The Russell Vale Under 9 Green Team had the pleasure of participating in a Gala Day at Tarrawanna today that involved 20 Teams from around the region. The games consisted of 7 players (instead of the usual 9) and were played over 12 minute halves.

We played 4 games on the day and the 1st of these was against the strong Kiama Club. The score ended up at 2 all at full time and was indicative of the closeness of the game. There wasn’t to many chances to score goals for either side, however both Baxter and Harrison took their chances well and both Boys ended up with 1 goal apiece. Both boys did some goodwork in general play and were a constant threat to the opposition.  
 
Our 2nd game was against host Club Tarrawanna who had the home ground advantage and were a good little football Team. The score at fulltime was 2-1 and Baxter was the sole goal scorer on this occasion. There were a number of strong RV performers in this game. Fletcher enjoyed his time up front and was in the thick of the action from start to finish. Brodie and Trent combined well in the mid field and both boys covered plenty of ground in both attack and defence. Our defence of Hayley and Nicky who from a distance could easily pass as twins, was solid all game and both girls thwarted many opposition attacking raids.
 
The 3rd game against Coniston who still had their “Ninja” outfits on from the March Past was probably our best of the day. The score ended up at 1-0 at fulltime and this was a great result against another good football team. Luke and Clayton played well in attack and defence and Ethan who played the first half in goals came up with the “play of the day” with a neat little header over the sideline whilst he was still laying on the ground!!
 
By the time our 4th game against Fernhill came around, the Team was tired and looking forward to the end of the day. The score ended up 4-0 to Fernhill and could have been alot more except that Matthew was in goals in the second half and stopped plenty of long range missiles that were flying his way every few minutes!
 
The highlight of the day was the Russell Vale Club winning the March Past and a great big trophy for their efforts!! This is the 2nd “March Past” Trophy that this particular age group has won as when they were victorious in the Albion Park March Past when they were in the under 7’s. Not only are the Teams going well on the field, they are also excelling off the Field as well!!
 
The Players had loads of fun on the day and playing 4 games on the one day will add plenty to their all round skills development and we will definitely see the benefits off this over the next few weeks and beyond!!
 
Lastly, to Craig and Andrew, thanks for taking the time and effort to organise and coach the Team on the day. Without committed Coaches and Managers, these days cannot be enjoyed by the children- so on behalf of all the players and parents- once again Thank You!!
 
Regards
 
Michael