APJSC Under 12.3 Green: Round 2 vs Coniston at Terry Reserve #4

Having lost to Coniston a few weeks ago in one of the preliminary games that led up to the grading process, the Albion Park Green team lined up for a second chance in their match on Saturday at Terry Reserve to determine if they could overturn that result and come back with better performance.

 
The opening dispatches showed plenty of promise from the home team without being able to threaten the goals. There seemed a certain amount of lethargy in the Park boys, which perhaps was as much uncertainty of belief in their chances as anything else. The ball was in their attacking half enough in the first ten minutes to encourage opportunities, but it felt as though the bigger and faster opposition intimidated the team mentally out of the few chances that presented themselves. Unlike recent games the boys held back from their opponents, allowing them the opportunity to not only shut down the attacking raids but to get through the midfield without being challenged for possession.

 
There were some nice pieces of play in the interim. Heath Gillis and Cohen Dick were injected forward after ten minutes, and both initiated some spark that had been missing early. Running hard at the backs when the ball came forward, Heath had one shot on goal that found the keeper, while Cohen nicely evaded two opponents with good foot skill before having his own shot which was deflected away at the last minute. It showed the Coniston team they were not going to get it all their own way. Down the left two super plays within a couple of minutes from Luke Beesley were also just as important. The first he found himself the only man between the attacking player and a long clear run down the right flank, and he charged up and not only stopped the run but stole the ball with a great tackle and ran himself down his wing before getting the ball up to Michael Young to continue the attack. Luke followed this up shortly afterwards by cutting off a through ball from Coniston, turning, and delivering a pinpoint pass to the Park centre half who was in space. These were both standout plays in the first half. Michael Young worked hard all game again, fighting hard to get the ball around his opponents and onto his teammates. He was marked hard this week but stuck to his guns and gave as good as he got.

 
In games like this it is often the case that one play will change the game, and so it occurred here, as the first time Coniston breached the defence they found themselves in the clear with the shot beating keeper Ethan Meehan, and Coniston led 1-0, which visibly deflated the Park boys. They fought on, and found better opportunities as Kyan Van Helden had three chances to bring the game back, but all three strikes were blocked or partially blocked by the swarming defence. Josh Peters also found small gaps looming, and had two shots on goal that both went wide of the right post. Jack-Ryan Eberwein made the most of the chances that came to him in the backline, putting the ball over the midfield and back into the attacking quarter. Again though the Park defensive line was breached, and despite one excellent save from Ethan from a full blown strike that drew deserving applause the wave proved too much, and a second goal snuck home between Ethan and the right post right on the stroke of half time, leaving Coniston as 2-0 leaders.

 
The second half was a conundrum, as what appeared to be a tiring Coniston side was still able to keep the Albion Park team at bay. Heath Gillis and his partner in midfield continued their excellent running with the help of Harry Whiteford, and Nic Wynan made some excellent defensive plays on the right, making three terrific tackles and clearing the ball out of danger. Once again though, almost against the run of play, Coniston found a way to get through the Park team to score, extending their lead to 3-0. During this period both Kyan and Cohen came from the field with match-finishing injuries, leaving no men on the bench and plenty of work to do. It did the team no good, as a fourth goal was added in this changeover to make it 4-0 to Coniston, whose authority was now convincing.

 
To their credit the kids didn’t give stop trying, and there were still chances being made. Max Sciberras combined nicely down the right with the Matthew Shepherd and made two excellent runs down the wing, as well as forcing the defending players wide and into giving up the ball for throw ins and corners. Two lovely plays between Matt, Max, Josh and Harry looked to be great attacking chances with players in the clear but were called back for offside. Eventually Josh and Harry played the ‘old 1-2' putting Harry away with only the keeper to beat, and as the keeper rushed him, he calmly slotted the ball past him to get the Park on the board and back to 4-1.

 
With some momentum beginning to flow their way there was hope that Park could close the gap, but instead a further Coniston goal left the final score at 5-1, a score line that accurately portrayed the gap between the two teams. Albion Park had had chances that they were unable to convert as the forwards struggled to be fast and clean with their passing, while defensive lapses were punished heavily by their opponents.

 
You can’t win every game and sometimes an opposition is just better than you. There is a feeling that it was also one of those days where the team just wasn’t at their best, and anything less than 100% won’t be enough against that Coniston side. If (when) they meet them again in the finals, our boys will need to turn up ready to play if they want to avoid such a defeat again.