Well, the kids finished off the season strong and whilst they were a bit unlucky not to get the win, they played their hearts out and totally dominated the 2nd half. I lost count of the number of times our kids smashed the ball off the posts and the crossbar, but that's just how it goes sometimes. A truly gripping game to watch and the game of the season for sure.
I just wanted to thank the kids and all of you for being a really great bunch of people. It's been an absolute pleasure seeing the kids take to the court each week and your support has been tremendous. Barry and Chris at Arana have nothing but praise for our team and the parents. WSC has not only been "the team to beat" this year, but the way kids have conducted themselves on and off the court is a credit to them, the club, and to you as parents. A big Thank You also again to our sponsors, IOSA !! At the end of the season proper (round 14), WSC had won 10 games, drew one and conceded one game to a forfeit. We were unbeaten the whole season and stayed on the top of the ladder from round 1. WSC scored 179 goals in 11 games and conceded only 26. That's an amazing achievement. Good luck to all of you in this years soccer season. I hope we can all get back together and play Futsal again this September. We'll be in the 13/14 group that plays on Friday nights - so the competition promises to be a bit stronger - but I'm sure the kids will rise up again. Finally, I don't have a "play of the night" from last night, but I think Alex summed it up best when he said that last nights runners up medal meant more to him than all the trophies he'd gotten from Pine Hills - because instead of just being given a trophy for showing up, he'd actually earned it. Thank you all for bringing the kids along to the far South and keeping their spirits buoyed over the last two days. It was certainly a tough weekend - we knew it wouldn't be easy but I didn't expect that level of Futsal in the U12 comp!
The last team we played (Next Level Futsal) were a team that only plays Futsal (no soccer) and they train year round so we can all be very proud of WSC for giving them some competition and even netting a few goals against them. I know the score lines were pretty drastic in most of the games, but they didn't reflect the effort our guys put into the games and we should all be very proud of them. At the very least we can take away some learnings - and I could see the kids improving and adapting their style as the games went on. You don't improve your game by playing teams you can beat easily, so it was good to see the kids sharpen their game to step up to the standards of the other teams. Thanks again to Brighton for putting on the gloves and filling in goal - you had a lot of work to do but you did a fantastic job! And thanks again to our sponsors for paying the entry fee for the competition. Well, another win to WSC with a 10-5 victory over the Scorchers but it was a hard fought battle tonight with no reserves - both Alex and Tarney were unavailable and the boys certainly felt the strain in the heat of the PCYC.
You can be very proud of the way the boys fought their way to victory against the heat and exhaustion. The Scorchers seemed to have about 15 players tonight - there looked to be an endless rotation of substitutes going on whilst our boys simply had to just keep playing. Well done to all of you for a very gritty performance! Play of the night? Well, it didn't yield a goal, but Nic latched on to a left foot shot from about half way that rattled the post and left the opposition stunned. Nic's work in defence was outstanding tonight as well - often the last line of defence and shutting down pretty much all the counter attacks in the second half. Well played.. Well, another massive win at 24-3 but it wasn't the slickest of performances by our guys - a bit of a slow start and some sloppy passing could have seen the score sheet a bit more even than that end result.....OK....I'm a coach so I'm supposed to be grumpy about something!
Well done in the end though - and like I said before - the goals don't happen by themselves so I'm very proud of you all once again. Highlight of the night goes to Tarney - along with a couple of tidy goals she had a shot in the first half from behind halfway that had a vapour trail off it. Unfortunately that one was a bit wide but great to see you let loose with that right boot! And your defending was outstanding tonight as well. Well, another victory for WSC but 18-0 certainly didn't reflect the game - it was a lot tougher than that scoreline suggests!
The Mitchie girls certainly pressed hard in defence - and it took until half way through the first half before our boys could even put in the first goal. I was talking to their coach after the game and he was very proud of the way his girls played - and rightly so. It was certainly a tough game also without Tarnee and Nic - no reserves certainly stretched the team. Anyway, highlight of the game has to go to Regan for spending the night on the boards and FINALLY snaring a few goals. Great to see that big smile on your face, Regan! Thanks also to Alex for putting on the gloves - you didn't get a lot of work back there but when called upon you made some nice saves and read the play very well. WSC United has been invited to represent Arana United Futsal Club at The Johnny Warren Champions Cup on the weekend December 5-6, 2015.
The Johnny Warren Champions Cup is a regional competition which fulfils the second stage of the Football Queensland Futsal Player Pathway. This elite Competition is organised in order to provide for Players, Match and Team Officials who have been identified as being the best in their local competition in which they can further develop their skills. The tournament is aimed at the best club teams from each FFA Futsal Club to compete in this prestigious annual event for the title of “Champion Of Champions”. This annual event is by invitation only and is not open to all teams. Well done to the kids once again. Another big scoring win, but last night was actually a first - a clean sheet! 23-0 almost seemed too easy, but still, the goals don't happen by themselves and the kids played some really great football to achieve this result. Thanks to our sponsors Indian Ocean Shipping Agencies the kids are 'on fire' more than ever - sporting their flaming new socks. Highlight of the night? Probably Alex's tidy goal early in the second half. When he came off at half time he was telling how he couldn't get his shots on target....then early in the second half he threaded a cross straight into the tiniest gap between the keeper and the near post to rattle the back of the net. Beautiful to watch. Wow! What a thrilling game! Real end to end stuff and the kids were pretty unlucky not to snatch a victory from what looked like the jaws of defeat.
1-1 at half time quickly turned to 4-1 down vs 'The Avengers' as the kids were just loosing their puff (one interchange was just not enough in the fast paced game tonight!). Luckily Kieron appeared out of the shadows, better late than never, and they regained their momentum and fought back very bravely to finish 4-4. We are all very proud of the way the kids fought back tonight - very gritty stuff and it showed some real fighting spirit. If there was a highlight of the night (and, to be honest, the whole game was pretty exciting) it would have to be Geordi's brave block from the free kick taken by the "under 19" kid on the other team (how tall is that kid?). With 30 seconds to go that could have been the game lost but Geordi put his body on the line. Fortunately, the hexagon shaped welts on his back have subsided. Gutsy stuff - and it pretty much mirrors the entire teams efforts tonight. But we are still at the top of the ladder thanks to the overwhelming goal difference! A new record has been set - the final result was a 25:1 victory!
Our goalkeeper could not play but fortunately the rest of the team made sure that the score-sheet continued to climb up and the against goals were kept to a minimum. It all worked like clockwork yet again - and the only thing bigger than the result was the smile on the player's faces! Well done team! The toughest game to date against the SCORCHERS - maybe the 7:1 win was even more impressive than the previous performance and it brings us back to the top of the ladder.
It was a bit of a shaky start after nearly a month off, but the kids got back into their rhythm in the second half once again. It seems the SCORCHERS are the strongest opposition by far and everyone is happy with the victory - a nice bonus on top of the new jerseys thanks to our sponsors Indian Ocean Shipping Agencies. There will be break due to school holidays followed by a Bye on 6.October - the next game will be on 13.October versus SCORCHERS - this promises to be a hot game (no pun intended)
The Mitchie Minions had no chance during WSC United's second game on Friday, 18.September.
Again WSC placed the ball 19 times in the opposition's goal winning 19:2. Gallantly WSC lend a player to Mitchie Minions after they fell short of a player due to injury after the first half - rather than continue playing with three field players. The lend player managed to score two goals against WSC United in the second half - so technically ALL goals this game were scored by WSC United players without kicking an own goal. But again the on-field performance of the WSC United was outstanding and a joy to watch. The first game of our WSC United Futsal team was a stunning 19:1 victory on Tuesday evening, 15.September.
It was great to see how all 7 players benefited from the training at Pine Hills Football Club over the last few years. The individual skills were great, ball control superb - but playing as a team really made this team stand out. Short, quick passes - knowing the other team member's moves - quick thinking...an ideal combination for the first victory! Smiles all around - a great win, and more to come |