9 May 2015

Awakeri's older football teams were pleased to get their league season under way on Saturday.
Both 8th grade teams did well. Eastbay Curtains 4U Awakeri Ninjas played really well against Whakatane Town Kahunas, notching a good win. Ninjas had worked on passing and moving to open spaces at practice and the team were excellent at this on Saturday. One of the goals was from a throw in followed by four passes, with the whole team touching the ball before they scored. Lucien Horn-Christensen was player of the day. He worked really hard on defence and attack.
Awakeri Avengers had a great first game, when they played Plains Superstars in an exciting 8th grade fixture. Two volunteers (Kaleb Grindrod and Michael Griffiths) helped the opposition out and they ended up scoring five of their six goals! Sophie Growden had an excellent match and scored three goals. She was player of the day. The Avengers used good passing and they looked for space well to earn an 8-6 win.
It was a good team effort from EBOP Plant Services Awakeri Aces on Saturday, when they met Plains Phoenix in the 9th grade. Aces all played well. The goalie position was shared. The player of the day was Ella Forbes. Aces won 4 – 1.
9th grade Awakeri Titans had a tough game first up, playing together for the first time and on an 11th grade field at Allandale Fliers. The size of the field proved too much for the Titans, although they did show spirit and kept on running till the end. The kids had fun, the score was 6-0 to Allandale. Mia Kennedy had an awesome half game in goal, and the player of the day went to Marshall Foxx for being everywhere on the field.
In the 11th grade grading rounds, Designline Kitchens Awakeri Dragons were up against a strong Ohope Strikers team, losing 6 - 0. Savannah Stewart was named player of the day. She got stuck in in her first game and made a good impact.
11th grade SLH Contracting Awakeri Warriors won their first grading game 6 - 0 at home to Opotiki Panthers. The player of the day was Cambell Julian, who was well supported by his brother Jamie. All of the rest of the team played very well and should be proud of themselves. There was plenty of encouragement from the sideline too.
In the 13th grade, Awakeri Blue Strikers had a tough first game of the season against Whakatane Intermediate FoxyFeet. Lilly DuToit and Amber Fort played a strong game in midfield. Maci Bateson and Rhylee Mahy worked together on attack but Foxy feet were too strong in their defence. Thanks go to the Strikers' goalies: Inderpreet Singh Aujla and Shayna Penberth, who had a tough job. The player of the day went to Amber Fort, for her perseverance in defence.
Private Asset Management 13th Grade Awakeri Comets had a perfect start to the season against Whakatane Avengers, with Luella Howe scoring the first goal of the season in less than a minute. Further quick goals followed from Kevin Paulsen and Callum McNeill, with Olivia Sheaff and Connor Hedderwick adding more goals before half time. In the second half Awakeri added more to their tally with Tom Kloppenburg and Emily Robbie joining the goalscorers list to record a 6-0 victory. It was an excellent start to the season from the whole team, who all earned player of the day recognition for the effort put in and how well they played.
This coming Saturday, the 6th and 7th grade teams will start on their regular junior framework football at Warren Park, starting at 9.30am.

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