AHJSA Match Reports

A beautiful morning for the U12 to go up against Mt Barker United Red at Mt Barker. Mt Barker put Woodside through their paces from the first whistle. James, Morgan and Ollie played great defence making it hard for Mt Barker to get to their goals. On the 5 occasions they got it through Barnaby did his job as Goal Keeper and successfully stopped all 5 attempts at goal. Score was nil all at half time. Matisse came alive in the second half and was strong through the middle with a few good runs. Morgan stayed strong in defence with Ollie, Mackenzie and Max working hard. James went int Goal Keeper for the second half and safely stopped all 4 of Mt Barkers attempts at goal. With about 7 minutes to go Domenico scored our first and only goal for the match making us the victors for today winning Woodside Worriers 1 to Mt Barker United Red 0.

The 3rd round in the U14 grading period saw Woodside Red take on Stirling Districts with an early kick-off at Woodside. With numerous players missing from both sides due to the last weekend of the school holidays the result would never reflect a true match up the two teams. Missing from Woodside's line-up was centre-back CHRIS COLLINS and left-footed midfielder AIDEN SUTTON, who has yet to have the opportunity to appear for the Red team due to other sporting commitments. Meanwhile AILBHE BIFFEN, who has played a few games for Woodside as a striker, was yet to score.

The referee sounded his whistle and the game was underway, Woodside keen to land the first goal for the day. With the ball in the home team’s control it was only a matter of time before they’d open their account, and, after a couple of light attempts, Ailbhe was the first on the third minute. An audible sigh of relief came from his supporters and his coach, BRUCE TONKIN.

After numerous crosses and corner kicks from Ailbhe, JAMES WALL and JETT TONKIN, Woodside was bound to claim the second, which was done on the 10th minute from CHRISTIAN FRANCIS.

With one sub on the bench the coach took the opportunity to give HAYDEN DAVIS a run in place of JOSH BEVAN. It was not long after when Stirling Districts lifted their attacks, giving Woodside keeper JAYDEN STEWARD no end of grief over the period of about 5 minutes. Jayden held on well, providing an opportunity for James Wall to have a long run down the pitch, landing Woodside’s third goal.

Stirling Districts, not keen to enter the second half without a goal, finally opened their account on the 30th minute, much to the delight of ALL spectators. Following this Woodside’s cheeky central striker, Christian, claimed the fifth goal of the game, sending the home team into half time 4-1 up.

The second half continued much like the first, with Woodside adding on an extra three goals before the end of the game. The last goal landing as a point-blank lob from HAYDEN DAVIS, this time not overlooked by his father.

With Woodside having a total of 28 shots on goals, 18 of which were considered on-target, they’re feeling comfortable, “a little too comfortable perhaps” suggests Coach Tonkin. “Whilst Stirling Districts was the biggest challenge we’ve seen, the main concern we have is when the grading rounds are complete what sort of challenges we’ll be seeing then.”

Man of the match, at least for the Woodside Coach, has to go to TOMMAS BALACCO who went above and beyond usual expectations, producing a text-book example of his position in right-back.

Woodside Red goes on to see Murray Bridge Gold in the 4th grading round, whilst Stirling Districts takes on Mount Barker Blue.

This Saturday's Round 3 game saw Strathalbyn Strikers U14 Red play Mount Barker Red at Strathalbyn.

From the outset the size and age of the Mt Barker players had Strathalbyn at a disadvantage. Initially undeterred,Strathalbyn played well against their opposition and put together some great displays of teamwork. The first half was a tight game with neither team letting up on their forward momentum and at half time the score was 2-2 with Strathalbyn having the advantage with more posession.

The second half however saw Mount Barker employing a new strategy and within the first minute they secured what was to be one of many goals in their favor. Strathalbyn were unable to recover from mount Barkers new found momentum and had no choice but to retreat to a more defensive style of play. Although they played with heart and soul Strathalbyn were clearly outmatched and the score at full time was Mount Barker 11 Strathalbyn 2.

From the outset Strath struggled to match up to Stirling United's structed play, along with their physical size.  Strath soaked up the pressure in the early minutes before a mistake saw SU capitalise and open the scoring, strath continued to fight hard, but with some early onset of sickness and niggling injuries they just couldn't match the pressure for SU to be comfortably on top at half time 5-0.

Second half saw Strath dig deep and put more pressure on SU, resulting in some excellent moves forward, but with the clynical finishing of SU, the goals kept coming.  Finally Strath broke free which saw Kalan Brooks one on one with the keeper, Kalan making no mistake, gaining the final goal.

Well done to both teams who played a high skill game and never gave in.

Heading out with a team consisting of just nine of their regular players the Woodside Warriors U14 Blue team always knew it was going to be a tough game.  Conditions were great, the sun was shining, and with a 12pm kick-off time at Murray Bridge it was getting a little warm.

Stand-in coach Lee Maker huddled the boys before the start, showed them their positions for the first half of the game and with some inspiring words prepped them to play some good soccer.

From the outset of the first whistle Murray Bridge Gold were on the attack, pushing hard and putting the ball forward, so that within the first minute of the game Woodside’s goalkeeper was in the action, making his first save with his boot.  This was going to be a tough half for him, who was a fill-in from the U12’s.

Somewhat unsettled Woodside’s defenders had to regroup, be on their toes and focus.

Murray Bridge’s attacking continued to be fierce. With strong legs and great footwork from their two key forwards it meant they could get away fast and have shot after shot on their goal.  Woodside’s defenders worked hard, trying all they could to keep the ball out of the goal square.  However, Woodside’s keeper was under fire, making multiple great saves, including one that required a huge leap (for his short stature) to get the tips of his fingers to the ball and deflect it over the top bar.

Looking a little dejected at half time, with a few of opportunities of their own but no goals to show for it, the Warriors sat, ate oranges and listened to their coach’s positive guidance.  A few changes were made, with a new goal-keeper, and players in alternative positions.  They walked out after the break with their heads held high and a few small objectives in mind – maintain passes between their team mates, and score one goal… and deliver they did!

The second half almost seemed like a different game to the spectators.  The ball was much more often in the Warriors attacking half.  Woodside’s attackers worked the ball through players, making switches across the pitch to mix up the play, using their own pace and strong boots to put the Murray Bridge keeper to work.  The result was not just one, but multiple goals for the Warriors.

Murray Bridge continued to answer the Warriors, and their forwards continued their strong play up the front, pushing the Woodside defenders to work harder to maintain the ball.  Woodside’s keeper, still under fire, stayed focussed- getting to the ball early and challenging the forwards to make some difficult attempts to increase their score.

The end result was clearly in Murray Bridge’s favour.  There was good sportsmanship shown on both sides, great team work from all, and after what initially looked like it would be a run-away game, a good contest ensured that both teams came away with some positives and some learning points.

With almost a full squad the U16's were excited to get back on the pitch after the break. Coming up against Stirling United who were unbeaten it was set to be a good game. It started off evenly matched with both teams taking shots and both hitting the posts on multiple occasions. The deadlock was broken after 20 minutes of built up pressure and Woodside broke through Stirling's defence to score a well deserved goal. It wasn't long after that Toby swiftly dribbled past a few defenders and finished cooly past the keeper. Woodside went into the half time break 2-0 up but knew it wasn't going to be an easy second half. After the break both teams fought hard and hustled for possession and it felt like the next goal would be decisive. After some good forward pressure, Woodside was rewarded with a free kick just outside the box. Asher stepped up and it was perfectly hit with a left foot curler and the keeper couldn't stop it from hitting the top left corner of the net. Stirling turned up the heat and hit the scoreboard but Woodside replied a moment later with their own. The game finished 5-2 and was a well deserved win for the boys and all their efforts. It was a good confidence boost for the boys and hopefully we can put a few wins together over the coming weeks.

With almost a full squad the U16's were excited to get back on the pitch after the break. Coming up against Stirling United who were unbeaten it was set to be a good game. It started off evenly matched with both teams taking shots and both hitting the posts on multiple occasions. The deadlock was broken after 20 minutes of built up pressure and Woodside broke through Stirling's defence to score a well deserved goal. It wasn't long after that Toby swiftly dribbled past a few defenders and finished cooly past the keeper. Woodside went into the half time break 2-0 up but knew it wasn't going to be an easy second half. After the break both teams fought hard and hustled for possession and it felt like the next goal would be decisive. After some good forward pressure, Woodside was rewarded with a free kick just outside the box. Asher stepped up and it was perfectly hit with a left foot curler and the keeper couldn't stop it from hitting the top left corner of the net. Stirling turned up the heat and hit the scoreboard but Woodside replied a moment later with their own. The game finished 5-2 and was a well deserved win for the boys and all their efforts. It was a good confidence boost for the boys and hopefully we can put a few wins together over the coming weeks.