We have some great match reports for May 9 and 10 – excellent efforts considering the difficulties of poor weather and Mother’s Day commitments.
Play of the Week
Play of the Week this week goes to Edna Crassini, goalkeeper for the D2 Women Newtown Spirit team. Edna was very active in front of goals in her match this week, on a number of occasions managing to cover a lot of ground and prevent what seemed like a certain goal. Not a bad effort from a player who is coming up to her 70th birthday soon.
Under 6 Joeys
Our Joeys players are showing off their dribbling skills, and moving on to working on their passing. We finished with a game of Keepings Off this week, with some great moves and great passing by Harrison, Mia, Summah, Luke, Oscar, Bella, and Pollyanna.
Under 8
Newtown Rebels -Bye
Newtown Spirit v Torquay
Newtown Spirit players stepped up their game on Saturday, moving into position well around the ground as they took on an attacking Torquay side. Right wing Matilda, in her first match for the club, enthusiastically got into the action from the starting whistle while Charlie, at centre half, was an asset across the ground. Full back Avah defended the goals determinedly, blocking a strong shot on goal while her team mates rushed to back her up. Soon after Charlie fired out a long shot wide to Matilda, who controlled the ball cleanly and the team blazed into attack. Max, at centre forward, Phoebe at right half and Meyah, left wing, showed great positioning as Spirit pushed forward towards their goal, making Torquay defend hard to withstand the Newtown team’s attacking runs. Charlie sent some lovely balls down the side of the field to Max, lurking high, while Phoebe showed calm under pressure to always look for the best option when passing.
Coach Kellie praised her team’s efforts at half time, saying she could see real improvement from the previous round. She urged players to use their voices more in the second half and stressed the need to mark the opposition’s players. Spirit, with players switched to new positions, went into the second half keen to build on its momentum. Team members presented options by moving into gaps and calling loudly. Meyah, who switched to right half, performed strongly in several contests while Max enjoyed a great run from left wing towards the goal. There were also a couple of lovely passes between Meyah and Avah, at right half. Charlie, who displayed a `never give up’ attitude all game, took home the Best Team Player award for his all-round performance. He defended valiantly in the first half and constantly drove the ball into attack before switching to full back after the break, shutting down the Torquay players on several occasions. Great effort Charlie and great work Spirit.
Newtown Strikers vs College Green
Great defence by Amelia, with strong passes to wingers Gypsy and Alex in good wide position. Amelia’s focus on the ball and stick on the ground stopped many shots at goal by College. Eliza made many interceptions in midfield and supported our attacking moves. Next week’s game will continue to focus on watching the ball and covering our opposition moves. Best Team Player award to Amelia.
Under 11
Newtown Rebels vs Kardinia 0-3
What a challenging match. Though our passing and team combination improved and we were able to penetrate through the defenses on number of times, we were just unlucky not to capitalize on some goal scoring opportunities that came our way. Excellent work by Flynn, Harry and Locke, who all performed well with lots of running and making great passes to other team mates. Great to see Nathan and Kiah take on the challenging role of goal keeper for the first time where good defence work was displayed. Lots of great effort made by Zoe, Luca, Bailey, Charlotte and Claire who all tackled the opponents well. Special thanks to Flynn and Nathan for filling in.
We look forward to carry the positives from this game and improve on our goal conversion skills in the next game.
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 1-0
Newtown Spirit came up against the Torquay Tornadoes this week. Those from U11’s last year were a little worried about this game but there was no need. Both halves were very similar in nature with frequent changes on and off the bench giving everyone a feel for different positions. Even though we knew about getting the ball wide it was not practiced all that well! We had a few ‘gaps’ on the field at times due to a little bit of eagerness in following the ball and forgetting our positions. This will certainly improve as the weeks go on. Despite this, the team had some nice passages of play which did result in the only goal of the day being scored by Jem….the full back! Well done everyone. Best Team Player awards for this week went to Max and Oliver for their steadfast defence and possession play.
Newtown Strikers – Bye
Under 13
Newtown Spirit vs Bellarine 2-3
Another fighting effort by the Spirit team eventually going down to Bellarine 3 -2. After trailing 2 nil at half quick goals to Declan & Will levelled the scores midway through the second half. Great defending by Robbo, the 2 Angus’s & Harry stopped many of Bellarine’s advance. Great plays by Isabel & Claudia & Olivia presented the Spirit team plenty of opportunities to take the lead. Unfortunately a late turnover allowed Bellarine to take the lead & time beat the Spirit team just as they were mounting one last attack. Special thanks to Josh for filling in as goalie at the last minute & defending so well.
Newtown Strikers vs Geelong College 13-1
An attack from Geelong College in the first minute of the game stunned the Strikers into action and they rapidly responded with a run through the mid field by Tom and an accurate pass forward to Miles, who had a clear run into the D for the first goal. Jonah showed great composure to score the second goal after trapping a clearance from the goalie and then calmly hitting into the right corner of the goal. Tom hit the third goal from congested play in the D, and goals four, five and six were all put away by Miles who was receiving excellent ball service from the mid field. The seventh and last goal of the half came from a short corner and Jamie was eventually able to tap the ball in after shots from Tom, Jonah and Matthew were blocked by the goalie.
The strategy for the second half was to make more use of space out wide, rather than push through the mid field congestion. The Strikers stuck to this game plan and it yielded a further six goals from Miles (1), Tom (3) and Olivia (2), all coming from ball movement down the right side of the field. Sarah also had a shot on the goal from the left side, which was very encouraging to see given that it was only her second game in U13. Geelong College were able to breach the Strikers’ defence late in the second half leaving the final score 13:1. Another very encouraging game from the Strikers and thanks to Jonah and Ella from U11 for helping out, your contributions were invaluable.
Under 15
Newtown Spirit vs Newtown Strikers 1-0
Round 4 was the club clash for Newtown with the U15 teams going head to head. Spirit and Strikers showed how evenly matched the teams are with a scoreless first half despite multiple score attempts from both sides. The break through came for the Spirit early in the second half with a goal to Callum. Strong defence by the Spirit back line and goalkeeper kept the Strikers scoreless for the rest of the game.
Monique, Amber and Corey showed great skill as they dominated the running play, moving the ball rapidly up the field, keeping the opposition off balance. Niko singled out keeepr, Luka, for a special mention in his post game round up for his efforts against a determined attack sustained through the second half. Final result was a one nil will to Spirit. Thanks to Declan, Tom and Miles for all stepping up from U13 to play as permanent members of the U15 Spirit.
Under 17
Newtown Strikers – Bye
Division 1 Men
Newtown Falcons vs Torquay 5-2
Division 1 Women
Newtown Strikers v Newtown Falcons 2-2
It was a great even game on the weekend. Falcons hit the scoreboard first, but it did not take long to level the scores, thanks to a deft tap over the goalie from Marion. Scores remained at 1-1 going into half time. Early in the second half we were all distressed to see Deb go down with a dislocated knee. After a lengthy suspension of play while we waited for an ambulance, play resumed for a reduced period, during which Marion scored another goal (from a brilliant mid-air hit), followed by an equaliser from the Falcons. The Strikers came painfully close to an outright win – we were (we claim) thwarted by the wind, which pushed an otherwise terrific penalty shot from Courtney into the post. A draw was, however, a fitting result.
Thanks to Samantha for providing us with an extra defender (a wonderful luxury in an otherwise forward-heavy line up) – the combination of Courtney and Samantha in the backline, with Jess providing some terrific saves in the goals, ensured the Falcons’ scoring opportunities were limited (or otherwise thwarted). Thanks also to Kelly for providing some extra run forward – great composure through the middle, combined with some good running forward this week, created plenty of opportunities and ensured a really high quality game all-around. The Strikers are all are thinking of Deb and hoping she enjoys a full and speedy recovery.
Division 2 Men
Newtown Spirit vs Golden Plains 2-2
This week was a tough and very even game but resulted in a 2 all draw. Everyone had a great game and we are starting to work together really well, however due to the speed of the Golden Plains’ wings we had to be very mindful that they weren’t given chances to get fast breaks which was stressed during the halftime talk. During the game Adam scored the two goals with the assistance of the forwards. Brodie also had a great game as the goalie and prevented a number of goals and put pressure on the Golden Plains’ attackers, especially when they were able to get a fast break.
Newtown Strikers vs Bellarine 6-0
Although the 6 – 0 scoreline might not indicate it, this was a very competitive game with only one goal being scored in the first half and the rest coming in fast succession in the last 10 minutes of the game. This week the team built on the success of last week, continuing to refine the short one-twos and moving the ball up the field in numbers. As the game was very free flowing, most of our goals started out of our defensive 16, moved up the wings and then back into the attacking dee, with some great finishes on the post from Minh and a fantastic lunging touch on the ball by Brendan which wrong footed the goalie resulting in another. Coming up to the half way mark of the season the team is setting itself up well for the finals.
Division 2 Women
Newtown Spirit vs Torquay 1-1
With both teams fielding 10 players each the game was very open. The first half saw Spirit make quite a few pushes into Torquay territory but were cut down by their mid field. Spirit’s defence were under the pump but solid blocks from Edna, Hil, Andy and Bron kept Torquay out for most of the game. A break through run saw Torquay score before half time.
In the second half square passes and well placed wingers saw more action in attack. Spirit were rewarded with a short corner that was smashed in by Bron. Scores remained locked and truly reflected the well balanced game. A huge thank you to Kellie and Katelyn for filling in. And an official welcome to the team to Deb!
