The first ten minutes or so were a little bit scrappy as both sides set out to impose their game plan. After a lethargic start Russell Vale eventually started to put some passes together and Harrison Benn hit a good effort from distance but their keeper got it at the second attempt. The only time the home team looked dangerous was from a couple of corners, both times their centre half rose above our defence only to place his header over the bar.

 

Then at the other end Russell Vale made their corner count. Harrison Benn’s cross caused havoc in the Oak Flats six yard box, a mad scramble ensued and Jordan Errington was in the right place at the right time to bundle the ball over the line. Doesn’t matter how they go in they all count. On the stroke of HT Christian Baade Mortimer almost added a second after a superb run that left four defenders in his wake but their keeper did well to save at the near post. So at HT the score remained 1-0 to Russell Vale.

 

After the restart Russell Vale had another opportunity to make the game safe when a superb reverse ball from Jordan Errington put Blair Dunn away but again their goalie was equal to the shot. As the game wore on Oak Flats sensed they could still get something from the match and in the last 10 mins had Russell Vale penned in their own half. First Tom Curran topped a fine individual game by clearing a shot off the line, then soon after Ethan Johnson made a good save to deny Oak Flats. As the clock run down we gave away possession in our 18 yard box and Oak Flats took full advantage, even though Ethan Johnson managed to get both hands to the shot he couldn’t prevent it crossing the line to make the final score 1-1.

 

A draw away from home to last season’s Division II Runners Up is not a bad result but conceding an equaliser so late in the game made it feel more like a defeat. Full credit to Oak Flats they made it hard going for us and deserved their point.

 

So for the third consecutive game our lack of concentration in the final minutes of the game has cost us points. Last season many of the games were all over by half time, so I believe it’s just a case of developing the right mindset to play 100% until the final whistle. As for the numerous substitutions it shouldn’t matter which 11 players are on the pitch they are all capable of doing a good job. We win as a team, we lose as a team and sometimes we draw.

 

YNWA

Coach

Right from the start Albion Park played very fast aggressive football and didn’t give Russell Vale time to settle on the ball. On literally our first breakaway into Albion Parks 18 yard box we won a corner and Harrison Benn curled the free kick into the top corner of the net to give the Cobras a 1-0 lead after 12 mins. To be fair to our opponents it was against the run of play. It did however give the Cobras a bit of confidence and we started to string a few passes together but the front players of Blair Dunn, Jordan Errington and Riley Hanlon were unable to create any clear cut chances to extend the lead. So at HT the score remained 1-0 to Russell Vale.

Continue reading “Rd 4 U12.2 v Albion Park” →

Considering we’ve had some very low turn outs at training over the past couple of weeks I couldn’t complain about the team’s performance in Rnd 3 on what was a very hot day. Overall Russell Vale played the better football and were unfortunate not to come away with at least a point against last season’s Division II Grand Finalists. Just an observation but Figtree had some of the tallest 11-12 year olds I have ever seen in my life.

  Continue reading “Rd 3 U12.2 v Figtree” →

Coledale 1 v 0 Russell Vale

I’m quick enough to praise the lads when they deserve it, so in turn they have to take it on the chin when they don’t perform to expectations. To say Russell Vale didn’t turn up for the first half would be an understatement. In fact it took a full 12mins before we even managed to get out of our own half and during that time we even kicked off twice!!

When Russell Vale started the game Coledale took the ball off us before we had even completed our second pass. From then on they created chance after chance and it was only their profligacy in front of goal that kept the scoreline down to 1-0 at HT. Their goal came from a free kick, how many times did that that happen last season and even more disappointing from a coaching perspective we have worked on this scenario numerous times at training. Our one excursion into the Coledale half against the run of play did lead to a penalty and the chance to level the score………..but it was not to be.

At HT I reminded the team that to play “pass & move” football you do actually have to pass and move but more importantly win the ball in the first place. With no subs to call on the same 11 players returned to the pitch with the opportunity to restore some pride.

The second half turned out to be a far more evenly contested game with chances at both ends, the clearest chances going to Russell Vale but unfortunately we failed to convert. In the last 5mins I don’t think Coledale managed to get out of their own half as the Cobras tried desperately to equalise and I think their team were somewhat relieved when the final whistle went.

It’s not the end of the world, only Rnd 2. There’s a long season ahead and hopefully an important lesson was learnt today. The second half proved that Russell Vale can compete at this level, they just have to do it on a consistent basis.

Training as usual Mon/Wed during the holidays for those that can make it. No game this weekend, Rnd 3 is (away) to Figtree Sat 27 April – midday K/O.

YNWA

Coach

Russell Vale 3 v 2 Bulli

Given the circumstances this was a fantastic result. It was the first game of the season, Bulli had already beaten us in a preseason friendly and again in the 7’s tournament, plus we were down to the bare minimum of 11 available players.

In H’s absence Jack Donnelly captained the team and the first half turned out to be fairly even. We missed a penalty from 16 yards out yet I was always under the impression it was supposed to be 12 yards. Anyway it was the referees first game so we have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Surprisingly although we practice penalty kicks in training now and again, come match day only 1 in 5 have actually gone in during the past three seasons.

Spurred on from the missed penalty Bulli caught our defence cold to take the lead 0-1. A good build up and a good through ball from Christian Mortimer set Jordan Errington up to equalise on the stroke of half time. Although there was a hint of offside about it these things tend to even themselves out over the course of the season. Even in this game we should have been awarded a second penalty when their defender blocked a shot with his hands but that’s just the way it goes.

In the second half Bulli were first out of the traps and within the first couple of minutes restored their lead from a corner. Again our team failed to deal with the cross and were punished accordingly. With no subs to call on it needed a tactical switch to get us back into it. Bailey Mortimer moved up front and Ethan Lanarch took over in midfield, from then on Russell Vale controlled the game with our passing and Bulli were limited to a few forays into our half that were comfortably dealt with by the defence.

Russell Vale missed several chances until late in the game Hayley Waller slipped the ball through for Bailey Mortimer to score at the second attempt and make it 2-2. The green machines then poured forward in search of the winner and were duly rewarded when Bailey Mortimer returned the compliment to Hayley Waller by laying the ball on for her to drill it inside the near post and give Russell Vale the lead for the first time in the game. In fact the third goal turned out to be the winner as the ref blew up soon after.

Sometimes a moment of individual magic can win a game but in this instance it has to go down as a brilliant team effort, they just never gave up. With time running out they kept their patience and didn’t panic. The second and third goals were both the end product of superb passing moves that must have been in double figures by the time the ball hit the net.

Great start to the season and once again they make me feel very proud to be their Coach.

Saturday 13 April we are away to Coledale, I believe the KO is around 10:30am so please ensure the players arrive by 10:00am. This will be a tough game as Coledale won the Division IV League & Grand Final last season winning every single game along the way. As a result they skip a division and join us in Division II. Once again we only have 11 players available but if they play with the same heart and desire as they did last weekend I will have no complaints whatever the result.

YNWA

Coach

 

Round 1 had us pitched against the same Corrimal side that we played in the trial game a couple of weeks ago. Everyone was available to play except for Benny who’ll be out for a few more weeks yet. As promised I swapped the team around a bit. Jackson and Riley shared the goal keeping duties, with Jackson doing the rain dance to keep warm in the first half, while ET did much the same in the second and was called on once to make a great one on one save against a stray striker.

Stuart and Texas played in midfield and had fun roaming around the middle of the park. It will be interesting to see who are the natural fits for this position as the year goes on.

Millsey got dizzy running around filling in the holes for the kids as they came off for their rest and did a great job, poaching a goal (or two?) in the process.

The first half had Olivia, Burto and Anakin forming the back line with Tom, Nash and E.T. up front. The two lines swapped at half time, Jackson coming into Right Back when ET went into goals. I am pretty sure we scored two goals in the first half, and two or three in the second. It was a bit difficult to judge one of them when Anakin launched a ball that would have been a goal on any pitch that played with goals and nets instead of sticks.

In all I was very pleased with the kids have learnt their positions and the effort they are putting in. It will be a bit disruptive with kids playing in different positions, including ones that they don’t like, but at the end of the day it is meant to be about development, and getting better at the game. For me, some of the best football was played when we were under pressure and in our own half. The kids pulled off some very good passing moves to get out of trouble when they were under pressure and “build from the back” rather than taking the option of the big kick to clear the ball. That was even more satisfying to me than seeing the ball go into the back of the make-believe net, even if the kids didn’t appreciate it as much. I really look forward to seeing them develop each week. Hopefully those passing moves will turn into more goals.

Plays of the day… E.T’s one-on-one save and Nash taking the ball wide from a goal kick with a  couple of attackers around him and still managing to find Anakin and Stuart to take the ball up into the other half.

Well done everyone.

Garry

Hi All,

What can I say WOW 7 – 1, I am so happy and proud for you girls. All the hard work that you have been doing at training is working, OR was it daylight saving – the extra hour sleep must have helped. Whatever the reason there are no more excuses for early morning games.

It was an amazing feeling to be up 3 nil in the first 10 minutes of the game and only to get better with a 6 nil lead at half time.

Sundays game was outstanding. It was a great effort from all the girls. We only had 12 girls available for this game and it was a lot to ask for from the girls for the first game of the season. Everyone ran tirelessly throughout the game and it was great to see their fighting spirit kick in when they were starting to run out of puff.

We still have the other girls that were not available today (Jazz, Alyse, Chloe A, Kirra, Layla) to come back into the team. The squad has a lot of depth this year so we are in for a big year.

For me today Sarah’s efforts were outstanding. Sarah your countless chasing and clearing of the ball was excellent.

Well done Kylie. Stopping the ball with your hands, feet and stomach! Great work let’s keep this up for the rest of the season.

Chloe J you are such a fighter. Your never die attitude is great to watch well done.

The defenders Hannah, Emilee and Meg great work you three girls were awesome in the back line. You all stepped up putting your body on the line. Hannah nice goal!

Madeline a lot of running and chasing your hard work was much appreciated great to watch keep it up. Again welcome to the team.

Brooke, Jade a lot of good runs and through balls. Brooke nice goal. I keep telling you believe in yourself it will happen and it did, great goal.

The forwards Paige, Ash and Teya well done girls. Paige great goal, great runs down that right hand side, let’s keep this up.

Ash well done 4 goals. In my years of playing soccer I did not achieve this in a single game so you now have one over me. But you still must do as I say! Ha ha!!

Teya for someone who has not played soccer before your efforts are amazing, great runs down the left hand side keep up the good work and the goals will come for you as well. Welcome to the team.

Overall girls it was a great effort to be celebrated but let’s make sure we do not get ahead of ourselves. It is a long season and we need to be consistent. Remember this feeling and take it into each game from here onwards.

Remember, Work as a Team by Supporting each other, Praise each other, Be Confident in yourself and Believe in yourself and Don’t panic on the ball (Relax and look around) AND HAVE FUN!

From a Very Happy Coach

Danny

As one parent said to me after the game “Just cut and paste last week’s match report.”

In a lot of ways the games were similar, with a similar outcome. The boys had a very ordinary first half, albeit “uphill and into the wind” and HG Nelson would say. The defense held strong and maintained even footing going into the second half, Nil-all. Another half time re-calibration session with Julio and the boys went out aided by the downhill run. They created a few good chances, most notably Wilson’s bomb that somehow missed the top right corner. Full-time, still goal-less.

First half of extra -time we had the run, but still couldn’t convert. Second half running uphill we had a goal mouth scramble and couldn’t believe they managed to keep the ball out.

The penalties had a bit of a twist. Ruben got his but Jacob didn’t get his in. Both Shellharbour attempts went in, putting the boys under pressure 2-1. SamL and Wilson got theirs then Braeden made his first save (their forth attempt) putting us back in contention. TK slotted his home 4-4 and game on! Lochlan stepped up and converted his chance. Braeden made his second save off Shellharbours 7th giving us a shot. A very nervous Matty D strode up to the spot and hit the back of the net giving the boys the win 6-5.

Just when we thought it wouldn’t be our day…. the football gods were smiling on us.

Figtree await us in the Grand Final, and as we now know anything can happen, and is likely to!

We have only given up two goals in the last four games which is a pretty impressive statistic, especially as the last two games were against the teams that came second and third. What isn’t as impressive is that we have only managed to score a single goal ourselves, not good form to take into a big match.

However as we all know Grand Finals are different.  As with last week, the Grand Final starts on Tuesday at training.

Can’t wait! Even though we have rode our luck the boys thoroughly deserve to finish the season on a high, they have played some of the best football even when the results haven’t gone their way and they struggled with consistency. We are all confident that they will put on a great show and do themselves proud.

As a wise man named Jimmy Greaves once said “football’s a funny old game”.

Football has a habit of going round in circles. Last year we lost to Corrimal at the same stage of the comp and Blair Dunn missed a penalty in that game but I always stay loyal to my players and that faith was rewarded in this year’s Major Final. Plus earlier this season we were robbed of a place in the Final of the 3rd/4th Division Plate by Kiama, so this was an opportunity to reverse the result.

The opening stages of the Final were cut and thrust as both teams went out to control the game and take an early lead. Despite Kiama winning several corners and a free kick Ethan Johnson never had a shot to save, mainly thanks to his resolute defence. As the half wore on Russell Vale were involved in several goal mouth scrambles in the Kiama box but as per the previous round we just couldn’t force the ball over the line. The nearest either side came to scoring was a cleverly worked shot at goal from Jordan Errington but unfortunately it came back off the post, so at HT the game was still locked at 0-0.

In the second half Russell Vale pinned Kiama back in their own half and that pressure finally paid off when Harrison Benn side stepped his marker and drilled the ball into the net. The team then lost concentration and 5 mins later allowed Kiama to score a carbon copy of the goal they got in the 3rd/4th Plate Semi, 1-1. Despite that setback Russell Vale again forced Kiama onto the back foot but just couldn’t create a clear opening. Kiama’s one other sortie into Russell Vale territory led to a mix up in defence but Clayton Walker quickly made amends before their striker could score.

After that it was all Russell Vale and with only a few minutes to go and extra time looming Christian Baade Mortimer went on an incredible run skipping past several players before he was hacked down in the box with only the keeper to beat. The referee awarded the penalty (our first of the season) but was lenient with the defender. All he received was a booking even though Christian was forced to leave the field with a nasty injury to be replaced by his brother Bailey Baade Mortimer. All that was left now was for Blair Dunn as the coolest player on the pitch to step up and calmly place his penalty shot into the corner of the net to ensure that the Cobras were going to the Grand Final.

Next Saturday we meet Unanderra in the Grand Final at Albion Park 1:00pm K/O. It will be another tough game as they are a well organised team and both our wins in the regular season against them were very close (2-1 & 1-0). As Russell Vale Coach I would never under estimate any opponent in a one off cup game but that said I am confident that if the Cobras play the kind of football that has been their trade mark all season, they will get the result they deserve.

YNWA

Coach

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve put pen to paper (figuratively, of course) to give a match report for the U13.1s, and for pretty good reason. There hasn’t been a lot of good stuff to talk about since the video montage of the game V Albion Park. If things went to plan that was suppose to be the launch pad for an assault on the semi’s.

But then we were hit with a couple of set-backs. Jack broke his collar bone playing Football at School and Jai copped a kick to the head playing Futsal for his school. This has ruled Jack out for the season and Jai missed two games as a precaution for concussion.

We were due to play two teams below us on the table, Bally White and Highlands and we had expected to pick up the points and retain 4^th spot, if not challenge for 3^rd or even 2^nd if other results went our way. Unfortunately we struggled without the boys and managed a draw v Bally White and a 1-0 loss up in the highlands.

Fortunately for us the quirk with our comp is that as there are 11 teams in the division and a 6 team final series. This gave us a shot at the Semi Final, coming in fifth, against second placed Bally Black. The boys had shown right throughout the year that they were very competitive and didn’t fear playing anyone. Even with a draw against the second Bally Team they would always be in shot against the first Bally side. We had a good record against them, a draw in the first round and a convincing win in the second.

Jai was back after his two week sabbatical and the boys were up for a big game. It didn’t all go to plan, though. The nerves must have got the better of them and they were pretty rusty in the first 30 minutes. The passes just weren’t sticking and they struggled to get out of their half, even with the assistance of a fairly strong wind. After a quick half time recalibration the boys launched themselves into the second half. As was the case against Dapto the boys passing game was actually more suited to playing into the wind, even with the ball being belted back over the heads in the second half.

Regulation time finished 0-0, as did a pulsating 20 min extra time.

We kept the 4-3-3 structure right through the game, resisting the temptation to drop back in defence, or go all-out attack. Jacob, Lochlan, TK, and SamL held the strong back line. Ruben camped in front of them as the holding midfielder, leaving Matty D, Jai, and Mark to battle to create opportunities in midfield. Wilson, SamM, Dean and Ryan played up front. SamM was away on a couple of occasions, only to be called back for offside (once VERY unlucky). Wilson let loose a bomb from the right but the ball caught up in the wind and drifted wide. Ryan had the best chance of the game and was unlucky with an awkward bounce. Bally had a couple of good chances and put the ball in the back of the net, only to be called offside PHEW!

The team doesn’t have a good record in penalty shoot outs. Losing every one they have played in. 10.3 Major Semi, 10.3 Grand Final, U11.2 Major Semi. The scars still run deep.

Our penalty takers, Ruben, Jacob, Wilson & SamL all slotted their chances and Braeden made two great saves to give the boys their win (4-3) and a chance to play off in the final next weekend. We’ll be playing Shellharbour who beat Albion Park. The game was played in a great spirit  and fortunately Bally will get another chance against Figtree next weekend and we wish them well. No one deserves to go out of a competition on Penalties.

So, well done boys, the Grand Final is certainly within reach and is there for the taking. It all starts this week with application at training.

TAKE CARE. NO MORE INJURIES!