APJSC Under 10 White vs Oak Flats Purple

On a roll after two successive victories, the Albion Park Under 10 White soccer team headed for the green pastures of Panorama Oval to take on the Oak Flats Purple team in today's match.

The Albion Park team was on the attack from the outset, and it is obvious the confidence they now have in their ability and in their teammates. The hard work put in by Matt, Shane and Dan at training is showing, and it is great to see all of the kids looking up and passing to their teammates. Their skills in avoiding opponents and then trying to get the ball to the feet of their nearest player have been improving every week, and it is no surprise that they are starting to win games because of it.
Most of the first half was spent in the Albion Park attacking zone, and a couple of early chances went begging with the ball hitting the posts and some swarming close in defense from the Oak Flats team. It wasn't until Josh Peters took a long range shot (with his left foot no less) that he slotted the ball through the defense and the goalkeeper to bring up the first goal of the game. With the deadlock broken the team found their confidence, and Jack Tate soon wound his way through the Oak Flats backline before lining up a huge kick from short range to make the score 2-0.
Belle Kadwell and Brock Young were working very hard in the midfield, consistently cutting off any breaks from the opponents and getting the ball back to their own forward line, Belle in particular had no qualms about going in and forcing the ball off her direct opponent. Jack and Claire Kadwell were both finding space, with Claire making great passes to her fellow forwards. One of these found Josh alone again and he cracked it through for his second goal of the half. Up the back in defense Ky Van Helden hadn't seen much of the ball, but one of his booming clearing kicks set the team up again, and Josh's strike was fumbled by the keeper over the line for Josh to complete his hat-trick. At half time Albion Park White led 4-0.

Any over confidence should have been scrubbed from their conscious immediately after the break, when Oak Flats managed to get a ball through new keeper Ky within 30 seconds of the restart, and the score was now 4-1 and certainly not over.
The forward line had been revamped with Zoe Middleton coming out of goal and joining Brock and Claire up front, supported by Noah Black and Jack-Ryan Eberwein in the halves. The game was spread over more of the field in the second half, but Claire, Zoe and Noah all had plenty of chances to attack the goals, with a number of near misses. Finally it was Noah who was able to break the shackles and send the ball pass the keeper to make the score 5-1.
What best describes the way this team is improving is the final two goals of the game. Indy Middleton fighting off an ankle injury made a great pass down the left wing which was taken by Noah, who then made a perfect pass to the goalmouth to his unmarked teammates. Zoe just fell short of getting her foot to the ball, but was backed up by Jack-Ryan who crushed home the ball for a wonderful team goal. The final goal came from a corner, and while in recent weeks there have been a number of near misses from corners, today they team got it right. Jack-Ryan's corner was perfectly placed, and it weaved its way through to the back of the box where Claire was waiting and she nailed home the ball into the back of the net with style. The final score was 7-1 to the Albion Park side, their third successive victory.

Player of the match today was a very deserved Claire Kadwell, whose consistency in recent weeks has been fantastic, which was rewarded today with that final goal. Also great work today from the peanut gallery, who seemed to watch about 50% of the match, and most could probably say with honesty for a change that they had seen their child do something great on the field, rather than gas-bagging their way though events on the field. Well done all.