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“THE
DEN” – Match Report |
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Game 21 Pittwater |
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First Grade – BYO Spade at the Sand Pitt Score: 0-1 Goal Scorer(s):
None Match Report:
It was a battle for second place on a dry and dusty Our midfield got on top of their experienced Pittwater opponents
and dominated possession in the first term. Unfortunately we didn’t
produce any clear cut chances even though we were playing well. It was
obvious we lacked some punch up front with the absence of strikers of the calibre
of Jeorg Dierkes and Nick
Sheather who were both missing through injury. We defended well with Tim Sheather settling in at sweeper after
a 5 week absence and Birdy and Robbie marking their
opponents out of the game. Richard Cuthbert had one of his best for the
season and his positional play was perfect and enabled him to gain plenty of
possession. We had plenty of long range throws-in against, but defended
well with Benny cleaning up a majority of high balls and taking the pressure
of his defenders. We were unlucky not to go ahead in the second half when
Rich Cuthbert followed in a close range shot from Dave Sutherland but his
goal was ruled offside. Nick Rainey almost scored as well after making a
delightful run to the near post off a corner but his superbly struck shot
shaved the wrong side of the post. Pittwater controversially when 1-0 up after Ben Molyneux was manhandled in the box while contesting a
high ball but the referee missed the incident. The ball dropped kindly for
the Pittwater forward which he tapped in from close range. Even though the boys eventually went down 1-0 they can be
more than happy with their performance after playing the better in the first
half and were unlucky not to go ahead after a disallowed goal. With the
addition of regular forwards Nick Sheather and Jeorg
Dierkes in coming weeks we should be a worry for
other teams in the semis. Next week sees us up against local rivals, Belrose and will
be a good test leading into semi finals football as Belrose is always tough
in the derby. Man of the Match: Richard Cuthbert Reserve Grade – Celebrations on Hold Score: 0-4 Goal Scorer(s): None Match Report: The
showdown against fellow runaway leaders, Pittwater, would go close to
deciding the reserve grade premiership. A draw or win for the Tigers would
wrap up the major premiership but a loss would ensure the competition would
go down to the last round against local rivals, Belrose. The score-line suggests a flogging but that was far from
the case. With some luck in front of goals the result could have been quite
different but that’s the way things go. Several missed opportunities in
the first period could have put a different spin on the game with Guy going
close twice, only to see one attempt cleared off the line and the other, a
long range shot, skim over the crossbar. Pittwater went one up after they were awarded a penalty in
an unthreatening position as Tim Eaton mistimed his challenge to bring down
his opponent. Stahly guessed the wrong way and
Pittwater took a 1-0 lead into the break. Our effort and commitment was definitely there, but luck
was not on our side as Dwayne’s shot in the second period looked certain
to hit the back of the net but was amazingly blocked by one of our own
players while trying to get out of the way. A rare mistake by Lenny in defence shortly after handed
Pittwater a golden opportunity and the opposition striker took his chance
well beating Stahly in goals with relative ease. With nothing to lose Kane was pushed forward, leaving three
in defence. The move almost paid off when Kane’s far post header
somehow was kept out after the ball “falconed”
off a Pittwater defender who knew nothing about it. We lost our shape late in the game with several players
pushing forward for that elusive goal. This opened up our defence and allowed
two more goals to the speedy Pittwater forwards from consecutive breakaways.
One lesson to be learned from this is that you still need to hold your
defence our keep your shape regardless of the formation played. It wasn’t to be but the boys will have their day on
home soil against Belrose this weekend. Man of the Match: |
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