Young Guns vs. Riversdale Raiders 01.08.09 (H) - 9:1 (4:1)
Heading towards the last third of the season the Young Guns took no prisoners in today’s clash against Riversdale. From the start the boys were right on to it. Skipper Nick van Persie won the toss and decided to kick into the wind first, a wise move knowing that the Guns usually have a good start anyway.
The line up in the first half saw Justin in goals and Alex, James, Nick, and Moritz in defence. Josh and Corey started on the wings supported by Victor, Callum, and Ryan further up front. We started as if we want to kick the Raiders out of Larpent within only a couple of minutes. Corey and Callum unleashed hard shots towards the opponent’s goal only missing by a little bit. After 5 minutes Josh intercepted a short goal kick, controlled the ball in the usual manner, looked up once, said “thank you”, and put the ball away into the long left corner to give the Guns an early lead.
That’s it, we all thought – looks like another walk in the park. But hey, only 30 seconds later Riversdale reminded us that a game is only won after 50 minutes. Basically from the center kick off they skilfully moved into open space and left Justin with no chance against a 10 meter cracker that nearly left a hole in our net. “Rrrrriiiiinnngggg” that was the alarm bell that had gone off, giving us a welcome wake up call.
It was up to Josh to set the record straight again a few minutes later. After a fine diagonal pass from Ryan he basically copied his first goal putting the ball through for the Gun’s second goal of the day. The following minutes saw the Young Guns playing from a very strong defence where Alex, James, and Nick won all tackles coming their way. Moritz started attack after attack from the engine room. Riversdale couldn’t stand up to the pressure for very long. Josh set up Corey in the spearhead position, and he left no questions unanswered. 3-1, and the Guns were firing. Victor’s turbo was fully charged now. With unstoppable runs down the left wing he caused plenty of headaches for the Raiders.
Goal No. 4 was in the air, and we didn’t have to wait for long. A fantastic offence combination saw Josh setting the ball up again for Corey. His hard shot could only be touched by the goalkeeper, and the ball was dancing on the goal line. Ryan was quickest to the ball and bombed it in for the 4-1 which left the Guns with a comfortable lead for halftime.
Time for the oranges of the year, a few tactical talks, and –off course- a few changes in the line up. After a fantastic first half Josh moved back into goals, having Corey, Victor, Ryan, and Cal as Great Wall of China in front of him. The midfield was built up by Alex, James, and Moritz, with Nick and Justin sharing the load in the attacking line.
The Guns started the 2nd half exactly in the same manner as they finished the first. With lots of passion, effort, and skill. Alex won a ball on the right wing and sent Justin on a journey towards the Raiders’ goal. It looked as if he got stopped by their goalie, but then saw that the goalkeeper dropped the ball. Justin quickly sprinted for the rebound and tipped the ball into the middle where Bobby Scholes had no problem to finish this nice combination off.
After that the Guns won a series of corners for them which always means “danger” for the opponent. Moritz bombed the ball in from the right corner, Victor and Nick came flying through the box wit Victor being first to the ball putting it away for the 6-1. Only 5 minutes later we had a copy/paste situation of our 6th goal. Again Moritz crossed the ball in high from the right corner. This time it flew all the way through to Alex who was waiting at the other side of the box. A quick control, and bang… 7-1.
With our defence playing an awesome second half, our goalie Josh was nearly jobless in half 2. The few balls that actually came through were left in good safe hands. Especially Corey and Ryan were outstanding with how consistently they kept their positions in the backline. And with Victor and Cal winning all their tackles, the signs were all set for attack.
The next few minutes were then all Nick’s. With a lot of passion he tried his best as spearhead. Beautifully put into action by his team mates he unleashed shot after shot towards the Raiders’ goal, coming very close to a major score, but unfortunately not close enough. With a few minutes to go Moritz intercepted a goal kick on the right wing. Almost from the halfway line he chipped the ball into the center. Was it a shot? Or was it a cross? We will not find out. But it doesn’t matter – it simply looked great how the ball flew above the goalkeeper finding its way all the way to the back of the net.
The last highlight of the game then saw a big crowd in Riversdale’s box. A few blocked shots, and a few hard tackles -the last one set by Nick- left the ball in front of Moritz’ right foot. And that is never good news for the other team. Why? Because there is a lot of dynamite and precision packed in this right foot. And so it was also in this situation. 9-1, a classic finish for another great game of the Guns which deserves a few comments on how the boys went:
Justin: Already in training during the week it was obvious that Justin has lost all fear of playing between the goal posts. His performance as goalkeeper today was flawless, giving our team the required confidence they needed in the first half today. As attacker after the break he had his highlight when he gave this awesome assist to Bobby’s goal when he refused to give up a ball that seemed to be lost.
Nick: As skipper Nick was all pumped up today to show to his grandparents, who had flown in all the way from Holland, how well he has developed his soccer skills over the last years. With fierce tackles as defender and tireless attempts to shoot as forward he well deserved the “man of the match” award today. Well done, Nick!
James: Like Nick, also Bobby played one of his best games for the Guns. As defender he really understands well now how to keep his position and so making the space very tight for the opponent. His tackles have always been very hard and successful, and so they were also today. His personal moment of the day 9apart from nice crosses from the right wing) certainly was his goal from short distance after a fantastic assist from Justin.
Alex: Alex started off as engine today and put his stamp immediately on to our game. Perfectly organizing the backline he understood how to spark up our game again and again. Then after the break he continued his fine performance as power midfielder. After a few great crosses it was his turn to put one of Moritz’ corners over the line with a classic finish.
Moritz: After a quiet first half in defence he fired after the break. 2 hard corners leading to goals and 2 fantastic goals were only the icing on a world class performance. It was more the passes and crosses that he set to try to make his team mates score in today’s game. Regardless whether he came over the right or the left wing, whether he used the right or the left foot, inside of the foot, the laces or the back heel: His magic always led to great danger for the Raiders.
Josh: The first half was just another 25 minutes of Young Guns soccer full of Josh’s brilliance. 2 deadly shots from half right, both almost exactly into the same spot gave us an early and very comforting lead. After that he showed his playmaker and passing skills putting his team mates into action over and over again. And to top his great game before the break he also played another convincing half as goalkeeper in the 2nd half.
Corey: Coming from a man of the match performance last week, Corey continued his outstanding run he has with the Guns. Already after 30 seconds he sent a first warning towards the Raiders’ goal, but his shot slightly missed the cross bar. His second shot, however, already earned him a major, and his 3rd shot shortly thereafter a minor score for our team. After halftime he very instrumental not allowing Riversdale too many shots on our goal.
Callum: The first half Cal spent up front strongly contributing to our attacking game. He is getting better and better controlling the ball and keeping it in our possession. Gone are the times where he loved to boot the ball as soon as he got it. He really enjoys stopping it, look up and then either set a shot himself or pass it on to one of his team mates. After the break he moved back a bit being this tough defender that every attacker in the competition is so scared of.
Ryan: He is one of the best listeners in the team, always trying to follow the tipps and tricks that we show and explain to the boys in training and in our tactical chats. As forward he usually is there where it hurts. So it happened again when he was quickest to the ball when it danced around the goal line. In the backline after the break he not only kept his position with outstanding consistency, he also played great passes form defence into the midfield always having an eye for the unmarked player.
Victor: As always, Vic burned a lot of turf again today. It is very hard to keep him in the zone that is assigned to him, simply because he has so much running energy that needs to be spent in the 50 minutes. His runs up and down the field are so important for our team as we win a lot of balls through little Victor. Be it as winger in the first half or as defender and engine in the 2nd half, he was again one of the best ball winners for us. And his goal from a corner was a real classic that doesn’t happen that often at that age group.
Today’s game was the last test before our big challenge that lies ahead of us next week when we will match up against Richmond. It will be tough against the Tigers, being one of the best teams in the Kangaroo’s competition. Over the last few months the Guns have worked very hard and have improved their skills immensely. Let’s see if they can stand up to the challenge. It would be great if you could all find your way to Larpent Reserve next week Saturday. Kick off time is earlier than usual at 10am. The Guns need all support they can get. The louder the cheer squad, the more excited and pumped up they will be. So see you all there next week!
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