St.Albans Strikers Futsal Club finished the Victorian Club Futsal Championships as the best performer out of all the entrants, after all five teams qualified for the semi-finals and two of the teams playing off in the Grand Final. Our teams were the talk of the competition, not only for the entertaining way they played, but also for our organisation and fair play. We dominated the group stages with all our teams winning their group games (apart from the U'14 with two losses). This is an amazing achievement, considering it was the first major tournament our club had participated in. It was dissapointing to see our U'11 and U'13 teams lose out in the semi-finals, after having been so dominant in the group stage, however I think everyone would have been extremely proud of their achievements. The U'14 defied the odds and made the grand final, with our U'16 winning an exciting final. The following is a summary of all the results.
U'11 STRIKERS - UNDERTAKERS
V Monash City JSC 3:2 win
v Melbourne Reds 3:2 win
v Camperdown 9:1 win
v Brighton JSC 5:0 win
Q/Final v BSA 8:1 win
S/Final v Monash 2:4 loss
A couple of hard fought wins at the start of the competition over Monash and the Melbourne Reds set up the competition. The strikers playing a great counter attacking style, with plenty of fire power up front. Great long distance shooting from Jonathan and Brandon was dominant throughout the group stages, with great defensive work by all team members. A great win in the Q/Final set up a re-match with Monash, with this time the tables turning, and Monash winning the vital match to qualify for the final. The boys were obviously dissapointed, but they are already planning their next tilt at a major competition.
Squad: Adrian Cannatelli, Jonathan Vakirtzis, Jamie Gazelle, Brandon Galea, Matthew Serrano, Gabriel Vallece, Matthew Zalewski, Jarvis Gardner
U'11
STRIKERS - LIL LEGENDS
V Melb Red Flames 5:1 win
v BSA 8:2 win
v Woodend 4:1 win
v Pumas futsal 9:1 win
Q/Final v Brighton JSC 2:2 draw f/t: pen 2:1 win
S/Final v Melb Red 1:3 loss
The team started the group stage impessively, scoring big wins over all of their group opponents. In fact they were the talk of the competition, with their skills and movement dazzling all before them. However as we all know, once teams qualify for the finals, it is a different kettle of fish. Brighton pushed the strikers all the way to penalty shoot outs, with us prevailing in a nail bitting fashion 2:1, thanks to some fantastic saves from Jayden. Unfortunately the magic run ended in the semi-final, with the well drilled Melbourne Reds putting out an almost perfect defensive performance to win 3:1. Now that the boys have experienced this type of competition, they are licking their lips at the prospect of playing in more of these type of tournaments.
Squad: Matthew Conversano, Christopher Pavlidis, Brayden Calleja, Anthony Caligari, Nathan Liberto, Matthew Bartolo, Nicholas Bartolo, Jayden Merceica, Samuel Logozzo
U'13 STRIKERS
V Australian BSA 6:2 win
V AFG 8:1 win
V Woodend 5:2 win
V Keilor Park 12:0 win
V Warrnambool 10:0 win
v South Melbourne 2:2 draw
S/F V AFG 1:6 loss
Strikers could not not have started the competition any better scoring 19 goals and conceding only 4 in the first three games. The boys dismantled Keilor Park and Warrnambool in the next two games scoring 22 goals and conceding none. In the last group game they played a strong South Melbourne side, with honours even 2:2. The boys were visibly fatigued after finishing the group stage, as they only had a squad of 6 and were not able to significantly rest their players. They met an ever improving AFG in the semi-final, with things not going to plan as a goal early to AFG and some questionable refereeing decisions put the Strikers offside. It only went from bad to worse as some of the boys sustained injuries, and the normal movement the team had been doing in the group stage evaporating with the tired legs. Once AFG got in front 3:0 they were happy to defend and rely on the counter attack. The strikers pushed forward as much as they could but could not penetrate their defense enough going down 6:1. The boys were unfortunately eliminated by fatigue rather than ability, as they were clearly one of the best two teams in the U'13 tournament.
Squad: Daniel Trajkovski, Stefan Dimeski, Peter Modafferi, Cody Nagy, Andrija Roksandic, Gabriel Zalewski
U'14 STRIKERS
V Cobras 3:5 loss
V Australian BSA 8:1 win
V Hammers 10:1 win
V Benchwarmers 3:6 loss
V Woodend 3:2 win
V Camperdown 22:1 win
S/F V Hammers 5:3 win
FINAL V Benchwarmers 3:6 loss
A fantastic effort from the U'14 Strikers to make the Grand Final in a St.Albans Strikers League showdown with the Benchwarmers, who continued their hold over the Liverpool regulars with a 6:3 win. The boys played some brilliant futsal during the tournament but also having spells of tiredness, perhaps related to the boys late night antics. Who knows what they could have done with a full nights slee? The boys particularly peaked against the Hammers smashing them 10:1, in a near perfect game. If they played like that against the Benchwarmers they would have been in with a greater chance of knocking them off. Congratulations also go to the Benchwarmers who have played at the Strikers Futsal Centre in the last few years.
SQUAD: Micky Belay, Vincent Manoria, Domenic Manoria, Adrian Logozzo, Jem Berkant, Christian Longhitano, Ayhan Karaylan, Matthew Bontorno,
U'16 STRIKERS
V Warrnambool 22:0 win
V Baxter 12:5 win
V Victorian Lions 4:3 win
V Warrnambool Rang 11:3 win
V Cobras 8:4 win
S/F V Baxter 6:3 win
FINAL v Vic Lions 6:5 win after extra time
Last updated: Thursday July 9, 2009 7:17PM
Author: Robert Lakovski
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