The McDonalds Kanga Cup 2006 has drawn to a close and the Braidwood Junior Soccer Club has had its most successful experience in the 5 years of participating. All our players played with determination and commitment and showed the Football community of the ACT what we are capable of.
Our Bendigo Bank Bull Ants under 17/18 girls lead the way with an outstanding tournament which started with the opening match of the tournament played last Sunday after the opening ceremony against a New Zealand Team at Canberra Stadium. They had the narrowest of losses in this game and had plenty of positives to take away from the game. Our girls were in the Plate Division but were also playing against tougher Cup teams due to the lack of teams involved in both age groups and both Divisions. The following days saw them defeat 2 Canberra teams, 1 Cup and 1 Plate and draw with another Cup team. They had 2 tough losses to the other 2 Cup teams but a fantastic win against the other Plate team which provided them with enough points to make the Grand Final on Saturday. The Final was to be played against the New Zealand team they had met in the opening game of the tournament. The girls had grown as a team during the week and were confident of putting in a strong performance. The rain tumbled down the night before the game and the field resembled a swimming pool in some places. The girls played with plenty of spirit and had a lot more chances than the Kiwis but they had a quality striker who opened the scoring after around 15 minutes. The girls dug deep and put it to the Kiwis in the second half and were unlucky not to equalize but the Kiwis managed to seal the victory with around 10 minutes to go with a goal against the run of play. Even though the girls didn't come away with the win, their fighting spirit which was on display all week created a respect from the opposing teams that they played against and will never be lost. The Bendigo Bank Braidwood Bull Ants under 17/ 18 girls were Runners Up and had a fantastic tournament. Well Done Girls!
A big thank you to Super Coach Kevin Lang who handled the team superbly and a big thank you to Libby Collard the manager of the team who made sure the paperwork was in place for the girls to play each game. Another big thank you to all the Parents and Braidwoodians who followed the girls around the fields of Canberra, your support was a big part of their success.
Our Braidwood Agencies Bull Ants under 14 boys had a very tough week but never gave up in any of their games. The boys were up against some very well polished teams from Canberra, Goulburn and the Southern Highlands. Some of the games resembled Cricket scores but our boys once again put in some good performances and consolidated some unconvincing starts to their games with stronger finishes. The Kanga Cup is as much of a test of courage and character as it is a Football tournament and the coaches of the other teams our boys played against commended our boys' camaraderie and never say die attitude even if the odds were stacked against them. This unique team spirit was rewarded with the Braidwood Agencies Braidwood Bull Ants under 14 boys receiving the Fair Play award in their Division at the Awards night on Thursday.
A big thank you to Nick Fry who coached the boys for the week and to Jillian Atkinson who was the Manager. All Parents and friends who supported the boys for the week should be congratulated on their behaviour as this is also a part of the criteria involved with winning the Fair Play Award! Well done boys!!
Last but certainly not least our Harrison and Sons Stone Fruits Araluen Braidwood Bull Ants under 13 Girls side had an outstanding tournament but were unlucky with injuries. They opened their tournament with a fantastic win against the Monaro Panthers when Rachel Willard slotted home a great goal. Our second game was against Weston Creek and we let in an early goal but controlled the rest of the game to get a draw with a cracking goal by Tamika Murphy. We created plenty of chances but just couldn't finish them off for the win. Our third game was our second game of the day on Tuesday and we were up against Belnorth. We had control of the game but around the 10 minute mark of the game lost one of our best players with ligament damage and the girls minds were never on the game after the incident. It's nice to know that the girls care about each other but our minds weren't on the game and we let in 2 soft goals for our first loss. Our fourth and final game for the rounds was against Majura and we played extremely well without luck. The Majura side capitalized on the one defensive error of the game to get the lead with about 10 minutes to go. We created a couple of chances to get a draw out of the game but couldn't finish them off.
This took us into the quarterfinals in 4th place with Majura leaping us into 3rd position. The finals were structured like this: 1st going into the grand final, 2nd vs 5th and 3rd vs 4th. This meant we were to play Majura to get into the Semi Finals against the winner of the other QFinal.
Our girls were confident and took the lead with another good goal to Rachel Willard early in the second half. We then lost our goalkeeper due to a hip injury and were reduced to replacing her and upsetting the structure of the team. The girls were playing extremely well but Majura wouldn't go away and with only around 30 seconds left on the clock Majura equalized with an outstanding goal from a free kick from just outside the 18 yard box. Our girls were devastated with the game seemingly being ours but cruelly going into extra time with the real possibility of a penalty shoot out to get a result. With 10 minutes each way of extra time and our girls running themselves to a standstill Majura managed to get the winning goal just 5 minutes from full time. Our girls were shattered and tried valiantly to get another equalizer but time ticked away and we went down in what was a cruel end to a great tournament. We lost the game 2-1 but gained the respect of the opposition and were the only side to beat the team that went straight into the grand final. This was an emotional end to our campaign with glory being snatched away from us with seconds on the clock. The competition the girls were in was such a tight one that every game was a thriller and their coach and manager had no voice left by the end of it! Girls you have done yourselves, your families and me proud!!
I would like to thank Tracey Harrison for her brilliant managing of the girls and paper work for the week and for keeping me in line during the week! Also for her extra effort prior to the tournament in organizing and helping to make it such a success for BJSC. I would also like to thank my wife Lorraine for putting up with me for the months leading up to and during the event! To all the Parents and friends of the 13 girls thank you for your support during the week and I think you'll agree that this team put in a massive effort and have the potential to do something special in the future!
For Braidwood to go over and play against teams that train 2 nights a week and have been playing with each other for years and to be as competitive as we were is a testament to our local competition being a successful enterprise.
To cap off the successful week and give our Harrison and Sons Stone Fruits Araluen Braidwood Bull Ants under 13 girls something to smile about was the individual award won by our very own Kate Goodwin. On Thursday night I attended the Kanga Cup Gala Awards evening at Canberra Stadium with Kate and her family to watch her take the Runners Up Award for the Player of the Tournament in the under 13 girls Plate Division. Kate was ranked 2nd best out of about 80 players in her Division. A fantastic achievement for Kate and our Club!
Finally I would like to thank Steve Stubbs and Kevin Lang for driving the buses every day and for the patients shown in getting them all back safely and in one piece. I would also like to thank all our sponsors as we couldn't be involved in this huge event with out your continued support: Bendigo Bank, Braidwood Agencies, Bensleys Buses, GB Autos, Braidwood Servicemens Club, Braidwood Rural, Harrison and Sons Stone Fruits Araluen and Landmark.
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