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Young Guns vs. Bulleen Lions 20.06.09 (H) - 13:0 (6:0)
For the second time in 2 weeks the Young Guns welcomed the Bulleen Lions at our home ground. We had to go through some changes in our line up, having Corey back in the team and Ryan out on the sick list. All the other boys were up and running and after a great training session during the week were ready to pull out a great performance again.
Skipper James won the toss for his team and with a loud and proud “Gooooooo Yoooouuuuuunnnggg Guuuuuuuuunnnssss” the boys went into their formation. Nick van de Saar started in goals, Callum, Mozza, Victor, and Alex formed the backline. Bobby Scholes, Corey, Josh, and Justin took positions further up front in midfield and forward line.
It was a bit of a nervous start, at times the boys struggled to keep positions well enough and so we ended up having a very crowded pitch at times. On the other hand Bulleen went into the game with some new players who displayed great ball skills, and also their goalkeeper certainly did not play his first game between the posts. But then it quickly started to click and the Guns managed to run some smooth and smart attacks. One of these attacks found Bobby Scholes at its end. Justin tipped the ball on the James who finished from very short distance to give the Guns an early lead.
A few minutes later we already managed to fulfil one of our missions for today’s game. Victor won a tackle in his engine room position, ran quickly through the middle of the pitch and put a hard low pass through to Justin. With a quick turn he left his last opponent behind him and appeared alone in front of goals. As if he has been playing with us for years Justin unleashed a right foot grenade leaving the Lion’s goalie with no chance. His first goal of the season which was exactly what we put out as a task for the team before the game. And even better – it was with a goal that easily made it on the list of the goals of the day.
Shortly thereafter Moritz came very close to another goal of the day contender. A great attack over the right wing by Corey could only be cleared in the very last second by the Bulleen defence. The cleared ball rolled towards Moritz who was waiting at the halfway line. His first touch cracker only missed the upper right corner of the goal by a few inches.
Then it was our Italian combination having a great moment. Alex forced his opponent losing the ball across the sideline. He quickly picked it up and placed a long throw in to Josh who had run into perfect position on the left wing. A few meters dribbling into the middle put him into a perfect position to place one of his most feared flat shots towards the Lions’ keeper. Another fine major score for our No. 10 put us in front by 3 goals.
In the meantime Bulleen’s No. 10 put a few challenges towards our backline. With great ball skills he dribbled around a few of our defenders and came dangerously close to Nick as our last line of defence. However, there was Callum all of a sudden unloading one of these fearless tackles taking the ball off the opponent in a very fair but passionate manner. On another occasion Bulleen actually managed to fire a shot towards our goal. But there was Nick, diving into the right corner and getting his fingertips to the ball. – Situation under control!
Now came the minutes of our two newcomers Corey and Justin. First Corey went into a tackle against his defender using all his AFL experience. Not only did he win the ball for our team, but he managed to put Justin into perfect position who didn’t hesitate for one second netting the ball in for his second major for the day. But that wasn’t quite enough for them. Only a few moments later again Corey was up for another masterpiece. Like a professional skier he slalomed around his defender and put a precise pass through to… Justin again. And what do you think – the mission given out today is to make sure that he scores a goal. But here he went, another precise right footer pass the other team’s goalie. Hat trick! And all that in only 20 minutes.
But not enough yet for the Guns. Next on the agenda was a combination by our quickest players in the team, Victor and Bobby, supported by Josh who started this next attack. He laid the ball off for Victor who proofed to be unstoppable again. 5 to 7 quick steps and then a rocket pass launched across the pitch. Everybody thought… what a pity, this nice pass was a bit too long and will go beyond Bulleen’s goal line for a goal kick. But then, all of a sudden and out of the nowhere Bobby sprinted after the ball and reached it only a tick away from the goal line. With a long leg he placed a sliding tackle and put the ball through between the goal posts for our 6th major of the day.
Shortly thereafter Ref Jim blew the whistle for halftime and it was time to check out the oranges, fill up the water reservoirs and gather for a bit of a tactical chit chat and what the mission for the second half will be. The weekly changes in the line up found Justin with a well-deserved rest lining up as our goalkeeper after the break. He was protected by a strong line up in defence around Josh, Bobby, Corey, and Nick. And these boys were feeding our midfield and forwards Alex, Moritz, Victor, and Callum. The Guns started the second half in the same manner as they finished the first. With a lot of pressure they did not allow the Lions to take a rest.
It only took a few minutes and one of the attacks led to the next of the countless corners. As we tried in training the boys lined up outside the box whilst Moritz put down the ball close to the corner flag. With a 5 meter run up he crossed the ball in head high. It flew through the box, bounced once and reached Alex who perfectly used the inside of his right foot to tip the ball into the net from 4 meter distance.
Shortly thereafter we had another classic to admire. Bulleen’s goalkeeper put the ball down for a goal kick, but his long shot was stopped by Josh 15 meters in front of goals. “Well done Josh” it sounded from the sideline, “now look up…”. The thought was more to pass the ball out to the right wing. But that didn’t bother little Josh. In his own style he showed that he had actually looked up and quickly discovered that there is a tiny flank open in the left corner of Bulleen’s goal. Another quick look and then a smart tippie-toe kick straight into exactly that long left corner.
Halfway through the 2nd half the Guns now entered a phase where it was hard to even keep the defenders stuck in the backline. Showing a great performance keeping the ball away from keeper Justin, our defensive forces found more and more time to get involved in our attacking game as well. After Josh scoring from a defender position, next was Bobby to tank his way through to the Bulleen goal. It was up to Alex to tip the ball on to Bobby who scored from short distance for the 2nd hat trick of the day. However, it was not so much this hat trick, but more his passion and the way he tried hard to keep the positions assigned to him, what earned James the Man of the Match Award today.
It was another 10 minutes to go and the Guns’ hunger for goals was not satisfied yet. But as so often this year it was not “just about kicking goals”. It was all about trying to apply what we have been focussing on in training and trying to play good soccer. Next was one of Victor’s breathtaking runs down the left wing on the agenda. Keeping the ball close to his feet he left 2 defenders behind him, looked up and saw Moritz running into position in the box. A quick turn and a rocket cross into the centre made it easy for Moritz to finish from 5 meters.
And they were rolling and rolling. Corey and Nick did their best to keep the ball in Bulleen’s half. And so it was no wonder that the Guns clocked up chance after chance. Next was Alex who unleashed a right footer from 15 meters that almost cracked the right goal post.
We were not quite there yet in achieving the 2nd part of today’s mission which was to put also Victor’s name on to the scoreboard for the first time this season. And there were only some 8 or 9 minutes to go. He then thought he takes this into his own hands, took the ball on the left wing and ran towards goal placing a hard flat shot. The goalie touched it but couldn’t hold on to the ball which slowly rolled towards the goal line. Then it was Callum who reacted the quickest. He put all his force behind the ball and bombed it into the net for our 11th goal of the day.
6 minutes to go, and another goal kick. This time Bulleen tried to slot the ball through our right side. But it only reached as far as Alex, who had no problem to control the ball, put it in front of him and finishing with a clear hard shot high into the left corner. 12-0, 5 minutes to go and still no goal for Victor.
The clock was ticking and ticking and the boys tried hard. Then, with only a few moments to go Moritz snapped the ball on the left wing, turned around and played a superb through pass to… yes, Victor who ran into the hot spot in front of the Lion’s goal keeper. A turn, a kick, a goal. Mission accomplished! In the 6th game of the season we have managed to share the goal-scoring duties amongst the whole team.
We now hope that the boys won’t get ahead of themselves too much and get too cocky. Winning by big margins sometimes and having all team member scoring is good for the confidence. However, sometimes it also leads to the effect that they stop playing as a team and trying to only score as individuals. This is the space we have to watch. So far there are no real signs that this might happen, but we better keep an eye on that. If the Young Guns keep their very positive spirit we will continue to have plenty of fun watching them improving their skills and more an more growing together as a very strong team.
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