South Coast Flame secured second place in the NPL 2 Youth Blue Club Championship with another impressive set of results against Rydalmere Lions on Saturday at Ian McLennan Park.

U13 Boys | South Coast Flame 4 Rydalmere Lions 0

The game started with Flame executing a high pressing game which resulted in a lot of forced turnovers from our opponents. 

Dominating possession Flame created numerous half-chances, however lacked the killer instinct in the box to get the opening goal. 

After endless pressure, Gabriel Corvalan scored a first-time volley that fizzed across the keeper into the top corner. 

Flame doubled this advantage soon after, some great attacking play saw Oscar Loveday slip Jude into the box who finished neatly with a first-time strike across the keeper.

Flame continued their dominance in the second half. 

A freekick just outside the box saw Brody Gardiner finish with his head at the back post. 

A few minutes later Flame executed a set-piece routine that saw Oscar Loveday score in a similar matter. 

The intensity dropped off towards the end of the game, and Flame settled for a 4-0 win with a performance that matched their efforts at training during the week. 

Player of the Week: Oscar Loveday and Brody Gardiner 

Both players had strong games, executing player tasks to a tee, Oscar strong in the attacking third creating headaches while Brody was solid and comfortable at the back denying Rydalmere chances to go forward. 

Both players had to adapt to new roles throughout the game and looked comfortable doing so. 

Both players were rewarded for their efforts with a goal each. 

U14 Boys | South Coast Flame 1 Rydalmere Lions 0

Flame went into the game with the desire to finish the first half of the season as strongly as possible. 

South Coast had started the game well and took a deserved lead being able to move the ball from left to right and into the path of Zeke Frino. 

Frino was able to dribble past the opposition defence and his driven cross was turned into the goal by a Rydalmere defender. 

After scoring our mentality and focus had changed, allowing Rydalmere to be comfortable on the ball. 

A 1-0 lead into halftime and a focus on doing the basics right. 

The second half continued how the first had ended. 

Both teams struggled to sustain possession of the ball and create a lot of chances. 

The Flame ground out the victory and importantly for the team’s goals, a second consecutive clean sheet. 

Player of the Week: Matt Page 

Showed great effort and desire to impact the game positively with forward runs, to keep possession of the ball and win the ball back after a turnover of possession

U15 Boys | South Coast Flame 1 Rydalmere Lions 0

The under-15s battled well to earn a 1-0 win over Rydalmere Lions. 

The match proved to be a closely fought contest, as a win for either side would see them pull away from the other into second spot. 

The Flame boys threatened from early on with intricate movement and passing combinations and were rewarded with the opening goal. 

A fantastic finish from Blake Pearson midway through the first half proved to be the decisive goal, and Pearson was one of several Flame players who worked tirelessly on and off the ball to get the win for the team. 

Levi Dirks, Yoan Ciugureanu and Noah Crapis constantly gave the Rydalmere backline headaches, with sharp attacking runs and defending well from the front. 

Thomas Bent-Genge, Joshua Davison and Alessandro Calmasini were very solid defensively, limiting Rydalmere to only a couple of half-chances as Flame closed the game out late on. 

Player of the Week: Mitchell Despotovski 

Mitchell Despotovski earned this week’s player of the week with a well rounded performance in the Flame midfield. 

Mitchell was pivotal in breaking up the opposition’s build up play with many interceptions, which helped keep his team on the front foot for large periods of the match.

He also displayed an impressive passing range and vision to find teammates in good areas. 

Mitchell was calm and composed on the ball in many crucial moments where Rydalmere appeared to be wrestling back momentum, which allowed the Flame to regain control of the game’s tempo. 

Well done Mitchell.

U16 Boys | South Coast Flame 0 Rydalmere Lions 0

As the under-16s welcomed Rydalmere for the land round of the first phase of the NPL 2 Youth competition, the side knew it was going to be a very tough encounter with Rydalmere on equal points as the Flame and both teams in second place on the ladder. 

The Flame started the game very lively with the boys pressing high and in turn putting the Rydalmere defence under a lot of pressure. 

This would result in a number of half-chances with some excellent build-up play, especially in wide areas. 

As the first half would draw to a close at 0-0 it was clear this game was turning into a very tough arm wrestle with the Flame just in front. 

The second would get underway and Rydalmere came out with a very aggressive mindset and started to take control of the game. 

Rydalmere would start to create a number of chances but would be denied by a very resilient Flame defence. 

The game would finish 0-0 in what was a very entertaining and tough match. 

The Flame would finish equal second on the ladder after the first round in what was an excellent achievement for all the boys. 

Player of the Week: Cayden Boyter

In some high-pressure moments, Cayden stood tall and dominated his box making a number of great saves to keep the flame in the game.

U18 Boys | South Coast Flame 0 Rydalmere Lions 3

It was a tough day at the office for the under-18’s.

In the first few minutes of the game, Rydalmere made a long run down the left of the field and attempted their first serious attempt on goal, but Flame keeper Matt Gazivoda was ready and wrapped it up. 

The Flame’s defence were pushed to their limits by relentless pressure by the opposition attackers. 

Flame were determined to create some opportunities for themselves as well, with some great crosses by the Flame wingers during the first quarter on target, but unfortunately not able to be converted into a goal. 

Rydalmere continued their relentless attack on goal from all angles and were rewarded in the 23rd minute where they followed the rebound through on an initial save by our Flame keeper, to open the scoring tally. 

A freekick awarded to Rydalmere in the 31st saw our boys fight to clear it, but the resulting corner gave the opposition another chance on goal, and this time they finished and found the back of the net in the 31st minute, leading now by two. 

Another miraculous save by Gazivoda in the 33rd kept the score at 2-0. 

Despite Flame having some promising moments in the match, at half time the score remained at 2-0. 

The second half continued to be dominated by Rydalmere whose speed and structure in the midfield held firm against the Flame boys. 

Their opportunity to score again came in the 55th minute from a corner neatly converted by Rydalmere from just inside the box with an on-target volley making it 3-0. 

The Flame boys couldn’t pull themselves back this time and despite their efforts, the score at fulltime remained a 3-0 loss.