AHJSA Match Reports

A very chilly morning in Hahndorf saw the Hahndorf Under 11’s go up against Murray Bridge. The game kicked off with good pressure from both sides in the boggy conditions. Rowan Gilroy took an early corner, the ball landing right in front of goal but was cleared away by Murray Bridge’s excellent defenders. Murray Bridge then got past our back line and had an open shot on goal. Ollie Ramsey moved across and intercepted a certain goal. The resulting corner kick from Murray Bridge flew in and was one touched in for an impressive goal. After some good encouragement between Hahndorf players and from the sidelines, Hahndorf got the ball to Jack Gaskin who combined with Gilroy to have a shot on goal from a very difficult angle. The keeper dived, the ball found the net and the players and crowd cheered.  Murray Bridge responded almost immediately with a fast break down the middle of the ground resulting in another goal and another cheer from the crowd. Murray Bridge mounted more pressure but the Hahndorf back line of Alice Cannavo, Pearl Beesley and Luc Russack-Putallaz proved too strong and repelled all of Murray Bridge’s advances. Cohen Whinfield took the ball in defence and had a great run going around four Murray Bridge players then passing off to Ashon Broadbent-Shaw, who, with some ball mastery, went around three more players and had a shot on goal which the Murray Bridge goalkeeper expertly saved. The kick in was huge but was intercepted by Beesley who then passed three players, through passed to Broadbent-Shaw who then selflessly crossed to Lachlan Gardener. Gardner heavily defended by Murray Bridge for a bit but then managed to break free to have a shot on goal. The ball sped like a rocket to the back of the net and the crowd cheered once again, Gardner showed his enthusiasm with a big celebration of suuuuuu! That brought us to half time, the players huddled to discuss plans and sub players. Parents dashed to the canteen for coffee and a sneaky sausage in bread.

The second half saw some excellent soccer played out with play maker, Gaskin making many runs through the midfield, Mason Sickerdick was having a great game in defence and Broadbent-Shaw saved 3 big shots on goal as the second half goalkeeper. The sun came out for the first time and the tempo of the game started to lift. Gaskin had another great run, passed to Whinfield, who expertly passed back to Gaskin, who then went around 2 players to shoot a left foot rocket towards goal. The ball megged the keeper and hit the back of the net!! The crowd cheered for the great teamwork and brilliant goal. Murray Bridge responded and Broadbent-Shaw, as goalkeeper, made 2 great saves. He then, as goalie, kicked it way up the field to Ramsey who passed infield to Whinfield who shot at goal hitting the outside post. Gaskin collected the rebound ball and launched another attack at the poor Murray Bridge goalkeeper who just tapped the ball wide of the goals. Ramsey and Beesley were solid in defence, intercepting everything Murray Bridge sent their way. The pressure increased in the last 10 minutes of the game with our goalkeeper saving 8 shots on goal and our back line under great pressure from Murray Bridge. Hahndorf persisted and did not concede another goal. The final whistle blew and players on both sides showed great sportsmanship with high fives and GG’s all round. Another great round of soccer completed between two great clubs.

Match report and pics for U12s v Mt Barker Blue below:

 

The sun broke through the clouds and provided some warmth on the muddy pitch as Hahndorf’s under 12s took on Mount Barker Blue, at Pine Ave on Saturday morning.  The start of the game saw both teams evenly matched, with time spent at both ends of the pitch. The Hahndorf goalkeeper, Christopher Haynes, blocked several attempts from the opposition. A great pass from Louis Moran helped secure our first goal, with Joel Bateman putting the goal away. Bateman secured a hattrick in quick succession, followed by a fourth goal after a great corner pass from Jackson Bidgood. Towards the end of the first half, Hahndorf started to control the game with majority of the play being dictated by the Magpies midfield and forwards.  Cooper Newman, Samuel Whitehead, Harry Wood and Caleb Earley all worked hard in the midfield. Thomas Stapleton was able to bring the ball down the wing several times and attempted a goal, showing great skill. When Mount Barker was able to push the ball forward, Hahndorf’s defence was quick to diffuse it and get the ball forward again with some great saves from Haynes. Mount Barker scored a goal, brilliantly kicked into the top corner. The first half ended with a goalie kick from Haynes, to Lawson Shotton, who kicked it straight into the goals.

The second half saw Hahndorf remain strong as they continued to dominate the visitors. Sonjae Cook showed great teamwork and a great assist. Emlyn Gilroy and Jensen Ingram both scored towards the end of the game. Ending in a strong win for Hahndorf. It was a good effort with great skill shown on both sides. The Hahndorf under 12s wish to thank the Mount Barker Blue team for a great game.

Match report and pics for U12s v Mt Barker Red, below:

 

The sun broke through the clouds and provided some warmth on the muddy pitch as Hahndorf’s under 12s took on Mount Barker Blue, at Pine Ave on Saturday morning.  The start of the game saw both teams evenly matched, with time spent at both ends of the pitch. The Hahndorf goalkeeper, Christopher Haynes, blocked several attempts from the opposition. A great pass from Louis Moran helped secure our first goal, with Joel Bateman putting the goal away. Bateman secured a hattrick in quick succession, followed by a fourth goal after a great corner pass from Jackson Bidgood. Towards the end of the first half, Hahndorf started to control the game with majority of the play being dictated by the Magpies midfield and forwards.  Cooper Newman, Samuel Whitehead, Harry Wood and Caleb Earley all worked hard in the midfield. Thomas Stapleton was able to bring the ball down the wing several times and attempted a goal, showing great skill. When Mount Barker was able to push the ball forward, Hahndorf’s defence was quick to diffuse it and get the ball forward again with some great saves from Haynes. Mount Barker scored a goal, brilliantly kicked into the top corner. The first half ended with a goalie kick from Haynes, to Lawson Shotton, who kicked it straight into the goals.

The second half saw Hahndorf remain strong as they continued to dominate the visitors. Sonjae Cook showed great teamwork and a great assist. Emlyn Gilroy and Jensen Ingram both scored towards the end of the game. Ending in a strong win for Hahndorf. It was a good effort with great skill shown on both sides. The Hahndorf under 12s wish to thank the Mount Barker Blue team for a great game.

The sun broke through the clouds and provided some warmth on the muddy pitch as Hahndorf’s under 12s took on Mount Barker Blue, at Pine Ave on Saturday morning.  The start of the game saw both teams evenly matched, with time spent at both ends of the pitch. The Hahndorf goalkeeper, Christopher Haynes, blocked several attempts from the opposition. A great pass from Louis Moran helped secure our first goal, with Joel Bateman putting the goal away. Bateman secured a hattrick in quick succession, followed by a fourth goal after a great corner pass from Jackson Bidgood. Towards the end of the first half, Hahndorf started to control the game with majority of the play being dictated by the Magpies midfield and forwards.  Cooper Newman, Samuel Whitehead, Harry Wood and Caleb Earley all worked hard in the midfield. Thomas Stapleton was able to bring the ball down the wing several times and attempted a goal, showing great skill. When Mount Barker was able to push the ball forward, Hahndorf’s defence was quick to diffuse it and get the ball forward again with some great saves from Haynes. Mount Barker scored a goal, brilliantly kicked into the top corner. The first half ended with a goalie kick from Haynes, to Lawson Shotton, who kicked it straight into the goals.

The second half saw Hahndorf remain strong as they continued to dominate the visitors. Sonjae Cook showed great teamwork and a great assist. Emlyn Gilroy and Jensen Ingram both scored towards the end of the game. Ending in a strong win for Hahndorf. It was a good effort with great skill shown on both sides. The Hahndorf under 12s wish to thank the Mount Barker Blue team for a great game.

After the recent wet weather, Woodside was forced to host their home game against Stirling at Strathalbyn, with the Strikers committee kindly offering the use of their facilities for all five of the matches scheduled to be played at the Warriors Fortress.

The past two times these teams have met, Stirling has come away with the choccies, but after a great mid-season, Woodside were backing themselves to steal the contest and from the outset, that looked a very real possibility. To add a bit of spice to proceeding, a draw for either team would be enough to see them leap-frog their opponents on the league ladder.

The first half was an enthralling encounter – Stirling were on the attack for extended periods of time without creating any real chances, while Woodside looked likely to goal on every counterattack, and created the best chance of the half when a beautiful shot hit the post mid-way through proceedings. But although both sides worked their asses off, neither could break the deadlock and we went into half-time tied up at nil-all.

Woodside were again short-staffed this week, with only a single sub available to freshen up the weary, and as the second-half wore on they were finding it more and more difficult to get the ball out of their own end. This was creating real problems for their defense and midfield, who were pressing with relentless intent, but unable to find a clean target past half-way. Thus, each clearance was delivered back into the fray by a well-organised Stirling eleven who were both methodical and talented. Time and again a Stirling player beat the first defender and ran down the wing; time and again they delivered the cross; time and again they lined up a shot; and time and again their opponents shut them down before they could send the ball goalward. It was an enthralling contest. Could woodside hold on for a draw? Could they sneak a goal on the counter-attack as they had threatened to do in the first half? They could not. But it wasn’t for a lack of trying! With only five minutes left on the clock, body and brain were beaten to submission and an uncharacteristic miss-timed pass playing out from a goal-kick (borne of the exhaustion of 30 minutes of continuous defending), a fumbled first touch and an eager opposing striker gave Stirling the lead that they had worked so hard for. It was devastation for the young Warriors and they had every right to drop their heads and concede the game. But, as they have so often done over the past years, they refused to take the easy path. Winning was going to be hard from here, but there was no way they were going to back down. Stirling were buoyed buy their goal and looked a team possessed for the last five minutes of the game, but Woodside held tough to keep it to a one – nil score line when the ref blew her whistle to close proceedings.

The Warriors were visibly shattered by the result. Clearly this one meant something to them. But those who had watched the encounter had witnessed one of the most extraordinary displays of defensive football that you are likely to see in the Hills Junior League, and such an experience is sure to carry this team forward with great hope for the future, after all, goal-scorers may win games, but it’s good defense that wins titles…

The team arrived at the Summit to a locked gate to play Ashton in the Knockout cup/Saturday re-run. The moon was full for our first twilight game and the clouds rain was threatening. However, the only threat for the Unified Team was Ashton! Hakim Herriman got his feet to the ball within seconds, Toby Thomas had a good cross towards goal soon after but was thwarted by the Ashton defense. Lance Pope scored our first goal 3 minutes in with a shot that was fumbled by the Ashton goalie. The Hahndorf team were passing around with accuracy and enjoyed the consistency of the Astro Turf. William Viller, Xander Romaldi and Elwin Aylen were all getting the ball. Jesse Powell had a long shot on goal which went high. 6 minutes in and a good cross from Jesse to Lance saw goal number 2. Great sportsmanship from Elwin when he accidentally knocked over an Ashton player after checking he was OK. Toby and Luca Cannavo both had good possessions of the ball. The third goal came 10 minutes in after Lance crossed to Jesse who scored an easy goal. Three goals up 10 minutes in was looking like a challenging night for Ashton. The defense of Xander, Oscar Johnson, Rhys Davies and Elwin was rock solid and they were using goal keeper Tom Boekel to great effect with passes back to him which Tom used to their advantage. Hahndorf’s disciplined positioning and passing kept the ball predominantly in their possession. Jesse scored goal number 4 with another a few minutes later with a great run and kick. Hahndorf defense was solid, allowing them to attack at will. Toby was busy up forwards showing solid skills and Xander had a chance to score but selflessly passed to team mate Hakim. Toby had a shot on goal that was well saved by the under siege Ashton Goalie. Jesse scored his third and Hahndorf’ s fifth for the game.

Jensen Norris, Cameron Norris and Zara Tinsley-Smith came on and immediately made their presence felt. It was great to see Hakim and Jensen get some kicks and brilliant  sportsmanship from Ashton for giving our boys a few extra seconds to enjoy their moment. Mitch Stribley also came on and got on the action from the get go. Play was evenly match between the two teams untill just before half time when Xander moved up to score his first goal!

Hahndorf went into half time 6-0 up.

Second half started with even play between the two teams. Oscar had a long solo run with a long shot at the goal but just missed out. Jensen took a throw in and also had a shot for goal but was also a close miss. The Hahndorf team were all working well together and after yet another goal to Lance and Xander. Ashton had a shot at goal which was brilliantly saved by Tom. Soon after a rare wide pass in defense saw Charles K from Ashton swoop on the ball and kick their first goal. Four more goals for Hahndorf saw us come out convincing winners. The game was played in a very sporting and fair manner. Well done to both teams, every Hahndorf player played their part and a big credit goes to coach Shafiq who has the team working seamlessly as one.

 

At the traditional refuge from waterlogged pitches the two teams vying for top spot lined up in Strathalbyn. Torrens Warriors were on the attack early and had Stirling pinning in their own half for much of the initial stages. Despite this Stirling did mount some good attacks albeit relatively brief. Sustained pressure however eventually paid off for Torrens Warriors with Grace Quane logging their first goal at around the 25-minute mark. This seems to invigorate Stirling who then mounted a series of sustained attacks despite running into the wind. A good strike saw Flossie Baker score her, and Stirling’s, first goal just two minutes before half time. With little time left for either side in H1 for either side to score the whistle soon sounded at 1-1.

With the wind advantage flipped it was Stirling pressuring Torrens Warriors for much of H2. Given a skerrick too much room Zora Huang was able to accelerate into the clear and score Stirling’s second. Torrens Warriors though answered through a series of often solo runs with many attacker versus defender footraces and some good keeping holding the line. Torrens Warriors’ Louise Issitt wasn’t taking no for an answer and in a tenacious effort by her and some teammates slotted Torrens Warriors second despite a desperate chase and on the line attempted save by Stirling. With the game once again level Stirling again poured on the pressure, but the Torrens Warriors defence held. Then with only 10 minutes left, in the chaos of play inside Torrens Warriors 18-yard box, a penalty was awarded to Stirling. A clinical strike saw Zoë York goal and put Stirling in front by one. Never say die, Torrens Warriors continued to battle and with only two minutes remaining Alice van Deth equalised. Despite desperate efforts from both sides time ran out with the game level 3-3.