Our junior teams are going great guns at the minute and whilst a couple of the boys’ teams had a slight hiccup this week, the are well in contention either for top spot or playoffs. The girls are once again dominating their competitions with the 14 and 15 Girls already having a stronghold of the competition whilst the 17’s in a dog fight to retain their championship. It is going to be an exciting run home.

ASSOCIATION YOUTH LEAGUE | Under 13 Boys | Football South Coast 2-1 Gladesville Hornsby
When you are leading the competition, every other team plays just that little bit harder to try and knock you off.

This was the case this week with visitors Gladesville coming out of the blocks firing and putting the FSC boys under heavy pressure early. FSC were unable to match the early intensity and found themselves behind however this team has built some resilience this year and they gradually got themselves back into the match with some sustained possession and good combination play. FSC created some good scoring opportunities that were not taken as they ended the half down by a goal.

FSC resumed the second half where they left off and nearly drew level with a shot that struck the post. The pressure on the visitors finally told as FSC were awarded a penalty for a handball which was calmly dispatched by Lachlan Flood.

With tails up, FSC went in search of the winner and that came courtesy of Blake Pearson whose 25-metre thunderbolt gave the Gladesville keeper no chance. It was a hard earned three points and the boys know they will need to grind out games like this if they are to go on and take out the Premiership title.

Player of the week – Bryn Newton worked extremely hard at training despite being ill earlier in the week. He backed this up with a great game in defence across every position in the backline.

ASSOCIATION YOUTH LEAGUE | Under 14 Boys | Football South Coast 1-2 Gladesville Hornsby
In a game that could have gone either way, the boys were left to rue their missed opportunities as they went down in a mid-table contest.

It was a strong performance from FSC in the first half with the boys keeping effective possession and combining well to penetrate the opposition’s defence. On 10 minutes, Bowen Spencer finished off a wonderful team goal to put the boys ahead.

To Gladesville’s credit, they hung in there and found some resolve. They managed to find an equaliser just 7 minutes later to put the game back in the balance.

Some sloppy defending particularly in transition saw Gladesville have several guilt edged opportunities and they were awarded a penalty for an infringement which they put away.

FSC fired off a total of 12 shots across the game at the Gladesville goal however they were unable to find the back of the net as the boys went down 1-2 in this one.

Player of the week – Zach Birch dominated midfield and put in a consistent effort at training to understand his cues.

ASSOCIATION YOUTH LEAGUE | Under 15 Boys | Football South Coast 5-2 Gladesville Hornsby
In a fast start to the game, Gladesville looked to be slightly on top for the opening exchanges with FSC struggling to get themselves out of a well-organized high press.

Sadly, FSC lost keeper Matthew Gazivoda through injury which saw 14’s keeper Jackson Meers brought into the game. He could do little to prevent the visitors hitting the lead not long after.

FSC started moving the ball a lot quicker out from the back and this saw a great momentum shift as Gladesville were regularly caught pressing exposing gaps in the midfield which the boys managed to exploit. Three unanswered goals saw FSC go into the break 3-1 up as Gladesville seemed to run out of ideas.

FSC played some attractive football going in to the second half and continued to expose Gladesville’s tactics. FSC scored twice to make it 5-1 and was cruising through the game. Gladesville managed to get a late goal but this proved a mere consolation as FSC ran away with the game 5-2 and maintain top position in the league.

Player of the week – Dane Corolla has worked hard all week and showed great leadership qualities.

ASSOCIATION YOUTH LEAGUE | Under 16 Boys | Football South Coast 0-1 Gladesville Hornsby
The boys had a set-back before the game with the regular keeper still serving suspension and 15’ keeper going down in the earlier game, the team was forced to use Max Manganas (player) in goal.

An early error at the back seemed to gift Gladesville a goal and despite that setback, the boys settled back into the game.

FSC created a number of guilt edged chances with the best one falling to Julian Naumovski who from a corner managed to hit the cross bar from close range. Despite their best efforts, FSC was unable to break the visitors down and it just was one of those games that felt nothing rolled our way.

Player of the week – Cristian Nadj followed instructions well and led the team with good ball movement.

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GIRLS CONFERENCE LEAGUE | Under 14 Girls | Football South Coast 6-0 Dunbar Rovers

Top of the table FSC flexed their muscles against cellar dwellers Dunbar in what was a very controlled and pleasing performance by the girls.

FSC showed their class from the opening whistle. Bethany Horton bagged herself a hat trick within the opening 15 minutes and Caley Talon-Henniker danced her way through 4 defenders and finished into the top corner to almost put the tie to bed before half time.

The second half was much similar to the first as FSC had controlled possession for the majority of the half and were creating chances at will. A dipping free kick from Chloe Aivaliotis saw her shot parried into the path of Demi Gay to score into an open net to take the score to 5-0.

Minutes later, Caley Talon-Henniker got her second as she flew past her defender shooting low across the goalkeeper to make it 6-0.

A few missed chances and good saves from the Dunbar Rovers goalkeeper prevented this score from being much higher, but the FSC girls should be very happy with their performance this week as it showed discipline and togetherness as a squad, whilst individuals got to showcase their talents and creativity.

Player of the week – Bethany Horton’s work ethic at training is outstanding no matter the drill or exercise. This week, she excelled in our training objective and this showed in the match against Dunbar Rovers as Bethany scored the perfect hat trick (left foot, right foot, header) in the opening 15 minutes and followed her defensive instructions closely.

GIRLS CONFERENCE LEAGUE | Under 15 Girls | Football South Coast 3-0 Dunbar Rovers
We welcomed back Emily Franklin and Piper Cowan this week from long term injuries. The girls started the game well and started to dominate possession from the first whistle. The learning from the weeks preparation at training was present immediately as the girls created goal scoring opportunities.

It wasn't long until the combination play set up space for Caitlyn Zamuner to receive the ball and fire one into the top right corner to put FSC ahead.

The girls continued to dominate possession and diffused the direct long balls played in behind the back four. Eva Maddox made a sensational save by throwing her body at the opposing striker to keep it 1-0. It wasn't long until the girls scored two more goals from wide areas setting up Emily Franklin and Piper Cowan for 2 more goals to make it 3-0.

Player of the week – Caitlyn Zamuner showed great quality of execution of player tasks at training and during the game on the weekend.

GIRLS CONFERENCE LEAGUE | Under 17 Girls | Football South Coast 0-0 Dunbar Rovers
It was a game of two halves as FSC controlled the majority of possession in the opening stanza and Dunbar showed their physical prowess in the second in what was also a top of the table clash.

As often is the case for the FSC girls, the game began at a high tempo and it wasn’t long before the girls began to break down the opposition. Arguably FSC's best chance of the game came early as FSC played through the lines and some brilliant combination play lead to Brinley Smart thundering the crossbar from just outside the penalty area.

After the break, Dunbar's physicality proved to be pivotal as their route one style began to take its toll on the FSC girls. Darby Walsh and Lara Van Loo's organisation of the back line was terrific as we managed to prevent any clear-cut chances Dunbar could have had.

Overall, the top of the table clash lived up to expectations in a competitive, open match in which a draw was probably a fair result.

Player of the week – Lara Van Loo’s response to adversity on game day was superb as a shaky opening from the central defender was quickly pushed aside and she had a dominant display winning aerial battles and distributing the ball adequately when required.
Her partnership with fellow central defender Darby Walsh has been extremely impressive and the duo are applying topics discussed in training and continue to ask questions to facilitate their learning.

15 June 2019