SPORT NEWS
SENIOR BOYS SOCCER
On Wednesday, the Senior Boys Soccer team competed at the State Finals at the State Football Centre in Thornbury.
They played three games, drawing the first with Liston Diaz scoring in a 1 all draw. In the second game, the team came from behind to beat Ballarat 2-1 with Almog Vernik scoring the equaliser and Liston Diaz scoring the late winner.
This set up a potential chance to reach a State Final. The team had to beat Balwyn to go through but in a see sawing encounter lost 1 nil. This meant the boys missed the chance to qualify for a State Final.
I would like to congratulate the team on their efforts. To finish in 4th position in the State is an incredible achievement and I would like to thank all the team for their efforts. Special thanks to Stefan Simic and Billy Zontanos who co-captained the team.
Let’s go even better next year. I am up for the challenge and I know you are too!
Mr Jhoomun
Coach
SENIOR BOYS SOCCER - STATE FINALS
On Wednesday 5 September the Senior Boys Soccer team played their State Finals at the State Football Centre in Thornbury. Rising early for a 7:30am departure, the squad was on time and focused to do well. The team had been training since April and it was to be the last day that this great team would play together. It was down to the last eight teams in the State. They had to negotiate three Round Robin games and hoped to qualify first in their group to make the State Final.
Our first game was against Lavalla Catholic College. Grabbing a late goal just before half time courtesy of Liston Diaz, the boys went in at the break one up. However, it was not to be with a spirited comeback from the opposition resulting in a late equaliser. A draw in the first game was disappointing but it gave the team something to improve upon.
The second game was against Ballarat High. A structural change was made to exploit some more of our strengths and initially it seemed successful. Sean Bass was terrorizing his opponent on his wing, getting in frequent crosses which were unfortunately not taken advantage of. Football is all about taking chances and the ball went up the other end where against the run of the play, Ballarat scored to take a one nil lead at the break.
More changes were made with the side reverting to a back three and an extra attacker thrown on as McKinnon had to win the game to stay alive. With halves only consisting of 15 minutes, it required a herculean effort to overturn a goal deficit. Enter Almog Vernik, who receiving a short corner dribbled his opponent to equalise. Liston Diaz then hit a post with a left foot shot to leave any fingernails I had shredded. Eventually the attacking pressure showed and Liston Diaz slotted home a late winner to make it 2-1 and give the team a fighting chance.
The equation was simple. Beat Balwyn High and we make a State Final. After an even first half, it was nil all. I had to open the game up as we needed to score to go through whereas Balwyn only needed a draw. They did better than that by scoring a goal that killed the game midway through the second half. We still tried to create but it was not to be as we finished 1 nil down.
We finished second in our group with 4 points and fell just short of making a State Final.
The boys were disappointed and so was I at getting so close to fall but how could I fault the effort! How could I fault the commitment! How could I fault the team spirit, banter and camaraderie shown! It was an absolute pleasure to coach such a team who gave their all, listened to my instructions and played football with a passion and spirit rarely seen.
Thank you.
Congratulations to: Liam Atchison, Billy Zontanos, Sean Bass, Lucas Catherall, Liston Diaz, Chris Hoang, Luka Inglis, Tom Johnston, Michael Koletsas, Matthew Main, Liam O’Brien, Eric Pagoulatos, Jonathan Papageorgiou, Johnson Duong, Stefan Simic, Peter Tomaras, Almog Vernik and Jonathan Vernik.
Jonathan Jhoomun
Coach
SENIOR GIRLS SOCCER
On Monday 3 September we saw sixteen Senior Girls world football players attempt to defend the title they won last year at the State Final. The first game saw an easy victory over the orange clad Nagle SC 5-1 with a brace from Haylee Cohen.
A one-nil loss to the eventual state champions, Ballarat followed which knocked the team out of contention. They will be back with a number of stars still in Year 11. Mr Machin and Mr Jhoomun would like to thank this brilliant bunch of girls for giving them the opportunity to spend a day in the glorious sunshine with them and their infectious spirit.
Mr Machin & Mr Jhoomun
Coaches