The Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend put many sporting pursuits on hold and gave athletes the chance to rest and recuperate last weekend, however one of the few sides which still took to the field was the Braidwood Combined U13’s side, which played against Burgmann on Saturday afternoon.
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Braidwood coach Fred Saunders said that his team were expecting a tough match going into the weekend, and it was, in part, due to the excellence of their defence that they were able to come away with a 5-0 win.
“We were expecting a competitive game, we didn’t know how it was going to play out because we didn’t know what our numbers were,” he said.
“Across the board the defence was really good. And even our throw-ins, like Laynee and Jorja who were taking the throw-ins for us, even though they’re girls they were throwing it further than I could throw it.
“The back three, Tara, Kayla, and Jorja, they were just outstanding.”
However, one area in which Braidwood will need to improve ahead of finals is their communication, or current lack thereof.
“A lot of the times, the players aren’t calling for the ball when they’re in the open,” Saunders said.
“They just need to communicate across the board there, and a few times just in the middle, they need to stop competing with each other for the ball and let the mids get it and get it through to the forwards.
“We need a bit more communication and a little bit more organisation out in the middle there.”
The victory will help to consolidate Braidwood’s position inside the top three on the ladder.
Next Saturday, the team will take on Canberra Grammar. As Grammar sit only one spot below top-ranked Majura FC, Saunders was wary that their next opponents could pose some very difficult problems for Braidwood.
“That will be a tough game,” he said.
“They have got a fairly good team … I think they’ve picked up a few more players recently.
“Even though our defense was outstanding on the weekend, we are playing a better side so they need to step up and not relax.”
- Further photos on Page 11