Another solid performance from our mightly U8 White team. The kids (and the coaching staff) are still getting used to the new rules. It’s been a rough couple of weeks with the school holidays as well, but the kids still showed their touches of brilliance. Crimmo and Riley Elliot made some great saves in goals, they both had a fair bit of work to do under pressure. Corey and Ben tried hard all game as they always do. Millsy made a lot of good runs up the middle of the park. Walker (Texas Ranger) shouwed his great touch in both attacke and defence. Goals went to Cimmo and Ben.

Tip of the week is SPREAD OUT!!!!! As the kids get used to the bigger field and we start introducing positional play the sky’s the limit.

At halftime Coach Craig made a couple of tactical changes and had Corey and Olivia playing at the back to plug a couple of holes in defence and it worked a treat. Both kids carrying out their instructions to the best of their ability. Olivia made a few crunching tackles and last gasp saves to take out the Coaches award for this week. Well done Olivia.

Sunday 11 April

Thirroul 5 v 0 Russell Vale

Not the audacious start the Coach would have preferred but it was however a cup match against one of the better teams from the top division. The difference between being fit and match sharp was highlighted in the first 15 mins as Thirroul raced into a 3-0 lead.

I’m the first to admit that our preparation for the 2010 season was insufficient and leading up to this game, we had only managed to complete 1 of the last 4 training sessions due to inclement weather. Add to this the fact we were unable to arrange any trial games prior to the start of the season and had to contend with some poorly attended training sessions due to refereeing courses, holidays and tennis. It came as no surprise the performance was at times well below par and some very basic errors were severely punished especially in the first half.

Excuses aside there were also some positives to be gained from the match, firstly I don’t believe the Cobras were as bad as the score line suggests, on reflection maybe 5-2 would have been a fairer result. The three new lads Nathan Hennessy, Jawad Khan and Matthew Nelson appear to be settling very quickly into the team and the understanding with the other players will grow even more as the season progresses. There were some good individual performances from Joey Hodges in defence and Chris Behan in midfield and the response from the team in the second half was very encouraging as they tried to take the game to Thirroul who only managed to add one more goal to their tally. I seem to recall we started very slowly last season losing away to Figtree 4-0 but the season still turned out to be a good one in the end and I’m confident it will again

Shaun

(smiley added by Garry)

The sun radiated, promising a morning of great football. Official looking Balgownie people had their measuring tapes out and put down a few cones and agility poles to mark out the field of play. U8 Green were pumped and ready for action.

Kick off! Smiles and grunt aplenty, both teams went for it with gusto. Passes and strong kicks were a feature and each team member gave their best efforts in the game. Anakin returned from illness and put in some great tackles. Future oppositions will be on high alert when he is back to full health! Stuart made some amazing runs up the wing and fearlessly attacked the opposition to reclaim possession of the ball. Josh played extremely well in both forward and back positions. In fact, when in defense he was like a predator waiting for his prey, timing his advances perfectly by blocking the momentum and progress of the opposition.

It was Mikey’s first game and his great tackling efforts did not go unnoticed. He was able to successfully loosen and move the ball away from the opposition and he never gave up. Persistence is a valued quality and we are fortunate that our team has plenty of it. Likewise, Bailey’s efforts in goals and his speed and resolve reveal a great talent in this game. His eyes were always on the ball and his focus was inspiring.

Jackson’s fierce determination was also evident on the field and in goals, with many goal scoring opportunities thwarted by his keen eye and quick thinking. Tenacious Tanesha’s lion heart roared throughout the whole game. No player on the other team was spared from her assertive play making.

Tom was battling more than just the players. The agility poles used to mark the goals defied their name and became an inflexible force to be reckoned with. Fortunately, after two foiled shots, he was able to put one away. The event served as a reminder for all players in goals to make sure they collect the ball in front of the goal line. Needless to say, U8 Green were on the board!

Mikey and Tanesha were the worthy recipients of the match awards and while U8 Green were defeated on this occasion, in all of their supporter’s eyes they were winners. Their sportsmanship and never-give-up attitude are two of their greatest qualities. They are a strong team and we are all excited about their 2010 football journey.

It was an interesting first game for us, with 3 players away with school holidays (Riley E, Nash and Olivia). A very big thank you to Josh B, Thomas and Bailey from the Green Team for helping us out.

We played a one all draw against Balgownie Green, which was a good start for the season. There was a lot of good passing by all the players, with Ben and Corey doing a lot of good runs down the sidelines and breaking through. Josh C was great in defence and also showed some good skill up front. Riley W was everywhere, defending well. Ryan showed a lot of skill both in attack and defence, and worked really hard.

The hard work of Ben, Corey and Ryan in the off season with Football Academy really paid off, with all three boys showing a lot of ball skills to get past opposition players.

Bailey and Josh B played in goals for us, which was good, and they both did a great job making saves. Tom showed a lot of great skill all over the pitch, especially since he had already played a whole game before with his own team.

A big thank you to Coach Craig for coming to help coach and referee for us, especially since Nash was not around to play. Coaches award went to Corey for his efforts around the park.

I think the way the kids played on Saturday showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with this season, especially once all of our players are back from holidays.

Heidi

What a great way to start the season proper. A replay of last year’s Grand Final, and all the baggage that that dragged up.

It started in the line up for the card check with one of the kids in the Figtree side ” We played you last year and we beat you, you guys suck.”  To their credit our kids kept their comments to themselves and held their compose.

Thanks to Julio for taking the last bit of the warmup and his wise words, they worked wonders. We took the field and looked composed and confident on the ball. It wasn’t too long before Ryan, almost effortlessly, slide the first dagger in with a nice shot on goal with the trust left boot, and the scene was set. In all the kids hit the back of the net 6 times in the first half and 3 in the second for a 9 – nil win. Actions speak louder than words!   Ryan, Jacob, and SamM scored twice, SamL, Matty D, and Wison one a piece. The best near miss was SamM’s header than hit the cross bar.

Of course they couldn’t have done it without their team mates and the supply of ball. The defence was rock solid with TK and Jasmin in the middle and Jacob and Mark on the sides in the first half. Reuben, Matty, and Wil patrolled the middle and did a wonderful job of feeding SamM, SamL, and Ryan.

I asked SamL what he rated as the best play of the day. His answer was Jasmin taking on 4 opposition players and seeing each one of them hit the ground and Jas coming out the other side, still with the ball.

Braeden wasn’t asked to do too much in goals but enjoyed himself when he came out in the second half as a Surprise striker. We didn’t see him “on the bike” this week, but are looking forward to seeing it in a game again soon.

Congratulations to all of you for the hard work you have put in, some of the kids have been training 3 days a week for some time now. The hard work is certainly paying off. See you all on Tuesday!

If any of the parents have photos of the game, please send through a copy and I’ll add them to the match report. Keep an eye on the web site for the draw for round 2 games.
regards,

Garry 

The season has finally started and after an anxious wait for the girls they finally got to wear the green and white of Russell Vale. Our first game was against Thirroul B at Thirroul. For a number of the girls it was there first time ever playing soccer and playing on the big field. It was a tough first up game for the girls as it was hot and only had eleven players.
Congratulations to every player who played they all tried there hardest some even said “my feet are sweating it is that hot out here.” The first half was a tale of we had all the ball, all the shots and no goals, Thirroul had one chance and scored. After a cold drink the girls took up the challenge again and started off well again we had a couple of chances and then Thirroul scored to make it 2 nil. The pleasing thing for me and all the parents was the girls never gave up and went up the field and scored from the boot of Stella a well deserved goal from someone who tried all day. We continued to push forward to get that goal back but in the last minute Thirroul scored a goal from the sideline making the final score 3-1 to Thirroul.
It was a great team effort and everyone tried to the end which is a great positive, the coaches effort award went to Faith Apps who in her first ever game of soccer ran from one side of the park to the other and like everyone else had a very red face at the end of the game.
Well done and we will all come back and do it again next week.

Cheers
Martin

Congratulations to the girls on their fantastic first round effort against Helensburgh on the weekend!! In a tough and tense game the girls came away with a 0-0 draw.
Our defence with Jasmine.W, Tarmiqua, Hannah and Sarah were never off the ball and defended as if there lives depended on it.. They all gave great assistance to our to goalies Jasmine.B and Meg who both did plenty of work when they were out on the field defending and some great work in goals.

Our mid-fielders Keely, Casey, Chloe, Candice and Tyla all had good games and were a constant threat to Helensburghs defence. Our strikers Alyse and Jade had some nice touches and along with Keely were unlucky not to score a few goals between them. With our limited preparation the girls showed plenty of character, courage and skill and their performances will only get better as the season progresses!!

Special thanks to all the parents for getting the girls up to Helensburgh at 8:00am-a tough ask any time of the year! The cheering and encouragement from the sidelines certainly helped especially in the second half when the game was in the balance.

1 down 17 to go- the fun and good times has just started!! Looking forward to round 2 and hopefully a home game and a bit later start time….

Regards

Michael