Taipans bite Sutherland – 12 Girls

An extra-time goal from Margaux Chauvet lifted South Coast Taipans to a thrilling 4-3 victory over 12 Girls rivals Sutherland Shire and put a cherry on top of their delicious summer sundae.

The lead changed four times as Sutherland’s Isabella Volkanovski cancelled out Rilee Wagner’s South Coast opener just a few minutes before halftime, the Shire girls grabbing the ascendancy straight after halftime through Talia Quartullo’s far post tap-in only for the Taipans to surge ahead 3-2 via Anastasia Grozdanov and Chauvet strikes.

Coaster Angelique Hristodoulou squared the game up a third time five minutes from the end before Chauvet had the final say with a great shot in the second half of extra time handing the southerners a premiership-championship double.

Taipans had the early running as Sutherland keeper Leilani Fong pushed a fair Ashley Dribbus shot away and Wagner drove just wide from the top of the D.

Sutherland started to get on top as Hristodoulou and Volkanovski both had chances only to be denied by a red-hot Tapians custodian Isabelle Noble and the post, but South Coast grabbed the advantage when a brisk counter attack sparked by Noble saw Wagner combine with Chauvet for a stinging shot that rattled the crossbar and fall deliciously for Wagner to blast through traffic and into goal for a 17th minute opener.

The Coast joy was shortlived when Hristodoulou and Volkanovski finally saw reward for their toil, the latter firing a short sharp rocket past Noble to restore parity just before the break.

Sutherland got a second-half jump when Volkanovski bolted up court and found Quartullo alone at the back post to tap-in for a 2-1 lead, but the South Coast response was swift with Grozdanov cracking a great goal from well outside and Chauvet showed great tenacity to barge the ball over the line to give Taipans a 3-2 half-hour statement.

The momentum swung again as Hristodoulou went close twice before Volkanovski delivered dangerously for her team-mate to find a late equaliser and push the game into extra-time.

South Coast cleared a Hristodoulou strike off the line and then conjured up a breakthrough with Chauvet’s true shot making it 4-3, Fong blocking two Volkanovski rockets to ensure the score remained unchanged at fulltime.

Goalkeeper Isabelle Noble kept her team in it with plenty of dazzling stops but gave plenty of credit to some outstanding defence in front of her. “I’m really proud of them as scrambling hard really helps me when I’m not playing so well,” she said.

Taipans coach Kyle Del knew he was in for a real humdinger. “It was a really good game, very intense, and both sides could’ve won it,” he said. “We took our chances well and I’m really happy for the girls.”

South Coast Taipans 4 (Rilee Wagner ‘17, Anastasia Grozdanov ‘24, Margaux Chauvet ’31/‘46) Sutherland Shire 3 (Isabella Volkanovski ‘18, Talia Quartullo ‘21, Angelique Hristodoulou ‘34)

South Coast Taipans: Isabelle Noble, Anastasia Grozdanov, Ashley Dribbus, Rilee Wagner, Margaux Chauvet, Zoe Dribbus, Imogen Mackinley, Emily Carbone, coach Kyle Del, assistant Walter Del.

Sutherland Shire: Leilani Fong, Abbey Fletcher, Mackenzie Selmon, Maryam Mostaghimi, Rory McNally, Karlee Hildebrandt, Angelique Hristodoulou, Talia Quartullo, Jade Lockton, Isabella Volkanovski, coach Craig Fletcher, manager Vivian McNally.

Referees: Elio Valente, Wagib Fouad, Stan Allatt.

 

South Coast topple Mount Druitt – 14 Girls

South Coast Taipans won an entertaining 14 Girls final 3-1 against a stubborn Mount Druitt Town Rangers.

Premiers Raiders missed the decider and first-half goals to South Coast’s Clayton Gehrke and Kya Stewart looked too much for fourth-placed Mount Druitt, but Rangers Emma Jackson halved the deficit midway through the second term to indicate Town were going nowhere despite Olivia Mavridis providing a decisive 3-1 Taipans cushion.

South Coast pounced early when Jackson booted the ball off her own line and straight into Gehrke, the rebound flying past Jackson into the Rangers goal and the Coasters rode their momentum wave with Danika Matos and Mavridis denied by brilliant goalkeeping from Timika McNamara, Stewart’s eighth-minute blast finally doubling the Taipans lead.

McNamara tipped out Stewart and Rebekah Hutton efforts to keep Rangers in it before Mount Druitt finally found some rhythm, Jackson and Alyssa Janssen shots well held by Taipans keeper Chloe Gray as the 2-0 scoreline stayed at halftime.

Coasters Gehrke and Matos both missed wide and then Rangers hit a yellow patch, Janssen, Summar Richardson and Jackson kept out by Gray before a spritely counter from Richardson dished to Jackson for a good shot that rippled the back of the net for a 2-1 deficit in the 32nd-minute.

Mavridis returned the two-goal buffer with a tricky run round two defenders and sidefoot past McNamara to make it 3-1 a minute later, but a couple of Richardson raids made the final minutes uneasy for South Coast, who held on for the win.

Hardworking Breanna Payne was adamant the great Taipans team spirit saw them through. “We just kept our heads high and made sure we had fun,” she said. “We’ve all become best friends in the team and this will make the two hour trip home worthwhile.”

South Coast coach Adam Potts praised his chargers’ efforts. “I’m very happy with that performance. We got a little sloppy in the middle of the game but the girls worked hard to get behind the ball and did very well in the end,” he said.

South Coast Taipans 3 (Clayton Gehrke ‘2, Kya Stewart ‘8, Olivia Mavridis ‘33) Mount Druitt Town Rangers 1 (Emma Jackson ‘32)

South Coast Taipans: Chloe Gray, Ashley Dribbus, Kya Stewart, Ashley Kotevski, Elizabeth Mclellan, Rebekah Hutton, Olivia Mavridis, Clayton Gehrke, Breanna Payne, Danika Matos, coach Adam Potts, manager Fay Matos.

Mount Druitt Town Rangers: Timika McNamara, Kaylee White, Alyssa Janssen, Emma Jackson, Shailee Bartle, Kahra Hutchinson, Crystal Richardson, Summar Richardson, Annie Daczko, coach Scott Daczko, manager Kirsten Janssen.

Referees: Hang Lee, Jess Sapsed, Gordon McOrist.

Taipans bring down Eagles – 16 Boys

South Coast Taipans made it three-from-three titles with a come-from-behind 6-3 extra-time win against Sydney City Eagles to claim a 16 Boys premiership-championship brace.

The Eagles were terrific in defeat, they’ve led the premiers before and lost it, but this one will sting more as City led 3-1 with three minutes to go before Coast went on an extra-time splurge that landed them the title.

Sydney glovesman Michael Figueira produced a double-save to refuse a twin Taipans attack from Jake Ravnjak and Ali Sawan but Sydney showed even more bravado with Adrian Hadjisocratous forcing Coast keeper Bilal Deniz to save twice in quick succession, Mario Shabow and Callum Keeley also testing Deniz as both keepers displayed their determination.

It took a flash of brilliance to produce the opener when Taipans Mitchell Ferraro delivered well for Nelson Reid to eventually push into goal and Coast almost had another after Ravnjak squeezed off a sneaky shot right on halftime but Figueira was up to the task with an outstanding couple of saves to maintain the 1-0 scoreline.

Sydney started the second half with all guns blazing as Hadjisocratous smashed in a 26th-minute equaliser and both keepers produced scintillating saves to keep the scores level until a smart backheel one-two from Nathan Irusta to Mario Shabow gave the Eagles a 2-1 edge with four minutes to go, which exploded into a 3-1 advantage seconds later with Callum Keeley firing in low past Figueira.

Coast weren’t done with and Zachery Mazevski, Kyle Del and Oliver Carrasco combined to complete a great team goal and a last-gasp attack saw Robert Delbanco’s shot deflected off a defender and into the onion bag to tie proceedings up just seconds before the fulltime whistle.

Sydney started extra-time with a bang as Irusta and Shabow tested a pumped-up Deniz but the game changed at the other end when Ravnjak found a cutting Del to snake the Taipans in front and a well aimed Matthew Mazevski freekick made it 5-3 as the teams swapped sides for the final time.

Sydney imploded in the last term with Shabow presented a second yellow card for a clumsy challenge and then their coach was also marched from the court, Matthew Mazevski making the most of the distractions to put another goal away to finalise the account at 6-3.

Del said his Taipans team-mates were relieved following a titanic tussle. “It was a tight game that could’ve gone either way,” he said. “Sydney are a good side and at 3-1 down we had to stay composed, and I think we had the legs at the end to take our chances.”

Taipans coach Bobby Mazevski agreed. “Even at 3-1 down I had every faith in this team,” he said. “We’ve been down before in the season and come back, so we took a time out, refocused, and I think the experience of some of the boys playing in the higher levels [youth and open men] helped change the momentum back our way. I think we deserved it.”

South Coast Taipans 6 (Nelson Reid ‘12, Oliver Carrasco ’37, Robert Delbanco ’40, Kyle Del ‘44, Matthew Mazevski ’45, ‘49) Sydney City Eagles 3 (Adrian Hadjisocratous ‘26, Mario Shabow ‘36, Callum Keeley ‘36)

South Coast Taipans: Bilal Deniz, Ali Sawan, Robert Delbanco, Kyle Del, Zachery Mazevski, Jake Ravnjak, Mitchell Ferraro, Oliver Carrasco, Nelson Reid, Dion Sterjovski, Matthew Mazevski, Jacob Herbert, coach Bob by Mazevski, manager Ivan Ferraro.

Sydney City Eagles: Michael Figueira, Mohammed Al-Taay, Yasser Al-Taay, Tariq Maia, Nathan Irusta, Adrian Hadjisocratous, Richard Darko, Callum Keeley, Mario Shabow, Cameron Caligiuri, coach Frank Zappia, manager Steve Hadjisocratous.

Referees: Soheil Adabjou, Matthew McOrist, Jess Sapsed

 

Taipans tame Majik – AWD Division 1

South Coast Taipans defeated Mountain Majik 2-0 in a remarkable game of Futsal to lift the AWD division one crown.

South Coast had beaten third-placed Mountain three times this season (4-0, 7-4 and 7-2) but you wouldn’t have known it by the way Majik dominated an exciting contest, only some brilliant defensive work – particularly from keeper Nathan Whelan and stopper John Ruiz – paving the way for two late goals that delivered an unlikely Taipans win.

The Mountaineers started with great intent and Brett Fairhall showed terrific skill at the top of D to send a low shot across goal that was well tipped clear by Whelan, Majik continuing the onslaught with Ben Atkins finding a running Connor Marsh who shot just wide of post.

Atkins sent a sizzling cross across goal moments later for Marsh to shoot just wide again before Atkins missed his own attempt.

South Coast had their first chance on 10-minutes, Rocco Musumici laying off for Patrick Mitchell to blast away from the top of D but the shot drifted wide of the post, Atkins going close at the other end with a rocket freekick that whistled past the upright after taking a slight deflection off the wall.

A clever volley from Taipans Zachary Jones needed a sharp grab from Majik keeper James Hunt, while at the other end another Atkins goal punch produced yet another fantastic Whalen save, Marsh heading just wide of the Coast goal in the dying seconds of the half.

Shortly after the restart Atkins tried a cheeky grasscutter from 10m out and a dummy run from Fairhall almost caught Whelan off guard, his desperate last-ditch dive tipping the ball away from danger.

And if it wasn’t Whelan coming to the rescue it was an amazing defensive effort from Mitchell, Jones and Ruiz that kept Taipans in the game.

Whelan stopped Ruiz, Atkins and Shaun McCann strikes, while Hunt also did well at the other end blocking Forrest and two more Coast shots, including an incredible save with his legs to kick the ball away.

Whelan conjured up four more outstanding stops to rebuff sharp chances to Atkins, McCann and Fairhall, and it was an unfortunate handball from Hunt outside the area – after he charged out courageously to disrupt a Taipans break  – that gifted the southerners a freekick from right in front, Forrest making no mistake to steer Coast ahead 1-0 five minutes from fulltime.

The Mountaineers paid no mind to the setback and launched several more offences before Forrest intercepted in front of the Majik goal and fired in a second missile, Whelan doing the rest by saving the last of the Mountain raids.

Ruiz was delighted with the result in a really tough game. “I told the boys to play harder just to match how physical they were and we got them when they got tired,” he said.

“We all play for the same team in the Illawarra called the White Knights, so we’re all good friends and winning the grand final is very exciting for us.”

Coast coach Taren King was over the moon. “That’s excellent! The first team, first champions… it was my first ever grand final win too,” she said.

“Majik really put us under the pump and I was just waiting for their fatigue to set in and told my players to just keep the ball moving for as long as they could to wear them out. It really is a brilliant team; they’re so willing to learn, they’re all loving life, wearing smiles all the time – I’m just really happy for them.”

South Coast Taipans 3 (Mitchell Forrest ‘35/’38) Mountain Majik 0

South Coast Taipans: Nathan Whalen, Mitchell Forrest, Patrick Mitchell, Zachary Jones, Rocco Musumici, John Ruiz, Scott King, coach Tarryn Campbell, manager Michael Norris.

Mountain Majik: James Hunt, Brett Fairhall, Connor Marsh, Jack Starkey, Gordon Allan, Granit Haliti, Shaun McCann, Ben Sutton, Ben Atkins, Chris Pyne, coach Bill Gurney, assistant Ian Menzies, manager Ross Allan.

Referees: Guy Laurenceson, Salma Aly, Khodr Yaghi.