Reserves dominance earns them the 3 points
Posted: 15 April, 2008
| Springvale W.E. | 0 | — | 3 | Langwarrin |
| B.Caffrey (2) P.Ferguson |
||||
Round 2: Springvale White Eagles v Langwarrin — 13 April, 2008
What, on paper looked like a difficult trip away to the Eagles nest, turned out to be a fairly one-sided affair. The Langy youngsters certainly gave notice to their physically bigger opponents very early in the game that we were up to the challenge.
Within the first 10 minutes our central midfielders, Kevin, Adam and Luke, took control. Our defenders Brenton, Matthew and Sean dealt comfortably with the Eagles front runners and set the tone for the day with a "they shall not pass!" attitude.
Playing wide on the flanks, Fam and Hayden applied fast trusts deep into the Eagles territory, causing much panic with the wide defenders.
Up front, the pattern for the day was evident when our target man, Ben Caffrey was able to hold up the ball so well on many occasions and create opportunities for colleagues to strike on goal. Near misses by Ben, Kevin, Pete and a long-range free kick by Luke gave an early warning to the Eagles, particularly their not so confident keeper, that it was going to be a difficult day at the office.
From high up in the stands the consensus of opinion from the Langy supporters was that it was only a matter of time before the inevitable first goal came. It was Ben Caffry who, with his back to the goal, on the left side of the box shielding the ball well from his hapless marker moved across the penalty area before turning to his left and slotting a right foot shot low into the corner of the net. A good finish, to a good build up.
The Eagles tried hard to get back on terms and immediately applied pressure all over the park, but with no result. Many of the Eagles attacks were broken up with determined, aggressive tackles in midfield and at the back. What did get through was dealt with by the safe hands of Sean Skelly in goal. He never looked in trouble, whether in the air or on the ground.
After a relatively long period of frustrating near misses, that man Caffrey did the trick once again. Back to the goal again, shielding the ball from a couple of desperate defenders, shot on the turn the goalkeeper reacted too late! Langy 2 up at half time.
The Eagles brought on fresh legs in an attempt to salvage something from the game. Their new strikers got no joy at all from our tight defenders. Any attempt to enter our penalty box was clinically dealt with by our last line, a superb defensive display.
The third and final goal of the day came from Peter Ferguson. A raid down the left flank, a cross, well controlled by Pete, he turned passed two defenders, side stepped the on coming goal keeper and hit a firm shot into an empty net. Great finish!
Time for a few subs, Burgo, then Pete and Famo made way for Alex, James and Daniel. The team positions were shuffled a bit without any interruption to our afternoon of dominance (which is a credit to both players and coaching staff). We ended the day, comfortable winners. A confident win, by a confident team. Some would say we even let them off lightly with only 3 goals, that's how dominant we were. On another day it could have been 5 or 6!
Well done, good job coaches and players. From the Man in the Stand, signing off till next time.
Best on Ground: Brenton Smith, Adam Ahmadzhi, Ben Caffrey (It was a hard one to pick this week!)
Team: Skelly, S.Smith, B.Smith, Hodgson, Famularo (Cullen 73), Shippers, Burgess (Biondo 65), Ahmadzhi, McAllister, Caffrey, Ferguson (Mackie 82)
Unused Sub: George
