Box Hill: 4 defeated Bulleen: 1
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, October 17, 2008
U11 A - 2008 Season Pictorial
After a long and tough season the U11 A's have finished runners up in the championship and qualified for U12 A League in 2009. Well done to all of the boys and a big thank you to Stackie for coaching the team this year.
Enjoy the video !
Enjoy the video !
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Round 18 - South Yarra
A mild but overcast morning awaited us at Fawkner Park for our final match of the season against South Yarra. After some confusion as to where to park the car, we all managed to converge in the right area. Initially many of us thought that we may actually be playing Gaelic Football today, given the rather strange appearance of the goal surrounds.
Today we had some pressure on us to ensure a solid scoreline as Bulleen were on the same points as us coming into this round. We had a 4 goal advantage over them but we knew that they would score easily against Doncaster. So it was important for us to score as many goals as possible so that we held on to 2nd place in the championship.
Stackie had the lads in a good mood before the start of the match and they began with good movement and enthusiasm. Certainly we were controlling the ball in the midfield and our wide players were giving us good penetration into South Yarra's defence. We created many good chances in the early stages of the match and it wasn't long before Jesse hit a well placed volley to get the scoreboard ticking over. This was followed by another 2 good goals before half time, courtesy of Matty and Aaron D who took the ball up the wing from the half way line before cutting into the 18 yard box and hitting a cracking left footed shot to beat the keeper.
Half time came along and my phone rang, it was a parent from Doncaster who updated me on the score in the game against Bulleen. They had managed to get 4 goals past Doncaster in the 1st half, so our buffer was now reduced to 3 goals. Stackie worded up the boys and made sure that they knew to keep the goals flowing in the 2nd half.
We continued to control most of the possession in the 2nd half, however South Yarra were starting to get more involved in the game and they did manage to press us on a couple of occasions. However solid defence from Ben, Aaron S, Jordan, Paul and Michael was enough to repel any threats. Billy was also doing a good job and he made sure that he cleared any balls that managed to sneak past our defence.
Meanwhile the midfield continued to work hard and challenge every 50/50 ball. Nick, Alex, Johnny and Jesse were working well together and feeding Sam and Charlie on the wings. Many chances were created in the wide corridors and Sam in particular was having a great game, continuously outmaneuvering the South Yarra defenders.
Another 2 goals were put past the South Yarra keeper, courtesy of Sam and Jesse. At about this point I got the call from Doncaster to let me know that the full time score was 6 / 0 to Bulleen. This was the news that we had been waiting for, so with no more risk to 2nd place, Stackie brought Billy out of goals for the last part of the 2nd half.
Although we didn't add to our tally of 5 goals, we had some great chances and a lot of good teamwork in the closing minutes. Kosi in particular had a great match, displaying his composure under pressure to maintain possession and create opportunities.
So the final whistle blew and our season had finished, the boys celebrated with a team song in the middle of the park...they were happy. We had played 18 matches, won 14, drawn 2 and lost 2. We had scored 74 goals and only conceded 6 all year ! We have finished 2nd on the ladder and we have qualified for U12 A league in 2009 !
There will be more time at the presentation luncheon to thank all involved, but from a personal note I would like to say thank you to Stackie for the fantastic job he has done this year with the boys and also to the parents who have made my job much easier than it should be.
Our focus now turns to preparation for the Cross Border Trophy at the end of September. I know everyone is looking forward to this event and it will be a fitting end to a very successful season !
Cheers,
The Gaffer
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Round 17 - Monash
The highly anticipated re-match today against Monash, this time at Wembley Park. Last time the 2 sides met it was a 2 nil win to Monash in difficult circumstances (see Round 8 report). The weather was kind to us and conditions were perfect for a game of football, even the ref turned up and he was older than 12 !
Monash got off to an attacking start, you could tell that they were determined by the way that they were moving on their toes even before the whistle had blown. In contrast our lads looked flat footed and not as switched on. Monash pressed us hard and they had some very good early chances, we were lucky not to have been down by 2 or 3 goals after the first 10 minutes. Then mid way through the 1st half Monash won a corner and the ball ping ponged it's way around the 6 yard box. We were lazy in defence and Monash took advantage by toe poking the ball through a sea of players legs to capture a sneaky yet effective conversion.
1 nil down and things were not looking good. Our lads were being beaten to every ball, we were missing out tragets when passing and generally we just looked ordinary compared to the opposition. Half time could not come quickly enough and when it did Stackie took the boys into the rooms.
The message was loud and clear..."Fire Up". Monash were playing us off the park and we needed to lift our work rate and get serious. Stackie challenged some individuals to put in a bigger effort and get involved in the game. He wanted the boys to walk out of the change rooms with a different attitude and take the game up to Monash. We only had 20 minutes left this year to show Monash what we can do and we needed to take every chance we had.
The message seemed to have got through and our intensity in the 2nd half was much better. We put more pressure on Monash and we started to win more of the ball in midfield. In fact in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half we had 3 good chances to score, one in particular that the Monash Keeper only managed to stop on the line.
Monash also had a couple of good counter attacks and they were unlucky when Billy came off his line and was temporarily unsighted when one of our defenders blocked his view of the Monash striker. The shot went just wide of the post and out for a goal kick. Time was against us and Monash managed to clear the ball efeectively enough to keep us from levelling the score.
So a 1 nil loss to the league champions, congratulations must go to Monash for winning the league...well done. We need to win next week against South Yarra to hold on to 2nd spot on the ladder and depending on how well Bulleen go against Manningham today, we may have a close finish on goal difference.
One thing is for certain, next year the competiton will be much stronger and we have a lot of work to do between now and then to ensure that we remain competitive.
Monash got off to an attacking start, you could tell that they were determined by the way that they were moving on their toes even before the whistle had blown. In contrast our lads looked flat footed and not as switched on. Monash pressed us hard and they had some very good early chances, we were lucky not to have been down by 2 or 3 goals after the first 10 minutes. Then mid way through the 1st half Monash won a corner and the ball ping ponged it's way around the 6 yard box. We were lazy in defence and Monash took advantage by toe poking the ball through a sea of players legs to capture a sneaky yet effective conversion.
1 nil down and things were not looking good. Our lads were being beaten to every ball, we were missing out tragets when passing and generally we just looked ordinary compared to the opposition. Half time could not come quickly enough and when it did Stackie took the boys into the rooms.
The message was loud and clear..."Fire Up". Monash were playing us off the park and we needed to lift our work rate and get serious. Stackie challenged some individuals to put in a bigger effort and get involved in the game. He wanted the boys to walk out of the change rooms with a different attitude and take the game up to Monash. We only had 20 minutes left this year to show Monash what we can do and we needed to take every chance we had.
The message seemed to have got through and our intensity in the 2nd half was much better. We put more pressure on Monash and we started to win more of the ball in midfield. In fact in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half we had 3 good chances to score, one in particular that the Monash Keeper only managed to stop on the line.
Monash also had a couple of good counter attacks and they were unlucky when Billy came off his line and was temporarily unsighted when one of our defenders blocked his view of the Monash striker. The shot went just wide of the post and out for a goal kick. Time was against us and Monash managed to clear the ball efeectively enough to keep us from levelling the score.
So a 1 nil loss to the league champions, congratulations must go to Monash for winning the league...well done. We need to win next week against South Yarra to hold on to 2nd spot on the ladder and depending on how well Bulleen go against Manningham today, we may have a close finish on goal difference.
One thing is for certain, next year the competiton will be much stronger and we have a lot of work to do between now and then to ensure that we remain competitive.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Round 16 - Eastern Lions
Probably the coldest, most miserable day that I have ever had to watch a game of football. I can remember wetter days, but not any as cold as it was at Gardiner's Creek Reserve today. Our Round 16 clash with Eastern Lions was always going to be a challenging encounter, but the conditions just made it that much more difficult for both teams.
As it turned out Eastern Lions had come to play and salvage some pride for their season. They are a good side and have been competitive all season, only missing out to Monash, Bulleen and ourselves. Our mission was to walk away with 3 points and stay in touch with Monash....we would be happy with a 1 goal victory.
The match however turned out to be quite a tussle for possession with most of the play staying in the middle of the park. The Lions were able to defend very well in the early stages and even managed some nice counter attacks. Their athletic striker was always looking dangerous and if not for some clever defending on our part, he would have been through with the ball on a few occasions.
Once again our finishing let us down and we went to the half time break with both teams failing to impact the scoreboard. I have never seen 2 teams vacate a ground so quickly at half time, such was the bitter cold. In the change rooms you could hardly hear Stackie's voice over the clatter of shivering teeth !
The 2nd half was better for us and we managed to keep most of the play in our attacking half. Eastern Lions were defending well and their Keeper was getting a good workout at the same time. However the long ball out of defence was always a threat and at one stage it was just Billy vs their Striker....the ball going wide of the post....luckily.
Our chances kept presenting, but we either hit the ball wide, hit the woodwork or hit the Keeper....it just wasn't going to happen for us today. So we walked away with a point each from a very busy encounter with both teams working hard in challenging conditions. Needless to say that unless there is devine intervention we probably won't be able to catch Monash at the top of the ladder.
A bye next week with the catch up round taking place, but we have a couple of Wed night games planned with Knox City and Croydon City Arrows.
We also have the Cross Border Trophy taking place in late September which will be a fantastic finish to the season for all of the lads.
As it turned out Eastern Lions had come to play and salvage some pride for their season. They are a good side and have been competitive all season, only missing out to Monash, Bulleen and ourselves. Our mission was to walk away with 3 points and stay in touch with Monash....we would be happy with a 1 goal victory.
The match however turned out to be quite a tussle for possession with most of the play staying in the middle of the park. The Lions were able to defend very well in the early stages and even managed some nice counter attacks. Their athletic striker was always looking dangerous and if not for some clever defending on our part, he would have been through with the ball on a few occasions.
Once again our finishing let us down and we went to the half time break with both teams failing to impact the scoreboard. I have never seen 2 teams vacate a ground so quickly at half time, such was the bitter cold. In the change rooms you could hardly hear Stackie's voice over the clatter of shivering teeth !
The 2nd half was better for us and we managed to keep most of the play in our attacking half. Eastern Lions were defending well and their Keeper was getting a good workout at the same time. However the long ball out of defence was always a threat and at one stage it was just Billy vs their Striker....the ball going wide of the post....luckily.
Our chances kept presenting, but we either hit the ball wide, hit the woodwork or hit the Keeper....it just wasn't going to happen for us today. So we walked away with a point each from a very busy encounter with both teams working hard in challenging conditions. Needless to say that unless there is devine intervention we probably won't be able to catch Monash at the top of the ladder.
A bye next week with the catch up round taking place, but we have a couple of Wed night games planned with Knox City and Croydon City Arrows.
We also have the Cross Border Trophy taking place in late September which will be a fantastic finish to the season for all of the lads.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Round 15 - Doncaster
A late game today with the kick-off at 3.15pm. Doncaster only managed to rustle up 10 players, so we were not expecting too much from them. The boys got away to a good start with solid passing and early dominence across the park. Doncaster were flooding the 18 yard box and early chances were hard to thread past the sea of Doncaster defenders.
Eventually is was Matt who found the back of the net to open the scoring for Box Hill. Many chances either went straight to the keeper or found the woodwork, something that we have become used to this season. Matt also scored the 2nd goal after a Doncaster goal clearance was intercepted by Aaron D and neatly passed across the face of the 6 yard box.
So 2 nil at half time but a lot of missed opportunities. This was especially dissapoiting given that we needed to close the gap to Monash to have any chance of winning the Championship.
Once again Box Hill dominated posession in the 2nd half, however credit must be given to the undermanned Doncaster outfit for their determination and hunger for the ball. It wasn't long before Darcy managed to run onto a long pass out of the midfield, draw the keeper and then neatly slot it past him. 3 nil and the result was now very evident, it was just a question of how many goals we could capitalise with.
As it turned out it would only be 1 more goal to add to our tally, courtesy of Matt who found himself in the right spot after a ball richochet off a defender just near the 6 yard box to give him his Hat Trick !
So 4 nil against an undermanned Doncaster in a fairly lack lustre affair. We will need to improve next week when we meet the very athletic Eastern Lions in our Round 16 clash.
Eventually is was Matt who found the back of the net to open the scoring for Box Hill. Many chances either went straight to the keeper or found the woodwork, something that we have become used to this season. Matt also scored the 2nd goal after a Doncaster goal clearance was intercepted by Aaron D and neatly passed across the face of the 6 yard box.
So 2 nil at half time but a lot of missed opportunities. This was especially dissapoiting given that we needed to close the gap to Monash to have any chance of winning the Championship.
Once again Box Hill dominated posession in the 2nd half, however credit must be given to the undermanned Doncaster outfit for their determination and hunger for the ball. It wasn't long before Darcy managed to run onto a long pass out of the midfield, draw the keeper and then neatly slot it past him. 3 nil and the result was now very evident, it was just a question of how many goals we could capitalise with.
As it turned out it would only be 1 more goal to add to our tally, courtesy of Matt who found himself in the right spot after a ball richochet off a defender just near the 6 yard box to give him his Hat Trick !
So 4 nil against an undermanned Doncaster in a fairly lack lustre affair. We will need to improve next week when we meet the very athletic Eastern Lions in our Round 16 clash.
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