Scotch College

Scotch soccer skills skittle St Peter's

During the first week of the June holidays, the Scotch First XI Soccer team travelled to Adelaide for their annual fixture with St Peter’s College, competing for the John Roe Shield. The trip was a learning experience for everyone involved, especially our younger players who hadn’t been part of this important event on our soccer calendar.

We were optimistic about our chances in Adelaide, knowing that we had defeated our rivals in a strong victory at home the previous year. Furthermore, after sustaining some tough losses in our APS competition, we were determined to turn this promising outfit into a well-oiled winning machine!

Little over an hour after our plane had touched down in South Australia, we played Scotch Adelaide in a warm up match. This Saturday match was a game to stretch our legs and try some player combinations before our big one on the Monday. We spent the weekend with our billet families participating in various activities. These included a Greek lunch (with the whole family included), football between Victoria and the South Australian All stars and sight-seeing in the city centre. Being billeted with our opponents was a valuable and essential part of our experience in Adelaide. We all definitely gelled well with our counterparts but that was about to change come game time!

We started strongly and forced the St Peter’s keeper to make some critical saves in the early stages of the game. Our dominance was rewarded moments later when Anthony Troung cleaned up and scored after some tidy work from our midfield. St Peter’s equalised following our goal after a sloppy clearance from our Captain Todd Mitchell but he preserved some dignity by finishing at the far post moments later from an Andrew Teasdale free kick. We led at the break 2-1. Fast flowing soccer was part of our game plan and this was evident in the opening to the second half. We created good chances in front of goal and our defence withstood countless attacks as well as setting up play to the midfielders and forwards. Our team played with tremendous tenacity and skill, outclassing their opposition. We were willing to put our bodies on the line and do the team things that have turned our season around. How sweet it was to finish our 2-1 victory with a rousing war cry on foreign soil and retaining the John Roe Shield. Special thanks to our billet families for hosting us and to the coaching staff, Mr Daniel Casey, Mr Ferencz Baranyay and Mr Robert Cavalin.

Todd Mitchell
Captain, 1st XI