Match report

Match report

As the drizzle came down, the under 15s from Murray Bridge lined up to take on the home side of Hahndorf. A hush settled over the crowd and all we could hear was the sizzle of the sausages, on the canteen BBQ and the rumbling stomachs of the freshly caffeinated parents.

The whistle blew and we were off to a good start with some high pressure. Harry Gould under immediate pressure from Murray Bridge. The ball went wide and gave Bridge a corner. The corner was crossed and with quick reactions the Bridge striker found the back of the net….. 0:1

Angus Mifsud, Lucy Tinsley-Smith and Cooper Liddle in the mid/back line, were under continuous pressure from a French attacking midfielder who was clearly their best player. Going around 3 or 4 players at a time he made it to the box and shot another goal…. 0:2 the ground was slapped, arms were thrown in the air and a sense of urgency crept into the Hahndorf team.

Someone heard Joash Ng whisper to himself “Fine, I’ll do it myself!” as he then intercepted a pass in the back half and took the ball wide , then sprinted down the wing. Two giant sized Bridge defenders took chase. They couldn’t catch Ng as he was now one on one with the goalie. The goalie came out to meet the attacker, big mistake as Ng expertly bent the ball around the goalie and it landed in the far side net. The Hahndorf players celebrated, and the crowd breathed a sigh of relief. 1:2

Tinsley-Smith pressured a Bridge attacker and took the ball. While hearing mumbles of French expletives she accelerated away with the ball, passing to Liddle, who one touched to Levi Beesley, who one touched back to Liddle, who chipped forward a through pass to the shark like Ng bursting through the midfield. He went deep left then cut back to his deadly right foot and nailed another goal. The urgency now with Murray Bridge as the scores leveled at 2:2

Ng, making it look so easy, I think angered some of the Bridge players as they were quick to retaliate with a strike from 25m out. It went like a rocket into the back of the net…2:3

A hard strike from a Bridge forward just went wide of the goalkeeper Gould. He kicked it back in to almost halfway where Issac Bonilla-Killey was waiting. Accelerating away from the defenders Bonilla-Killey kicked another goal for Hahndorf 3:3

Some great passing from the Bridge team resulted in another goal for them, making it 3:4. Then another intercept in the midfield and the Bridge team landed another goal 3:5

The whistle blew and it was half time. Before I could down a second sausage in bread the whistle blew again and we were into the second half. Gould now out of the goalie position and into the center mid. He was on a fast break, went around 3 players and the 4th tripped him inside the box, for a penalty. The Bridge crowd were unhappy the Hahndorf crowd were very happy! Gould nailed past the keeper to make it now 4:5 Daniel Peters, in defense, gained another turnover , passed to Ng, who chipped over to Gould on the burst and he smashed a top corner goal…. Here we go! 5:5

Hayden Lien reacted instinctively and saved 3 consecutive attempts on goal and finally cleared it out. After a Hahndorf shot on goal it spilled free and Gould jogged in and scored another easy goal…6:5 Jet Zahra, went around 3 players and smashed the ball toward the helpless bridge goalie to get another 7:5. Ng with another 8:5, Gould with another, was saved and bounced out, Zahra took advantage and scored another…9:5 Just when Murray bridge had had enough a corner cross from Hahndorf was own goaled by a disappointed Bridge player making it a final score of 10:5

Mifsud, Luca Cannavo, Tinsley-Smith, Peters, Liddle, Oliver Saracini-Palombo, Jacob Gardner and Pat Hinze were consistently winning possession in the mid and back line all game. The defensive half using great passing gave the attacking mids and forwards lots of opportunities which they didn’t waste. Was a great game, between to very talented sides.