Round Robin 2 (15 Aug)
RESULT: Win 2-1
SCORERS: Zachary George 1 Marshall Luke 1
Quote of the day goes to Mic 1 minute into the game “why haven’t they scored yet to make me feel better”. Thankfully he didn’t have to wait too long as Zac put a great corner kick into the mix of players and we were up one nil. This was a great start against Pennant Hills as the honors during the season were one win each and they were ready to remind us.
Pennant Hills had some good opportunities with a shot just clearing the cross bar and a few breaks but once again our defence and midfield continued their season of keeping it tight and clearing the ball and with Sam making some great saves in goal the pressure started to build. This pressure led to another of Marshall’s great runs forward which put us up two nil and gave us a nice lead at half time.
At half time the boys were told that they needed to maintain the tight defence and positive attitude as Pennant Hills would come out fighting for their season which is exactly what happened with them now applying the pressure and scoring around 10 minutes into the second half.
This only spurred our guys on with even more determination to keep Pennant Hills from getting another shot and clearing the ball out of the danger zone. A couple of late opportunities to our forwards towards the end of the half just couldn’t find their mark and after a torturing 15 minutes on the side line the Ref blew the whistle to put us into the grand final. Another great effort by the boys and Mic to finish off the Round Robin with 2 wins.
This week’s player of the match went to Jack who didn’t stop defending the midfield and kept pushing the ball up front.

Round Robin 1 (8 Aug)
RESULT: DRAW 1-1
SCORERS: Nick Grul
Congratulations to PHD Team 16 on their best game of the season.
The first half saw PHD the more dominant and determined team with constant attack and good teamwork. Nick O combined well with the attack passing accurately, while Alex showed committed efforts in defense blocking the ball early. Matt P was persistent in attack with crisp passing and solid teamwork. Aiden successfully took over the sideline throw-ins from Harry with strong throws, allowing Harry to step into the role of goalie for the game and powerful goal kicks were a feature of his game. Mark showed great speed and skill in running down the ball and taking it from the defensive half up to the opponent’s goal. Nick G kicked strong cross passes and successfully landed our goal with a powerful and well-struck ball into the top corner of the goal. Unfortunately our many other shots at goal failed to find the net.
The second half saw Hawks more dominant in the later part and they managed to equalize the score.
Sam L was constant in tackling with effective passing and crossing the ball up into the attack, while Sam H was actively anticipating the opposition’s passes and intercepting before Hawks had a chance to clear.
This game’s feature was the much improved teamwork by the attacking forwarders of Sam L, Matt P, Nick G and Mark and they were unlucky not the secure the win for us.
Great game guys and an exciting game to watch!

Round Robin 1 (8 Aug)
RESULT: LOSS 0-4
An unfortunate start to the Round Robin being beaten by Glenhaven 4 nil. The game started with both sides pumped and determined to win. We got off to a cracking start and the game looked very evenly matched all the way through the first half ending up in a very tense nil all score at half time.
The second half wasn’t so kind to us – Glenhaven managed to score the first goal but we thought we could easily come back and even the score, but it would seem they had the psychological advantage over us and attacked our goal relentlessly scoring three more goals and leaving us in their wake. Not only did we lose, but two of our players managed to get yellow cards. The first went to Harry, because he didn’t take too kindly to one of their players being a little too persistent and pushy in trying to take the ball from him, so a minor scuffle occurred and the yellow card was produced. Zech got his card for simply turning his back too close to their goalie who couldn’t be bothered waiting until he was out of the way and smacked him fairly in the back with the ball. Luckily there were no further incidents so our team is still intact for next week’s game. Not too sure what happened to our team, maybe it was a bit of “jetlag” from ski camp or maybe they just caught us on a bad day, but heads up boys and let’s see what we can do next week to stay in the competition! Man of the match went to Mitch for an extremely difficult and arduous match – well played Mitch – it was a tough call.

Round Robin 1 (8 Aug)
RESULT: Win 2-1
SCORERS: Marshall Luke 2
Up against the minor premiers who we had drawn with nil all in the 1st round and had a close 2-1 loss in atrocious conditions in the 2nd round meant that we knew we were in for a tough game. And so it was to be with West Ryde Rovers coming out and dominating the first 10 minutes but strong defence and great goal keeping again from Sam kept them scoreless. It was at about this time that the boys got their rhythm and started to apply the pressure to the opposition.
With the pressure mounting Marshall latched onto a ball and took it half the length of the field and put it high and wide of the goal keeper giving us the lead which we took into half time. The second half began more like a tennis match going from one end to the other with more great saves by both goal keepers.
It wasn’t until about half way through the second half that WRR had a penalty just outside the box and to the left of goals which they sent sailing over Sam’s head to level the scores (Mic was heard to say that not even he could of saved that one and that Manchester couldn’t of scored a goal like that).
For a change the boys must have been listening at half time as their heads didn’t drop for a second and after some more great defence Ben lobbed a ball up front which Marshall ran onto and punched it into the back of the net to the cheers and roars of the spectators. The next few minutes seem to drag on forever until the final whistle blew and a deep sigh was heard around the ground with a 2-1 victory the result.
This week’s player of the match went to Zac for his great clearing kicks and corners.