U9 - Berwich City Bears

What a win, this was undoubtedly the best game we played to date. We played as a team and won as a team. The pressure we put on them during the 2nd half broke their spirit and the goals came from all sides. It was Jacksons 9th birthday and sadly was denied a goal but play like a champ. I was very proud today to be the manager as the boys gave it their all. I'm sure we all look forward to a week off next but their is still much training to do. Well DONE!

Congratulations to Alexander Logan for last weeks outstanding performance - Gold Star Award

Coaches' Corner : As well as the half time fruit being fantastic the boys played fantastic as a team today and received the just rewards. From the goalkeeping through defence to midfield and on to attack everybody contributed something important to the game and as our esteemed manager has said it was probably our best game of the season thus far. A lot of the stuff we practised at training on Wednesday night was actually done in the game.Well done to all.

Training will be back at 6pm on Wednesday night, also as there is a bye next week I am proposing that we train instead probably from 11-12ish at either Browns or McCully Oval which is next to Browns on the bike track behind the scout hall it depends if there are many games on at Browns , McCully will probably be better.

The score ended up 3-1 to the Aspendale
Scorers: James Billings (1), Charlie Bloxham (1), Alexander Logan (1)

50's coaching in style

U9 - Sandringham Dolphins

Man, I'm gutted we did not win that game. The boys came out hard and played their positions well and went into half-time with a 2-0 lead. Everything was looking great until the 2nd half where we fell-apart. Players seemed to forget how to play and confusion reigned. It just shows how important it is to practise Wednesday night and to go through the drills. As a manager, and more so as a coach, it's hard to sacrifice a win but we need to ensure we rotate players but its getting more and more evident that we need to be tactical and play to our strengths. Bring on the training next week as we need a good home win on the 25th.

Congratulations to "The Team" for last weeks all-round effort. Putt-Putt vouchers for all.

Coaches' Corner : In the first half we played really well with some good moves and good goals, in the second half we lost our way bit and let Sandy back in to the game, we lifted again toward the end but we ran out of time. We will be back training this  week and i think we can get back next week if we focus on midfield coming back to help the defence which means a lot of running for midfield, the rest of the basics are there with the defence and attack going ok. Also thanks to Alex and Jackson for the goalkeeping today, if there are any volunteers for keeping next week let me or Jason know at training. With about 4 round to go overall we have been going really well with everybody improving there skills so bring on next week.

The score ended up 4-3 to the Sandringham
Scorers: James Billings (2), Harry Parker (1)

U9 - Sandringham Wolves

What a well balanced game, a cracker! So nice to see a full squad with Alex back. Our goalkeepers were great only letting in certain goals. The boys had fun and played hard. It's great to see the variety of players scoring with the coaches mixing up the play.  Thanks again to all the parents for volunteering their time to make the U9 Reds a fun team to manage. PS Your humble manager, and narrator, needs to work out a way to distribute snakes without the risk of injury.

Congratulations to "The Team" for last weeks all-round effort. Bakers Delight vouchers for all.

Coaches' Corner : The boys played well doing most of the right things but we need to make sure that the midfield players get back to help the defence otherwise we lose goals, that was probably the main area of concern from the game. We scored a few good goals due to good passing and teamwork so hopefully we can keep it going for the last few games. Our keepers James and Alex also did well with some good saves. 

The score ended up 6-5 to the Aspendale
Scorers: Charlie Bloxham (1), Karl Neubauer (1), James Billings (2), Thomas Lang (1), Harry Parker (1)

GO STINGRAYS! 

U9 - Aspendale Stingray's Blue

Practise pays off. The boys passed their way to a well deserved victory today. Every player gave it their all and nobody was selfish with the ball. Martin was a rock in defence but once again managed to save another goal with his head. After 5min with the ice-pack he was back on defending our sides honour and unbeaten run against the Blues's. We are all going to take a well earned break with training to start on the 8th of July. Thanks to all the parents, friends and family for making Saturday mornings a whole lot of fun.

Congratulations to Flynn on his "Most Valuable Player" award for last weeks all-round effort. 

Coaches' Corner : This was a game where we did all the right things , we did good running to the ball, passing the ball , making space and we scored a few good goals, which is all the stuff we have been practising at training. We just need to keep this good work going for the last few games.

GO STINGRAYS! 

The score ended up 6-2 to the Aspendale RED

Scorers: Charlie Bloxham (1), Karl Neubauer (1), James Billings (2) Thomas Lang (2)

U9 - Sandringham Sandy Stars

Today we played one of Sandringham's clubs (again).... Half the players were from the Wolves and a few from the Dolphins. Not sure why we only play Sandringham and Brighton but I guess the FFV had a moment when they put this league together. Where is Chelsea or Edithvale or any other sides that's within 5KM from us? Today we missed rotating players due to Karl and Alex not being available and we could not just not put any good plays together. The coaches were huffing and puffing but the boys could not make it work.

Congratulations to Thomas on his "Most Valuable Player" award for commitment to the team

Coaches' Corner : It was tough game and with 2 players missing we were on the back-foot all game, Sandy had 2 or 3 really good players which made the difference.We lost a few goals but we did a have a few good moves where we nearly scored and we got plenty of practice at defending.We can now move on to the next game.

GO STINGRAYS! 

The score ended up 10-0 to Sandringham

Scorers: Betelgeuse

U9 - East Bentleigh

Today was nerve-racking as just a month ago we walked all over this team. Things started off well with a quick goal and I remember saying we'll be scoring heavily here. Was I wrong! They came back with one of their own and we went into half-time a goal a piece. I was worried as East Bentleigh were fired up. Thankfully we found the net another two times to seal the game (Charlie with his 2nd hat-trick with the Stingrays). It was a great team effort and the boys can be proud of this win.

Congratulations to Martin on his "Most Valuable Player" award for playing being a rock in defence

Coaches' Corner : It was a game where we should have scored 6 or 7 goals but we could not seem to put the ball in the net, apart from that the boys played well and we ended up with 3 goals from Charlie. The teams were evenly matched and it was a good close game. We need to work on scoring at close range at training this week, the long kicks we practised last week at training went really well today.

GO STINGRAYS! 

The score ended up 3-1 to Aspendale

Scorers: Charlie Bloxham (3)

U9 - Brighton Rhino's

Today was the Rhino rematch and boys got a right old spanking in the 1st half. The Rhinos came out hard from the whistle and our defence was not up to the job and saw 7 goals go in before the half-time whistle. Tony then rallied the troops and brought out the best platter so far (you can see the pride). In the 2nd half we were continually under attack again but defence stood steady and we even managed to score a late goal, effectively drawing the 2nd half. The boys were just beaten by a better team that even had their names on their tops (I kinda like that idea). Looking forward to the away game and thanks again to all you parents who help with those menial chores.... Its appreciated.

Congratulations to Arun on his "Most Valuable Player" award for playing hard after a long lay-off.

Coaches' Corner : Today's fruit at half time was a fine selection of seasonal delicacies served on 2 silver platters with nothing left for the Brown's clubhouse rats after the boys had finished but remember there was also a football match also taking place which started off as a  baptism of fire for the Stingrays as Brighton had obviously made some new signings since our last encounter and we lost a few goals in the first half as we struggled to contain the onslaught, it was a relief to hear the ref blow the half time whistle. In the second half the Stingrays were getting used the tactics being used and although we lost one early goal we really stood up as a team and fought valiantly to the end and to our credit Karl scored a goal in the dying seconds of the match. In the second half all the boys stood up but today Jackson deserves a special mention for the way he played  which was really good to see.A deal is a deal and moths were reported to have been seen in the local vicinity as old Karl had buy young Karl many packets of footy cards as just reward for the late goal. (Manager EDIT: The little so and so got them)

GO STINGRAYS! 

The score ended up 8-1 to Brighton

Scorers: Karl Neubauer (1)