WA Over 55's - 2009 Match Reports

WA vs TAS - Monday, September 28, 2009

The WA 55 team secured a 2 - 0 victory over Tas in their first game of the tournament. 
After a nervous start during the first ten minutes W.A. settled and found good structure. With some good patterns they soon had Tassie under pressure with numerous raids into their circle, forcing the Tas goal keeper - Paul Whiddon, to make some fine saves. With the W.A. midfield dominating and putting together many good attacks a fine goal was scored by Greg Allen from a raid down the right hand side involving at least eight passes between four players until the ball was passed across the circle for Allen to hammer home! 
Another fine save on the line by the Tassie fullback robbed W.A. of a second goal from a Rob Lawson short corner strike in the closing minutes of the first half. 
Half-time score 1-0. 

Due to some injuries to W.A. players in the second half, they seemed to lose structure and time, losing their mid-field dominance. 
The game became scrappy, however W.A. were still able to put together many raids into the Tassie circle forcing short corners with Whidden continuing to have a blinder, making many fine saves. 
With about ten minutes left on the clock, Robbie Lawson scored W.A.'s second goal with a fine shot from field play, driving the ball past Whiddon. 

A good victory first up with some good play from most of the team. The defence was solid with the halves putting together good clean passes to the forwards. 
Ralph Untersteiner, Dudley Evans and Paul Wright combined well with their inners Dennis Baker and Maurie Giles, especially in the first half. 
Some small corrections in certain areas and the W.A. team are sure to cause most teams in this division a few headaches. 
Short corners 8+ to W.A.; Tassie 1.

Result: WA 2 - TAS 0

Goal scorers: Greg Allen 1, Rob Lawson 1 

Best player as nominated by WA: Ralph Untersteiner 

Best player as nominated by TAS: Maurie Giles 

WA vs QLD - Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A tough, keenly contested, close marking scrappy affair dominated by the defences, played under lights at 6:30pm on a cold but dry evening. 

Queensland scored mid-way through the first half, putting away a loose ball that had deflected to the left side of the circle. 
W.A. equalised a little later in the first half when Tommy Long cleverly deflected a firm drive into the circle from Ralph Untersteiner. 

The score remained locked at 1-1 until the dying minutes of the second half when Pete Fogels scored - capping off some nice work and entry into the circle by Tommy long. 
Best players for W.A. were Greg Wood who hardly put a foot wrong at fullback, and Paul Wright who had an outstanding game at left half, closely marking and nullifying a dangerous Queensland strike forward.

Result: WA 2 - QLD 1

Goal scorers: Tom long 1, Pete Fogels 1 

Best player as nominated by WA: Greg Wood 

Best player as nominated by QLD: Greg Wood 

WA vs ACT - Friday, October 2, 2009

In an early morning game the ACT caught a drowsy WA 55's on the hop with speedy movement of the ball and long through passes from their fullbacks to their high forwards. 

Initially the ACT looked faster to the ball while the WA side gradually lifted their pace. 

Soon, Tom Long was creating problems for the ACT trapping fierce through balls and making darting long controlled runs with the ball. 

The WA defense, Greg Wood and Keith Gilbride were looking in control until 20 mins in the game when ACT scored a field goal after a cross to the left hand side. 

WA goalie, Doug Colman was called on to make several fine saves at corners and field play in both halves. 

Ray Norton made a welcome return to centre half having missed the first two games because of an injury. He made many lunging tackles and sent forwards raiding with some fine passes. Unfortunately the forwards were not able to capitalise on many opportunities, particularly in the second half. 

WA could have at least equalised several times but were off with their finishing skills today. 

Paul Wright had another very good attacking and defensive game at Right Half and was voted man of the match by his team. Danger man Tom Long was voted man of the match by the ACT players br> 
Result: WA 0 - ACT 1 
Goal scorers:  
Best player as nominated by WA: Paul Wright  
Best player as nominated by ACT: Tom Long 

WA vs NSW - Sunday, October 4, 2009

After a disappointing result against ACT, the game versus NSW was eagerly anticipated. Each year NSW have set a consistently high standard of excellence and it would seem that everybody in the team was ready to play! 

We came out of the blocks flying and within 10 minutes Greg Allen had slotted a hard shot under the goalie from his left wing position. 
The team strategy to have our CF marking Dennis Cranston when they were in posession and to have Ralph untersteiner closely marking Peter Sweeney proved very effective. 
Their game plan was restricted and we were passing the ball quickly and with a precision missing versus ACT. 

Relentless pressure on the NSW defence resulted in a Short corner that was converted by Maurice Giles. 
NSW fought back before half time but were held out by our man-of-the -match, goalkeeper, Doug Coleman. 
He was ably supported by the competition's fastest defender, Greg Wood and a bloodied Keith Gilbride. 
Knappy did his bit, with his butt, caving in the ribs of Russel, a speedy NSW defender. 

The second half saw our defence constantly under pressure as NSW could see their title as the premier team in the competition slipping from their grasp. 
However Duds and Paul Wright were unflappable on the defensive flanks. Ray Norton, Ralph and Jim Campbell were grinding away on Cranston in the centre of the pitch minimising the damage from mid-field and creating scoring opportunities. 
The only flaw in the defence was the umpire, who awarded a goal after he had blown the whistle for a short corner! 
We contined to pressure the NSW defense particularly via Dennis Baker and Maurie, well supported by Peter Fogels, Robbie and the Ferret. 
It was with considerale relief - and satisfaction - that the final hooter sounded. 

Special thanks to Peter Morgan for his team management and Cameron Fairbrother for his assistant coaching during this game. 

Result: WA 2 - NSW 1 
Goal scorers: Greg Allen, Maurie Giles 
Best player as awarded by WA : Doug Colman 
Best player as awarded by NSW: Tom Long

WA vs WAC - Monday, October 5, 2009

Result: WA ? - WAC ?

Goal scorers: 

Best player as nominated by WA: 

Best player as nominated by WAC: 

WA vs VIC - Wednesday, October 7, 2009

This match, the last of the round-robin games, was a vital one which would determine our finishing position; a win would see WA finish 1st or 2nd, a draw would place us second and a loss would see us finish fourth. 

We welcomed Peter Morgan back to the team list after his calf and achilles injuries. The rest of the the team, with the help of our Sports Trainer, Phil Watkins, was in reasonably good shape. 

WA started the match strongly and confidently with good structure and impressive ball movement. 
The first 20 minutes or so was played primarily in WA's attacking half. 
Mid-field marking was particularly strong with Victoria being forced to make risky passes which were intercepted by WA's defence or went over the side line. 
However, despite WA's early dominance, we only had a few clear shots at goal and only a couple of short corners which were saved by the Victorian goalkeeper. 
The deadlock was broken about 20 minutes in when a good build-up down the right hand side saw Dusdley Evans cross into the circle where birthday boy Pete Fogels pounced on a loose ball to knock it into the net. 

WA continued to play quite well without capitalising further, with the Victorian goalkeeper making some more good saves. 

In the second half, fatigue allowed Victoria back into the game a little as they raised their intensity. 
With approximately 10 minutes to go, Victoria was rewarded for their effort with a goal from a deflection in the circle on a short corner play. 
For the last few minutes of the game, WA's composure was tested, particularly when a couple of long passes each found a Victorian striker on the circle. 
One of these produced a great diving save from WA goalkeeper, Doug Colman. 

The score remained at 1-1 until full-time which was enough to secure second spot in the standings behind NSW. 
The team is now looking forward to the semi-final against ACT on Friday. 
Having achieved objective one by making the finals, most of the team enjoyed their evening before the rest day at dinner and the musical Jersey Boys performance. 

Result: WA 1 - VIC 1 

Goal scorers: Peter Fogels  
Best player as nominated by WA: Dudley Evans 
Best player as nominated by VIC: Dudley Evans 

SemiFinal WA vs ??? - Friday, October 9, 2009

Result: WA ? – ??? ?

Goal scorers: 

Best player as nominated by WA: 

Best player as nominated by ???: 

Final - WA vs ??? - Saturday, October 10, 2009

Result: WA ? - ??? ?

Goal scorers: 

Best player as nominated by WA: 

Best player as nominated by ???: