Palerang United took on second placed Belsouth and the team was pumped to perform well after a great performance from the previous round. The game started with an intensity that saw plenty of attacking opportunities for both teams. Twinkle toes Johnny Milner was back from injury up front and with a birthday during the week was keen to play well. A dashing run from midfield from Keith Acheson saw the ball land at Johnny’s feet and with a swizzle and a jink and some tight ball control on the six yard line Johnny took the shot and scored. Palerang United 1-0 up after only 5 minutes. Belsouth were stunned and took a while to get into a rhythm due to some excellent defending from Troy Clark Ben Pritchard Mitch Moon and Jai Gulia. An arm wrestle developed between the two teams for the rest of the first half with the game evening out.

Halftime came and went and the game took on a different complexion early in the second half with several injuries to key players and Belsouth took advantage scoring 2 quick goals after 15 minutes into the second half. Palerang United dug deep though and a free kick taken by Ben Pritchard saw the Belsouth keeper fumbled the ball and Scott Birkett  pounced  on the spoils to score and level the score at 2-2. Belsouth hit back immediately though as Palerang went from a bench of four players to no replacements for the final 20 minutes due to injuries to 6 players. Belsouth maximised on all opportunities and scored another 4 goals to finish the game victorious 6-2. The injuries certainly cost Palerang United in the end but it was pleasing to see the men compete for most of the game. Andrew Crisp was good in goals saving plenty of shots and saving a penalty as well. Better luck next time fellas.

Next week Palerang United take on Burns FC at Kambah and hopefully some players recover enough during the week to be fit for the game.

Mark Roberts

PALERANG UNITED WOMEN DOMINATE NARRABUNDAH

Palerang United women took on third placed Narrabundah at Calwell and a fantastic game was played. New signing Tamika Murphy hadn’t played for 5 years but was on her game early and sent an early shot skimming past the post and terrorised the Narrabundah defence for the first 15 minutes. The defence of Palerang United cancelled out each attacking raid from Narrabundah with Lauren Campbell Kaylah Jullienne Cheyenne Whitmore and  Tamara Roberts all performing well. Callie Bolitho and Neridah McMinn controlled the centre of midfield really well and created good chances for Jo Park Matilda Corby and Lauren Turner up front. Yet another attacking raid from Palerang united finally proved to be too much for Narrabundah and Tamika Murphy slotted in the shot on goal in the top right hand corner.  The Narrabundah keeper was outstanding for the rest of the first half though and the score finished 1-0 at halftime. The ladies were pleased with their first half and knew if they were in with a chance to cause an upset if they played with the same intensity in the second half. Narrabundah had some early opportunities in the second half but Lauren Campbell was outstanding at sweeper reading their attack really well and always seemed to be in the right position when needed. This saw Matilda Corby get more ball and feed it well to Jo Park and Phoebe Lang up front. Jo Park scored Palerang Uniteds second and her third goal in three games which made the score 2-0 midway through the second half. Jaye Coble defended extremely well at right back and her determination saw a free kick given in our defensive third of the field. Matilda Corby took the free kick and the speed of Phoebe Lang saw her race past the Narrabundah defence and slot the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal past the outstretched hand of a diving keeper. The game finished 3 -0 to Palerang United and this strong performance saw the ladies make it 5 wins in a row. There is a great feel with the team at the moment with all aspects of their game improving. The second half of the season may see great things happen if the ladies keep playing so well.

Next week the ladies play Tuggeranong United at Kaleen. Good luck ladies!

Mark Roberts

PALERANG UNITED UNDER 15 MEN

Palerang United FC 13 vs.  Radford Collage 0

“Who scored that one?” was the question the spectators heard on many occasions from the Team Manager, Kylie Bunn.

A bumper crowd turned up for the 3.10pm match of the day, with the Palerang lads coming off a loss from the previous week, hoping to make amends. They did not let the crowd down.

From the first sound of the referee’s whistle, the team was focaused, playing grear touches and most importantly, letting the ball do the work. It was terrific to watch and by half time the Palerang boys were up 4-0. The half time secret sugar intake along with head coach Murray Smith’s motivational speech showed immediate impact.

A game can be well and truly won and lost in the 5 minutes before and after half time, it did not happen today. Murray was heard to say, “Don’t give up at half time. Concentrate on winning the second half.”

It was by far the best game of the season. There were plenty of near misses in front of goal from unlucky players like Monty, Arian, Louis and Rhys. When called upon, our defenders Isaac, Harry F, Zac and Tristan handled pressure situations beautifully, being able to turn defence into attack effortlessly. 

Our goal scorers, Kieran 5, Gus 2, Tim 2, Harry J 2, Callaum 1 and Lockie with a header goal that will remain in everyone’s memory for a long time, 1. The beauty of all these goals scored was the build up to be in a position to score, which was most evident today.

As head coach Murray Smith always says, “behind every kick of the ball, there has to be a thought.”

Nick Fry