Match report

Match report

It was another brisk July special that awaited the travelling support of the Hahndorf Under 8s at Mt Barker Saturday morning. Battling all sorts of blockages, sniffles and holiday making during the week the Magpies did well to field a full team against Bridgewater.

Despite the cold, our goalkeepers were kept warm (and somewhat shell shocked) by a very strong attacking side.

Art Jager and Carter Karamanov started the game strongly with some excellent tackling and passing.

Goalkeeper for the first half, Will Neelawala was very accurate with his passing out from the back. This was very impressive given the distance he was getting on some of the passes as he put the laces through them!
He continued the half with a fine performance in goal, with some great saves.

Zeek Neelawala and Charlie Kilpatrick put in the hard yards in midfield. Possession was hard to come by but when they did have it, both looked for passing options and demonstrated great vision and positioning.

Kealan Atkinson continued to show the quality of his strong passing game as he continued his good form of the last few weeks.

The half finished with an apparently urgent impromptu costume change from Kilpatrick. As impressive and informative as it was watching him attempt to remove a jumper from under his soccer shirt without removing said soccer shirt; this match reporter felt somewhat obliged to assist so Kilpatrick could continue to earn his exorbitant wages on the pitch.

The second half started with some wonderful running from Brooklyn Karamanov. Great defending by Bridgewater had blocked most of his runs in the first half but he started to find some gaps in the second. A good combination with W Neelawala lead to Hahndorf’s only real chance on goal, a shot that was well saved by the keeper. Shortly after, the heavens opened and sweetly reminded us all of the labour of love we undertake on these Saturday mornings.

Art put in a fine half as keeper. Diving into the wet artificial turf to make a number of quality saves while he was peppered by the opposing team.

Kilpatrick held the left midfield well and had a couple of good runs shut down by strong defending.

Z Neelawala and C Karamanov put in some quality tackles against very talented strikers. Their determination and continued effort was great to watch.

The referee blew his whistle to signify the end of his officiating an under 8s non competitive football game. This sweet sound brought forth the promise of warmth and baked goods. Well done Hahndorf, a great effort against a very strong team today.