Under 11 Division 3

Grand Final - 22/08/09 - Moorebank vs Bossley Sports

What a cracker of a game !! I know that this is a week and a day late... but we are still basking in the glory of the moment.

What an outstanding achievement these boys have accomplished. Minor premiers AND premiers two years in a row. Can they do a third ...??

One of my highlights for the day was when we were receiving our medals when one of the SDSFA officials was introducing our team.... "Moorebank 11/3's.... 38 goals for ..... 1 goal against... (looking twice at his paper) .... Gee that's pretty impressive !!..."


In a short recap of the game - We didn't kick off till after 3pm. Bossley came out firing. Unlike the Bulls last week, Bossley didn't want to fall into the same trap and so reverted to game of aerial ping pong to avoid us playing a grounded ball, which is dangerous. They couldn't have run through us so they tried to go over us. This not only frustrated the boys because they couldn't find their rhythm, but it also frustrated us on the bench. At half time it was a nil all draw, and by all appearances, they appeared the stronger team for that half.

Second half - It started out pretty much the same as the first half, the boys weren't panicked, but they were getting more and more frustrated by Bossley's tactics. The worst thing for me was that we had trained for a week and a half on different sets of play to counteract some of Bossley's tactics, but on the day it didn't work. It wasn't long after half time that Bossley scored. Again... aerial ping pong put a ball over our backs.. picked up by their striker, who ran with it (unfortunately if the ref had looked over at the linesman who had his flag out noting he was offside it would have been a whole other story)...and scored. I can't say the boys were shattered but they were certainly not happy campers - I know I wasn't. For the next twenty minutes our boys just pounded Bossley relentless. Once again, how do you score against ten goal keepers?? I felt the game was slipping away from us. Something had to give. And give it did !!

We needed a miracle... we got it !!... and it went like this.... Twinkle Toes picked up the ball in the middle of the park.. took it for a dance and off loaded to the Enforcer. He then checked it the Road Runner who deflected the ball back out to Twinkle Toes near the right of the 18 yard box. He puts a nice ball over to Ramzy Ramjet who was on the left of the goals who chipped it up to the centre of the goals, and in the ensuing confusion of it all, Yorkie pushed the ball into the goals. With only 20 seconds left on the clock......

The roar of the crowd !!! If people had to pay to see a game.. this would be it. It was an absolute nail biter. Full time 1-1

Extra time - Now we were hungry !! For the next twenty minutes we just pounded Bossley's goal. Bossley were spent. All they could manage was to push all of their players back in defence and guard their goal. They wanted to take us to a penalty shoot out. My memory is a bit faded now, but I know we took at least 5 shots at goal, and missed out on all of them. At the completion of extra time it was still 1-1.

Penalty Shoot Out - The hardest thing is too pick out 5 kids to take shots for the shoot out and put them under any more pressure. But we had no choice. The five we chose were Christo, the Enforcer, Big Ben, Ramzy Ramjet and the Terminator. After five shots we had two goals, and after four, Bossley had one. On their final shot if they had got it, it would have equalised and we would have had to go through the process again. If they missed, we win. It all came down to the Bozz (he's already saved 3... is there one more in him??) Yes there was !!!!!

MOOREBANK WIN PENALTY SHOOT OUT 2-1

And the crowd goes wild !!!!! We did it !!! Again !!!!

I would just like to say what a great bunch of kids they are. They have been training together since November last year, every week, through rain and cold, through heat, in the mud, when their friends were at home in comfort they slugged it out week after week. And that paid off today. I also want to thank the parents for their patience and support, and for having their kids brought to the training sessions. We have had our ups and downs, as individuals and as a team, but our journey was fruitious in the end. It doesn't matter how many times you shake the milk bottle, the cream always rises to the top!!<

It would be nice to try for a third year running, but we are all still on a high, and who knows what lies around the corner. For me personally, I am proud of my boys. I know that one just happens to be my son, but I have known a lot of them since they were 6 or 7. I have seen them grow, and develop into fine young men, and I am so glad that I have been given the opportunity to see them through this part of their lives. I am sure that Yehia and Graham and Janette feel the same way. Be proud of your sons... we are!!

Signing off for 2009...

John