AHJSA Match Reports

League Round 12, 20th July 2019

U12 Div 2

Mount Barker United Soccer Club Red (6*) vs Murray Bridge United Soccer Club Blue (0)

Great attacking game by Mt Barker today with 3 new goal scorers.  We played strong with an unlucky Murray Bridge.

Hahndorf Soccer Club White (6) vs Rangers Junior Soccer Club (7)

Today the Under 12 White played at Ashton Oval against Ranger Junior Soccer Club.  The weather was absolutely perfect with the sun shining for the fist time in 2 weeks!  This week the team warmly welcomed Zoe York as permanent member. We are very lucky to have her. 

Hahndorf unfortunately could only field a team of 10 due to school holidays, regardless of this, played as though they were a full side.

Rielly Bowden took to goals, and it was very obvious from the start that the goal-keeping clinic he has been attending for the past few weeks has helped his game significantly.  He made great saves throughout the game, and confidently controlled his back line.

Charlie Harvey, William Whiting and Harry Mumford set up in the defense, and between the three of them held out the Rangers forwards many times.  This job was made even harder with Hanhdorf playing with only 10 giving Rangers the option to use their extra player in attack. The three in the back continued to play a strong defensive game throughout the entire 60 mins. 

The midfield consisted of Griffin Turnbull, Matthew Knight, Zoe York and Julian Hack.  These four played a convincing game, and worked consistently to support the defense and the forwards. This paid off as Zoe York score a goal and Julian Hack score two goals.

Lucus Leske and Josh Verryt took on the role as attackers. These two boys managed to skillfully move the ball throughout the Rangers backline and as a result scored three goals between them.  

The game was even in the last 5 minutes of the second half, with both teams at 6 all.  Rangers managed a final goal in the dying minutes of the game, leaving both teams on the edge of their seats until the final whistle.  The nail biting end to the game shows that Hahndorf Under 12 White are absolutely capable of bringing strong competition to any team. Playing with one player down didn’t reduce the team’s commitment to the game; it only proved to the players how well they play as a team. 

U12 Div 1

Woodside Warriors Soccer Club (0) vs Nairne Knights Soccer Club (5)

With almost perfect weather for soccer the Warriors U12 Div1 set out to Nairne Primary School to play againts Nairne at 11.0am. Pitch was a bis soggy in patches but looked good otherwise. When the first whistle blew both sides started well even after having a week off. Warriors defence Ollie and Morgan were applying great pressure in defence making it difficult for Nairne to get through to goal. Warriers had two U10 players filling in this week and both Fin Craddock and Rohan Nambiar were key players in the centre helping the ball get to our goal end on numerous occasions. Man of the Match Rohan Nambiar even set up our first shot at goal with an amazsingt pass to Dom whe shot for goal that was unfortunately deflected by Nairne keeper. Half way into the first half and warriors seemed to loose a bit of their fight and Nairne scored the first goal for the match 15 minutes in. That goal was all Nairne needed to lift their confidence and then they scored another 2 goal before half time leaving the score at 3 - 0 at half time. 

With some oranges and a pep talk from the coach and a couple changes to the team, Warriors went back out for the second half. Swapping Barnaby to keeper and bringing James out into the field saw great blocks to nairne strickers deniying them goals and James with his speed helped get the ball down to warriors end more than the first half. Dom swang back to defence and made his presence known with tackles and blocks. Will and Oscar played hard in our forward having a few attempts at goal in second half. Unfortunalely all were bloocked by the Nairne keeper. Eddie, Mattise and Jett worked hard in the middle of the pitch to steal the ball from Nairne when they got the opportunity. Israel copped a few knocks throughout the game but he got back up brushed himself off and continued to play. Nairne had just a bit more hunger for the ball and it paid off with them winningt 5 nil.

U14 Div 2

Strathalbyn Strikers FC Inc Red (6*) vs Mount Barker United Soccer Club Yellow (0)

This Saturday's sun drenched Strathalbyn Strikers u14 Div 2 game vs Mt Barker Yellow was short on players for both sides but not on goals.

Although clearly in 'Holiday Mode' Strathalbyn opened the scoring in the first minute and continued that theme for the majority of the game.

Mt Barker endured but were unable to make their mark and pose any real threat to Strathalbyn and as such the score at full time was:

Strathalbyn 11 - Mt Barker Yellow 0

Woodside Warriors Soccer Club Blue (0) vs Torrens Valley Soccer Club (6)

On Saturday morning an undermanned Woodside Warriors U14 Blue travelled to Birdwood Park to take on the Torrens Valley Rams. The visitors faced a daunting challenge - The FFSA State Identification Program had decimated the Warriors club ranks and four of the U14 Blue leadership group were unavailable to do battle. With minutes to go before the opening whistle a lonely group of nine Warriors players could be seen going through their pre-match routine. By the opening whistle, their number had reached ten thanks to a contribution from the U12s but they were still a man short. To compete in this match would take effort, commitment and courage!

From the opening whistle these characters were clearly evident – from both teams. Torrens Valley were attacking with intent, only to be repelled again and again by the fighting Warriors. But the Warriors also looked dangerous, threatening to goal with a number of lovely attacking runs down the right and through the centre. And the game surged thus for a tense 15 minutes. At this juncture the Warriors received a timely boost, finally fielding an 11th player. The remaining ten however, were visibly struggling – together they had done a mountain of work and were out on their feet. But surrender they would not. Time and again the defence stood resolute in the face of adversity... time and again the midfield retreated to cover their flagging mates. But eventually they cracked, and Torrens Valley found a well-earned goal to take the lead in the dying stages of the first half. 

It must be mentioned that the Rams faced a battle of their own. They were playing with the bare 11 –  no one was getting a rest in this match, although all deserved one! And half-time brought welcome relief for all!

The second half started much as the first had –  a tight tussle for domination. But the visitors were tiring more than the locals. Some appeared almost catatonic, lactic acid weighing heavily in their legs like leaden blood. But still they reacted to the challenge and showed their mettle under the most challenging of circumstances. But as time went on, the Rams were clearly gaining the ascendency, creating repeated chances on goal. And eventually they did score, driving fiercely into the back of the net. This led to a cascade of goals, with the Rams putting on another four in a five minute period that sealed the result, but by no means ended the contest. The Warriors had come to fight, and despite their metaphoric wounds, that were now bleeding freely, they refused to submit! All and sundry fought to ensure the rest of the match was an even affair. And the remainder of the game remained a scoreless tussle. Thus the match ended with the home side victorious 6 – 1.

Both teams should be commended on playing the match hard but with impeccable sportsmanship. And well done Rams for a great win.  

U14 Div 1

Woodside Warriors Soccer Club Red (1) vs Rangers Junior Soccer Club (1)

Saturday’s clash between 4th ranked Woodside and 6th ranked Rangers was bound to be interesting. Woodside U14 Red was down four players who, for obvious reasons, had all been selected for the FFSA State Identification Program via their involvement in the AHJSA Representative Squads. Whilst other districts have rules in place to encourage player involvement in FFSA programs, represented by allowing effected games to be postponed, the AHJSA have yet to acknowledge the fact that football in the Adelaide Hills is attracting quality players.

Rangers did what Woodside would have done should the roles have been reversed, and that is making sure your team is ready to go. Meanwhile Woodside’s coach spent hours ringing and emailing, moving players up from Woodside’s U14 Div 2 team, moving players up from Woodside’s U12 team and moving players up from Woodside’s U10 teams, all part of the flow-on effect of providing a handful of players the opportunity to enhance their game.

The match kicked off at 10:30am and within five minutes the Rangers players and supporters were ecstatic to be the first on the board with a lightly defended shot on target. The rest of the first and most of the second half showed two teams slogging it out, both looking for the win. One team surprised that they were one up. The other team surprised that they were one down.

With five minutes remaining JAMES WALL opened Woodside’s account with a long range shot over the keeper and under the cross-bar, a fitting end to a well fought game between two equals. The result deservingly lifts Rangers off the bottom of the ladder.

The Woodside U14 Red team would like to thank ALEC KNIPE, DYLAN JONES and MICHELANGELO SILVESTRI in stepping up to fill the void. They'd also like to thank JACQUI KNIPE who took some wonderful photos.

The next round will see Hahndorf play Woodside at Woodside, whilst Rangers will see Strathalbyn at Strathalbyn.

Stirling United Soccer Club (2) vs Strathalbyn Strikers FC Inc White (0)

With the sun out and a strong breeze favouring the southern end, Stirling United faced off against Strathalbyn in the U14 Div 1 clash. With both sides at the top of the ladder, a tight game was predicted. The game turned out to be a battle of the defences, with only limited scoring opportunities for both sides. Stirling had the best of these, with a couple of opportunities in the first 20 minutes either going over the top or wide, before Araby Phelan continued his consistent season with a lovely strike that found the back of the net.

With Stirling taking the smallest of leads into half time, the game was still wide open. Stirling continued to have opportunities, but with just over 20 minutes to go, Strath had a great opportunity to level it up, only to see Lachlan Stein deny a goal with a splendid save. A few minutes later, Henry Monaghan turned onto his trusty right foot, and slotted it into the bottom right corner to give Stirling some breathing space. Stirling managed to hold out Strath for the rest of the game to remain undefeated and with only a few games left in the season, in a great position to take out the title.

U16

Woodside Warriors Soccer Club (7*) vs Stirling Districts Soccer Club Blue (1)

Perfect day, perfect weather to get back into the soccer season after the holidays. Woodside U16's took on Stirling District's Blue and it looked to be an interesting game with a lot of outs from Woodside. Woodside managed to get 11 players together and played the first few minutes well but it took a while to get back into the swing of things. Talking was down, passing was down and there weren't too many shots on target. Stirling we're playing good team football and managed to string a few passes together and scores the first goal of the game. Woodside played a frustrating style of play with lots of possession but no goals to show for it. Eventually they hit the scoreboard and broke the shackles. They were scrappy but goals nonetheless. Going into the second half Woodside seemed to step up a gear and began to find passes and lots of space. Confidence was built and the Woodside boys didn't look back. Putting on a goal show finishing the game witth a good win. A slow start but good to see them improve throughout the game. Hoping to take the energy into the next round and get back to winning ways.

Hahndorf Soccer Club (4) vs Strathalbyn Strikers FC Inc (6)

Hahndorf hosted Strathalbyn on another sunny Saturday afternoon at Pine Avenue. Strathalbyn started strongly and moved the ball quickly to set up early shots at goal. The first 10 minutes were tightly fought before Strathalbyn found the back of the net. Hahndorf’s keeper, James Bagley was kept busy and Jackson Doley, Tully Probert and Jack Anderson had plenty of the ball. Strathalbyn scored twice mid-way through the first half but Hahndorf kept attacking with Anderson kicking 2 goals for the half, the second from a long kick in by Bagley. At half time, the score was 2-3 to Strathalbyn and the second half was a hard-fought contest between two competitive teams. Strath’s forwards kept breaking through and David Nielsen, Josh Rayner, Alex Montagu and Jack Eakins stopped the advances before Strath struck again. Hahndorf’s Eddie Hardingham, Jamie Hamilton, Jye Martin and Micah Edgecombe attacked with no result and Strath was later awarded a penalty, which was saved by Bagley. Hahndorf failed to give up and they too were awarded a penalty, which Anderson converted for his 3rd goal for the game. Strathalbyn’s forwards kept coming and they kicked 2 goals (one from a penalty) before Hahndorf’s Xavier Kell found himself in front of Strath’s keeper and kicked a nice goal. The game ended with a 4-6 win to the visiting team in what was a very hard-fought, entertaining game of soccer.