Lewis March scored 2 in the under 12 cup final!
Contributed by Tony D'Agostino
Western Border Soccer B Grade has seen some fierce on field rivalry during the season, none more so than that between Apollo and International.
Apollo and Inter clashed again in the B Grade Dycer Top Four final at Casadio Park. Both teams started the game with strong line ups and Inter were looking for some silverware after Apollo had won the premiership.
In a typical tough affair, Inter started the better of the two teams creating numerous opportunities in front of goal. Inter's wily forward, Joe D'Agostino, was a handful for the Apollo defence but finishing was letting the side down. Apollo settled down and started to push the ball around the park but chances for them were far and few between.
Changes due to injuries saw Apollo inject some youth into the side with Damien Raz and Craig Walker coming on at the half time break. This seemed to lift the Apollo team, who were now pushing forward and putting pressure on the Inter back three.
Matthew Ripper was starting to find space on the left and when he managed to pin point his cross to the middle, Matthew Polhner was there to head the ball into the back of the net to give Apollo the lead.
Inter kept pushing forward and were rewarded with a penalty after a clumsy tackle. Joe D'Agostino took the penalty, only to see his shot saved and the ball cleared to safety.
The score remained 1-0 for the rest of the game to see Apollo add the Top Four Cup to their B Grade Premiership victory.
Contributed by Stuart Birch
International Soccer Club took out its second trophy for the 2009 season when they came from behind late in the game to beat Apollo in the final of the Dycer Top 4 at Casadio Park.
Although Inter had plenty of scoring chances, it was Panagopolos who found the net for Apollo and put his side ahead mid way through the first half.
Apollo kept that lead until about the 90 minute mark, when Joel Redfern scored Inter's first, followed by another by Christian Cella late in injury time.
Dycer Top 4 Final Day - Western Border Soccer Association - 13 September 2009
A GradeInternational 2 (J Redfern, C Cella) d Apollo 1 (G Panagopolos)
Although Inter had plenty of scoring chances, it was Panagopolos who found the net for Apollo and put his side ahead mid way through the first half.
Apollo kept that lead until about the 90 minute mark, when Joel Redfern scored Inter's first, followed by another by Christian Cella late in injury time.
Dycer Top 4 Final Day - Western Border Soccer Association - 13 September 2009
A GradeInternational 2 (J Redfern, C Cella) d Apollo 1 (G Panagopolos)
International Soccer Club has confirmed themselves as Champions for 2009 with victory in the Dycer Top 4 Final last Sunday. After being crowned Premiers, International wanted to put beyond any doubt that they are the leading team in 2009.
The final was contested against arch rivals and the second placed team Apollo in what was a hard and fierce battle that went right down to the wire. The big crowd was treated to an excellent exhibition of soccer played at an outstanding level considering the weather conditions.
The Inter team went into the game without influential playmaker Marcus Morony who was suspended for this game. Things got worse for Inter when they were forced to make a change early on when the much-improved defender Adam Craig went down with a hamstring strain, and had to be replaced with Inter legend Tony Bueti.
Inter created the first real opportunities in the match as they ran at the Apollo defence in numbers. Christian Cella got onto a pass from Adam Osman, but put his shot well over the bar.
Another chance fell a few minutes later to Joel Redfern who again put the ball over the bar. Redfern created another opportunity for himself when his speed got him into the penalty area, where he cracked a left foot volley that narrowly missed the post and went wide.
It was Apollo though that had the best chance to open the scoring. Marcus Wallace found himself in the clear, and running in towards the Inter goal, and was confronted by Tony Bueti who brought him down and Apollo was awarded a penalty. Apollo leading goal scorer Adam Hodge stepped up to give his team the lead, but his shot was met with a wonderful save by Inter goalkeeper Brett Reid. Hodge hit a hard low shot into the bottom left corner, but Reid dived full length and got his hand to the shot deflecting it over the crossbar.
Inter took a lot of confidence from this, and from another attack, Adam Osman cleverly got passed three opponents and went towards Colin Smith in the Apollo goal, but unselfishly tried to pass the ball to team mate Dave Galloway, but the Apollo defence intercepted the pass and cleared it to safety.
Apollo again were unlucky not to open the scoring, when from a corner the ball was sent towards the goal in what seemed a certain goal, only for Andrew Ielasi to be well positioned on the post and he calmly cleared the ball away, leaving Apollo stunned at not scoring. Brett Reid pulled off another fine save from the resulting corner, when his defenders failed to clear the penalty area, and the ball was hit towards goal, but Reid was ever present to push the ball around the post.
Apollo forwards were met at every turn though by a determined Inter back line. Chris Williams was outstanding in keeping Adam Hodge quiet, and with the help of Inter stalwart Rob Manfrin who was back to his brilliant best, stopped all forward advances.
The game was very entertaining with many opportunities for both teams that weren't taken and both teams went into the half time break level.
The second half went much the same way as the first with many opportunities being squandered. Inter created another chance that Barry McCoy forced a great save from Colin Smith.
Dante Bonner and Christian Cella for Inter proved very difficult to control as they continued to provide many fine crosses, but their teammates just could not find the finishing touch.
The Apollo team finally cracked the Inter defence when a cross from the left wing created confusion in the penalty area for Inter, when Bueti, Dave Galloway and Brett Reid left the ball for each other, only to find Apollo youngster George Panagopoulos get in between them and place the ball into the net giving his team the lead.
They held on to this lead for much of the game, but Inter kept pressing forward with their never say die attitude that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.
Coach Tony D'Agostino was again forced to make a change when Barry McCoy came off injured and was replaced with the up and coming star Matt Bueti. With time running out the Inter coach played his last card by bringing on Joseph Bueti to give a more attacking option to his team.
The game took another turn, when Apollo were reduced to ten men, when young Wallace showed some unsportsmanlike like behaviour, and was shown his second yellow card, resulting in a Red Card, and being expelled from the match.
With three minutes left in normal time, Inter finally took one of their chances. It was left to the ever-reliable Joel Redfern to get his team back in the game. Dave Galloway provided an inch perfect pass for his midfield partner, and Redfern's hard running got him in front of goals but with a lot still to do as he had to beat the Apollo keeper, which he did with ease as he smartly drilled a left foot shot passed Smith and in the empty net sending his team mates and supporters into ecstasy.
With the match seemingly destined to go into extra time, Inter pushed more players forward trying to end the contest in normal time, and with Apollo emotionally suffering from conceding so close to the end, Inter took the opportunity when Matt Bueti hit a first time shot at Colin Smith who failed to hold this strike and could only parry the ball. Christian Cella still running at speed in the 90th minute as he was at the beginning of the contest was the first to react getting to the ball first and putting it into the net, giving his team the lead, and certain victory with only minutes remaining in the game.
The game ended minutes later in jubilation from all the Inter players, coaches and all supporters.
The final was contested against arch rivals and the second placed team Apollo in what was a hard and fierce battle that went right down to the wire. The big crowd was treated to an excellent exhibition of soccer played at an outstanding level considering the weather conditions.
The Inter team went into the game without influential playmaker Marcus Morony who was suspended for this game. Things got worse for Inter when they were forced to make a change early on when the much-improved defender Adam Craig went down with a hamstring strain, and had to be replaced with Inter legend Tony Bueti.
Inter created the first real opportunities in the match as they ran at the Apollo defence in numbers. Christian Cella got onto a pass from Adam Osman, but put his shot well over the bar.
Another chance fell a few minutes later to Joel Redfern who again put the ball over the bar. Redfern created another opportunity for himself when his speed got him into the penalty area, where he cracked a left foot volley that narrowly missed the post and went wide.
It was Apollo though that had the best chance to open the scoring. Marcus Wallace found himself in the clear, and running in towards the Inter goal, and was confronted by Tony Bueti who brought him down and Apollo was awarded a penalty. Apollo leading goal scorer Adam Hodge stepped up to give his team the lead, but his shot was met with a wonderful save by Inter goalkeeper Brett Reid. Hodge hit a hard low shot into the bottom left corner, but Reid dived full length and got his hand to the shot deflecting it over the crossbar.
Inter took a lot of confidence from this, and from another attack, Adam Osman cleverly got passed three opponents and went towards Colin Smith in the Apollo goal, but unselfishly tried to pass the ball to team mate Dave Galloway, but the Apollo defence intercepted the pass and cleared it to safety.
Apollo again were unlucky not to open the scoring, when from a corner the ball was sent towards the goal in what seemed a certain goal, only for Andrew Ielasi to be well positioned on the post and he calmly cleared the ball away, leaving Apollo stunned at not scoring. Brett Reid pulled off another fine save from the resulting corner, when his defenders failed to clear the penalty area, and the ball was hit towards goal, but Reid was ever present to push the ball around the post.
Apollo forwards were met at every turn though by a determined Inter back line. Chris Williams was outstanding in keeping Adam Hodge quiet, and with the help of Inter stalwart Rob Manfrin who was back to his brilliant best, stopped all forward advances.
The game was very entertaining with many opportunities for both teams that weren't taken and both teams went into the half time break level.
The second half went much the same way as the first with many opportunities being squandered. Inter created another chance that Barry McCoy forced a great save from Colin Smith.
Dante Bonner and Christian Cella for Inter proved very difficult to control as they continued to provide many fine crosses, but their teammates just could not find the finishing touch.
The Apollo team finally cracked the Inter defence when a cross from the left wing created confusion in the penalty area for Inter, when Bueti, Dave Galloway and Brett Reid left the ball for each other, only to find Apollo youngster George Panagopoulos get in between them and place the ball into the net giving his team the lead.
They held on to this lead for much of the game, but Inter kept pressing forward with their never say die attitude that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.
Coach Tony D'Agostino was again forced to make a change when Barry McCoy came off injured and was replaced with the up and coming star Matt Bueti. With time running out the Inter coach played his last card by bringing on Joseph Bueti to give a more attacking option to his team.
The game took another turn, when Apollo were reduced to ten men, when young Wallace showed some unsportsmanlike like behaviour, and was shown his second yellow card, resulting in a Red Card, and being expelled from the match.
With three minutes left in normal time, Inter finally took one of their chances. It was left to the ever-reliable Joel Redfern to get his team back in the game. Dave Galloway provided an inch perfect pass for his midfield partner, and Redfern's hard running got him in front of goals but with a lot still to do as he had to beat the Apollo keeper, which he did with ease as he smartly drilled a left foot shot passed Smith and in the empty net sending his team mates and supporters into ecstasy.
With the match seemingly destined to go into extra time, Inter pushed more players forward trying to end the contest in normal time, and with Apollo emotionally suffering from conceding so close to the end, Inter took the opportunity when Matt Bueti hit a first time shot at Colin Smith who failed to hold this strike and could only parry the ball. Christian Cella still running at speed in the 90th minute as he was at the beginning of the contest was the first to react getting to the ball first and putting it into the net, giving his team the lead, and certain victory with only minutes remaining in the game.
The game ended minutes later in jubilation from all the Inter players, coaches and all supporters.
Contributed by Tony D'Agostino
B GradeApollo 1 (M Pohlmer) d International 0
Western Border Soccer B Grade has seen some fierce on field rivalry during the season, none more so than that between Apollo and International.
Apollo and Inter clashed again in the B Grade Dycer Top Four final at Casadio Park. Both teams started the game with strong line ups and Inter were looking for some silverware after Apollo had won the premiership.
In a typical tough affair, Inter started the better of the two teams creating numerous opportunities in front of goal. Inter's wily forward, Joe D'Agostino, was a handful for the Apollo defence but finishing was letting the side down. Apollo settled down and started to push the ball around the park but chances for them were far and few between.
Changes due to injuries saw Apollo inject some youth into the side with Damien Raz and Craig Walker coming on at the half time break. This seemed to lift the Apollo team, who were now pushing forward and putting pressure on the Inter back three.
Matthew Ripper was starting to find space on the left and when he managed to pin point his cross to the middle, Matthew Polhner was there to head the ball into the back of the net to give Apollo the lead.
Inter kept pushing forward and were rewarded with a penalty after a clumsy tackle. Joe D'Agostino took the penalty, only to see his shot saved and the ball cleared to safety.
The score remained 1-0 for the rest of the game to see Apollo add the Top Four Cup to their B Grade Premiership victory.
Contributed by Stuart Birch
.Under 17International 1 (S Marano) d Blue Lake 0
Under 14Gambier Centrals 4 (A Sims 2, C Unger, M Bonney) d Apollo 2 (J Kourmouzis, D Atkins-Leary)
Under 12Gambier Centrals 4 (L March 2, P Mudada, J Blackwell) d Portland 0
Under 14Gambier Centrals 4 (A Sims 2, C Unger, M Bonney) d Apollo 2 (J Kourmouzis, D Atkins-Leary)
Under 12Gambier Centrals 4 (L March 2, P Mudada, J Blackwell) d Portland 0
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