AHJSA Match Reports

Result

Stirling United 5

Stirling Districts Blue 8

Goals

Stirling United - M Doyle 1, S Doyle 1, J Shore 3

Stirling District - M Tinkler 5, K Bettany 2, F Gehling 1

Best Players Stirling District Blue: M Tinkler 3, K Bettany 2, L Medder 1

After a week of wintry weather, the sun gods decided to smile on Adelaide Hills’ junior soccer fanatics this weekend, heaping down golden sunshine in spades. At their Fortress, it was Woodside U14 Blue hosting Torrens Valley Soccer Club. This promised to be an enthralling round of grading with both teams achieving similar results in recent weeks. And the game didn’t fail to deliver.

Both teams looked well drilled in the early encounters, maintaining impeccable structure and executing their game plans well. This saw many opportunities created by great attacking work, and an equal number of opportunities thwarted by the hard work in defence. But with such a high level of skill and team-work on display, it was inevitable that someone would find the net. It was Torrens Valley who opened the scoring, delivering a great through-ball past the high Woodside defensive line and finishing with style. But Woodside were not going to lapse in their efforts and before long, their constant forward pressure was rewarded with an indirect free kick just metres from goal. They converted this with poise and precision, burying a short pass hard into the back of the net. The rest of the first half was a see-sawing encounter and were it not for a 3 minute lapse from the Warriors, we may have found ourselves 1 – 1 at the break. But they did lapse, just fractionally standing off their opponents by a half step. And the well-drilled Torrens Valley forwards didn’t need to be asked twice, scoring not 1 but 2 goals in an unexpected flurry of activity. This left the home-crowd stunned with the visitors leading 3 – 1 at the break.

But occasionally half-time can do strange things to a game of football, and this was one of those moments. After a game that was as even as the number two in the first half, things were clearly in Woodside’s favour during the second. And while the Woodside goalie was run off his feet in the first term, he hardly touched the leather in the second. The ball seemed to be drawn to Torrens Valley’s end of the ground as if by some inexplicable force of magnetic attraction. In truth, it was a direct result of the Warriors’ increased work-rate off the ball and control of possession through clean short passes, which created a landslide of scoring opportunities. But as good as Woodside looked going forward, Torrens Valley matched them at the back. And so we witnessed an enthralling contest as Woodside created and Torrens Valley repelled. With such a territorial advantage, Woodside simply had to sneak one past the goalie, and eventually they did, hitting the back of the net to set up a nail biting finish. Time and again, the Warriors hit the Torrens Valley’s goalies hands. Time and again his hands were true. And although Woodside were still on hard-attack when the ref called an end to proceedings, it was Torrens Valley taking home the choccies with a well-earned 3 – 2 victory.

Full marks all round. A great match, played tough, and in the spirit of the game!

This Saturday's Round 4 game saw Strathalbyn Strikers U14 RED play Rangers.

Scoring started early for Strathalbyn and although both teams battled for control it appeared that Rangers were definitely not ready to concede defeat. Into the second half and Strathalbyn gradually lost ground on the pitch in part due to the Rangers team fielding a few players seemingly in the older age range which successfully slowed the forward momentum of the Strahalbyn team by putting pressure on their midfield and blocking their strikers runs.

A fairly even game with consistent end to end play...The score at full time was Rangers 6 - Strathalbyn 5

Goals Mount Barker- Richard Fries

Best Mount Barker - 1st Max Chapman, 2nd Sebastien Bertrand, 3rd Richard Fries.

Goals Striling United - Calen McCormick, Araby Phelan, Nik Smith.

Strathalbyn U14 White played Hahndorf at Hahndorf's Pine Avenue ground in front of an enthusiastic crowd of spectators. Strathalbyn started strong and in the first few minutes of the game, it was clear that Hahndorf had their work cut out if they were going to defend their undefeated status. KALAN BROOKS scored in the first minute using his speed to get past the defence, CHARLIE GOMEZ followed up soon afterwards and by the 8-minute mark, Strath was 3 goals in front. 

Towards the end of the second half, Hahndorf rallied, taking advantage of some uncertainty in the Strath team created by some changes on the field. Before the end of the first half, one of the Hahndorf forwards scored a cracker of a goal but they finished the half behind 7-2.

Strathalbyn maintained dominance in the second half, the team displaying confidence in each other, passing well and making space. Hahndorf's forward line was regularly frustrated by strong defence from COOPER BAILEY, WILL FORREST and JACOB GUSCOTT. Hahndorf's goalie did well to stop a number of scoring attempts but in the end, Strathalbyn won 14-2.

Goal scorers for Strathalbyn were Kalan Brooks (5) Charlee Gomez (4) Cooper Barker (2) Lachlan Cross (2) Hamish Wilson (1).

Best players for Strathalbyn were Kalan Brooks, Cooper Barker and Charlee Gomez.

Strathalbyn U14 White played Hahndorf at Hahndorf's Pine Avenue ground in front of an enthusiastic crowd of spectators. Strathalbyn started strong and in the first few minutes of the game, it was clear that Hahndorf had their work cut out if they were going to defend their undefeated status. KALAN BROOKS scored in the first minute using his speed to get past the defence, CHARLIE GOMEZ followed up soon afterwards and by the 8-minute mark, Strath was 3 goals in front. 

Towards the end of the second half, Hahndorf rallied, taking advantage of some uncertainty in the Strath team created by some changes on the field. Before the end of the first half, one of the Hahndorf forwards scored a cracker of a goal but they finished the half behind 7-2.

Strathalbyn maintained dominance in the second half, the team displaying confidence in each other, passing well and making space. Hahndorf's forward line was regularly frustrated by strong defence from COOPER BAILEY, WILL FORREST and JACOB GUSCOTT. Hahndorf's goalie did well to stop a number of scoring attempts but in the end, Strathalbyn won 14-2.

Goal scorers for Strathalbyn were Kalan Brooks (5) Charlee Gomez (4) Cooper Barker (2) Lachlan Cross (2) Hamish Wilson (1).

Best players for Strathalbyn were Kalan Brooks, Cooper Barker and Charlee Gomez.

After three of five rounds of grading, Woodside Red finally drew a team in the queue for the first division. With Woodside having an undeserving place on the top of the ladder (due to only playing Division 2 teams thus far) and Murray Bridge Gold only losing by one goal to Strathalbyn Red in their run, neither Woodside or Murray Bridge Gold would possibly consider a loss in the fourth round.

The Referee, sensing the tension, was clear in addressing both teams pre-game. She wanted a clean game just as much as the coaches and supporters alike. Kick-off commenced on her whistle and the game was underway at 12:30pm on Woodside’s main pitch.

For fourteen minutes both teams tested out the boundaries of the opponents skillset. Which players were a threat on goal? Which players were a threat in preventing them? It was only a matter of time before one team’s lapse of judgement and another’s fortune opened up the scoreline. This fell in favour of the away team and right on the fifteenth minute. Murray Bridge’s coach, Ashley Williams, and team supporters were delighted in scoring first, with Gold’s Darnell Giles-Kaparny the proud owner.

It didn’t take long for Woodside to react with HAYDEN DAVIS scoring the next within a minute. It was then followed up by JETT TONKIN who landed Woodside’s second goal another minute later.

Unfortunately Gold brought minimal substitutes due to player availability. After one of their players came off second best from a 50:50 clash they were down to 11 players for the remainder of the game. Woodside’s Coach, not in the same position took the opportunity to substitute a handful of players.

With JOSH BEVAN sinking another two before half time, one coming from an impressive assist from TOBY VINCENT, Woodside entered the break with a comfortable 4-1 lead.

The second half was similar, this time with Woodside landing the first, again from Jett Tonkin. Murray Bridge, reminding the home team they were still a fight, scored the second within minutes. Despite his myriad of saves an unfortunate slip from Woodside’s keeper, JAYDEN STEWARD, saw Gold’s Cohen Naughton land his first and his team’s second goal, again to the delight of his coach and supporters.

Woodside landed the final blow for the game in the dying minutes, coming from Hayden Davis. The Referee sounded her whistle and declared the game in favour of the home team, 6-2 their way.

“It was great for my team to finally meet another Division 1 team”, said Woodside’s coach, BRUCE TONKIN, post-game. “Murray Bridge was a threat from kick-off with numerous forwards presenting unrelenting attacks at our keeper. With a full suite of players they’ll do well this season and are already a concern for the next time we meet them.”

Woodside’s man of the match was JOSH VASSOS who had no end of energy shutting down their attempts before his keeper had to step in. Another notable mention was AIDEN SUTTON, who marked his return to Woodside with a fine performance in midfield.

Next week Murray Bridge Gold goes onto play Hahndorf, another Div 1 team, in the fifth and final round of grading. Meanwhile Woodside sees Mount Barker Red at a ground to be determined.

The U16's have been building well and playing exciting football as the season progresses. Travelling to Hahndorf the boys were looking to continue their good form and playing for their third win on the trot. Woodside started going down the hill and kept the ball in the forward half for most of the first 20 minutes. There were a few wild shots early but the pressure finally broke through when our captain, Richard stepped up and sent a perfectly weighted cross for Asher to tap into an empty net. Hahndorf managed to push back and even came close to scoring before the break when they were one on one with the keeper. But Kieran bravely chased back and put in a goal saving tackle. The half time score was 2-0 but Woodside needed to stay switched as they would be going up the hill to finish out the game. Hahndorf put the pressure on and were hungry for the ball from the start of the second half. They scored from the penalty spot and the game was on at 2-1. Woodside made a few changes and seemed to go up a gear. They pushed hard with Toby being the spearhead who got a well earnt hat-trick. It was quite a physical game but Woodside came out on-top and outplayed Hahndorf in both halves. The final score was 7-2 and another win for the boys is making this season an exciting one and will be interesting to see how far they can go.

Hahndorf hosted Woodside Warriors in their first home game for the season. The pitch was in perfect condition and the sun was shining. Woodside kicked off the game and from the outset, they started to push forward. Hahndorf’s defence was tested early and Tully Probert, Josh Rayner, Alex Montagu and Jye Martin all held back Woodside’s advances. Hahndorf had a few chances to score but Woodside’s defence stood strong. Hahndorf’s Will Bailye was busy in the midfield and keeper James Bagley was tested and saved a number shots by the Woodside forwards. Jack Anderson advanced but was unable to score while Woodside’s Asher Hammat and Ben Tyas found the back of the net and Woodside went into half time with a 2-0 lead. The second half was a hard fought battle from both teams and Hahndorf’s Anderson scored with a great run and left foot snap at goal. Hahndorf’s Micah Edgecombe set up a number of advances for Hahndorf but it was Woodside’s Toby Christiansen who broke through for his first of 3 goals for the day. Hahndorf received a penalty kick and Will Bailye made no mistake from the set kick. Woodside found the back of the net through Asher Hammat and Jake Westcott scored deep into the second half. Woodside won the game 7-2 in what was a well-played, hard fought contest between two very good sides.