14^th April 2008 Newsletter Number 4 　

Dear Hotspurites,

DRAW FOR THIS WEEK

DRAW for SUNDAY 20th APRIL

HOTSPURS v SS&A at Glen Park ALL Teams play at normal times- 14Girls have a Bye

Unfortunately you will get this newsletter a week late due to unavoidable circumstances. Ian is putting an interim report together for our next gamed you will get two weeks in one.

**** Finally the award for our best report using the word of the week “pandora” judged by the newsletter editor (me) goes to the report of Mark Setterfield of the U10’s. You can pick up your drink prize at the canteen when we have a home game. An easier word for next report is “shower”.

MATCH REPORTS
Under 10’sWon 8 – 2

With a bye last week against Benalla, the players were disappointed but the parent who was on report writing was not!!...”sasquatch” indeed!! … and then comes ”Pandora”……

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus ordered Hephaestus, the god of craftsmanship, to create her and he did, using water and earth. The gods endowed her with many talents; Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo music, Hermes persuasion, and so forth. Hence her name: Pandora, "all-gifted".

Our ‘all- gifted’ U.10’s had their first official run for the season on a bright sunny Sunday at home in front of a big crowd of eager spectators. Against the team that came 2^nd to them last season, they were determined to shine and that they did!! Coached by David and Marcus there was plenty of hope and plenty of enthusiasm and by match end plenty of skill shown! With 3 on the bench there was a lot of movement off the bench and around the field. Alex B. and Lewis did a stirling job in goals, Brodee’s defensive header was spectacular, Will Heath’s orange boots skillfully intercepted many passes in defense and he was ably assisted by Alex A., Patrick , Daniel (whose father should check his wrist) and Liam. A flurry of action upfront saw Tom, Michael, Setter, Alexander and our 2 Sams work the ball with skill and determination and they were ably assisted by Alex B and Lewis.　

When Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Pandora to Epimetheus, Prometheus' brother. With her, Pandora had a jar which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her natural curiosity, Pandora opened the jar, and all evil contained escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the lid, but the whole contents of the jar had escaped, except for one thing which lay at the bottom, and that was Hope… well we hoped we’d win; we did and the moral of the story is to “think outside the box”!!!

GOALS Tom- 3,Sam H -1 Setter -1, Alexander-1, Alex B- 1, Sam T- 1,

Under 11’s V St. Pat’s Won 2 – 1

A "Clash of the Titans" from last year saw a tumultuous struggle at Lambert Park on Sunday. Early season form had seen St Pats bang in 27 goals in 2 matches to sit high aloft the league table and our boys were sent on with the clear message that points win league titles, not goal difference. That message may have taken some time to be absorbed as our lackadaisical start saw a quickfire goal to a fired up Patties gang and lots of back pedalling from the Spurs boys. It took a good 10 minutes to make a worthwhile incursion into enemy territory and another 10 minutes to strike the jackpot. Blake Robbie's excellent cross picked out our marksman Jack Day who tiptoed around the defence before adroitly finishing to equalise at 1-1. Joe Davies made some crucial tackles at the back, providing Lewie with some much needed protection. St Pats came out fired up after the break and kept piling on the pressure but Garth Lewin marshalled his defensive troops at the back to effectively repel all further trouble. Effective use of header by Gus, Blake, Brewy and Jacob saved the day at the back while Dom Baker, Zac and Gus did a fine job through the midfield and on the flanks.　Brandon made some good saves in the second half while Chris, Euan and Will hassled the ball away from their opponents with good effect. Having resisted a barrage of corners　it took until　the dying minutes of the match　for us to be treated to a very special goal. Having a little rest in the backline after having run himself ragged, Dom Brew ran onto a St Pats clearance about 45m from goal. The bouncing ball was met by Dom's sweetly struck half volley which cascaded skyward, reaching a cruising altitude of 30 metres, before descending back to Planet Earth and slipping under the crossbar for a stunning goal. Much jubilation ensued, as did a harrowing 90 seconds of opposition pressure, before the shrill, sweet sound of the ref's whistle brought a conclusion to another Spurs-Patties epic. Congratulations to players from both teams for an entertaining game played in great spirit.

Goals: Jack Day, Dominic Brew

Under 12’s V St. Pat’s Lost 1 - 4
Under 12’s Girls V St Patricks Lost 1 - 4
Under 13’s V St. Pat’s Draw 2 - 2

With the help of some great players from the under 11’s, under 12’s and under 14 girls, the Under 13’s kept their unbeaten 2008 record intact, with a 2 – all draw.

It was a fantastic game of attacking football from both sides in the first half. The ball moved from one end of the field and back again at a furious pace. It was St. Pats who scored first when they managed to wrong-foot the defence and put one past Chris Bridle in goals. Prior to that Chris had kept the forwards out of the game with some attacking goal keeping.

Hotspurs didn’t have as many chances but strong lead up work from Michael, Nida, Sinead and Ezra McNair put Sam Brouwer into a position to score his first goal for the club – he didn’t disappoint !

The rest of the first half was a tough struggle with neither side able to take the upper hand.

The backline had been brilliant in the first half led by Jack Percy, Ben Hooppell and Ben Pearce. The second half was going to be even harder with the wind against them. The ball was often sent into our defensive half only to be repelled time and again. Jack Percy in particular was rock solid.

Against the trend it was Jack Day, Thomas Shabella, and Esmond who combined to take us to a 2 -1 advantage, via a corner which Esmond sent into the back of Pandora’s box.

Coach Wright lost his voice as he tried to get the team past the winning post. Despite a fighting defence, St. Pat’s managed put a long ball up into the air which the wind took sailing past the diving hands of 2^nd half keeper Ben Hooppell. Two goals each with no time for either side to steal a win. The result was a good reflection of the match. Thanks to the fill-in players, Jack, Sinead, and Esmond.

Under 14’s V St. Pat’s Won 8 - 0

We welcome Darcy to our team for his first game with Hotspurs. At the start of our game the wind was throwing the ball around a lot and while we had many shots at goals we couldn’t score. Our first goal came from Harry running through the centre of the park past several St Pats players then put it in the back of the net. Our next goal came from an indirect free kick. Will tapped it to Johnny who chipped it into the goal square for Harry to head into the goals to score his 2^nd. Johnny scored after the ball criss-crossed in front of the goals. Johnny’s 2^nd goal came from a great pass by Nick which Johnny put in the back of the net. Our 5^th goal came from Johnny running through the centre of the field and placing the ball in the net. The second half started with Nick scoring a goal from a great cross from Will. Johnny scored for the 4^th time. Our last goal came from Connor chipping the ball over the goalies head. Thanks to Ethan and Matt for going in goals so Sam could have a run on the field and a great team effort by everyone.

Under 14’s Girls V St. Pat’s Lost 0 – 5

Under 16’s V St. Pat’s Draw 2 - 2 St Pats brought on an exciting, close and tense match, where everyone put in a great deal of effort to make sure we did not go down.Two goals scored by St Pats early on left us desperatly making attempt after attempt to make a comeback. By halftime we were down 2-1 and some fresh legs on the field added to the intensity of the match. We managed to get one more back before halftime to equalise the score at 2-2. We'll beat 'em next time spurs! Thanks to all of the thirds players who played down to make up for a big lack of numbers. Good goals from Aleki also Phil's 'cross'.

Under 17’s Girls V St. Pat’s Won 1 - 0
Thirds V St. Pat’s Won 7 – 0

A new season for us our first real game ,the boys started off reasonably well trying to push the ball around but it took a while to get into the rhythm until Erik started the ball rolling latching onto a ball and putting it away. This gave rise to new enthusiasm and Chris rose to the occasion with two fine solo efforts to put us 3-0 up at the break. After the break the boys continued to try and play the ball around Zac heading away a nice cross by Erik then turning provider for Mick to open his account for the season quickly followed by a nice run to put away his second. The last goal was a nice combination by Robbie B ,Eggy, laying the ball on for Erik to put away his second. Good work by Josh and Robbie G .in defence a good start for the season

Reserves 　V St. Pat’s Won 3 - 1
Ladies V St. Pat’s Lost 0 - 2
Senior Men 　 V St. Pat’s Draw 2 - 2