What a brilliant day we had to finish the season of 2006! The winds of the weeks died down and the heat was turned up as the Finals took place. The atmosphere was electric with anticipation as everybody involved wondered who would win the Grand Finals and who would win the trophies for what has been an amazing season.
SUBJUNIORS
Superb weather matched the players' zeal! Sam Daniher swiftly scored the Frogs' first goal, then Fynn Walker for the Polar Bears. Isaac Quattromini kicked a splendid goal for the Frogs. Darcy Gordon had a great sprint/dribble at one stage. Isabella Culmone (Frogs') kicked a great goal for the Polar Bears! Tom Cairns snuck the last goal in for Bears. Jeremy Ramm's efforts were sterling. All played a fabulous game and surprised/rewarded with trophies. Thanks Brian.
JUNIORS
Lions V Leopards
This game was a complete reversal of the result from the last time the two teams met. The Lions were only one point clear of the second placed Pumas in the Junior competition and were out to take the premiers trophies and were comfortable winners with a 4-0 win. The Leopards were again without their coach and tried hard all game but the Lions had the better of field possession and sealed the premiership as well.
Pumas v Tigers
This game was in the balance as well with the Pumas needing to win to have every chance of leaping the Lions and stealing the Premiership. The Tigers put in a big effort but were no match for the Pumas on the day!
The Award winners for the Junior division were:
Lions Premiers - Best and Fairest Wyll Holland and Coaches Award Lochie Ramm
Pumas 2nd - Best and Fairest Joel Clarke and Coaches Award Angus Bunn
Leopards 3rd - Best and Fairest Ben Howard and Coaches Award Josh Story
Tigers 4th - Best and Fairest Forbes Corby and Coaches Award Harry Shoemark
INTERMEDIATES
Trojan s v Gorgons
This was the second game in the battle for 5th place and the Trojans had a one goal lead heading into the game after their clash last week. The Trojans were out to put the game out of reach of the Gorgons and raced to a 20 lead in the blink of an eye. The Gorgons got one back but the Trojans were determined and managed to score two more times before the end of the first half for a 4-1 lead. The Gorgons scored first in the second half but so did the Trojans to take the game 5-2 and win on aggregate 10-6. One of the real achievers in the two games played was Luke Hemler who stamped his class and goal scoring prowess with seven goals in the two games.
Argonauts v Minotaurs
This game was the playoff for 3rd and both team coaches didn't want to put any pressure on the kids to be goal keeper so they both went in goals for the first half. The Argonauts had the better of the half and the Minotaurs coach George Sherriff found out what its like being a goal keeper but carried his team to half time to a nil all scoreline. The second half was a complete change with the Argonauts opening up the Minotaurs defence to put away three excellent goals and taking 3rd spot. The Minotaurs have played some brilliant football in the last month and turned their season around to finish two places above where they had finished before the finals started.
Titans v Cyclops
The Grand Final was here and both of these teams were evenly matched with some exciting clashes between the two teams during the season. The Titans had been a hard defensive line to crack but the Cyclops were playing some determined football with some players laying their bodies on the line. The game went from end to end with the Cyclops having a little more possession in their attacking half but the Titans were dangerous on the counter attack and managed to make the odd break. However the defensive line of the Cyclops have grown into an awesome obstacle and have not let a goal in for the last 160 minutes of football played in the season. This proved to be the difference as Rachel Willard managed to break away from the Titans defence and slot in a brilliant goal about half way through the second half. As hard as the Titans tried to get an equalizer the harder the Cyclops played in defence and this was to provide them with the win. Over the four week final series the Cyclops had gone through without conceding a goal and only scoring four. An amazing effort!
The Award winners for the Intermediates division were:
Cyclops Premiers - Best and Fairest Kaylah Jullienne and Coaches Award Matt Barr
Titans 2nd - Best and Fairest Will Atkinson and Coaches Award Tom Daniher
Argonauts 3rd - Best and Fairest Kate Goodwin and Coaches Award Kaitlyn Harrison
Minotaurs 4th - Best and Fairest Brianna Pont and Coaches Award Dylan Crisp
Trojans 5th - Best and Fairest Luke Hemler and Coaches Award Rachel Grant
Gorgons 6th - Best and Fairest Nicholas Toirkens and Coaches Award Ricky McCurley
SENIORS
Mash v Hogan's Heroes
This was the playoff for 3rd and Hogan's Heroes came out firing with some very well constructed attack. The pressure put on Mash's defense paid off with 2 early goals and they sealed the victory with seconds remaining in the game with another fine goal. Mash tried hard all game and were unlucky not to score at least one goal but Hogan's Heroes were to good on the day and won 3-0.
Dad's Army v F-Troop
This was as close as a Grand Final gets. Both teams gave it their all as they slugged it out for the win. Dad's Army managed to score the first goal but F-Troop equalized and the game was played to the end of normal time with the scores locked at 1-1. Extra time was played and the extra ten minutes couldn't produce a winner either so the game went to penalties. A very tense and thrilling penalty shoot out was played out with Dad's Army having the cooler heads for the huge occasion and winning the final 4-3 on penalties.
The Awards for the Seniors division were:
Dad's Army Premiers - Best and Fairest Harley Williams and Coaches Award Rhys Faichney
F-Troop 2nd - Best and Fairest Alec Kelly and Coaches Award Brendan Clarke
Hogan's Heroes 3rd - Best and Fairest Charlotte McClure and Coaches Award Jacob Camilleri
Mash 4th - Best and Fairest Kaylie Newell and Coaches Award Michael Ison.
I would like to make a special thank you to Anthony Stanley who has done a fantastic job setting up the fields each week and organizing the bbq each week also!
I would also like to thank all the Committee and Coaches who have put in a fantastic effort for the season and last but not least I would like to thank Alex Rea of the Braidwood Times who has gone out of her way to make the Soccer Club visible to the community of Braidwood and been a pleasure to work with! See you all again next year! Mark Roberts