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Awakeri Soccer Club... the Greatest Junior Soccer Club in New Zealand
June 8th 2002
The first win of the season for 10th grade Total Power services Awakeri Rangers
was one of the highlights
for Awakeri’s soccer teams on Saturday. A hat-trick from Joshua McCormick
led Rangers to victory 4 - 1
against Kawerau. Ben Hancox was in outstanding form in the middle of
the park. Sean McLean and Wade
Matchitt combined well up front with McCormick, while at the back, Hawea Mansell
and Kane Wakefield
shut down their opposing strikers well. Matthew Reeves was the other scorer
for Rangers.
Also in the 10th grade, Private Asset Management Awakeri Aces had a very exciting
game with James
Street Two. Play flowing from end to end resulted in 22 exhausted children (and
one tired ref). The 2 - all
result was a fair indication of the game, although both teams had their chances
to win. Devon Swart was
named player of the match for his excellent dribbling and passing skills. He
also showed great determination,
as did Waylen Skipps. Others to stand out for Aces were, the defensive line
of Jo Burke, Chris Johnston and
Paul Haslam. Robert Sonntag in goal had a wonderful game, making several great
saves.
Awakeri Hurricanes had a very close and exciting 9th grade game on Saturday,
against Saints. With ten
minutes to go the score was locked at nil - all. Then Matthew Richmond scored
two excellent goals in quick
succession. These were well set up by Brent Gurran, Matthew Fulton, and player
of the day Maddison
Constantine. The final score was a great 2 - 0 win to the Hurricanes, their
first of the season.
In the 8th grade, the Awakeri Devils did well to secure a 3 - 2 win against
Kawerau. Keanu Carter earned
player of the match with some very strong tackles and solid clearing kicks.
Sydney Jones also worked very
hard, while in goal, Stephen Glassbrook made some good saves.
Drain Tech Awakeri Diggers had an exciting 8th grade game with James Street.
All the goals were scored in
the first half, in what turned out to be a 5 - 2 win to Diggers. Gareth Rowlands
scored another hat-trick, and
Riki Roia and Mark Burnett also chimed in with goals. Terri-anne Hollis ran
hard and had a very good game,
while Logan Munro’s high work rate and sound defence saw him named
player of the match.
The 7th Grade Alfresco Court Awakeri Tigers made the coast trip to Opotiki.
In a very close game the
Tigers went down one goal to nil. Alex Costello was named player of the
match for his improved over-all
play. A feature for Tigers was the goal keeping skills of Clive McIndoe and
Caleb Sheather. Leah Sheather
also combined well with Clive in the field, and they made some very good passes
to one another.
The Awakeri Steelers had a good 2 - 1 win against Kawerau in the 7th grade.
Mark Morrison scored both
goals for Steelers and secured player of the match. All the Awakeri players
contributed well to their team
effort.
In the 6th grade, the Awakeri Rockets had an evenly matched game against Saints.
Luke Matchitt scored the
goal for Rockets, as they went on to lose 3 - 1. Rex Marshall was named
player of the match, as he
continues to improve week after week. All the Rocket players had fun and played
well.
The Awakeri Kingz were also evenly matched with their 6th grade opponents Whakatane
Giants. There
were chances at both ends, with the Giants converting two of theirs to take
the game 2 - 0. Kingz defended
well, and James Muncaster ran hard all game to be named player of the
match. Christopher Walker also
impressed with his energetic display.
In the 15th grade, Awakeri Hobbits had the lead for a while against Edgecumbe,
and went into the break at
2 - 2. The crowd were entertained as the match flowed from end to end. Croydon
Little opened the scoring
after winning the ball at a corner, then Nicholas Law got a second, belting
the ball past the keeper after a
good run. In the second half, Edgecumbe put away two of the chances to take
the game 4 - 2. Cody Hancox
made some outstanding one-on-one saves for Hobbits and earned the player of
the match plaudits. Matthew
Shaw also impressed with another top defensive effort.
Adamson’s Amcal Pharmacy Awakeri 13th grade played at home to Saints in
a close contest of skilful and
exciting football. Individual breaks from both teams saw the play move from
one end of the field to the
other. Saints showed excellent teamwork in the first half, which saw them go
to the break 4 - 1 up. Ben
McPherson scored a top goal for Awakeri. Awakeri finally got going in the second
half with good breaks
coming from Sytse Tacoma, David Wakelin and player of the day Matthew Adamson.
The defending from
the back line was also stronger. Kelly Stanton, Ben McPherson and Matthew Adamson
added to the score
sheet with Saints slotting home another two. Commitment and teamwork from all
the Awakeri side stopped
the final score of 6 - 4 to Saints from being higher.
Awakeri’s Intermediate Girls team started slowly in their game against
Whakatane. They conceded an early
goal, but after that it was an even fast flowing game. Katie Collins
was named player of the match for her
very good work in the midfield, and some booming kicks up field. Whakatane won
the game 1 - 0
In the 11th grade the Da Silva Awakeri Autos played at home against Kawerau.
The Autos struggled in the
first half, unable to get the ball into Kawerau's territory. They were down
2 - nil at half time. However, with
the wind behind them in the second half, the Autos spent more time attacking
and scored a goal. They nearly
equalised several times, but finished at 2 - 1 when the final whistle blew.
Nicholas Knight was player of the
day for moving into position well and staying focused for the whole game, even
though he'd finished a
hockey game five minutes prior to the start of this game!