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“THE
DEN” – Match Report |
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Game 13 Avalon Lionel Watts 4 |
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First Grade – Smithies Smashes em Score: 3-0 Goal Scorer(s):
Joerg Direkes ’15,
’25, Nick Sheather ’75 Match Report: First
Grade put on a devastating display against a hapless Avalon team to romp into
second place on the ladder after 8 wins from the last 9 games. Avalon was under the pump in the opening stanza of the
Queen’s Birthday long weekend showdown with the Tigers playing as if it
was a shooting drill rather than a game. The Avalon team had few answers to
the early onslaught as the ball moved from the outside defenders and
midfielders to the forwards with ease, leaving the opposition chasing
shadows. Tim Smithies was making his opposition number look ordinary
at right half and every time he got the ball, he dazzled him with his pace
and skill. The result was a constant supply of ball from the right hand side
and numerous chances for the front men. Joerg scored two early goals with the first
superbly finished after a ball was played in from the wing. With his back to
goal, he flicked the bouncing ball over his and the defender’s head,
turned, and hit the volley first time into to the bottom left hand corner of
the net giving the keeper little chance. We had a mountain of possession in the first 25 minutes
which resulted in most of the play down the Avalon end. As a consequence of
good field position, we had several throw-ins into the danger zone. With Tim
Smithies’ ability to throw the ball long distances, we looked dangerous
with Nick Sheather as the target man, flicking balls on at the near post. Joerg’s second goal came from this combination as
he timed his run perfectly into the six yard box and headed the ball into the
back of the net. Joerg almost had a first half hat
trick with Tim Smithies amazingly throwing the ball to the far post, but the
resulting header flicked the crossbar and went out for a goal-kick. 2-0 at half time sounded familiar but alarm bells were
ringing as the corresponding round one fixture, leading by the same score at
half-time, we managed to find ourselves 3-2 down thirty minutes into the
second period. The boys vowed not to let this happen again and to continue to
push forward in the second half. We again created plenty of chances in the second-half with
Nick Sheather, Adam Townsend and Joerg Dierkes all having chances in the penalty box but were
unable to score. Dave Sutherland whipped in a corner to the near post only to
see Nick Sheather’s header rattle off the side netting support post.
Another corner from the right hand side finally saw the game wrapped up as
Nick Sheather, after a plethora of chances expertly side footed the ball into
the top corner. Tim Smithies again caused carnage down the right hand side
in the second period and is consistently causing problems for his
opponent’s week in and week out. In the end a well deserved man of the
match. John O’Leary and Adam Townsend are also starting to
form a good understanding in the middle of the park and battled hard all day
to get on top of their opponents. Our defence was once again rock solid, with
the only problem being, who is going to fill in for Tim Sheather during his
overseas sojourn? Man of the Match: Tim Smithies Reserve Grade – Rare Halpin
Header Score: 2-1 Goal Scorer(s): Kane
Mathews ’35, Guy Halpin ’65 Match Report: After
a superb performance on Saturday it was important to get a result against
Avalon to keep the momentum going and to stay top of the table. With
Pittwater’s game being postponed a win against Avalon would see us 6
points clear at the top of the table. Unfortunately Reggies had a poor first half and fell back
into a bad habit of not talking enough and trying to do too much individually
with the ball. Our finishing also let us down with several one on one chances
not resulting in goals. We could not hold onto the ball for any length of
time and our passing was astray. Although we were playing poorly we could have easily been
2-3 goals up in the early stages but were punished when a loose ball in our
penalty box wasn’t cleared properly and fell to the left foot of an
Avalon player, who hit a crisp low volley for a 1-0 lead. Luckily, not long after, Kane popped up in the six yard box
after pushing forward for a corner and nodded in a goal from close range to
see the scores level at 1-1 at half-time. At least after the game Kane
didn’t claim he scored the winning goal! Changes were required in the second period to get things
going with the coach having no option but to put on his star player up front.
Leachy also came on in the midfield and we started to hold the ball up a lot
better with Guy Halpin receiving plenty of ball to
feet and laying off to his supporting midfielders. A nice bit of inter-play on the right hand side saw a well timed
cross from Tim Eaton expertly finished by Guy Halpin
who made a telling run from the far post to head the ball back across goals
and into the net for a 2-1 lead. The star striker decided he’d show the team how to
finish a one on one with the keeper to beat but after stumbling in the
sandpit in front of goals, spooned his shot from 6 yards straight to the
keeper. Lenny and Oggy were strong in
defence once again and make a big difference with their experience at the
back especially when the faster strikers game on late in the game. In summary a below standard performance from the lads but a
good result in the end. Hopefully a rest from training on Tuesday night will freshen the boys up for the week ahead. Let’s see if
they are any better on the golf course. Bring on Terrey
Hills Par3! Man of the Match: Lenny Sorbara |
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