up against solid opposition with some gruelling affairs! There were plenty of goals scored around the grades and Round 9 welcomes the half-way mark of the Season with a 3-week break to follow for the school holiday period.
U6 Tigers
The Tigers Round 8 match was at home against Pine Hills U6 Pythons. The Tigers started the match a bit sluggish and found themselves down 2 goals very quickly. By midway through the first half the Tigers’ increased energy level became apparent because they started to compete for the ball and created some scoring opportunities.
After the break the Tigers continued to press on Pine Hills defence in an attempt to level the score but an unlucky couple of bounces found the back of our net putting Pine Hills up 5-1 early in the second half. Theo and Max S’s combination started the comeback for the Tigers with both boys each scoring 2 goals.
A really good effort by the Tigers as they appeared to be the better team on the field for most of the match. However, a couple of unfortunate bounces and goals from long kicks that found the back of the goal proved to be the decider on the score card for a final score of 5-4 to Pine Hills. The Player of the Day awards this week went to Oscar, Max H, and Frankie.
U7 Geckos
This was a great game to watch to see the improvement so far this season. The boys are really starting to string multiple learning points together in the games.
Samford were a good side but the Geckos gave them a run for their money, particularly in the second half. Player of the Day Awards for Oskar, who scored a great solo goal, and Henry for his superb defensive work.
U8 Hornets
The Westside Hornets hosted Bardon Latrobe U8 Cheetahs on a sunny Saturday morning at home. It was a later game than they boys were used to, and they were fired up and ready to play! This week we had Alan from the u7 team help out, due to a few players being away.
Bardon started the game with relentless pressure, making it a physical contest. However, the Hornets managed to create numerous scoring opportunities. Henry opened the scoring for the Hornets, giving the team the lead. Alan and Salvi displayed excellent teamwork with beautiful cross play throughout the first half.
In the second half, the Hornets continued their offensive onslaught, with Bardon’s goalkeeper saving impressive shots from Alan and Mason. Salvi narrowly missed a goal before Romeo extended the Hornets’ lead with a goal of his own. Salvi then scored an amazing shot over the goalkeeper’s head. Oscar sealed the victory with another goal.
Romeo and James worked hard throughout the match as goalkeepers to keep a clean sheet. The final score was 4-0 in favour of the Hornets.
Liam M was named the Player of the Day for his hard work in defence, while Salvi received recognition for the “goal of the season.” Big thanks to Alan for joining us this week as well from the U7s!
U9 Falcons
The Falcons Round 8 match was at home against Taringa Rovers U9 Iguanas.
The Falcons put in a really good effort this week, making use of the space on the pitch and spreading out. Unfortunately they couldn’t find the net from any shooting opportunities this week and went down with a 3-nil loss. The Player of the Day awards went to Ned and Jasper for their solid efforts this week.
U9 Vultures
The Vultures faced their 4th Moggill team of the season at home with a full-strength squad in perfect football conditions.
We started quite well applying plenty of pressure with attacking opportunities for Archie, Lihkit, and James up front. But it was an unsighted shot between defender legs that rolled past keeper Fletcher for the Moggill Jets to lead 1-0.
It wasn’t long until Ellis, Archer, Edgar and Theo all entered the game, and started causing trouble. A couple of breaks down both wings had the Vultures in good position, but unable to cross into the waiting Archer or Ellis meaning the Vultures remained scoreless. While Moggill fired a thumping long range shot at the goal, which was strong enough to move the post! Shortly after another well struck long range shot along the ground hit a patch of dirt and (like a Shane Warne flipper) bounced over an otherwise well-placed keeper! 2-0 to Moggill.
In the second half the Vultures continued to attack, Ellis one on one with the keeper hit the post. Fletcher at fullback offered Edgar a great option on a goal kick, took the ball, then passed nicely in front of Archie who was able to run down the wing for a shot that was just wide. Confusion everywhere as a handball stopped the game, but the ref didn’t see it, and while both teams stood around for a decision one switched on Moggill player kicked it in – since the ref had not called handball – the goal was awarded. And everyone learnt a lesson to play for the whistle.
The Vultures kept fighting with Archie setting up Archer a couple of times in attack. While Leo, Henry, and Elijah kept things tight at the back. But that was the end of the scoring, a 3-0 loss at home against a Moggill team who played well and got the bounce of the ball too.
Player of the Day awards this week went to Archie – excellent positioning on the wing, running to goal & shooting, and very nice passes out in front for his teammates; Theo – saved the day at the back a few times against some good attackers and Leo – tackled some good opposition attackers reducing them to long range shots, nice passes down the wings too.
U9 Raptors
A tough result on the road for the Raptors this week going down 2-1 to Newmarket. The boys made a good start to the game and pushed forward in the opening stages of play. Patty pushed hard with some surging runs in the early minutes but was unable to get the final pass away. Magnus and Max worked hard to get good service through to Will A up front, and Magnus was unlucky not to pick up some scraps in the goal box. Defensively Leo and Mika were combining well, with some sliding defence evident from Leo.
Newmarket finally managed to get in behind our line, and a quality cross from the left wing saw them get on the scoreboard first. The second half continued in a similar manner, with mostly coherent and positive football from the Raptors. The boys did go quiet for a little while, and Toby and Max were forced to run hard to cover back to shut down some breakaways with goal saving tackles, but Newmarket managed to squeeze another one over the line.
The Raptors woke up again after a beautifully weighted through-ball from Toby found Jax. With Beau and Max drawing defenders to the centre, Jax cut around the outside and pinned his shot past the keeper from a tough angle to make it 2-1.
Will T kept us in the game with a strong reaction save to push the ball around the post. Unfortunately, the clock ran down and a slightly cruel result was the final score. Some really good football on display from the boys today.
Player of the Day went to Leo for a sterling effort in defence, and the training award went to Jaxon.
U10 Brumbies
This week the Brumbies played against New Farm at home. We had played New Farm in Round one and took a loss, so the girls were ready for redemption.
New Farm scored a couple times in the first 10 minutes of play! The Brumbies played to their game plan and set a few attempts at goal but the New Farm defense was strong. Lucy saved more than a few goals from landing with her usual flair!
From then the defense from the Brumbies stepped up, but New Farm were the better team on the day winning 11-nil. It was a tough loss but the girls took it in stride and didn’t back down until the final whistle.
Player of the Day awards this week went to Lily and Chloe – amazing job ladies!
U10 Dingoes
Fresh off a well-deserved win last week, the Dingoes were eager for another victory. During the pre-game warm-up, JP reminded the team of the importance of training. Just before the game began, his thunderous voice could be heard saying, “Show me you want to play! Show me you want to win!”
Minutes after kick-off, the Dragons scored. But the Dingoes were undeterred and quickly responded with a fantastic team effort, allowing Diego to score the Dingoes first goal. The floodgates were officially open.
Harlem scored the next two goals, followed by an unlucky off-target attempt. Joel worked tirelessly throughout the whole match, galloping up the sideline too many times to count and cutting through the opposition’s defence like butter, then putting crosses into danger areas to feed our hungry strikers.
Vinnie was playing great “Brazilian style”, said JP, and was praised by the sideline parents. Diego picked up the following two goals mercilessly. In the final minutes, Toby scored the last goal of the match with a final score of 6-1 to the Dingoes.
The Dingoes’ defence was strong this week, and Noah not only displayed his usual solid wall but also showed off some impressive fancy footwork. After the match, JP mentioned that it was the first time the team was able to string together five consecutive passes.
The only thing the boys lost this week was their shoes – on multiple occasions!
See more of the action here:
https://fork-slime-4be.notion.site/UQ-Dragons-1-6-Dingoes-2023-06-10-e9202de33dc94f5f80e7fbc0dd987eae
U11 Wallabies
The Wallabies had a tight game at home against North Star U11 Tottenham.
The Wallabies were away with a couple of shots on goal early on but they were kept out by some great North Star defense. An epic kick saw the ball head down to the creek where we sent out the rescue crew.
A couple of goals in quick succession by Eddie and Rhys saw the Wallabies take the lead. North Star followed suit with a goal to the top corner of the net, out of reach for our goalie Lysander. Another goal from North Star just before half time saw the score hit 2-all.
The second half saw great defense from both teams making it difficult to score. A clever touch by Ethan after a free kick saw Remy smash it into the back of the net. The Wallabies defense kept North Star at bay with some great clearing of the ball out wide.
Unfortunately for the team, North Star snuck one in just before the whistle ending the game at 3-all.
Congratulations to Nash, Dash and Eddie for their great effort and passes during the game to be our Players of the Day!
U11 Wolves
Another full squad available, this week at North Lakes. The last of 4 consecutive away games for the Wolves, having only played 2 home games from 8 at the start of this season. North Lakes has always been a challenging club to come up against. Last season they were the only team to do the double on us, one of only 2 teams to beat us. We knew we were in for a battle, especially considering we moved up a division this season! Following on from the game at The Gap it was nice to be on a full-sized pitch with proper goals.
This week we moved to a 3 – 3 – 2 formation. The intention behind this is to ensure we have 2 attacking options in the box, minimizing the spaces created when wingers have to track back on counter attacks and maintain a consistent 3-man back line. In particular this allows Dex / Jack to attack down the wings, leaving Teo / Eli / Finn or Alex to occupy the CF positions. This way Teo is able to be involved in more direct scoring opportunities, rather than being on the right wing. As a result of this change the CDM and CAM roles now become a CM role, with Alex rotating between CM / CF, James and Noah rotating between CB / CM. This worked well in parts of the game, but more training is required to coordinate the midfield better.
It was a slow start to the game. The first 10 mins the defense was absorbing most of the pressure, we were struggling to get it out from the back, a few wayward passes were creating a lot of turnovers in the midfield. As a result, there were quite a few goal kicks coming our way. Maxi continued his good form this week, he has really taken on board the defensive training, containing well and tackling effectively. Prior to kick off we talked about goal kick plays. There have been mixed results this season. Landon was given the sole responsibility of making these decisions and taking the kicks. His technique, range and power have improved significantly in recent weeks. Dex and Noah typically provide short options and can play long balls very effectively, but due to the change in positions Landon was encouraged to feed the wide midfielders (Jack / Dex). After a slow start, we kicked into gear…
Landon was finding Jack and Dex on the wings; we were starting to string some passes together on the attack. Eli was making numerous penetrating runs getting past 1 / 2 players with pace. At this point Finn was up front with Eli, they were breaking away so quickly that the midfield weren’t really keeping up. Just before the break, Eli beat 2 players down the left-side, managing to keep the ball in at the bi-line and crossing with his left-foot into Finn and he put it into the back of the net off his knee, 1 – 0 Wolves!!! Finn certainly has a natural ability to find the right spaces up front, this was his first goal of the season having missed a few games. Great to see him back on the score sheet and we know there will be plenty more goals from him in upcoming games. We went into the break 1 – 0 up, somewhat against the run of play to be honest. Could this be our day?
The half-time chat was pretty simple. The effective wing plays were highlighted and reinforced. Everyone seemed happy with the new formation. In recent weeks, corners have been an issue, it’s where we’ve been leaking goals. Dex and Jack were encouraged to take up near and back post positions, being the biggest players and most confident in the air. Also, in general the players were encouraged to close down the opposition more quickly and tighter. We also swapped James and Noah in CB and CM midfield positions. James has been our rock at CB, very effective this season and last. He has been training really hard, his passing and ball control have come a long way. It felt like the right time to give him the opportunity to experience playing in different roles on the pitch. He’s an excellent cross-country runner and is undertaking triathlon training with his school at the moment! Noah can pretty much play anywhere, typically cleans up and helps the defense, so it seemed appropriate to put him at CB.
North Lakes came out firing early in the second half. We conceded 2 goals very early on. They came from 2 absolute belters, the first from a free kick and the second from a long way out. The defense or Landon couldn’t have done anything to stop them. The first one was top bins and the second hit the underside of the crossbar. Uncharacteristically, a few players’ heads dropped. The last few weeks, being all quite close games and away from home, was clearly taking its toll. We were under constant pressure for a 10 min spell. Maxi was still performing admirably at left-back. Landon was still making great saves. Changing up James and Noah at the back proved to be a bad coaching decision as we lost shape at the back, more work to be done here. We were conceding a lot of corners, and Dex cleared out a few with good headers. At one point Noah headed a long ball almost to half-way, even their coach was impressed! On other occasions we were struggling with balls coming out of the air, letting them bounce and in some cases breaking the defensive line.
Similar to the game at The Gap, they had a player that was capable of producing really good in-swinging corner kicks. We conceded 2 further goals as a result of this. Towards the end of the game, we created 3 solid chances but didn’t convert. Finn moved over to LM, and was continuing to create opportunities from great runs, Eli was still battling and beating defenders. It ended 4 – 1, a mixed performance, very good in spells. It came to light after the match that some very inappropriate comments were made by their players during the match, so this is being followed up with the club. It explained why some players lost their composure.
A special shout out to Sam at RB. He vomited on the way up to the game, we thought he was car sick, but it appears to have been a tummy bug. He played the entire second half! A great effort.
Player of the Day honours went to Finn and Maxi. Outstanding performances.
At the time of reading this the boys have been reminded of how well they are doing considering they have moved up a division and played mostly away games. Of the 8 games played so far, 3 wins and 3 very close games that could have gone either way. They have also been encouraged to focus their energy on the game rather than silly comments. With a back half of the season mostly at home, and additional small group training being conducted, we are confident in a solid back half of the season.
U12 Warriors
In Round 8 the Warriors hosted Bribie Island Tigers being their second meeting for the Season.
The Tigers were a very physical team during the Round 1 clash, so the Warriors would have to bring their A-game this week to be competitive.
Referee Zeke also had his work cut out for him, having to blow his whistle on numerous occasions due to aggressive play by the Tigers.
Bribie were too good on the day taking the win 6-nil, with Liam taking out the Player of the Day award this week for his consistent game and non-stop effort through the middle and on the wings.
U12 Gliders
Round 8 saw the Gliders U12 Girls face North Lakes U12 Amazons in a home game. The Gliders gave a warm welcome to new team mate, KB, who was playing her first game after training with the girls for the past couple of weeks. Despite some pre-match nerves it was clear the Gliders are becoming increasingly confident, taking position changes and game directions in their stride as they walked out onto the pitch.
The teams appeared to be well matched with equal action at both ends of the pitch for most of the first half.
The Gliders were moving the ball better than ever. Our defence were doing great with Charlotte keeping the pressure on the opposition and running them out toward the sideline. Blair, Isla and Tabitha were clearing the ball into space from the back. Alex was kicking some good long through balls and Scarlett and Sophia were working hard in the midfield. Nina and KB showed some nice dribbling and turning skills, the girls were passing well and Freya was taking good touches in the forward line.
Katie, KB and Freya all took shots at goal in the first half and 20 minutes into the game Katie succeeded with a ball to the back of the net, putting the Gliders in front 1-nil at half time.
The break provided an opportunity to review the team’s positioning for corner kicks, along with a reminder to the girls to run into space and call for the ball.
A penalty kick awarded to North Lakes in the first few minutes of the second half brought the scores level.
KB and Katie both made impressive runs at goal in the second half, showing great cooperation and teamwork in front of goal. In what would have been a spectacular finish for the Gliders, KB took a shot at goal just before the whistle. Alas, the ball went wide and the final score was a draw, 1-1.
Player of the Day awards went to Tabitha and Scarlett whose consistent efforts at training each week are paying off on match day. The Gliders are getting better at clearing the ball from the back line, passing from the midfield and creating opportunities in front of goal – a sure formula for success. In the meantime Gliders, keep having fun, enjoy the time with your teammates and “Go Westside!”
