| Successful Season Ends in Defeat |
Saturday saw the end of the outdoor season but it was not a happy day for our two most successful men's teams.
Both the Men's U20s and AA8s had dominated all season, both won Premierships, and on Saturday both were defending Championship trophies they had won last season. Unfortunately, they also both tasted defeat at the final hurdle.
The U20s faced 5th placed Penrith Nepean United in front of a big crowd at Melita Stadium. Although Penrith had by far the majority of supporters, there were small but vocal pockets of Uni fans.
For most of the first half, the match was an arm wrestle with neither side really gaining a significant advantage. But on the stroke of halftime, an impressive Penrith move unlocked the Uni defence and their striker slotted home a neat shot to give them a 1-0 lead at the break.
Uni came out firing in the second half and it wasn't long before they were back on level terms. A free kick at the edge of the area gave Malik Bidertan the chance he needed. His blasted shot took a wicked deflection and thudded into the back of the net, bringing the Uni fans to their feet.
Uni thought they had taken the lead a little while later when a Jacob Swarts header bounced tantalisingly off the inside of the post, then along the goaline, only to be cleared off the line by a Penrith defender. The linesman was right on hand so I'd say he probably made the right decision, but it was still very frustrating for Uni.
Then in dying minutes of regular time, Penrith got the stroke of luck they needed. A free kick found the head of a Penrith attacker, the ball looped agonisingly over the stranded keeper and trickled into the net. Despite some final desperate attacking raids, the match finished 2-1 and the Uni boys were forced to watch Penrith celebrating with the trophy that they had proudly held for the last 12 months.
The AA8s kicked off their Grand Final at 2.30pm at Hensley Park and so I was unfortunately unable to make it to the match. Uni led 2-1 before finally going down 3-2. A disappointing end to what was a very impressive season.
With the outdoor season now over, SUSFC attention now turns to Futsal with the Premier League kicking off next Saturday. Although for those of you interested in something a little more social, the Gyory Markus 6-a-side will be played next Sunday. And let's not forget about the Australian University Games in Adelaide, beginning the following Monday (by the way, the Men's team is still looking a goalkeeper). We wish our Men's and Women's teams well.
| Comments (5) | Posted Monday 2006-09-18 07:17:40 by Terry Hogan |
| Comment #1 |
For mine the highlight during the Under 20s game was Rob Smithies saying, "You know this ref's not having a bad game." Retirement from the game must be mellowing him.
In the post match speeches by the team captains, Uni was the clear winner with 17 cliches to just 5. Although the Penrith captain managed 12 Um's in his brief speech.
| Posted Monday 2006-09-18 07:37:21 by David Shaw |
| Comment #2 |
From 8's game :
Uni led one nil as well. At 2:1 Michael Fotheringham had a one on one with the keeper with a chance to finish the game. Unfortunately keeper saved his effort. Pagewood scored minutes after. Pagewood were slightly the better side and they scored the winnder with 10 to go. Uni then pushed hard and had a few good chances but no luck. Shame as I've seen them play better than this.
| Posted Monday 2006-09-18 08:46:49 by goran |
| Comment #4 |
Its ok, they gave it all they got. Bad luck guys, you had a great season and did the club proud on and off the field. Still plenty to celebrate at the annual dinner.
Commisserations to the 20s too. Did your captain at least manage to remember your names? Or is that something only Boggle could manage?
| Posted Thursday 2006-09-21 09:07:18 by Ben G |
