Under 15 A Football
Under 15As
SJC No.3
Saturday, July 30 @ 8-00am
St Joseph’s 0
Scots 0
St Joseph’s U15As; Andy TSAKALOS, Robbie SCIACCA Jnr, Xavier EGGLETON, , Lucas RIBEIRO-SARDINHA (c), Hayden SEETO, Hugh MCDONALD, Luka GRIFFITH, Mitchell GILLING, Lucas WILLIAMS, John TOOHEY, Luca FARNESE.
Unavailable; Co TRAN, Jonathan LAMWARREN, Finn COLLIGAN, Oliver FARRUGIA.
St Joseph’s U15As continued their impressive run this season, battling valiantly on Saturday afternoon in a evenly fought 0-0 draw with Scots College at SJC No.3.
When does a draw feel like a win?
When you take in to account a range of factors, including a disrupted week in relation to training, the weather restricting the team to two indoor sessions in the basketball gym….. up to half of the team absent from both training sessions due to other school commitments…. playing on a surface on SJC No.3 that resembled a chocolate brownie(!)…..and four players succumbing to illness, leaving the team to battle for the entire match with the minimum requirement of eleven players. (we wish Jonathan, Co, Finn and Oliver a swift recovery and look forward to seeing you back on the park soon!). Throw in a very competitive and combative opponent in Scots College, and I am sure you will agree that it was a monumental effort to keep a clean sheet and achieve a well-deserved draw.
Joeys began a little tentatively as they became accustomed to the slippery surface, needing to strike the ball crisply and cleanly to avoid it literally becoming stuck in the mud.
Once Joeys began to proactive challenge the football, most of the play towards the back end of the first half was taking place in the Scots half of the field.
Lucas Williams and Luka Griffiths took a hold of the centre of the park, getting the ball out of their feet and playing the strikers in to space. Luca Farnese was a nuisance as usual for the opposition defence, a couple of times racing on to through balls and throwing himself about as Scots scrambled to clear the danger.
Such was the switch in momentum that St Joseph’s had a series of corners close to the half time break, threatening on each occasion. Lucas Williams was sending the ball into the mix with some great in and out swinger corners, searching primarily for the lurking Lucas Ribeiro-Sardinha. On one occasion, the ball bounced around like a hot potato as John Toohey and Mitchell Gilling both had efforts on goal, but the Scots defence cleared the danger.
- at the break, and the message was to keep up the focus and lift the intensity to try and edge in front. St Joseph’s came in to the second half with some momentum, and began defending high and putting pressure on the visitors.
Within minutes, right midfielder Hugh McDonald was on the end of a passing movement that began on the left flank, his angled shot well saved by the Scots goal keeper.
The backline of Robbie Sciacca Jnr, Lucas Ribeiro-Sardinha, Hayden Seeto and Xavier Eggleton were impregnable during a very focussed second half, restricting goal keeper, Andy Tsakalos, to a minimum of work as the team moved towards their third clean sheet of the competition.
Robbie Sciacca Jnr and Xavier Eggleton were suffocating their opposition wingers and allowed them very little space at all, whilst Lucas Ribeiro-Sardinha and Hayden Seeto marshalled the team from central defence, not only intercepting relentlessly, but then setting Joeys on their way with some great passes moving forward. Doubling up with intent to dominate possession meant that most of the play in the second half was in the Scots half whilst Joeys kept searching for that elusive goal.
Joeys kept up the pressure as Lucas Williams danced his way past a couple of Scots defenders, but his shot was blocked. Not to be denied, Lucas Williams went close with two free kicks, the first well held by the Scots keeper, whilst the second – cracked low through a sea of legs – ricocheted before being cleared by the opposition defence.
Mitchell Gilling and Luka Griffiths both had snapshots late on that were blocked, and Lucas Williams was fouled a couple of times weaving his way through the opposition, but try as they may, St Joseph’s just couldn’t find a way through, Scots holding out for what finished as a tough but entertaining scoreless draw.
The U15As have come a long way since the beginning of the season, given the team is now disappointed with a draw, and that desire the boys have to strive to be as successful as they can is to be admired. It was a great performance and strong application on the day, given the circumstances, especially the manner in which the boys worked together as a unit overall, complemented by the focus of the ‘mini units’ (the defence / the midfield / the attack) within the team structure.
Your ongoing support on the day was very much appreciated as always, and we look forward to bringing you more of the same effort and application in the final two weeks of the competition.
Regards,
Frank Speranza
