U17 Report
Round 13 25th July 2010
St Kilda v Ajax
After a tough week on the track, caused by a disappointing game in wet conditions the week before, the boys where worked hard by the coaching staff last week in preparation for a make or break game against the other saints who are Ajax.
On a beautiful day for football almost no wind, dry ground there was a definite hint of trepidation, as the players arrived for the first of our two do or die games.
After a solid warm up and stern talking to from the coach the game plan was in action and ball was bounced, and within a few minutes we new it might just be a long day, Ajax got the first goal from a mark in the goal square it looked like an interesting day was to be had. To our advantage Ajax had no one in there team over 5 foot 10, so with 6 foot 3 Elliot Poynton in the ruck we where able to get the ball to our midfielders, but then Oscar woods did his hamstring which caused a few mid field issues, a slight team re jig at quarter time and we where back underway with a new plan.
And it worked well, all players lifted Coates and Rogers holding the back down really well, Morrison and Fejo where moving freely through the middle and Hayes and Henderson kicking goals and Josh Herdman putting a real Captains game it worked out to be an OK afternoon.
But, and there always is a but, this game was just the first of 4, tasks (all but one of the tasks will be season ending) Now the team is in the top 8 (just) and this week the second task (which we gladly accept) is Glen Eira, should St Kilda city fail to overcome this task there shall be no return and the season will be over thus making it our last game of the year should we lose.
To win this game will guarantee our place in the finals and a chance at task 3.
So folks the stakes are high. and we want everyone down to support the boys.
Round 12 18th July 2010
St Kilda v Waverley Park
Well when it rains it pours.
St Kilda City for the first time in nearly 4 weeks had an almost full strength team on Sunday and was feeling very confident... But there is one thing in football that is the great equalizer and that is rain....it can make a great team look average and an average team look great.
With players back things where looking good, we lead at every change and but our friends at Waverley Park had clearly not read the script properly, and although not ahead on the score board they where not far behind, and the rain which had not stopped all day was continuing to come down which was causing St Kilda City to miss some scoring opportunities
St Kilda City was doing OK, not winning every clearance but not losing them either, but it was clear we had not adjusted to the conditions, We were playing dry weather football on a slippery wet day, trying to pin point passes, clearly over doing the hand ball and clearly concerned about getting a bit dirty thus not being first to the ball. But everyone knows wet weather football is a bit of see ball, get ball, kick ball......its not rocket science, and our friends at Waverley Park did just that and although they only had a few inside 50s in the last quarter they kicked goals when they went forward and we kicked points, a few of our boys did get shown up which is not usually or way.
In the end we where over run again in the last quarter for the 5th time this season and again for the 5th time this season we lost by under a goal....very disappointing
So our season is now in the balance. Divison1 play offs are now out of the question, so we now working on qualifying for Division 2 finals, we need to win this week to steady the ship, and its a tough one. We are playing Ajax for the first time this year, and it will be a very interesting day. It has all the things we need for great movie or a fantastic book.. a bit of mystery, some suspense a touch of panic, and intrigue, there will be heroes, there will be villains.
It is our chance to make up for last week, it is our chance to stand up and say last week was not us, we are better than that, this is our chance to make a statement about who we are and why we play this game every Sunday.
So this Sunday do it for yourself, but most of all do it for your team
mates....one in all in ......3 2 1 City.
Round 10 27th June 2010
St Kilda v Dingley
Well folks School holidays are happening,
And we all know what that means, Yes everyone goes away and it makes the coaches job very hard, So it is very important players let us know if they can not play, we had 15 players out last week, which can and did cause a few problems, but the players we had worked very hard and we won by 20 goals.
It took us to the second half to get things really going and when we did finally crack them open in the last quarter, they cracked big time, the percentage was a welcome boost as even though we sit in 11th place on the ladder, we are now 1 game out of the 8 with the six teams ahead of us, all only 1 game ahead of us, and we are playing one of those teams this Sunday...Bentleigh at Bentleigh Reserve at 12 NOON yes the game STARTS at 12 NOON so please be there at 11AM,
Round 9 20th June 2010
St Pauls v St Kilda
Well everyone, we live in exciting times,
We have had a redraw of our division and the next 3 games are going to be interesting to say the least,
The Boys had a tough day at the office on Sunday, although we lost, we had no players on the bench and finished the game with at least 3 injured players,The heart showed by the players still on the ground and trying as hard as they did was very impressive there was a lot be happy about, So this week we start the climb back up the ladder.
We will be playing Dingley this Sunday at the Peanut Farm and to say we need a win is an understatement, we have been short a few players over the last 2 weeks so please make sure you turn up to play, Our Team needs everyone, you, your mates your family it takes everyone to make it happen and this week we want to make it happen.Then we have a week off for the school holidays.
So please boys, home game, make sure you turn up.
Round 7 30th May 2010
St Kilda City v Mordi-Brae
Well this week we travelled out to beautiful sunny down town Mordialloc to play our mates at Mordi-Braeside, this is a game on the calendar our coach Brett always looks forward too.
A 2pm start on a not too windy day and the ground was in pretty good shape, the match got under way and it was not long before we the coaching staff realized this might be a difficult day, the boys were spraying kicks everywhere, not manning up and then 10 minutes into the first quarter Vince Jarvis hurt his wrist and Nathan Fejo hurt his leg and we were suddenly down to only 2 on the bench and with the first quarter down, there was only 2 goals the difference and the struggle was on. Mordi were playing good football a couple of their midfielders where doing ok in the centre, and as we were kicking with the wind they dropped a couple of players back and the flood was on.....and we were really struggling trying to get through it, we scored 3 goals to their no score but it was a very messy game.
The second half things got I bit better for us sort of...Draffen and Pinto came off injured and that left us no one in the bench, But Mordi got tired and in the end we ran all over them in the last quarter kick over 8 goals for in the end a big win, but certainly not what Brett would call a 4 quarter effort.
Which is an issue, this season we have not really been able to put 4 quarters of football in the same game together, yes we have won games by some big margins but this has been against teams we are expected to beat, and this coming week we come up against one we really want to beat "The Venerable St Bedes" (St Bede of course as you all know was a late 6th early 7th century Author and scholar and is often referred to as the Father of English history ..alas I digress)
So with luck this week we can S P F - Start well, Play great and Finish strong, it would be great to go into the mid season break with a solid win under our belts to really kick start the second half of the season....
GO CITY
Round 6 23rd May 2010
St Kilda City v St Peters
Round 6 23rd May 2010St Kilda City v St Peters
Round 6 23rd May 2010St Kilda City v St Peters
Well Third time is not a charm.
Yes for the 3rd time this year we have gone down to St Peters by less than a goal, and ladies and gentlemen what a game it was, it had everything.
Our first quarter was solid just sorting a few things out Lachlan up forward was in everything but St Peters with there midfield taking control skipped 2 goals clear, Then we had a disappointing second quarter being kept goalless for the quarter but we kept St peters to only 1 goal.
After some halftime home truths there was a change of plan, a very simple message from the coach MAN UP AND PLAY IN FRONT. With our midfield taking control with a big lift from Oscar woods and Harrison Rogers, things started to change, the tackle count started to grow and then first year player Freddie Seaholme stepped up and snapped 2 great goals in what was a great quarter of football as the boys piled on 5 goals to go 8 points up at the last change.
The last quarter had everything, the opposition suddenly started kicking points Lachlan took a speckie in the square to put us 14 points up, and as the quarter progressed the tension got higher as St peters chipped away at trying to get the lead, we had a scuffle on the wing with 6-8 players, Shane Hayes ran into an open goal and just as everyone thought he was home, the opposition grabbed him, Jack missed a set shot from 40, and after holding them back for 20 minutes of the 22 minute quarter St Peters broke through for the winning goal to put them 1 point up, with the final score having St Peters winning by 2 points….Next time
Round 5 16th May 2010
St Kilda City v Ormond
Well round 5 is over and on a cool Sunday afternoon out at Moorleigh Reserve we played for the first time ......Ormond....Well
In the end it was really a non event we won by over 25 goals we where just to big, to strong, to fast, to everything really. With Shane and Lachlan kicking 7 each the forward line was always busy, Bill, Zac and Jordan held the back line together and the mid field led by Oscar, Nathan and Henry did pretty much as they pleased, Every player got into the game and I'm pretty sure everyone got a kick and I know everyone contributed in some way.
Our friends at Ormond towards the end had a couple of their players get a bit frustrated which was both understandable and disappointing.
On a brighter note we had a lot more support for the boys this week from parents which was really fantastic to see. the team thanks you for your support and thanks also to those that helped out with some off the game day duties, and we are looking forward to seeing you all down at the club for this weeks game.
This week we have a VERY BIG game, we are playing St Peters at the Peanut Farm, at stake this week is their place on the ladder, after our poor kicking cost us the game by 6 points last time we played them, everyone is very keen to reverse that result. And we are sure Brett our coach will be giving the boys extra goal kicking practise this week.
Because as Catches win Matches, we all know that bad kicking is bad football...(no pressure)
Goal kickers: Hayes 7, Huntington 7, Rogers 4, Morrison 4, Purton-Smith 3, Lewis 2, Woods 2, Coates 1, Sullivan 1, and some else got another 1.
Round 4 9th May 2010
St Kilda City v St Pauls
Round 3 2nd May 2010
St Bedes v St Kilda City
Well after the first 3 weeks of football, in Under 17 Division 1, the Catholics have taken over St Peter's, St Bedes, and St Paul's sit 1, 2, and 3 with St Kilda City in Fourth spot( A small piece of trivia, St Kilda (Scottish Gaelic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic_language> : Hiort) is an isolated archipelago <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archipelago> 64 kilometres (40 mi) west-northwest of North Uist <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Uist> in the North Atlantic Ocean <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_Ocean> . Thus not named after an Apostle or a Saint.) And it is at this time of year we need their 19th man up stairs on our side for a change.
We ventured to beautiful Down Town Mentone on a wind less, almost perfect Day for football, St Bedes looking big, where out on the ground warming up as a team and doing the things, good teams do to get ready for a game, In contrast our boys seemed bit flat in getting themselves ready and it was whispered quietly that maybe some thought it would be as easy as Mordi the week before,
The Siren went, the umpire threw the ball up and reality set in. St Bedes started with a bang and clearly we where not ready for it, St Bedes got of too a quick 2 goal start before we had settled and by the end of the first quarter had 5 on the board to our 1 and although we where not getting blown away in general play, it was again poor kicking in front of goal with 2 very gettable shots missed that made things look worse than they where.
Over the next two quarters things levelled out, the back line was holding tight with Bill Coates leading the troops, the midfields were matching each other, but our issue this week was up forward, St Bedes had dropped a spare man in defence and our midfielders kept kicking it straight too him, (on 2 occasions he didn't even have to move the kicks where so accurate) and our forwards would not move up to him. The coaching staff quietly wondered if our boys did not want to go near him due to his red hair.
In the last quarter with 2 players injured and our bench down to 2 the feeling was we would get over run, But to the boys credit they did not give up and get blown away. Although the opposition did have 11 shots on goal for 3 goals 8 to our 2 goals. So the day did not go as planned but the team now knows what's needed to compete at Div 1 Level and this week will be no easier than last week, St Pauls will looking for an easy win to consolidate themselves in the top 2, We will be looking for redemption........... Just like all good Catholics do. .........Go City
Round 2 25th April 2010
St Kilda City v Mordi Brae
Wattie Watson
Well week 2 is now over and a solid win for the team and our first for the season, yes we won by over 100 points, which is great but lets remember Mordi Brae got thumped the week before by 140 points and in the end due to injuries during the game on Sunday they ended up with 17 players, so it would seem we will not be playing them again as they will most likely disappear to Div 2 after round 4.
Now the good thing about Sunday was everyone contributed, its was not a couple of players doing it all, the back line held tight all day till the last 10 Minutes of the last quarter when Mordi managed get there only 2 goals of the game.
The Midfield tracked well led from the front by Oscar Woods, And the forwards had an interesting day out with Shane Hayes kicking 7, the team had 10 goal kickers for the day, could have been more but some boys where struggling with the strong breeze,
Next week we play St Bedes away, who notched up there second win for the season on Sunday this will not be a training run, this will be a real test for the team, and the boys will need to be focused as the word on the street is St Bedes think they have what it takes to win Division 1.......I guess we will find out by about 4.30 on this coming Sunday.
Lets spare a thought for Shaan who badly dislocated his shoulder, hope he makes a speedy return to the team
Goal Scorers Hayes 7, Feja 2, Woods 2, Eimutis 2, Huntington 2, Lazzaro 1, Lawton 1, Poynton 1, Purton Smith 1, Herdman 1,
