|
|
Awakeri Soccer Club... the Greatest Junior Soccer Club in New Zealand
May 11th 2002
The highlight of Saturday’s play for the Awakeri Soccer Club was the match-up
between the two 8th grade
teams. It was a very even affair, with both sides trying very hard to score
against their schoolmates. With the
8th grade being played on the bigger fields, there is a lot of running and good
passing skills are starting to
show. The game was balanced at 0 - 0 at half time, but the Awakeri Devils found
the last ten minutes of the
second half hard going. The Drain Tech Awakeri Diggers scored two very good
goals, through Logan
Munro and Gareth Rowlands. The player of the day for the Devils was Jayden
Haddock, who had a great
first half as keeper and turned on some excellent forward play in the second
half. Taylah Bateson was
Diggers player of the day after working hard for the whole game. Ryan McIntyre
also impressed for
Diggers. The result was 2 - 0 to Diggers.
In the 7th grade, Awakeri Steelers put together a good team effort to beat Whakatane
4 - 1. Liam Richards
was named their player of the day, with an excellent all round game. He scored
twice, while Mark Morrison
and Tyler Mansell also found the goal.
The 7th Grade Alfresco Court Tigers came up against a strong 'Saints’ team.
Player of the day for Tigers
was Leah Sheather, who tackled well and backed up all over the field.
Stephanie Brooks also had a strong
game, both in goal in the first half, and in the field in the second half. Clive
McIndoe never stopped trying,
and showed good sportsmanship. Alex Costello is improving with every game. The
final score was 4-0 to
Saints.
Awakeri Kingz were very evenly matched with their 6th grade opponents Otakiri.
Tautari Merito kept
focused on the game for the whole time and was named player of the day. James
Muncaster produced a very
good effort as goalkeeper and the final score was a 0 - 0 draw.
Also in the 6th grade, Awakeri Rockets played Ohope Bullets. They lost 3 - 0,
but the whole team played
really well. Player of the day Jennifer Cram played well in goal and
Daniel Reeves was a speedster, racing all
over the field chasing the ball. The ever improving Rex Marshall also had a
great game trying to clear the
ball.
Awakeri’s oldest age group, the 15th grade Hobbits were one of three teams
to travel to Opotiki. However,
the early start didn’t seem to agree with them and they eventually succumbed
6 - 0. Matthew Shaw was
again strong in defence, while Simon Jansen’s courage in goal earned
him player of the day. Despite some
quite lengthy periods on attack, the closest Hobbits came to scoring was late
in the game when Jeremy
Hawkes hit the post with a left foot shot.
Commitment and brilliant goal keeping saw 13th grade Adamsons Amcal Pharmacy
Awakeri Athletic
narrowly beaten by a strong Kawerau team. Athletic played with skilled discipline
and were unlucky to not
go to the half time break 2 - 0 up. Unfortunately the finishing was not there
from the forwards after some
good ball from their mid field and some good defence by their backs. Hard work
by David Wakelin, Sytse
Tacoma and Matthew Adamson saw the teams 0 - 0 at the break. A change by both
teams to their field
makeup saw Kawerau strike early with three skilful goals. This should have been
more with the Awakeri
backs Mark Ernest, Jordan McDonald and Max Butler having to work constantly
to keep their opponents
out. Shot after shot at the goal was stopped by second half goalie Simon Barr,
keeping the score to 3. Two
of his saves were absolutely brilliant. The team never gave up and some good
passing mid way through saw
a good run by Jonathan Whitaker who got around the goalie to score. Deservedly
Simon Barr was player of
the match, with commitment also coming from Luke Baylis and Troy Jansen.
In the 11th grade, Da Silva Awakeri Autos played out a very even exciting 0
- 0 draw at Opotiki. It was a
good team effort from Autos, and the spectators were kept entertained throughout.
Excellent defensive
work by Anthony Sykes saw him named player of the day.
Awakeri’s Intermediate Girls team notched up their second win in a very
exciting game against Kawerau.
Danniella Palmer led the way with an energetic performance. She scored, as did
Philippa Haslam, to grab a 2
- 1 win. The steadily improving Liz Moore earned player of the day, and
the determined defensive line made
sure the victory was achieved.
The 10th Grade Private Asset Management Aces had an emphatic win against Kawerau.
Vincent Sheather
scored a hat trick in the first half, while Devon Swart (2), Waylen Skipps,
Mathew Bateson and Jade Cossey
added to the score. The whole team held their positions well and passed into
space, making lots of
opportunities for the forwards. Waylen Skipps was named player of the
day for his excellent passing and
general all around play. This was another excellent performance with the whole
team playing well and
supporting each other.
Awakeri Hurricanes played Opotiki Spurs in Opotiki in the 9th grade. The team
tried hard to shut down the
Opotiki attack, but the Opotiki team proved too fast. David Ernest, Billy Brooks
and Destrii Prout all had
strong games. The player of the day went to Lindsey Cotter for his excellent
work on defence. The final
score was 7 - 0 to Opotiki.