13 Boys: St George City 0-2 South Coast Flame

Travelling up to St George for a late kick off, the U/13’s once again returned with all 3 points.

Another strong start from the boys saw us dominate the opening 20 minutes but unfortunately a lack of composure on the ball along with our final pass in the final third let us down.

St George only really tested us from distance, with Declan Pearce tipping a rocket from one of their central midfielders over the bar.

After the half-time break we regathered the ascendency, and looked by far the better of the two sides as we were rewarded with two goals from Dylan Rodrigues to settle the matter – sealing a 2-0 win.

The boys continue to lift when times are tough which has been very pleasing lately as we continue to climb the ladder with games in hand

Player of the week: Dylan Rodrigues

Dylan is a constant threat going forward and has a high work rate.

14 Boys: St George City 1-0 South Coast Flame

This was another game where we created enough opportunities to win, however being wasteful in crucial moments continue to cost us.

We started strong, causing issues for the opposition, however we started losing the fight in a physical contest – being bullied off the ball too easy. St George pounced on a loose ball in our box after a soft free kick mid-way through the first half to score. Deakin Henry pulled a miraculous save shortly after to keep it to 1-0 at half time.

A rejuvenated second half saw Flame step up the intensity and physicality. This lead to several half chances, however we made poor decisions in the final third as well as poor execution of final passes, along with not being able to finish our clear chances. A 1-0 loss and another game where the team will feel it was points dropped.

Player of the week: James Benedetti

After a poor first half from the team, James stepped up and took on-board the coaching staff’s instructions, working hard in defence to force errors and begin counter attacks. He linked well with the players ahead of him to create strong attacking moments.

15 Boys: St George City 3-1 South Coast Flame

After a positive run of fixtures without a loss, we faced a St George side who were sitting top of the table.

After conceding early, we again grew into the game and had our spells of good possession during the first half. We went into half time one goal down, with the key message at the break being about our execution to the playing style and our winning mentality.

We started the second half strong and were rewarded with the equaliser through our half-time substitute and under 14’s player Haider Raad. After a strong run with the ball, he hit a thunderbolt into the top right corner.

Unfortunately we were unable to carry on and again conceded some soft goals to put us on the back foot. While we continue to have our moments, we lacked the cutting edge to create good opportunities to score.

Player of the week: Jake Morris

Jake’s energy and drive throughout out each training session and game is a credit to his leadership within the playing group. He demonstrates the Flame winning mentality and attitude when in and out of possession.

16 Boys: St George City 4-2 South Coast Flame

With the opposition full of enthusiasm which were unable to match, and some preventable defensive errors from our boys, we headed to the sheds of the brand new football facility at Penshurst Park behind 4-1 at half time.

A quick re-focus during the break saw the team dig in and produce a much improved the second half performance. Some excellent scoring opportunities were created on the end of well structured patient ball movement but we could only land the killer blow once, which was not enough to bring the game back into reach.

Although the first half was disappointing, the boys showed a lot of character to take the game to the opposition in the second half and play some well structured football.

Player of the week: Joshua Davidson

Joshua showed plenty of courage and energy.

18 Boys: St George City 3-1 South Coast Flame

It was a very competitive game at Penshurst Park, where our  U/18 boys took on St George City FA – who were in second place going into the match.

Although it was cold and wet, our boys rallied and gave St George and the crowd an excellent game of football. Several aggressive attacks on our goal saw goalkeeper Eamon Everett and our back-line work hard to defend their shots. However, in the 12th minute, St George were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Although deflected initially, they finished it off and scored. This ensured that St George entered the half time break a goal to the good.

In the second half, the Flame boys all worked hard to counter-attack with some great runs down the line, and fast ball movement through the middle. We had an opportunity to equalise when Noah Durante looked to score, but was pulled down in the box. Zachary Birch neatly converted the given penalty in the 65th minute, bringing the score to 1-1.

St George were rattled and increased their intensity. Although our boys tried to match their intensity, a few small errors in the following 10 minutes enabled the opposition to score twice again which made it 1-3.

The Flame boys continued to work hard and put in a huge effort but, despite their efforts, they couldn’t find the net again and the score remained at 1-3.

A competitive game in which the final score didn’t reflect how well our boys played, but that’s football. Next week our boys travel again to take on Hakoah Sydney City East FC who sit just one spot below us on the ladder.

Player of the week: Ryan Thompson

Ryan worked tirelessly and was very strong defensively against a strong opposition.