Follow our updates on Twitter!

Margaret Rover Power Exit Cup On A High

Attention: open in a new window. PDFPrintE-mail

Written by Neil Mattinson. Friday, 16 September 2011 07:10

Match Reports - Under 13

Margaret River Power 2 v St. Joes 5
Margaret River Power hosted St. Joes for the first round of the Knock-out Cup competition and the setting couldn’t have been better. Both teams had good reason to feel confident going into this fixture on the back of recent solid performances in the League.
The Power had the better of the early play and once again showed great patience in building their attack. Conor Heydon had a great chance early but was unlucky not to find the target. Soon afterwards though the crowd welcomed back from his 2 month break Luca Marill when he calmly steered a cross into the back of the net to put the Power ahead.
St. Joes responded almost immediately with a great breakaway and the shot left Tyron Bradshaw in goals with little hope of stopping the equalizer.
The Power kept their cool and were trying everything to make chances but the St. Joes defence rallied in numbers and were able to block many shots. Tarn Staveley was enjoying a great game in midfield as was Conor Heydon up front. Our backline was as staunch as ever with Braeden Canna and Jared Smirke making solid contributions.
Nathan Doig was working hard at left midfield and drew a free kick late in the half. Jed Mattinson stepped up to the tee and, with a cool zephyr at his back, launched a huge kick from around half way which perfectly found the top corner of the net. This gave the hosts a deserved lead going into half time.
There was not much to address at half time but we were all of the belief that it was going to be hard work to keep St. Joes scoreless for the half so there was still a lot of game left in this one.
The visitors came out strong and their first half goal scorer Will Culnane was playing like a man possessed. His speed with the ball at his feet was worthy of adult play and he took it to our defence. The next chance St. Joes made looked set to equalise but for the brave play of Conor White in goals who fearlessly charged off his line to claim the ball off the strikers boot.
In a goal mouth scramble not long after Culnane seemed to miskick a ball from close range which then, almost in slow motion, curled its way past Conor and rolled over the line to bring about the equaliser in frustrating fashion. This saw the beginning of a great attacking patch for the visitors and when they were awarded a penalty it seemed the Power’s believe had taken a hit. The penalty went sailing over the crossbar and it was game on.
That man Culnane soon made up for his miss from the spot with an unbelievable turn and strike from outside the penalty box to give St. Joes a handy lead.
With time running out the Power now had to commit numbers forward and were unlucky not to score from a corner kick. A little later Braeden delivered a beautiful pass to Hudson Moore who hit the ball sweetly on the volley but hit the keeper who was more surprised than anyone to have the ball in his hands. The rebound play from that chance caught the Power thin at the back and they were soon another goal down from the boot of “that man”.
Culnane saved his best til last to drive a dagger to the heart of the hosts and bought up his fifth goal with a scintillating shot again from long range.
The final whistle sounded and the horrible realisation that our season that has been so great had come to an end seemed almost surreal. We sang the team song one more time and thanked the parents and supporters. Our best wasn’t good enough today but the lads can look back on their season with great pride in their achievements.

Margaret River Power 2 v St. Joes 5

Margaret River Power hosted St. Joes for the first round of the Knock-out Cup competition and the setting couldn’t have been better. Both teams had good reason to feel confident going into this fixture on the back of recent solid performances in the League.

The Power had the better of the early play and once again showed great patience in building their attack. Conor Heydon had a great chance early but was unlucky not to find the target. Soon afterwards though the crowd welcomed back from his 2 month break Luca Marill when he calmly steered a cross into the back of the net to put the Power ahead.

St. Joes responded almost immediately with a great breakaway and the shot left Tyron Bradshaw in goals with little hope of stopping the equalizer. 

The Power kept their cool and were trying everything to make chances but the St. Joes defence rallied in numbers and were able to block many shots. Tarn Staveley was enjoying a great game in midfield as was Conor Heydon up front. Our backline was as staunch as ever with Braeden Canna and Jared Smirke making solid contributions.

Nathan Doig was working hard at left midfield and drew a free kick late in the half. Jed Mattinson stepped up to the tee and, with a cool zephyr at his back, launched a huge kick from around half way which perfectly found the top corner of the net. This gave the hosts a deserved lead going into half time.

There was not much to address at half time but we were all of the belief that it was going to be hard work to keep St. Joes scoreless for the half so there was still a lot of game left in this one.

The visitors came out strong and their first half goal scorer Will Culnane was playing like a man possessed. His speed with the ball at his feet was worthy of adult play and he took it to our defence. The next chance St. Joes made looked set to equalise but for the brave play of Conor White in goals who fearlessly charged off his line to claim the ball off the strikers boot.

In a goal mouth scramble not long after Culnane seemed to miskick a ball from close range which then, almost in slow motion, curled its way past Conor and rolled over the line to bring about the equaliser in frustrating fashion. This saw the beginning of a great attacking patch for the visitors and when they were awarded a penalty it seemed the Power’s believe had taken a hit. The penalty went sailing over the crossbar and it was game on.

That man Culnane soon made up for his miss from the spot with an unbelievable turn and strike from outside the penalty box to give St. Joes a handy lead.

With time running out the Power now had to commit numbers forward and were unlucky not to score from a corner kick. A little later Braeden delivered a beautiful pass to Hudson Moore who hit the ball sweetly on the volley but hit the keeper who was more surprised than anyone to have the ball in his hands. The rebound play from that chance caught the Power thin at the back and they were soon another goal down from the boot of “that man”.

Culnane saved his best til last to drive a dagger to the heart of the hosts and bought up his fifth goal with a scintillating shot again from long range.

The final whistle sounded and the horrible realisation that our season that has been so great had come to an end seemed almost surreal. We sang the team song one more time and thanked the parents and supporters. Our best wasn’t good enough today but the lads can look back on their season with great pride in their achievements.

< Prev   Next >