Semi Final Round 2 (9/8/08)
“Ouch”……..This was not the fairytale end we had planned for our season. After playing so well last week…it all fell apart today. However…all credit to our guys and girl….we went down fighting and put in a big effort even down to the last whistle. Nathaniel really went for everything today and didn’t pull out of one tackle and was hungry for the ball….it was really nice to see your commitment today. We had a big task ahead and we missed Charlie and Matt and even Dale was not his spritely self today…..but thanks to Harry, Liam and Kad for doing a great job filling these positions over the last couple of weeks. On the whole….we were still in this match with 15 to go……..but we lost some momentum after Dale’s goal and the Hawks swooped in for the kill with some soft goals in the dieing minutes.
Hold your heads high team…..if the competition finished on time like it should have (3 weeks ago) it would have been a very different result. All credit to the Hawks….they played great soccer today and really moved the ball up field and showed great control from their keeper to their strikers. Lets hope they can dish out the same stuff to North Epping next week. …but soccer’s a funny game…maybe this was just their day.????
A big thanks to the Mums (and Dads) who bought the kids along to training and the games each week…….Yes…..I wanted to stay in a warm bed plenty of times….but I wanted to win more. Thanks to Peter and Phil for helping with the trainings, thanks to Liz for her great management skills and for giving us a nice smooth year and finally…..the kids…thanks for giving us parents something to yell about every Saturday morning.
You have done your parents and the club proud and it has given us a great base to build a strong Division 1 side next season.

Semi Final Round 1 (2/8/08)
We had a fight on our hands this morning but I all fell into place as scripted with a spirited 2-0 win over our foes at a breezy school oval this morning. Roselea came out hard and camped themselves firmly in our half for the first 10-15 minutes and the coach and crowd were nervous, nervous, nervous. Harry, (a.k.a. “rubber man”) pulled off a ripper of a save diving to his left and covering a ball that was earmarked for the left hand corner….we loved it. Still……Roselea couldn’t find their mark and our team composed themselves and started to grind out a win. Andrew scored our first goal with a volley that came from a cross from the wing and we went to the break 1 nil up but with plenty of work still left to do. We needed some speed up front and some driving kicks to provide some momentum that we could work with. Sammy was brought back into defence to clear and drive and she did just that. Sammy drove up to Josh, Josh crossed to Joel and hey presto…”Joela Joela” gets number one for the season. (well done…we knew it was in there somewhere.) Jeremy was everywhere today and was a deserved “MOTM” recipient….he chased down everything today. A special “THANKYOU” to our star sweeper Charlie, who played his last game before he departs to the USA to show Beckham a thing or two. You have done yourself and your team proud Charlie….we couldn’t have got this far without your speed and skill and for that we all say “Bon Voyage” and we will be thinking of you.
Next week…Hill Hawks……so plenty of soccer left yet. See you Wednesday.

Week 12 (21/6/08) played 26/7/08
Not our best effort today but boy…North Epping were there to play. They were very quick all over the park today and exposed some big holes in our midfield. In our defence ….. It was our “have fun” match and we did play out of positions to give the backs a turn up front and vice versa….so I hope you boys and girl enjoyed it as next week it will be back to usual. It gave us a good chance to “target” their best players as I get the feeling we will be meeting this team again in the near future….but we will have done our homework and will be preparing for a vastly different outcome. Well done to Tom N who scored our only goal but Dale had a great shot and near miss from a free kick out side the box. Thanks to Matt for coming along to observe…all be it with a very sore foot. You will be greatly missed Matty but the team will do our best for you. Harry played a great game in goals and was throwing his body around like a rag doll …and pulled off some great saves……earning him the man of the match. I think that we learnt a lot from this game and now we know how our opposition attack and defend and we can take measures to combat them in both departments. It’s the “business” end of the season so we still have some hard work ahead team….see you on Wednesday.

Week 4 (26/4/08) played 19/7/08
A lovely sunny morning to wrap up the Premiership. Congratulations to all the boys and girls on another fine effort this morning. A solid win against a West Pennant Hills team who cannot be underrated. They played very well early on and had a couple of good opportunities from some corners and were unlucky not to bag a couple of goals. But it was going to be our day today and everyone on the pitch put in a strong performance. We were always first to the ball and they rarely broke our line……which was a credit to Liam, Charlie and Nathaniel. Brandon bagged his first goal for the season (the power of positive thinking eh??) and Dale showed some superb control with 2 long range goals that cleared the keepers head on both occasions. Andrew S had a strong game and Sammy, Christian, Joel and Jeremy all showed excellent control in the midfield. I don’t know that our “celebration song” (Jingle bells) instils fear in our opposition but…oh well……it does the job. On the whole…a great team effort with pats on the head all round.( “Premiers”..…it sounds good.)

Week 3 (19/4/08) – played 12/7/08
Another excellent win to our team this morning. It was a real joy to see the team passing and moving the ball around the park and setting up their plays very carefully. The truth be known….there were more goals in this match than the 4 we managed to put away but we just lacked a bit of finishing. (imagine how well we will play when it all comes together eh !!!!). Liam grabbed the man of the match today….he did everything that a full back should do…stopped their plays, pushed the ball up field and realised he had time with the ball. Goals today to Dale, Harry, Tom and the opposition. (which is always nice…isn’t it ?)
However, this team gave us plenty of time to think about our soccer today and the next few matches will be much quicker so lets not get complacent…we still have a premiership to win. Training this week…Wednesday 2-3pm and get ready to run. C U There……and well done.

Week 13 (28/6/08)
Dear team…please DO NOT do that to us again !!!!!!. To win the game after needing 2 goals in the last 5 minutes does not go well with a weak heart. All credit to our opposition Roselea, they played good soccer today but our boys (and girl) really put it together and came home with a wet sail to pull off a thrilling win.
It was our usual slow start and we conceded an unlucky goal but our defence in the first half was truly excellent…thanks to Charlie, Liam and a “man of the match” effort by Brandon. Our guys stuck to their forwards like superglue and we were impenetrable for the first 25 minutes. Joshy bagged our first to tie it up 1-1 at the break and we could sniff a victory coming. But Roselea had other plans when they scored from a corner half way through the second half. (nervous).
It was a real arm wrestle to the finish with Dale tidying up a great cross from Sammy, pushing it wide of the keeper and into the back of the net. It was always going to be a great last 2 minutes. (very nervous). Kad hooked on to a loose kick from Roselea and set Harry on his way, and to his credit he sprinted past the defenders and managed to sneak it past the keeper. The crowd went wild (except for the Roselea supporters who looked on in disbelief). Phew…relief…..and 3 competition points as well as a huge smile. Nice to see our team “wanting” the win and doing everything to get it. Maybe it was the promise of Mars Bars that provided the extra incentive ??????

Week 11 (14/6/08)
Not our best effort this morning…….however at times it looked like we were going to come good. WPH played well, us on the other hand were not focussed and not on the ball. Some nice passages of play from Thomas who didn’t make any mistakes and marked his player brilliantly. Matt again was solid in goals…….but it was our support play and structure that just wasn’t there today. Nathaniel also was strong and made some great runs down the right wing. At times we could have thrown a blanket over our midfield….we also didn’t take the opportunities that were available for easy goals. So…this is one game we will pretend never happened and focus on getting back on track at training on Wednesday. See you then (and be ready for a work out).

Week 10 (7/06/08)
Goals: Dale 2, Charlie 1
Player of the Match: Nathaniel Zeckendorf
Yet another tough match, eventually won because the whole team stuck at it until the final whistle. Down 1-0 until late in the 2nd half, we never gave up and then BAM! three late goals. Strikers Dale, Andrew and Harry were busy with attacking opportunities throughout the match. Although we didn’t convert the opportunities in the first half, we exhausted the opposition with constant pressure and overran them at the end. Dale came away with a brace; one close in and one beautiful distance shot from a fine angle that floated into the net.
We controlled the middle of the pitch much better today and (after Tony’s comments last week) got to the ball first more often. Our attacking midfielders, Brandon, Joel and Thomas did a terrific job feeding lots of balls to the strikers, creating plenty of chances. Defensive midfielders Kadison and Nathaniel did a mountain of work and prevented many attacks getting to our backs. Nathaniel worked so hard and was so effective at controlling the midfield that he was an obvious choice for Player of the Match and received a unanimous cheer from the team.
Liam did a really solid job keeping goal in difficult conditions and that save late in the game was the difference between a win and a draw.
The defenders (Sammy, Christian, Jeremy and Charlie) had a lot of work to do and continually frustrated the opposition, bringing their attacks undone. Christian relished the responsibility of centre-back and capped it off with a spectacular, saving tackle that Lucas Neill would have been proud of. Charlie scored a sweet long-range goal, but seemed more proud of his bicycle kick!
Winning feels great; the important thing is that we are continually improving our skills and tactical play and becoming a better team. Keep up the good work!

Game 9 (31/5/08)
”The one that got away”…… We were fired up to have a win and consolidate our position at the top of the table but it just wasn’t going to happen for us today. I can make plenty of excuses but one thing was evident……..it was the ”little things” that made all the difference today. A slippery ball and wet pitch meant we lost control of our kicking with heaps of balls not finding their mark. We had time but seemed to rush everything this morning.
First to the ball, first touch, look up before you pass or kick, find your man……..it didn’t happen like it did the week before. We had more shots at goal than our opposition and their early 2-nil lead was always going to be difficult to pull back. In our credit, you all came together much better in the second half and we saw some great passing and through balls…but we still couldn’t find the back of the net. Good games to Josh..……(M.O.T.M.) who made no mistakes and worked his wing really hard this morning….and also Kad, who worked hard in the midfield to keep us up in their territory. We were unlucky not to grab a 2-2 draw at least but an air ball late in the game sunk our hopes…and our spirits. Hey…..let’s learn from it and move forward ….you did your best…and it was an exciting game. See you Wednesday.

Game 8 (24/5/08)
SCORERS: Kad, Spider, Hazza, Lefty
Making the team watch the “Socceroos’s” last night paid a big dividend to the team today. (Well done Mum’s and Dad’s). You could see that all the team put in a huge effort today which delivered a pleasing 4 nil result. What was most impressive is that our defence held and we didn’t concede a goal. (So…a big cheer goes out to Liam, Jezza, Charlie and Sammy) who muscled up every time it was needed. Matt was kept busy……and it showed. You know a keeper has had a hard day at the office when he comes off dirty. He was always right on the spot and saved some great chances…earning himself the “man of the match” trophy today. (Don’t worry …….we’ll buy the soap powder Linda). Tom was a close second today, delivering well for Kad and Spider to bag one each. Other Goals To Hazza, who missed first time off the post and just casually pushed it in second time around…….. and Andrew (A.K.A. “Lefty”, our secret weapon) with a great left foot cross over the keepers head. All the team lifted today, they passed well, talked and took the opportunities that came their way. A special “thanks” to Peter Witt for running the team on Wednesday whilst unwell. (Now that’s commitment) .This should see us move to outright first place……..but a lot of soccer left in the season…so let’s keep at it team.