Young Guns vs. Box Hill 05.09.09 (H) - 9:0 (3:0)
The last game of the season led us to our home training ground, Glen Waverley North. The sun was shining, the kids were all dressed up, their hair done nicely for the team photo… In short: The scene was set for a finish on a high. That’s what we were all hoping for. And some 55 minutes after the first whistle we… let’s see further down.
Skipper Callum gallantly left the toss to the guest from Box Hill whose captain chose to play with the strong breeze in the back first. We weren’t too unhappy about that decision as it was our plan anyway to use our great passing and dribbling to play into the wind in half 1. In goals we had Moritz with Victor, Callum, James, and Ryan building a strong line of defence in front of him. In midfield we had a good mixture of speed, power, and technical skills, in other words Corey, Alex, and Josh. Our spearheads were Nick van Persie and Justin at the start.
From the first kick-off it was clear who would dominate the match. Corey on the right and Josh and Alex on the left wing quickly took control of the game, won a lot of tackles and so could start plenty of fine attacks for the Guns. Nick and Justin were at the end of many of such great combinations. The Guns earned quite a few scoring opportunities early in the game. Interesting though that Box Hill stood strong in defence and kept the game at even level for quite a bit.
The scarce counter attacks were in safe hands, or better feet of Cal, Ryan, Victor, and James. They all kept their positions very well and so made it very hard for Box Hill to appear in front of Moritz’ goal. And whenever they did, Mozza was wide awake, came out of goals to clear the ball or stretched his hands to grab the round thing.
Further up front the Guns continued their fine attacking. Corey tanked his way down the right wing again, his sharp cross found Nick who missed the goal by only a little bit. Alex did the same on the left putting it in to Justin, and again – a miss by only a little bit. A goal was close, we could all smell it in the air.
And as so often this year: Eventually it was our No. 10 who broke the ban and gave us the well deserved lead. Josh intercepted a goal kick, set himself up like a premiership forward, and finished his fine move with a classic shot high into the left corner. A big sigh of relief found its way through the Guns’ cheer squad.
After that the boys managed to get a few corners which always caused quite some concerns in the opponent’s backline. One of them from Corey found its way all the way through to Ryan’s right foot. He had a clear first touch shot which could only be saved by the good goalkeeper last second. The other corner flew in from the left off Alex’ right boot and Justin almost managed to put it away on that occasion. The Young Guns were now clearly in control. And so the 2nd goal was only a matter of time. Then Nick won a tough tackle in the center of the pitch and the ball bounced again to Josh. In his trademark style he didn’t hesitate for one second and left the keeper with no chance.
The next chance for the Guns originated from a long goal kick. Moritz bombed the ball up front where Nick picked up the ball, ran like a whirlwind, and only got stopped by Box Hill at the expense of a corner. After that Bobby had a golden moment when he stopped one of the few counter attacks at the half way line. His decisive run down the right wing was followed by a precise cross to Justin. And… again we missed by just a little bit. Then with only a few minutes to go left wing Corey left 2 defenders behind him and passed the ball diagonal to Alex’ right foot. The end of that story we probably all know: A smashing shot into the left corner giving us a comfortable 3-0 lead at halftime.
The boys deserved a bit of a breather after an exciting first half which was probably one of the best they played this season. As usual, oranges, water, a question and answer session, and some changes in the line up got us prepared for the 2nd half. After a great first half in midfield Corey put on the goalie gloves. Alex moved into the engine, Josh, Nick, and Justin closed the game down as full backs. Moritz, James, and Victor moved into midfield, Cal and Ryan took turns as forwards.
With the strong wind in the back now there was no doubt where most of the game would be played in the next 25 minutes: In the northern end of the pitch where the poor Box Hill goalie tried her best to minimize the damage. Like in half 1, the Guns took over control form the first second. Victor from the left and Moritz form the right wing put so much pressure on to their defenders that the Box Hill backline started to crack very early. After a few good attempts by James and Victor, Moritz tanked his way through and cleverly tipped the ball to Cal. The skipper’s armband must have given him extra powers today. A hammer shot followed by a big smile. 4-0, shortly after the break.
Like in half 1, the Guns created a lot of danger from plenty of corners. The balls flew into the box from left and right, only a major score did not want to result from it, yet. More successful was then the play through the center of the pitch. Alex passed the ball up front to Cal who laid it off to engine Nick. In his first game in 4 weeks Nick had plenty of energy left in the tank. No wonder that the goalie had no chance to save his cracker right footer. Thanks god, as this shot brought a big smile back on to Nick’s face. And form there he was almost unstoppable. A few minutes later he intercepted a goal kick, controlled the ball perfectly, put it in position, and… another bomb flew high into the right corner. 5-0 halfway through the 2nd half.
In the meantime the boys got all so excited that they forgot to defend for a few seconds. And that almost led to shot into the wrong direction. All of a sudden there were 2 Box Hill forwards in front of Corey. But that wasn’t enough today to overwhelm the Guns. With a big grab Corey snapped the ball from their feet and started a Gunners’ counter attack with a big throw to the left wing. Bobby snapped the ball and charged his turbo. And who knows, had he used the inside of his left foot, rather than the outside of his favourite right – maybe he would have put his name on to the scoreboard. Next were the full backs who now found more and more time to get themselves involved in our attacking game. First Josh’s shot was saved last second, then Justin’s attempt was blocked to a corner.
Then it was “Callum time” again. Two pinpoint assists by Moritz put him in perfect position twice within a couple of minutes. And twice he kept his coolness to finish the fine play off with decisive shots leaving the good goalkeeper with no chance. His first hat-trick not only in this season, but as far as we can remember in his whole soccer career.
But the Guns’ hunger for fine attacking wasn’t satisfied yet. Victor and James kept the pressure over the wings and managed to prepare quite a few more scoring opportunities. James put one through to Moritz who missed a 100%er hitting the post from short distance. However with a brilliant behind the back trick form the rebound he put Ryan in action again who also missed by only a little bit.
Then there were only about 20 seconds left in the game, corner from the right side. After some 20 very dangerous attempts without a counting result, Moritz put the ball down next to the flag. The boys lined up around the box. The ball flew into the box, hard and flat. Ryan flew the other way and got his right foot straight on to the ball and with a big bang he smashed it high underneath the crossbar. A loud scream, a big smile, and then the final whistle. 9-0
Yes, 55 minutes after the first whistle we were all confident that this was definitely a finish on a high. Not just because of the result, but more because of the style in which the Young Guns starred in their last game of the season. They again presented themselves as a strong team playing for each other. And this is probably the biggest achievement the Guns can claim as theirs: Being a fantastic team. We hope they will all be coming back in 2010, and we’ll hear their huddle chant all over the south eastern soccer scene again: Gooooooo Yooouuunnngggg Guuuunnnnnnssssss !!!!!
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