Belmont Villa

All reports written by First Team Manager Michael Mayers.

16 May, 2010 - Firsts 1-3 Olympic Kingsway

I know a 3-1 loss is not a great result. But I could not be prouder of our boys. They fought to the end in a very difficult game and strenuous circumstances.

Things started well enough when Kim put us ahead in the 32nd minute after a nice assist from Haitham. Our system was working well. Then in the 45th minute things started to go sour. Amin received a second yellow for a tackle from behind and given his marching orders. Granted his first yellow for handball was harsh but more restraint was needed. That is all that will be said on the matter I am sure he feels bad enough already.

1-0 to us at the end of the first half.

The second half belonged to Jeremy.

Having said that I will give credit to Kingsway's first goal. A nice bit of two touch football down their left wing and well finished by D Ashworth. I can't comment on their second goal as I didn't see it, but I am told it was scored by J Higgins.

The third goal was a penalty neatly placed by F Rugel. I don't know why the penalty was given. I thought the linesman flagged for offside. Jeremy saw the flag and awarded a penalty for pushing but the linesman said it was for hand ball.

All I can say about the third goal is WTF????

I shouldn't bitch, but when a player is going to be subbed and places one foot off the park and receives a second yellow for leaving the field of play. Things have gone incredibly stupid.

The other player to get a second yellow and given an early shower should really have realized that you can't be sarcastic to a card happy revenue raiser. (Might call him Speed Camera from now on).

But like I said at the start, I am very proud of the eight guys that fought tooth and nail to keep the score line respectable.

Great job lads

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9 May, 2010 - Firsts 0-3 Fremantle Croatia

A very disappointing result for us today. After a shaky first 15 minutes we finally took control of the first half and either by our attacking or by their tactics Fremantle needed 7 men in their back-line to keep us at bay. Leaving only one center midfielder and two forward to cause us trouble.... which never happened. Seven men was always going to hard to break down but we made some very good opportunities. The best falling to Kim with a one on one with the keeper after a fine dissecting ball from Haitham.

Second half and a totally different story. Fremantle came out firing and we were shooting blanks. The long ball game that normally works well on a small pitch on the counter wasn't working because of the strongish breeze holding the ball up for the big center half to head away. 17 minutes into the half and number 19 (Beretovac) put Fremantle in front. Our instructions to push forward to try and get a point opened us up at the back and in the 72nd minute a long clearance from the keeper put Beretovac through again. Three minutes later and he rounded of his hatrick.

3-0 never a good result but we must look at the positives. The players tried to play a game plan that was a misunderstanding between players and coaches proving that they will listen and do what is asked of them even if they think it is wrong.... so that side of the discipline is unquestionable and great to coach. But on the down side I was disheartened to see some players drop their heads and give up the challenge. Maybe they were just too tired from Thursday's game. (Let’s hope so anyway.)

Let’s get the fight back and leave this one in the past where it belongs. 

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6 May, 2010 - Firsts 3-0 Murdoch University

A very good game for a neutral to watch I would have thought. Fast flowing end to end game that at one stage could have gone either way.
In the end it was 3-0 to us after goals from Muntasar (13th), Haitham (52nd) and Kim in the 72nd to seal all three points.

Murdoch are a very tall and organised team that defended well. It wasn't until the players worked out going down the middle with a high long ball wasn't going to work and started using the wings that we started to look dangerous. Having said that Murdoch had their fair share of chances and it was only some exceptional save from Sean that allowed us to finish the game with a clean sheet.

Was 3-0 a fair result?
Not a chance. But a 5-3 win to us would have been. Superior in speed skill and fitness. We just need to be able to find somebody to help Yoni deal with the high crosses coming into our 18 yard box. But with a new back line I think we are still 2 games away from the back line gelling properly.

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2 May, 2010 - Firsts 3-0 Jaguar FC

We went out with a game plan against Jaguars FC and executed it perfectly. It was never going to a be a pretty game on such a small pitch and against a very skilful team that deserves to be well above Division 6.

The game plan was to sit back and absorb the pressure until they ran out of legs. We were very lucky not to go 1-0 down after Jaguars were correctly awarded a penalty which was slammed against the cross bar. After that they had very little in the way of clear cut chances.

0-0 at half time and Fred was happy. It was only a matter of time before we took the game by the scruff of the neck. Amin scored a well earned goal in the 57th minute which he dedicated to his late friend Abdi. Brian scored a scrappy goal in the 68th minute after Jaguars failed to clear a corner. Haitham powerfully directed a header passed the Jaguars’ keeper to make it 3-0.

All in all a deserved result although not pretty football, but let’s face it, there are times pretty football doesn’t work.