Match report

Match report

Saturday morning’s game saw a scrappy affair between the two under 9 Hahndorf teams with few genuine chances and even fewer shots on target. Tyson Bancroft provided a target up-front for Hahndorf White, but found little time on the ball as it spent the majority of the match being bundled about in midfield. Fighting hard for possession in that area of the pitch were James Timmins and Cohen Whinfield who both made a number of important tackles to protect their goalkeeper Benjamin Kowald from attack. He had an excellent game in goals, and while he wasn’t called on to make any saves, he did well to corral a number of attempts out of play for goal kicks.

​Hahndorf Black finally got the breakthrough late in the first half when the ball spilled out to their forward line, and without anyone in defence, the keeper was powerless to stop Hahndorf Black’s forward from slotting home the goal. They had been threatening in the lead up, and only moments before, Connor Ozolins had made a crucial, last-man tackle to prevent an almost certain goal. The lead almost didn’t hold to half time either with Simran Singh almost equalising on the stroke of half-time, but was dismayed to see his shot go wide of the outside post.

​The second half saw an unusually quiet Thomas Gould come alive with a number of trademark runs, however, the toll of the first half showed in the rest of his team and they struggled to provide him support up front, electing instead to soak up pressure in defence. Josh Pettit and Archie Greene, who had been energetic in the first half had seemingly run out of puff and weren’t able to link up with the forward man as they had done so often in prior games this season. 

​In the end Hahndorf Black ran out winners with a 1-0 scoreline.