Dunsborough Achieve Cup Success

Written by John Reilly Saturday, 01 October 2011 00:00

Match Reports - Youth League Boys

Dunsborough Chargers  4 v Vasse United 2  

Vasse United had gone through the league season undefeated. Dunsborough Chargers, after an indifferent first half of the season, improved during the second half, and by the time of the Grand Final had beaten all the other teams in the league except Vasse United. So the stage was set.

The battle of the giants: Would Vasse prevail and remain unbeaten throughout the season? Or could the Chargers do what no other team had done this season, beat Vasse and in so doing, lift the cup? The weather was perfect, the Dunsborough ground was in good condition and a sizeable crowd gave the occasion a carnival atmosphere.

The game started with both teams unwilling to give an inch. It was end to end stuff, with Dunsborough striking first. James Black found himself on the right in space and knocked in a pin-point cross that a soaring Tim Nigg headed firmly in to put Dunsborough 1-0 up. This rocked Vasse somewhat, but they didn’t take long to recover their composure, and were soon testing the Dunsborough defence with through balls from their midfield, superbly led by Shea Hayley.

This pressure brought a deserved equaliser for Vasse, put away by Dylan McGregor. The match continued in the same vane with Vasse having the better of things in midfield, and it was no surprise when a second goal fell to Vasse (shot by Adam Fraser)which put them 2-1 in front. This was the score at half-time.

Dunsborough came out in the second half determined to wrest control of midfield from Vasse. Two minutes after the re-start, the Vasse defence, through the persistence of Tim Nigg, was thrown into confusion in their own penalty area, and Tim took the opportunity to force the ball over the goal line for the equaliser and his second goal of the game.

Back came Vasse with two thunderbolt drives from just outside the penalty area brought great fingertip saves from Darcy Carroll, which kept Dunsborough in the game. A strong run from midfield by Jayden Baillie, ended with him dinking the ball past the post with only the goalkeeper to beat.  In a goalmouth melee Vasse contrived to hit the post before the ball was scrambled away by a harassed Chargers defence. And with this bit of luck it could almost be thought that the Chargers name was on the cup!

James Thomson had been introduced into midfield for the Chargers, and he and Josh Kuppens went through some crushing tackles, winning possession of the ball and enabling Ethan DeLatte and Zac Meers to put the Vasse defence under pressure with hard running and astute passing of the ball. The Chargers were fighting back, and once again were putting the Vasse defence under pressure. With some 10 minutes to go, after good work from the midfield, Tim Nigg again made his presence felt in the Vasse penalty area with the ball falling to James Black, who pounced to turn it into the net, 3-2 to Dunsborough! The home crowd was screaming. Was there going to be an upset? The Chargers now had the upper hand.

With 3 minutes to go a through ball from Ethan DeLatte saw James Black running on to it and superbly lifting the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. Chargers 4-2 up!

Bedlam! Cool heads were needed. Ryan Wilson tackled tigerishly to tame the Vasse danger-men, ably supported by Corey Delamotte and Aidan Woulfe. Some desperation crept into the Vasse play and this played into the hands of the Chargers with Chelsie Winchcombe sweeping up at the back to keep the Vasse forwards at bay. The final whistle sounded. 4-2. Mighty Vasse United had been defeated. The home fans roared in delight!

The match was a cup final in every sense. The Chargers rose to the challenge. Vasse were tremendous opponents and extremely gracious in defeat.

Ethan DeLatte’s tireless running in midfield earned him the “Best & Fairest” from the match referee. Ethan was also presented with the “Best & Fairest” in the Youth League for the season. An outstanding achievement. (This was shared with Shea Hayley from Vasse).

The above was written by a Dunsborough Junior Soccer Club “Tragic”!