AHJSA Match Reports

Round 1 – 30th April – Hahndorf v Woodside Red

A beautiful sunny morning for the start of the season as a bunch of excited and nervous players took the pitch. Woodside came out strong and Hahndorf defence had their work cut out with Samuel Gardner and Eric Jager supporting Angus Clifton in goals. After sending it back down the pitch several times and a few great saves from Clifton, Woodside managed to sneak one through.

Fighting back in the forward half Miles Hennessey pulled out some fancy footwork to get past his opponents and a great pass from Michael Griggs brought the ball down close to Hahndorf’s goal. Amelia Ramsey fought hard with Griggs and Hennessey, but Woodside defence did a great job stopping the attempt on goal and bringing the ball back to their end with a big kick sending it past the keeper.

Harris Parkyn had a great run down the pitch, bringing the ball right up and putting his body on the line as he took a tumble trying to get through the Woodside players. As Woodside brought the ball to their end Charlie Roeszler did a great job stopping them getting too close to the goal and pushing it back towards mid-pitch before the whistle blew for half time.

Hahndorf fought hard in the second half with Kealan Atkinson chasing down the ball with Clifton. Griggs did some fantastic saves as goalie when the defenders were unable to keep the ball away. Unfortunately, Woodside offence were too strong and snuck it through the goals again.

Both teams did a great job – especially considering it was the first game for many of the Hahndorf players!

Round 1 – 30th April – Hahndorf v Woodside Red

A beautiful sunny morning for the start of the season as a bunch of excited and nervous players took the pitch. Woodside came out strong and Hahndorf defence had their work cut out with Samuel Gardner and Eric Jager supporting Angus Clifton in goals. After sending it back down the pitch several times and a few great saves from Clifton, Woodside managed to sneak one through.

 

Fighting back in the forward half Miles Hennessey pulled out some fancy footwork to get past his opponents and a great pass from Michael Griggs brought the ball down close to Hahndorf’s goal. Amelia Ramsey fought hard with Griggs and Hennessey, but Woodside defence did a great job stopping the attempt on goal and bringing the ball back to their end with a big kick sending it past the keeper.

 

Harris Parkyn had a great run down the pitch, bringing the ball right up and putting his body on the line as he took a tumble trying to get through the Woodside players. As Woodside brought the ball to their end Charlie Roeszler did a great job stopping them getting too close to the goal and pushing it back towards mid-pitch before the whistle blew for half time.

 

Hahndorf fought hard in the second half with Kealan Atkinson chasing down the ball with Clifton. Griggs did some fantastic saves as goalie when the defenders were unable to keep the ball away. Unfortunately, Woodside offence were too strong and snuck it through the goals again.

 

Both teams did a great job – especially considering it was the first game for many of the Hahndorf players!

Round 1 – 30th April – Hahndorf v Woodside Red

A beautiful sunny morning for the start of the season as a bunch of excited and nervous players took the pitch. Woodside came out strong and Hahndorf defence had their work cut out with Samuel Gardner and Eric Jager supporting Angus Clifton in goals. After sending it back down the pitch several times and a few great saves from Clifton, Woodside managed to sneak one through.

 

Fighting back in the forward half Miles Hennessey pulled out some fancy footwork to get past his opponents and a great pass from Michael Griggs brought the ball down close to Hahndorf’s goal. Amelia Ramsey fought hard with Griggs and Hennessey, but Woodside defence did a great job stopping the attempt on goal and bringing the ball back to their end with a big kick sending it past the keeper.

 

Harris Parkyn had a great run down the pitch, bringing the ball right up and putting his body on the line as he took a tumble trying to get through the Woodside players. As Woodside brought the ball to their end Charlie Roeszler did a great job stopping them getting too close to the goal and pushing it back towards mid-pitch before the whistle blew for half time.

 

Hahndorf fought hard in the second half with Kealan Atkinson chasing down the ball with Clifton. Griggs did some fantastic saves as goalie when the defenders were unable to keep the ball away. Unfortunately, Woodside offence were too strong and snuck it through the goals again.

 

Both teams did a great job – especially considering it was the first game for many of the Hahndorf players!

What a stunning autumn morning to begin the Hills soccer season at the Hahndorf pitch.

This new group of players were ready to get out there full of energy and willingness to learn how to work together as a team.

Stirling Districts brought a full team with many subs, versing Hahndorf with only the 7 players on the pitch.

Josh Blain brought his excellent defensive skills to the team with some strong kicks towards the Hahndorf attacking players.  Danny Morgan was goalie and saved a couple of Stirling attempts at goal in the first half.

Levi Neumann showed his great attacking run through the midfield, with accurate passing to his team mates, allowing Carter Hartley to have a shot at goal.  Minutes later, Neumann was able to secure his first goal of the season.

The half time break meant Hartley was now Hahndorf goalie, with Nico Moran and Mason Saywell running well through the middle.  Harrison Whitehead proved an asset to the team with some great running, allowing Blain to kick his first goal of the season.

Well done to all players for your great spirit in the opening match.

U9 Woodside Warriors Soccer Club

Team:-  Round 1         Bridgewater Blue vs Woodside  30/4/2022            

Season 2022 has begun it has been a long wait through the pre-season and you could feel the excitement / nervous energy / anticipation / uncertainty / comradeship of our team looking forward to the starting whistle. 

We began our warm up and on cue the rain began to fall to remind the spectators and players that this is a Winter sport and there will be more of this to come as we get deeper in to the season.

A team photo to build the excitement and the game was set to start.

Welcome Ryder, Morgana, Hannah, Anna, Justin, Zac, Stirling , Archie and Tomke

Game on. The game had begun, all players giving everything on both sides of the field. 2 minutes in and the home side Bridgy struck and left Woodside a little rattled, but not done, 

The players then held pressure for the next 15 minutes with the ball going from one end to the other testing the team’s early fitness and pre-season training, then Woodside saw an opening and pressed deep into the forward and, bang the teams were tied with only minutes left in the first half, bang again Woodside was now in front. But Bridgewater was not down and out and got a last moment goal tied at half time. It was really turning out to be a fantastic tussle between the 2 sides. 

Last half was upon us and both teams had made some changes, but a front runner seemed inevitable with the amount of pressure on goalies at both ends of the pitch finally the home side found a way to get it past Woodside’s goalie and only minutes left which meant the warriors had no time to bring the score back , but I must say it was still an absolute outstanding performance from our team , holding position and working as a team playing fair and just and showing we have firepower in our court. Well done under 9 

Result  3 Bridgewater / 2 Woodside

U9 Woodside Warriors Soccer Club

Team:-  Round 1         Bridgewater Blue vs Woodside  30/4/2022            

Season 2022 has begun it has been a long wait through the pre-season and you could feel the excitement / nervous energy / anticipation / uncertainty / comradeship of our team looking forward to the starting whistle. 

We began our warm up and on cue the rain began to fall to remind the spectators and players that this is a Winter sport and there will be more of this to come as we get deeper in to the season.

A team photo to build the excitement and the game was set to start.

Welcome Ryder, Morgana, Hannah, Anna, Justin, Zac, Stirling , Archie and Tomke

Game on. The game had begun, all players giving everything on both sides of the field. 2 minutes in and the home side Bridgy struck and left Woodside a little rattled, but not done, 

The players then held pressure for the next 15 minutes with the ball going from one end to the other testing the team’s early fitness and pre-season training, then Woodside saw an opening and pressed deep into the forward and, bang the teams were tied with only minutes left in the first half, bang again Woodside was now in front. But Bridgewater was not down and out and got a last moment goal tied at half time. It was really turning out to be a fantastic tussle between the 2 sides. 

Last half was upon us and both teams had made some changes, but a front runner seemed inevitable with the amount of pressure on goalies at both ends of the pitch finally the home side found a way to get it past Woodside’s goalie and only minutes left which meant the warriors had no time to bring the score back , but I must say it was still an absolute outstanding performance from our team , holding position and working as a team playing fair and just and showing we have firepower in our court. Well done under 9 

Result  3 Bridgewater / 2 Woodside

U9 Woodside Warriors Soccer Club

Team:-  Round 1         Bridgewater Blue vs Woodside  30/4/2022            

Season 2022 has begun it has been a long wait through the pre-season and you could feel the excitement / nervous energy / anticipation / uncertainty / comradeship of our team looking forward to the starting whistle. 

We began our warm up and on cue the rain began to fall to remind the spectators and players that this is a Winter sport and there will be more of this to come as we get deeper in to the season.

A team photo to build the excitement and the game was set to start.

Welcome Ryder, Morgana, Hannah, Anna, Justin, Zac, Stirling , Archie and Tomke

Game on. The game had begun, all players giving everything on both sides of the field. 2 minutes in and the home side Bridgy struck and left Woodside a little rattled, but not done, 

The players then held pressure for the next 15 minutes with the ball going from one end to the other testing the team’s early fitness and pre-season training, then Woodside saw an opening and pressed deep into the forward and, bang the teams were tied with only minutes left in the first half, bang again Woodside was now in front. But Bridgewater was not down and out and got a last moment goal tied at half time. It was really turning out to be a fantastic tussle between the 2 sides. 

Last half was upon us and both teams had made some changes, but a front runner seemed inevitable with the amount of pressure on goalies at both ends of the pitch finally the home side found a way to get it past Woodside’s goalie and only minutes left which meant the warriors had no time to bring the score back , but I must say it was still an absolute outstanding performance from our team , holding position and working as a team playing fair and just and showing we have firepower in our court. Well done under 9 

Result  3 Bridgewater / 2 Woodside

Woohoo, it’s a new football season! The trees and the weather might be telling us that it is Autumn but it is well and truly Spring in the mind of every football fan: a fresh season, where endless possibilities stretch out in front of our Warriors. Having won promotion from the Under-9s last season to the Under-10s this year (by virtue of our planet completing another cycle in its merry dance through space-time) the U10 Warriors Blue team lined up this Saturday morning for our season-opener against Mt Barker United.

Before we even get to the match, we must give a huge thanks to Mt Barker United for offering some of their players so Woodside could manage the preferred 9v9 format for the game. How often do you see Timmy Cahill swapping shirts so that both teams can play 11-a-side? Okay, so he is retired now and it is against the rules of the professional game, but anyway… hold your heads high Mt Barker United and especially Liam, Lucas, Matteus and Ripley – you did a kind thing for us and we are grateful.

Captain Noah Paech led the Warriors from the kick-off, bringing his trademark energy to the first half: always chasing the ball and frustrating United’s attackers by continually winning challenges and working the ball up the field like a true defensive-midfielder. Tyler Berwick, of our three debuting players, showed he is a natural in the sweeper/central defender role, putting up a series of blocks and repeatedly clearing Woodside’s lines. Amelia Wakefield, another new player to our team this season, had a very solid first half in goal making a couple of accomplished saves and keeping a clean sheet. As a result of these defensive performances Woodside came into the break without conceding, although also with nothing to show for their efforts at the other end of the pitch.

The second half was a very different game and Woodside were the team who broke the deadlock less than ten minutes into the half. Some nice footwork down the right wing from one of our guest players found Tommy Garden on the corner of the penalty box. Tommy turned, shot and buried the ball in the far corner of the net to mark his first-ever goal for the Warriors. Woodside kept up the pressure, with our third debuting player Arthur Lean showing some great positioning and excellent passing movement in some of the attacking passages of play. Unfortunately United took advantage of Woodside’s commitment high up the pitch, hitting repeatedly on the break and taking control of the game. Woodside managed a second goal through one of the guest players but their intensity dropped-off in the last ten minutes and the match was still in United’s favour as the full-time whistle blew. Despite some very disappointed faces on our U10 Blue team, United definitely deserved to take something from the game.

So, there we have it – a return to the football pitch after a long break, a return to all our parents’ Saturday mornings being dominated by winter sport and muddy boots, and a return to the typewriter for your intrepid football correspondent. We have another seventeen rounds of football ahead of us so we have plenty to look forward to, not least seeing how our Blue team develop over the season, but also finding out if your correspondent can manage another season of match reports without running out of football cliches and references to Scottish players from his own childhood.

NON COMPETITIVE TEAMS - Under 11

Saturday 30th April - Round 1

 

We were lucky to start out the season with a home match at our hallowed ground at Pine avenue. The weather was a bit temperamental at the start with some cloud cover and some sun shine, but it was the perfect temperature to runaround on the pitch. Strath were short on players so the match was played as 8v8 to keep things fair.

 

Hahndorf started out very strong moving the ball down the pitch with some great footwork and passing between Ashon Broadbent-Shaw, Thomas Gould and Hugo Curtis in midfield and forward players. The multiple passes between the Hahndorf players proved to much for Strathalbyn as their defence struggled to keep up with the ball movements allowing Hahndorf's Patrick Freer and Mason Sickerdick to move the ball into their forward half and convert their brilliant passage of play on more than one occasion.

 

Strathalbyn were able to gain some control of the play and put pressure on Hahndorf’s defence, but Eli Parkyn and Oliver Ramsey, along with Alice Cannavo, held Hahndorf’s defence to ward off their attacks and get the ball back to the midfield where they took control of the play again and convert the passage’s of play that were started by the Hahndorf defensive team. Strathalbyn did not give up and pushed into their forward half more and more putting pressure on Hahndorf’s defence. But not through the lack of trying they were unable to convert these attacking forward plays.

 

At the half time break Strathalbyn lost 2 of their players who had to go and play more soccer elsewhere. But in the spirit of the game and to keep the match alive 2 Hahndorf players, Curtis and Gould, went over to the Strath team to make up the numbers. Strathalbyn came out strong in the second half putting pressure on Hahndorf’s defence from the get go. Hahndorf’s Lachlan Gardner and Cohen Whinfield worked hard to push the ball into their forward half, but it was a hard fought battle and Strathalbyn were able to keep the ball down in Hahndorf’s defence for the start of the resumed play.

 

Hahndorf weren’t giving any ground, Pearl Beesley, Rowan Gilroy and Jack Gaskin, were able to defend Straths attacks and prevent Strath from converting. Hahndorf found a crack in Strathalbyn’s attacks and were able to move the ball forward with more of their passing plays moving the ball from player to player and attacking in their forward half. Hahndorf with their teamwork were able to convert their forward movements after testing the Strath defence more and more.

 

It was a great start to the season and all the players left the pitch with smiles on their faces. It was fantastic to see the kids out on the pitch again representing their respective teams. A big shout out to all the parents, team managers and helpers. But a special thanks to the coaches and referee/ground leader who without them we wouldn’t have a match for our kids to enjoy. On the day there must always be only one winner and as usual the game of soccer wins the day!

For the first round of the 2022 U12 season, Mt Barker Red headed to the Strathalbyn Polo Grounds to take on a young Strikers outfit.
The first game of the season is always an interesting one: even after a few solid training sessions, it is never a sure thing whether a squad will 'click' after the opening whistle blows.
And so, after just 5 minutes of frantic 9-a-side mayhem, the Reds' supporters breathed a collective sigh of relief when Danny Paterson found the back of the net. Mount Barker continued to push for more goals and, perhaps inspired by a certain Argentinian who shares his shirt number, #10 Arlo Turner scored the team's 2nd goal in the 8th minute.
Although this first half was dominated by the Reds, the young Strath Strikers had fantastic attitude and determination, which was evident in their positive play style. When the Strikers managed to counter-attack, however, they were met by a 3-piece brick wall in the form of Harrison Betts, Harrison Burt and Alec Belsey - a trio who worked splendidly as a unit to repel any incoming Strikers raids.
The Barker midfield and wing combos looked dangerous from the start, with Rylan Henke - fresh off a 22-minute 5km 'warm up' - getting agonisingly close to his first career goal. Rory Martin was also searching for that elusive maiden goal, but was denied repeatedly by the fantastic glovework of the Strathalbyn #1 . It didn't take long for Max Barrljung-Hummel to conjure up a first-half hattrick - tripling his goal tally from the entirety of last season!
Turner scored his second goal just before half time, with last year's leading goal scorer Lincoln Denley notching up a handful of assists. At this stage, it looked like Strath would have to conjure up some magic to reign the Reds back in.

Second half underway, and the young Strikers looked to be a whole new team. Finding chinks in the Reds' previously impenetrable armour, the young Strath forwards gave 'keeper Tyler Raven something to worry about, but they couldn't find the back of the net.
After a back-and-forth 5 minutes, Paterson kicked his second, and Denley found himself on the scoresheet after working hard to assist his team mates. Turner looked certain to get his hattrick, but a sizzling shot was belted skywards by the Strath Keeper, and off the outside of the crossbar. After working tirelessly through the midfield, Isaac Pickert was denied a goal of the year nomination; a seemingly perfect header sailing towards the top corner... only to be thwarted by the 'keeper once again!
Just before the final whistle blew, Paterson deservedly rounded out his hattrick, already surpassing his season goal tally from last year.

Strath is a young team at the start of their competitive soccer journey. The positivity from players and coach, regardless of the score, was fantastic to witness, and it's an amazing example of how junior soccer should be played.
A few from the Mt Barker outfit have been in U12s since 2020, when they were 9 years old. The playing group and coach have experienced the highs and lows of being the youngest team in the league, and are interested to see how they fare being one of the older teams this season, with a wealth of new talent added to the 2022 line-up.

At midday on a partly overcast day, Hahndorf U12's kicked off for the first time this season against Woodside.

 

Joel Bateman broke the ball away early with Cooper Newman and Emlyn Gilroy showing great skills for an early goal shot which unfortunately didn't quite find the net. Persistence paid off and Gilroy scored the first goal.

 

Hahndorf kept the pressure on with much of the play around the goal square and Hahndorfs defence waiting for some action to come their way.

Another shot at goal by Gilroy, being caught by the goalie. Fast legs and a big kick by Jackson Bidgood stopped Woodsides advancement.

Teamwork was on fire, there were great shows of effort and passing.

Excellent pressure by Sonjae Cook saw a throw in followed by some fancy footwork by Samuel Whitehead.

A long rallying effort, Hahndorfs defence saw the ball not progressing beyond the halfway mark, Louis Moran made a strong attempt at goal.

A sprint to block Woodsides first attempt at goal, defending Bateman and Cook stretched their legs, where the shot was made but it found goalie Caleb Earleys gloves.

From the centre Christopher Haynes' big kick ensured Woodsides goalie was kept busy and then a smashing goal by Newman sent the team into cheer. Moments into the second half saw Gilroys 2nd goal.

A quick attack by Woodside was met by strong hahndorf goalie defence, with the next attempt not so lucky and Woodside scored their first goal.

Recovering quickly, the ball was brought back into Hahndorfs end where Bidgood found the ball and skilfully scored the 4th goal and quickly Earley added to the score with a brilliant goal. Another snap goal by Woodside sees the pressure back on. A big kick by Bateman blindsided the goalie and hit the back of the net for his 2nd goal. Cook made a nice cross also seeing his 2nd goal. An outstanding effort with a Hahndorf victory. Thank you to all involved.

 

April 30 th , 2022
Hahndorf U13 vs Woodside

Start of the Season and the weather could not have been better, it was so nice there was not even
any wind at the Summit. Both teams were clearly excited and while the Game would be one sided it
was played in the right spirit.
Hahndorf took control of the game in the first fifteen minutes as both Jacob Gardner and Hayden
Lien scored two goals each. Hahndorf was able to mount sustained pressure by their quick play and
accurate passing through the middle of the pitch, this style of play resulted in two more quick goals
by Harrison Gould and Levi Beesley. The final goal of the first half came after a long passage of play
up and down the pitch before a powerful strike from Lucy Tinsley-Smith made it just before the
end of the first half.
The second half was more of the same with Hahndorf demonstrating a solid team attack as they
passed the ball into space and would have waves of attackers to run on to the ball. Two long range
goals from Harrison Gould as well as deft passing resulting in goals to Pepe Zahra and Cooper Liddle
put the game out of reach for Woodside. Hayden Lien would score his third of the match, Ryley
Neumann would get two quick goals and then the scoring was finished off with Daniel Peters and
Oliver Aylen both finding the back of the net.
Woodside managed to score one goal late to spoil the shut-out bid of the two Hahndorf keepers,
Pepe Zahra and Jet Zahra but otherwise it was a solid defensive game.

For the first round of the season, Woodside Warriors U13 Red travelled into town to face the new kids on the block, Blackwood Forrest. And although both teams had done the yards on the training pitch, it was time to find out how things would transpire when faced with a hungry opposition who wanted it just as much as they did.

The early stages of the match belonged largely to Woodside, and although they looked more than a little short of a run, they were defending well and pushing the ball forward to create opportunities. It wasn’t long before they scored the opening goal through a lovely shot that hit the post, bounced back into the pitch and found the far-side winger running beautifully into the sweet spot. But strong teams respond to adversity and Blackwood refused to back down. They redoubled their efforts in defence, keeping numbers back to clog up any space in their own half. This frustrated the Warriors who were finding it hard to create opportunities on the smallish Springbank pitch. Eventually Blackwood hit back through a low drive from outside the box that skimmed under the keepers diving body. The rest of the first half was a real arm wrestle with neither side able to penetrate to create a clean opportunity. The deadlock was only broken when the ref found a hand ball in the area that the home fans were happy to accept, while the visitors felt a great injustice had been committed. But no-one doubted the quality of the penalty strike, it was high and wide and powerfully struck, and gave the home side the lead right on the stroke of half-time.

The Warriors were visibly disappointed as they left the ground, but in such a tight tussle, they would need to rally and execute to score twice against such a strong Blackwood squad. The second half was every bit as tight as the first. Both sides defended exceptionally, denying their opponents any opportunity to gain entry, and although Blackwood hit the crossbar once and hit a couple of dangerous-looking long bombs, the only goal they could manage came from a defensive mix up from the visitors. This gave them a commanding lead with only 13 minutes left on the clock. But Woodside were not going to lie down. With the clock showing five-to-go, they created the best chance of the match when their striker finally found a way through and was away on goal. He looked certain to score, but for a lovely piece of defence from Blackwood’s centre back who bodied him neatly off the ball and cleared to safety.

This match ended in Blackwood’s favour, but there was much to like from both sides and the standard of behaviour from players and spectators was as impeccable as we have come to expects in the Hills Association, something we mustn’t take for granted.

Full credit to both teams on a great match, played in great spirit. And a warm welcome to Blackwood Forrest from Hills Junior Soccer.

Match Details

Round 1

Woodside Red U17 vs Stirling Districts

11 AM Woodside Recreation Ground

 

Brisk and blustery conditions met the U17s for the first match of their 2022 campaign. While the weather was cold the football action on the pitch was anything but. The game started with some arong attacks by Woodside, probing Stirling’s defence with a few shots on goal having the Stirling keeper busy.

 

For the majority of the first half, the play moved up and down the pitch fairly evenly with strong defence from Woodside repelling multiple shots on goal. As hard as they fought, we went in to the second half trailing 0-2. 

 

The second half opened with a flurry of shots on goal by Woodside culminating in a penalty being awarded and converted to put Woodside on the board. While the play was strong from both sides for the rest of the match, in the end a lack of substitutes meant tired against fresh legs and ultimately Stirling pushed the margin out to victory at 7-1. While the scoreline was not what we wanted, the team can be proud of a strong effort.

 

 

 

A nice sunny morning was the setting for the opening game of the 2022 season as Woodside met Blackwood.  Blackwood were a couple of players down due to illness so the Woodside team added an extra player to its  bench to make it a closer matched game. 

Woodside started the better with great passages of play switching the ball to create opportunities but their early shots were high or wide. However, the continued pressure was not impacting the Blackwood team who from nowhere played a through ball to their speedy attacker. The Woodside keeper was left in two minds whether to come out or go back, but when he finally did make his decision it was too late as Blackwood scored their first for the day. 

Woodside though continued its possession  game and were quick to close the gap as its forward slotted Woodside’s first goal for the  season home. The next 10 minutes saw Woodside dominate possession with good possession and passing but they were unable to add to the score. Then through some individual brilliance from Woodside’s attacking midfielder Woodside took the lead.  Woodside continued to defend well stopping the long ball by their opponents and finding the feet of team mates in midfield to turn defense into attack. It finally resulted in Woodside scoring its third though its attacking central midfielder. 

Woodside were the stronger team but Blackwood defended well. With five minutes to play in the second half Woodside slotted its fourth goal home for the half with a well placed ball after a corner.  Woodside were unlucky when a long throw-in resulted in a great goal by their wide right midfielder, but was disallowed for a foul throw. At half time the score was Woodside 4; Blackwood 1. 

The second half saw some greater commitment from the Blackwood team, while having no reserves, they committed themselves to the ball and made every effort to make it a contest. And they were soon rewarded after the restart with their second goal. Woodside’s keeper for the second half showed some great ability stopping a number of close contests and doing his job of keeping the ball out of his net. This commitment inspired Woodside to again play possession football, and while at times they lost their shape, it saw some great passages of soccer being played. When the Woodside wide midfielder whipped a ball into the box to a team mate it was unfortunately met by a Blackwood player who managed to miss hit a clearance pitting the ball into the back of his own net.  Woodside continued to press and were again rewarded by some individual brilliance by its attacking midfielder who scored his third for the match. 

That’s the way the game finished with a resilient Blackwood fighting to the end but Woodside Blue continue to play the great brand of football that they have been known for over the years.

After a long preseason, Woodside U17G eagerly awaited the start of the season. Round 1 was played at 'The Summit' - Mount Barker on a cool and breezy afternoon.

There were a number of players making their first appearance for the club.

The first half saw Woodside kicking with a useful breeze.  After a slow but even start, Woodside started to find their feet and players started to gel together as a team. The defence worked well together providing good cover and the goalkeeper made a number of important saves. The midfield did the hard yards, covering plenty of ground to provide the vital transition from defence to attack. The attack started to see a number of chances. As the half progressed, Woodside became more dominant but were unable to make the most of their chances with a number of shots thwarted by the galant Strathalbyn goalkeeper. The half ended with a scoreline of nil all.

After a well deserved break and with Woodside now kicking into the breeze, the game became more even. As the half progressed and with limited rotations off the bench, Woodside began to tire. Strathalbyn took the chance to find their way behind Woodside defence and with clinical finishing managed to put 2 goals past the keeper. Woodside continued to try hard and press for an equaliser but unfortunately came up short on the day. It was a disappointing way to finish a game that saw Woodside show plenty of great potential for the rest of the season. At their best, Woodside appeared extremely competitive and there were many positives to be seen in their performance with a great willingness to work together as a team.

All players played well, with Emily and Leila covering plenty of ground in the midfield and Sophie proving to be a rock in defence. Honourable mentions to Alexandra, Alice, Evie, Rosie and Sarah who ran out the game despite having played earlier in the afternoon.