RAGS TO RICHES -Under 9s feature report

Hotspurs' youngest team is doing the club proud in the first half of the season, only dropping its opening match - due only to a shortage of players.

A wine next game would see us join Albury United at the top of the ladder.

After struggling the past couple of years, due to being a very young team, the boys have come of age this year with Tim Holt, Shaun and Jason Dalitz, Ryan Bazzana, Jonathon Lindsay and Kai Ward all enjoying their second year in Under 9s.

Our squad of 12 welcomes back Liam Ellis along with recruit Oliver Haynes, who both played Rooball together last year.

We also boast three eight year olds in Jake Gardener, Michael Hawkesworth and Jason Dalitz.

This leaves us, believe it or not, with two seven year olds in Ben Clement and Daniel Gordon.

These five players will augur the success of the 9sin the future.

At one end of the field Kai is doing an impeccable job goalkeeping, while at the other end Tim, Oliver and Shaun are a very formidable forward line, netting some memorable goals.

Liam, Johnny Ben and Jason form a great defence while Daniel, Jake, Ryan and Michael cause havoc in the midfield.

Good luck Under 9s - this could be your year.

Not the best soccer we've played but good enough to take the points on the day. Some patches of brilliance from the ever reliable Mills and strong performances from Bones and Ryan. Good scoring machine Robbie Tuksar bagged both goals and even had time for some aerial acrobatics. With Gunning pulling off some brilliant saves and Harbick strong in defence, it gave us the three points and keeps the dream alive. It must have been the inspirational talk by super coach.

A top first half saw us up 2-0 with cracking goals from Ryan. The second half however was a drought although many opportunities were created. Excellent games from Peter, Nat, Ryan, Thomas, Trevor, Nick, Ian and Dave. Great to see improvement from Matt, Omar, Will and John. Michael and Elliot kept the Melrose defence working overtime. The test of your ability comes next week when we play leaders Myrtleford twice in four days.

Score at half-time 5-0.

Score at fulltime 5-0

A pleasing effort from this team and a particularly strong second-half. Rhys played well in goals. Phil, Finny, Jonesy and Rodney had good games. Well done team.

Good play by all. The effort this week was far superior than all previous weeks put together. It was good to see every player have a good go all game. Great goal-keeping by John. Thank you to Under 12s subs Luke, Matty, John. Parents there is an orange roster out. Please remember that we are required to set up the ground on June 4 at 7.30am.

For the second week in a row, we came back from 2-0 down. The team must learn to play for the whole game and avoid nap time. Two nice goals to Matty P. Well played Briggsy, Kristy, Matty P and Seato. Come on Under 12s, let's recapture last year's attitude and application.

At last, the dream team played to their potential. The game started poorly with Melrose scoring an early goal but this new and improved outfit used the goal to inspire them to greater things. Several excellent passages of play led to Hotspurs getting the upper hand which resulted in two goals. Melrose pegged a goal back and at half-time the score was 2-2. The second half saw the boys absorb all the Melrose pressure and the game finished at 2-2. Great games from the whole defence and Todd and Alex in goals. Great goals from James and Daniel who scored his third goals in as many weeks.

Fantastic team play by all players. Great goalkeeping by Tom for all of the game. Great goals by David 1, Daniel 2, Tim 2. A reminder about the orange roster. Please let Ernie know if you have not got a roster please.

Another good performance by the kids. Shaun with two goals and Tim with the other. Best players Shaun, Oliver and Ben. Coach's best Tim, Jake and Michael. Big game next week. Good luck.

MilestoneFor sheer dedication and a dash of stupidity, the Gunnings, assistant coach Peter and star recruit Elise, for turning up on Sunday when there was no game. Elise was even dressed, shin-padded up and ready to run on the field.

Some advance for club meetings which are held every month at the Termo Hotel starting at 6.30pm. They are Sunday, June 25, July 16 and August 6.

Next week we play Myrtleford at home. All teams play except Under 9s who have a bye. NOTE NEW KICK-OFF TIMES for Under 10s and Under 11s. The unders will kick-off at 9.30am instead of 8.30am and the Under 11s have a whole new time of 3.30pm.

With a must-win game facing the Thirds on Sunday and the following Wednesday night against ladder leaders Myrtleford. The Hotspurs Herald is interested in their fortunes so next week, they are our feature match report. The Under 9s are a hard act to follow after turning in a great report this week.