Rnd 18

Sunday 15 August
Thirroul 2 v 2 Russell Vale

Last game of the regular season and with nothing at stake the game ended 2-2 with honours even. Russell Vale made all the running in the early stages on what has to be the worst pitch in the league. Jean Paul had several strikes at goal but their keeper was equal to the challenge. As the half wore on Thirroul finally mounted their first real threat at goal and from the resulting corner the Cobras defence froze allowing the striker to head in from close range giving the home side an undeserved lead. Soon after the Cobras were nearly back on level terms when Jordan Woods rose to meet a Joel Dalmonte free kick but failed to get it on target. With Nathan Armstrong making some great tackles Russell Vale were winning the midfield battle and continued to push for an equalizer. Thirroul broke away again and Gareth Garnon had to make an excellent save to prevent Thirroul doubling their lead. Russell Vale replied by stepping up the pressure on the Thirroul goal, first Hayden Brown saw his header superbly pushed over the bar by the keeper. Next it was Dylan Andrews turn from a header and with the goalie well beaten it was unfortunately cleared off the line by a defender.

Russell Vale took to the pitch in the second half fired up and scored an equalizer within the first few minutes. A good ball from Shae Morgan picked out Matt Nelson’s late run and he stormed into the box to make it 1-1. Both Jean Paul and Nathan Armstrong went close from long range but both efforts flew over the bar. To prove they were not going to roll over Thirroul twice hit the woodwork in a chaotic goalmouth scramble and Joey Hodges had to make a couple of good interceptions in defence. With 10 mins to go Nathan Hennessy was brought down on the edge of the box for a free kick. Hayden Brown stepped up and blasted the ball into the top corner of the net and the goal looked to have settled the game in Russell Vale’s favour 2-1. Twice in as many minutes Shae Morgan nearly scored from Matt Nelson crosses to put the game out of reach but it was not to be. As the clocked ticked down Thirroul won a final corner and scored in almost identical circumstances to their first goal as the Russell Vale defence once again went to sleep. The team as a whole will need to be a lot sharper and concentrate a 100% when the playoffs start next week.

regards,

Shaun

Russell Vale 4 Thirroul 0

Congratulations to a bunch of dedicated girls who in their first year where runners up by one point, this is a great achievement considering that most of the girls are playing soccer for the first time this year and are playing in a age group above their playing age. It has a privilege to be part of the U11 girls they have shown great character and commitment to training and let me say they have at times been very testing 14 ten/eleven year old girls together can very noisy and hard to get a word in.  I want to thank all the parents who have given up their time to bring kids to training and games I hope that you are all proud of your girls and have enjoyed watching them improve and enjoy themselves.  I also want to thank Ben who has assisted greatly this year and has helped every week with team sheets and sending emails and text msgs.

Our last game was against Thirroul on Friday night under lights once again everyone was excited as we hadn’t trained due to the rain. Tonight we played well and as a team we knocked the ball around we should have scored more goals but I was quite happy with the four that we scored, the goal scorers where Jasmine, Charlie and Samantha who scored two goals.  The coaches’ award went to Sarah who was solid in defence and her timing for tackles was great well done Sarah.  This year we have had a great record at home and have never been beaten there this season.

Now the comp is over the fun and games of semi final football begins for the girls nothing will change it will be just another game against Unanderra.  We will do the same as we do for every game and enjoy ourselves and try our best.  I want to wish the other Russell Vale teams in the Semi’s all the best of luck for the weekend and hope we can get a few teams to reach the grand finals.  I hope we can get as many supporters to Beaton Park on Sunday 10.30am to watch and cheer on the U11 girls.  Good luck to everyone and see you all at training.

Cheers

Martin

Round 18: Russell Vale under 13 Girls All Stars Vs Thirroul at Gibson park Thirroul

Russell Vale under 13 Girls had a thrilling match against Thirroul this morning. Tension was high in the crowd with Russell Vale supporters screaming at the tops of their lungs and Thirroul supporters hoping for the first win of the season for their girl’s team.  The whole game was exhilarating and there wasn’t a dull moment. Both sides desperately wanted to win but the end score was 2-2. Every girl on the soccer field wanted to win as much as the one next to them and the coaches were chewing on their nails. The girls would have deserved a win but a draw is always better than a loss and the girls played fantastically with most of them playing in more than one position.

Keely played the whole game in mid-field with only one break and as usual she played terrifically and was always on the ball. Tyla played striker also the whole game with one break and she scored a cracking goal in the first half that was well deserved. Alyse played striker and she played an awesome game with a great goal in the second half. Sarah played striker and mid-field; she had many chances to score and was unlucky to miss out. Jade also played in striker and mid-field, she was making breaks up the side line every time she had the ball. Casey played striker and defence, she booted the ball out of this world when she was in defence. Hannah played in goalie and defence in both halves she showed how good a soccer player she is. Meg also played goalie and defence in both she played outstandingly well. Chloe played defence in the first half and she was everywhere then in the second half she showed how good a mid-fielder she is. Pamela played defence and striker which she played excellently in both and doing some massive kicks. She has been great over the last few weeks. Candice played in mid-field and defence both she did fantastic kicks and stops even after getting hit hard and a cut lip she came back hard.

I enjoyed the game and it is disappointing the year has come to an end.  The whole year has been a great experience and it was a good way to end a very enjoyable Year. I hope all the girls come back and play at Russell Vale next year as we will have an even better side than this year and even more fun than we had this year.

GO Russell Vale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jasmine

Rnd 17

Sunday 6 August

Russell Vale 13 v 0 Kiama

This emphatic win guaranteed the Cobras “Runners Up” spot in Division II. To be fair to Kiama they did field an under strength side and the situation was clinically exploited by Russell Vale especially in the second half. Hayden Brown set up Shae Morgan for the first goal, Matt Nelson then went close several times but was continually denied by the keeper. Then Jean Paul went on a solo run beating three players only to be thwarted by the keeper. Chris Behan was making some penetrating runs down the right flank and his excellent crosses tested the Kiama keeper who was up to the task. Undeterred the Green Machines continued to press and a Coen Mackay cross found the head of Shae Morgan for number two. The game was effectively over as a contest when a great through ball by Nathan Armstrong provided Matt Nelson with the opportunity to power forward and score to make it a comfortable 3-0 at the end of the half. In the past fortnight there has been a lot of wet weather causing the previous game to be cancelled and disruption to several training sessions, resulting in the Cobras looking a bit rusty at times during the opening half hour.

However that all changed at half time as a rejuvenated Russell Vale came out all guns firing and scored two goals in the first minute of the half. Literally straight from the KO a good ball from Hayden Brown provided Shae Morgan with the opportunity to set up Matt Nelson for the fourth goal. Matt Nelson then returned the compliment when his low cross was cheekily flicked in by Shae Morgan 5-0. Then we had what appeared to be an action replay of that goal when the same two players combined for Shae Morgan to score with an identical finish 6-0. Jean Paul was unfortunate when he had a close range effort ruled out for offside. Then one of the surprises of the evening came when Dylan Andrews sneaked up for a corner and bundled Matt Nelson’s cross over the line with his backside 7-0. Even more surprisingly Dylan Andrews scored a second a few minutes later when his left foot met Matt Nelson’s cross to make it 8-0. The players were now queuing up to score and Nathan Hennessy had a double effort from close range that somehow failed to find the back of the net. Matt Nelson wrapped up his performance by scoring numbers 9 and 10 on the evening before he and Shae Morgan left the field to well deserved applause after scoring four goals apiece. Hayden Brown went very close with a couple of long range rockets and then turned provider when a delightful little pass gave Jean Paul the opportunity to finally score his first goal for the club. It was difficult to say who had the biggest smile on the night Jean Paul or Dylan Andrews either way they were so bright we didn’t need floodlights. Number 12 came after a good solo run by Jordan Woods took him into the box and ended with a confident finish. Then it was left to Nathan Armstrong to apply the “coup de gras” in the final second of the game 13-0. Now that we are down to the business end of the season it was a good confidence lift in preparation for the playoffs.

 Regards,

 Shaun Hamlet,

The kids bounced back very well this week even with the week off and disruptions due to the rain. Last time we played at Kiama we couldn’t hit the back of the net at all and had to leave with a Nil-all draw. Luckily history didn’t repeat itself and the final score line of 3-0 probably didn’t show how dominant the kids were. They also played without SamL and Wilson so they had to run all game without any subs.

The goals were shared between SamM, Matty and Jacob, and were all well taken shots. Matty was probably unlucky with a couple more including andother great effort with his head. I was just as pleased with his effort then, and I was with his goal from the edge of the box. History did come back to bite us a little with a missed penalty shot, but not to worry about that too much. Interestingly the assistant referee (linelsman) on our side of the field was the referee from last year’s grand final! I couldn’t help myself so I went up and had a quick chat to him after the game and asked him why the two shots were retaken last year. His reply… Blame the linesman!!!!! He said that the linesman indicated that t SamM moved his feet forward off his line before the ball was kicked. Lucky I’m a placid type of guy!!!!!!

In general the team played well, kept their shape, and passed the ball around. One of the nice stories was that after the game the Kiama kids thanked ours for the game and said that they hoped we would win the Grand Final. Nice touch.

Next week we play Oak Flats at home and will be without ThomasM. The following week will be the Major Semi without Ryan. Should be a great couple of weeks coming up. Hopefully everyone can keep all their bones in tact!!!!!!

Training early at 4:30pm on Tuesday.

The U11 Girls are playing at home on Friday night so it might be a good time to hang around for a bit of a get together after training on Friday.

Garry