Scotch College

Match Reports - Week 2 - 3 May 2008

News Flash! The Scotch Soccer webpage had 194 hits from 101 visitors in the fortnight since the first round! That’s a great showing of interest from the Scotch Soccer community, which has over 300 boys participating in the sport. Thanks readers and tell your fellow soccer friends to log in and check out these entertaining match summaries.

Don’t Forget – Mums and Grandmothers are invited to Mother’s Day morning tea this Saturday at McKendrick Oval. There will also be a sausage sizzle. Mums – come and watch your sons play, and then join us before or afterwards for morning tea at McKendrick Oval. You will also be able to cheer on the 1st XI, who are playing between 10 – 11am.

Seniors

A very depleted Scotch team came up against a highly skilled unit in St Kevin’s. Two quick goals in the opening minutes of the game put us on the back foot and under a great deal of pressure. After been awarded a penalty, the score at half time was Scotch 1 St Kevin’s 2. The first 20 minutes of the second half proved to be quite competitive. However St Kevin’s took their opportunities and scored a further 3 goals to finish Scotch 1 St Kevin’s 5. Although Scotch players were disappointed, this is a developing and rebuilding year and success is not measured on winning alone.

Best players Scotch; A Harris, L Cohen

The Scotch seconds side suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of St Kevin’s on the weekend. St Kevin’s were a skilled outfit with plenty of run through the midfield, ultimately overpowering us as the game finished 6-1. Despite the score, there were plenty of good signs to be taken from their first competitive hit-out. We moved forward as a team and attacked their half creatively but too many easy turnovers became costly.

Just after the second half got underway we managed to snatch a goal to make it 3-1 and it seemed to lift the boys spirits as we gained the momentum. However, an immature red card minutes later took the wind out of our sails as we spent the remainder of the game chasing and absorbing countless attacks. Credit to the boys for keeping the fight up till the end against tough opposition. Special mention to Inesh Hensman, Kaedom Tin and Taylor McPhail who battled hard for the duration of the game.

This was an exciting game, which we did not deserve to lose. We started slowly, going 1-0 down. However, we went into the lead, before conceding a soft goal before the half-time break, going in at 2-2. We dominated the second half, but GC scored against the run of play. Despite constantly pushing them back into their half, we weren't able get the equaliser, and lost a game to opponents who took the few opportunities that they had. Best: Yang, Bethune, Teo, McNeil. Goals: Yang (2).

4ths soccer had another good win against Caufield Grammar. It was an even team performance with still too many missed opportunities in front of goals and conceding two soft goals.

Game cancelled by Xavier

Year 10

Against very strong opposition, the first half was evenly fought out with both sides having numerous chances to score. It was St Kevin’s though who made the breakthrough to end the half 1-0 up. Scotch rallied strongly after the break and grabbed an equaliser through a superb Palazzo header from a Bordonaro free kick. Unfortunately, two quick goals to St Kevin’s after the restart (the first a penalty) put the game out of reach, and another two late in the game gave the match an unjust score line.

Our first game of the season, it showed we were capable of holding our own against quality opponents for more than two thirds of the game but also highlighted many areas that need improvement.

Best: Palazzo, Murphy, Whitelock, Bordonaro

The 10Bs were up early Saturday morning to make the journey down to Geelong. The 5ths were on-board with us but only 5 of them had turned up so we decided to help them out by giving 4 of our finest.

The first half began with the front men from Geelong pressuring the defence at every chance. Scotch were standing strong and were able to counter but nothing coming of it. Finally Geelong broke through and put away their first goal. Scotch was now on the back foot and unable to bridge the gap between the defence and attack. The second Geelong goal came as a shot hit the upright and was followed up by their attackers. Scotch missed some chances from set pieces and were now getting some good shots on goal. However, a defensive error in the box led to a third Geelong goal.

The second half saw a more determined Scotch getting to every ball and turning the pressure on. A through ball to attack saw Abraham slot in a nice goal past the keeper. We continued to pressure the goal but had no more clear-cut chances. The defence held strong and worked well together to keep the Geelong attack away from goal.

In their first game, the Reds started brightly and won an early penalty. All the training practice paid off as Kiko Chounamountry easily converted. A short time later, James Kim on a fast break neatly slotted the ball past the goal keeper to make it two nil.

Scotch then had to fight hard to maintain their lead with a determined defence. Phillip Tan was doing a sterling job in defence. At half time the score was Scotch 2 Xavier 0.

After half time, Scotch pressed the Xavier defence again and Napone Punyagupta. scored from close range after taking on several defenders. Xavier started to press and eventually scored their first goal after a Scotch defensive mix-up. Xavier felt that they could get back into the game and pushed more players forward. This resulted in a very open forward line for Scotch and James Kim and Napone Punyagupta took full advantage to score two more goals.

Goals: James Kim 2, Napone Pungayupta 2, Kiko Chounamountry 1

Best Players: Phillip Tan, Napone Punyagupta, Kiko Chounamountry, James Kim

Unfortunately, Scotch lost 3-1 in a tough game against Xavier. Scotch did well to be only one goal down at half time. Despite scoring one out of two penalties (Hugo Vasinti), and dominating the second half, Scotch were unable to get in front. It was a brave effort by Scotch, but this was not to be their day.

Year 9

A very classy, smooth and well drilled St Kevin’s team proved too much for Scotch on the weekend. Although the boys competed well, it was hard to keep up with a very slick and more match-hardened team. There were encouraging efforts from Adam Fitzgerald-Quirk at full back and a superb debut from Tom Druitt in the midfield.

This game was a real baptism of fire for the 9Bs. Playing an away game against St Kevin’s, we knew it was going to be a difficult game right from the start. St Kevin’s As had just beaten the Scotch As and we started the game with a bit of apprehension. We spent the first half pushing back St Kevin’s attacks and finished the half on 3-1, after an incredible goal from Hiren from an impossible angle.

We started the second half with a great fighting spirit; our defence was tighter and more aggressive, which allowed us to dominate the second half. St Kevin’s scored a beautiful free kick, before Phil managed to escape alone and bring the score to 4-2. We temporarily lost Peter on a bad tackle, and Michael pulled a muscle after playing a heroic game as sweeper. As we were giving everything to score another, St Kevin’s managed to score a 5th one, sealing the game. Had we played all game with the fighting spirit and the dare shown in 2nd half, the final result could have been different.

Men of the match were Raymond Chen, who fought hard all game, was kicked in the face and tackled hard, but never gave up, often running back to defend, and Michael and Wilson in the goals who gave their best holding the defence.

The match against Xavier began with the away side, Scotch, having only 9 players on the field. Although they were outnumbered and the opposition had 4 subs, they battled on, attacking and laying on pressure for long stints in the first 5 minutes. Soon Scotch had a full side on the pitch, but with no substitutes, the boys began to tire. The first goal was scored by Sam Hamza and it was the first real shot on target, the keeper stopping it initially but then trickling through his hands. Xavier struck back through a well-executed counter. Xavier's left striker possessed phenomenal speed and, with the help of his very vocal father, soon put in the third goal of the match - a very powerful strike in to the goalmouth. Half time approached and our goalkeeper, Will Zhang swapped with a defender, Will Field to take on the task of marking Xavier's fast striker.

Soon into the second half, a handball was called and Sam Hamza executed a wonderful penalty making the score 2-2. Unfortunately from then onwards, the boys tired and the defence, led by Simon Ho, held on time and time again to protect the goals. Will Field made some excellent saves late on but to no avail as Xavier scored another 3 goals to end the match 5-2 Xavier's way. Well done to Rob Walker who always threatened the opponent with his runs and to Scott McNeal who had a couple of great last minute opportunities.

Year 8

An excellent team performance with goals from J Ghaly (2), J Collins, C Mohan and H Hackett.

Scotch played courageously with a 10-man squad due to a possibly inappropriate immediate send off after a contentious disallowed goal at the start of the second half. From then on Carey continued to be troubled by Scotch's counter attacks but proceeded to score two goals against the 10-man side making the end result a 3-1 win by Carey. Notable players Tom Murchie, Toby Khoo, Amrith Elridge. Scotch's goal scored by Tom Kent.

Goal scorers were Jono Ryan, who came up from defence to get 2 goals and played a very good game, Peter with a header from a John Stavris corner, and John himself with a goal set up with a good piece of play from Charlie on the right wing. Sam, Alex Bear, Jake, and newcomer Alex Clarke were rock solid in the defence all day, resulting in Gordie barely having to touch the ball in goals. Kartik controlled the game in centre mid working well with Ray, who was always there to lay tackles and mop up. Defenders couldn’t touch Sachin on the left, usually meaning the opposition taking the man not the ball. John led the team well as captain, using his voice, as well as his lethal left leg to great effect. Best players were Charlie with some great runs on the right and Jono Ryan with his 2 goals. Oliver was out with an injured ankle.

The day started with only with only 8 of the 13 players showing up before kick off, so it was an automatic forfeit. Two more players arrived around 10-15 minutes of the first half starting. 3 players from the other year 8 teams filled in. The match started off evenly, even though Scotch were using a first time goalkeeper, Angus Gill. It was end to end football with Scotch playing on the counter attack. Angus, made some unbelievable saves in goal however Carey's pressure broke through the messy Scotch defence. For the second time this season the 8c's would have to come from behind to win again. Scotch started to play more organised football applying most of the pressure and Carey playing on the counter. There were slick passes from midfield to strikers with Gavin missing a volley opportunity and Welbie's shot being stopped by the Carey keeper. Scotch kept fighting for the goal passing around the box by Phongpol, Oliver and Theo. This led to a scrappy but deserved goal by Theo. The first half ended 1 all.

At the beginning of the second half we changed goalkeepers to our actual goalie Tom, and Angus moved into his normal position of striker. Carey began proceedings constantly pressuring the Scotch defence with the Scotch defence proving hard to break down, with Rob, Andrew, Nick and Liang doing well to clear any balls coming into the box. On the counter, Gavin and Angus were doing some tricky one twos however the Carey's defenders were far more physical and intimidating making it hard for the strikers to move. On another break by Scotch a brilliant run by Phongpol from defence down the right wing and into the box with a shot was unjustly inches wide from scoring. Carey however scored another goal 10 minutes before the end. Poor man marking had led to the goal. Scotch tried to push for another goal with Andrew Acutt leading as the captain, however the Carey team's defence was dominant in stopping most of Scotch's attacks. It was unfortunate to lose, but a good experience for the Scotch boys to play against a bigger, more physical side. A big thankyou goes to Theo, Gavin and Rob, for filling in.

Y8C Blue Team had a stunning win against Xavier’s Burke Hall last Saturday. Over the years, Scotch had never had a chance to enjoy a win against Xavier with a very bitter experience of losing 12 to 0 last year. As soon as the umpire whistled the start of the game, our three attackers forced the ball close to the opposition’s goal, which resulted in a penalty shoot for us. Just in less than 5 minutes, we scored our first goal. The opposition then strengthened their defence throughout the rest of the first half time. This made our attackers hard to get another goal in the first half time and then in the second half. But William, with the help of Apollo and Edmund, took the last opportunity to shoot another goal during the last 5 minutes of the game. It was an excellent team work by our boys who, for the first time over the last several years, won the game against Xavier.

Year 7

Our boys played very well. They kept their positions and did have several chances but missed. Eventually we were beaten by a much stronger and more skilful Haileybury team.

Goals: Lachlan Thang; Linus Ng

Best Players: Shaun Anthony; Luke Stratford; Jordan Hall

A good game enjoyed by all.

The real 7C’s had their first hit out for the season on a sunny Saturday morning, but unfortunately Brighton Grammar came away from Scotch College with a 4-0 win. Things didn’t start off too well, being two men short at kick off, and James Malon in goals found himself under siege. He did manage though to keep out three shots on target that Schwarzer would have been proud of. Our tenth player rocked up about half way through the first half, and the lads managed to keep it all level at nil all by the half time whistle.

Luke Caligiuri had been outstanding as the right back, making overlapping runs down the wing, and not afraid to take the opposition on. Jeffrey Wang was playing the lone striker to good effect, chasing down any long balls that were cleared out of the back line. Ten minutes into the second half, Scotchies found themselves with eleven against eleven as our last player showed up, but unfortunately this coincided with the 7C’s conceding their first goal.

Jeremy Tan played better in the sweeper’s role he moved into at the half, but unfortunately BG were coming through in numbers, flooding the box with attacking players. BG scored another before Steven Jakubowicz popped up and scored one that went across the face of goal and in at the far post. Unfortunately it was an own goal, but Steven is now the 7C’s leading goal scorer.

An indirect free kick was awarded for a back pass, when the BG keeper had a brain explosion and picked up the ball. Unfortunately, the lads had been watching too much of Beckham and Ronaldinho, as they tried to be too fancy, and the opportunity went begging.

One last goal to BG before the full time whistle, and the 7C’s didn’t do too badly for the first game of the season, and show a lot of promise for the games ahead. Special mention must go to the cracking saves that James made to keep us in the game, and to Luke playing at right back, who covered more ground than a Victa lawnmower on a Sunday morning.