Quake Vs. Phoenix Review

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Quake made a welcome return to our spiritual home, Minto Indoor Sports Centre, after a year away. It was great to be back at ‘The Epicentre’ and what a difference the return made! After a poor showing last week our boys and girls really turned it on this week and we scored 6 wins from 9 games earning 18 very valuable Club Championship points in the process.

Academy

Another sparkling performance by the boys. Phoenix came out of the blocks running and dominated play for the first 5 minutes before the boys steadied. From that point onwards the boys controlled the game through composed play and scored several well taken goals. Well done lads.

12 Boys Won 7-0 (Yossi 2, Angelo 2, Adrian 2 and Matthew 1)

A massive turn around by the boys. Things were tight for the first 15 minutes of the game but then the floodgates opened just before half-time with Quake banging in 4 goals in quick succession. The lads didn’t let up in the second half and completed a fine win with another 3 goals. A good all round team effort.

12 Girls Won 7-0 (Brooke 4 and Amy 3)

Don’t let the fact that the goals were scored by 2 girls fool you – this was a terrific team effort. After a poor showing last time out the girls turned up ready to play this week and every one of them played as well as they could. Defence was the key to this win. From this steady platform the girls then played some nice structured futsal to score 7. Well done Karly on a clean sheet and we look forward to Brooke banging in the goals all year.

14 Boys lost 0-13

Too big, too fast, too good. Sometimes the opposition is better than you and in this game Phoenix were very, very good. Our boys worked their socks off and never stopped trying to be creative but it simply was a physical mismatch. The lads’ form at States suggest the can compete and so we expect to see improvement over the coming weeks.  Special mention to Aiden who never gave up - 13 goals down and he still puts his body on the line and slides 5 metres to toe poke a ball off the line to prevent another goal.

14 Girls Won 3-2 (Christina 2 and Rosie 1)

A very good win. The girls conceded 2 poor goals (again) and had to fight back from a goal down twice to take the win. The result really wasn’t a true reflection of the game with Quake always looking the better side. The girls did well to remain patient as the Phoenix ‘keeper denied them time and again but the relentless pressure on goal finally paid off with Christina, playing Target for the first time, stabbing the ball home for the winner with just minutes remaining. Well done Lauren for making a crucial save at the end to preserve 2 points.

16 Boys won 5-1 (Liam 2, Anthony, Connor and Trent)

Another fantastic performance by the boys. They worked hard and controlled the play with the majority of chances falling their way. The boys cleared out to 5-0 before conceding a sloppy goal with 30 seconds left on the clock. Harry was unlucky not to get his first goal with 2 hitting the post and one cleared off the line. Bradon Clissold is showing his quality and his understanding of the game is shining through this year. This squad is fun to watch and must be considered a strong chance to make the finals.

16 Girls (sponsored by Macarthur Marble & Granite) lost 2-3 (Ruby and Rosie)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record the girls looked to be going through the motions again this week. They have the quality with 3 of the girls capable of stepping up to the Women and playing with passion and intensity – they are just not showing much desire in their play. Special mention to Tyler Garard who played her best game for Quake and sparked a mini-revival.

Youth Won 3-0 (Nelson & Boomer and an Own Goal)

A very good performance against a team that won last week. The quality of the play was much better than last week and the boys went about their business calmly and with confidence. Daniel Nelson was back to his best controlling the back court and driving forward to score a bomb and youngsters Liam and Anthony looked right at home playing up a couple of years. Well done lads – more of the same please.

Women Won 6-2 (Claire 3, Logan 2 and Elisha)

A word of advice to opposing teams – don’t get Claire mad at you! With tackles flying in all over the place and niggling in the back play the girls got fired up and put the foot to the pedal after conceding an early goal. Claire went into overdrive and was everywhere, scoring 3 goals to drive the team on. Elisha’s goal was a very good finish getting on the end of some nice play. Again, everyone played their part in this strong team win.

Men Lost 2-4 (Jordan and Danny)

Futsal can be a funny game. On balance, Quake probably shaded play in the first half but found themselves down 0-1 after hitting the post 3 times. Quake were again shading things when they copped a a second goal and then their play fell away when they got into foul trouble and Phoenix scored their third. But with 4 minutes to go things changed dramatically when Quake went fifth man and scored 2 goals in 30 seconds. With the score at 2-3 Quake looked likely to storm home and snatch the draw – if not the win – before a red card brought things to a shuddering halt and Phoenix scored off the subsequent 10 metre penalty. So, 2 weeks in a row when the boys were nearly there but fell at the last hurdle.

Summary

How good was it to be back at ‘The Epicentre’? A fantastic return to form by the Club - so good we are right back in the mix for the race to the Club Championship. More of the same next week please.

 

As always……GO QUAKE!