Sunday 9 October all junior squads will play a catch up round against Oakleigh Cannons at McEwen Reserve.
Weekend game wraps
Under 12s
Tommy Giuliani
Sunday's trip to Bulleen was an opportunity for the boys to rectify recent early start away performances. Pre game there was a very strong focus on not conceding an early goal. Bulleen scored within 15 seconds....This was the third time it's happened away. Each time there was no challenge, no basic attempt to get a foot or body in the way - just a very poor way to concede.
For the rest of the first half Bulleen were far superior, moving the ball into their final third very well through simple low risk possession football. Once they were there we were too far away for our opponents to win the ball back. They had us well and truly covered for leg speed all across their frontline as well. At half time we trailed 3-0; it could have been six and I lost count of how many times they turned us around at the back. Last time we played them at McEwen we played a very aggressive high defensive line and caught them offside countless times - on the weekend we were neither high enough to get the offside calls nor deep enough to avoid being played in behind.
The second half was much better and we were able to enjoy more time in possession. When the boys started to knock the ball around earlier, shorter and in any direction where they had a teammate in space it began to "look like football" again. They also had lots of opportunities to build out from the back and they did this very, very well, though aided by Bulleen's middle third press. We looked organised and tidy and we closed down the spaces much better when we lost possession. So there were lots of positives to take away from the game. Yes,some players did far far too much on the ball etc but every time we pull on the orange shirt it's an opportunity to make decisions and paint their own picture. It won't alway be Picasso!
Heading into the last month I'll continue to drive standards and push the boys as hard as I can to develop their core skills and break bad habits. It's a balancing act that I can struggle with but hopefully might reap some rewards. I really care for every one of these boys development. Each individual player has to be a project and I try to reassure them that if I didn't care I could stay quiet and let it all ride. When it's good they'll know and when it's not they need to know. Their best football is of a really high standard(Eastern lions home, Box Hill home, Nunawading City home,Springvale away) and I think we're in for a quality football feast this weekend when the boys hit Murray away on Saturday and avenge Richmond home on Sunday! I think we're in for a great last month!⚽️??
Under 13s
Matthew Lelliot
Story of the season with another match lost where I believed we were the better side. A five minute lapse from our boys at the start of the second half saw us down 2-0 and after completely dominating them in the first half! We got back into what we've been working on and started to play - the key difference was our quick passes and quick movement.
A great hitout from the boys hope to see more of this stuff to finish out the season strong.
Under 14s
Nathan Saron & James Lelliot
This week’s training focused on transitioning from BP>BPO positions in an attempt to win the ball back ASAP once possession was lost. The intensity of training had picked up from previous sessions and we were heading into this weekend’s game with confidence under our belts.
Prior to the game I gave the boys 3 key areas to focus on during the first half. These 3 areas included: individual pass quality, winning the ball back ASAP and communication.
Despite a very slow start from the boys, (having gone down 2-0 in the opening minutes) we showed great composure and level-headedness to get ourselves back into the competition within the quarter hour mark. This showed through the creation of a clear goal scoring opportunity in an attempt to reduce the deficit, however after failing to convert, we allowed our opponents to claim their 3rd goal of the day from a counter-attack. The second stanza of the first half did not reflect the scoreline that we were dealt in the opening 15. However, through our progressive dominance we were able to claim 2 quick goals to reduce the margin to 3-2 going into halftime. The boys dramatically improved on each of the 3 key areas as the half progressed and at the break we agreed that we needed to maintain this standard going into the second half.
The boys took off where they had left in the first half, as we continued to search for an equalising goal. Despite holding possession for an extended period of time in the opposition’s defensive half, we were unable to capitalise. With the final score going Bulleen’s way (3-2), it was hard to take after being on top for many moments of the game. Having said this, it was still a welcomed sight to see so many positive moments come out of a losing game. We look forward to building on this performance in the final weeks of the season!
As always, thanks to the under 13’s (Brandon, Teng, Izaak) that stepped-up and played an important role in the game.
Under 15s
Glen Wilson
Last week at training we focussed once again on Playing out from the back and retaining the ball.......during our game on the weekend we were reasonably successful at putting this into action....the shape and structure we maintained on the pitch was very good.
Before the game in the rooms we spoke about the need for us to maintain focus on doing all the little things well, such as scanning, using our voices and our first touch. We also spoke about making sure we earn the RESPECT we deserved from our opposition and how the main aim of the GV Suns is not results, but how we play as a team and player's individual development. I explained that if we just looked at the table, it would and could be expected that our opposition would just blow us away.....however, as we have shown on numerous occasions, if we play near our best we have the talent to trouble any team in the league.
The actual game got off to a good start, our positioning play was very sound as we shrunk into a compact unit when our opposition (BPO) had the ball and when we got control our spread was also good. Fair to say we didn't pass the ball as well as we would've liked, and I put this down to the slower surface and how we tended to under-hit the ball the bit on a lot of passes.
After about 20 minutes, after turning the ball over with a misdirected pass - they took the ball wide and after a good cross and an even better header, we found ourselves a goal down.
At the half-time break - we all agreed that they now knew we weren't going to lie down for them and that they had a fight on their hands. More of the same was required after the break.
We did concede another goal at a similar stage of the second half to go down 2 nil, but generally the half was very similar to the first, with our defence and midfield being quite solid and unfortunately we just didn't have enough of the ball in the final third of the pitch to get a score.
Most importantly, our performance on the pitch demanded RESPECT, and we definitely got that!
Next week we have 2 games against Murray United and Richmond, both teams are below us on the table - but as I pointed out earlier - games are won and lost on the pitch ......not based on positions on the table. Once again - we need to work hard to earn them!
Under 16s
Paul Nieuwenhuizen
Our preparation going into the fame was not ideal with 3 players withdrawing on Saturday night/Sunday morning due to illness and other excuses. This resulted in perhaps our poorest performance for the year with the instability of putting a team on the park each week taking its toll on the regular players. The game started with 7 under 15 players walking back onto the pitch after their game to ensure the game went ahead.
We started the game playing some good possession based football, but soon found ourselves 1-0 down due to a questionable decision by the linesman/referee. Despite this the team stayed true and kept trying to create forward movement. However, some moments of poor decision making saw us go into half time 4-0 down.
The 2nd half once again saw us play some good football, but errors soon started to appear as bodies grew tired particularly the under 15 players. We conceded another 6 goals to eventually lose 10-0. An outstanding game from Lucas Enders in goal, acknowledged by the Bulleen coach and myself, ensured the score did not blow out to a larger margin.
The regular weekly thanks goes to the following under 15 players: Kaine Humphries, Conor Dodson, Lucas Enders, Fraser Gosstray, Vince Barca and Callan Le along with Liam Kielty from the under 18s.
This weekend sees us playing Saturday and Sunday with potentially up to 14 players playing 4 games over the 2 days.
My message to the players this weekend will be to go out and have fun but play with pride and earn the respect of your opponents.
Under 18s
Pat Kielty & Shaban Mehmet
A late start for us and once again with a depleted team.
We only had eight fresh players with the remainder of the starting eleven from the sixteens team having to change tops and step straight on the park for their second game with only a five minute break.
The first half was definitely our half. We played crisp passing football to give us attacking opportunities and we contained their attacking forwards. The first 20 mins was all GVS and eventually good passing between Willie, Alou and Kiwi gave Kiwi a shooting opportunity which he curled into the goal. Alou later put the ball in the net but was adjudged to have handled it first (which I think he inadvertently did). Bulleen equalised with one of their few counter attacks but only because of a silly error by a GVS player resulting in a 1v1 situation with our keeper. This was a perfect example of why we don’t turn blind, and why we should play the way we are facing. Half time one all.
The first ten minutes of the second half was evenly matched with no goals then, almost as if someone had flicked a switch, we started to lose composure and our passing and movement fell apart. It was obvious that the previous game was taking its toll as fatigue set in and Bulleen began to dominate. We tried to slow the game down to break their rhythm but they scored two quick goals and grew in confidence. We tried to counter attack and even had a free kick which beat the keeper but rattled the crossbar. We eventually went down five goals to one.
We had several players from the eighteens missing for various reasons and if a few of them who were able could have made the effort to attend the game, especially with such a depleted squad, then the result may have been closer. We don’t ask the 20’s or the seniors to play two games in a row and for very good reason.
Again thanks to Willie, Alou, Hammed, Charlie, Liam, Manny and Kaine for playing for us. Well done boys you couldn’t have given anymore.
A bus is available for Under 16 and Under 18 squad members to travel to and from away games.
Congratulations to all 2016 SAP players you have been a delight to coach and we hope you all come down to trials starting on October 10th at McEwen Reserve.
