EDJSA U18 Comp

[OldRedback]

No lefty I'm not from a Fed club - as you now know! I have been at a few clubs and still sick of get the rough end of E&D's stick - I know it can't be perfect and accept that but changing plans at the last minute - that really is frustrating and, dare I say it, amateur.

[povman_2009]

The competition is on, we played a short handed Ingle Farm today and despite scoring the first goal we found ourselves 3 - 1 down at half time. Some great football by the farmers and some poor choices by our guys. Gave them a good talking to at half time and we turned it around, got back to 3-3 and that seemed a fair result in the end, congratulations to the farmers for putting on such a good effort with 2 men short for the whole game. And well done to their keeper with two top drawer saves in the dying minutes to keep them in it. To the farmer lad who scored from a freekick in the first half, that effort deserved to be on TV, looking forward to playing you again... good luck.

[lefty]

Gardens boys have now worked out they can play soccer and went 1 nil up against TTG only to give an easy goal away soon after from a corner without giving a contest in the box (good header). Both teams had chances but we didnt take them TTG got a goal on the break then a penalty for pushing in the box :? . Final score 3-1.

Well done to the TTG coach for dragging a player for swearing at opposition coach I wouldve done the same.

Some of these hot headed U18 lads need an early lesson in discipline ours included.

[povman_2009]

Para Hills East played Parafield Gardens this weekend, the final result was 6-1 but at one stage the Gardens closed the gap to 2-1 and seemed likely to make a charge, another great game by the Gardens keeper but he could not stop the onslaught in the end and we ran over the top of a tiring Gardens team with 4 late goals. A special mention to number 8 for PHE who scored with a cracking long distance drive (about 30 yards) off one step, and nearly repeated the dose not long afterwards. The first half was littered with missed chances to PHE and in truth the score line should have been 4 or 5 nil instead of just 2 ... Gardens are certainly on the improve and look likely to take points off some of the other teams at some stage. The top 3 seem to be very competitive with each other and it makes for an interesting league battle for the rest of the season. Discipline was one of my 3 goals at the start of the game and apart from one incident it seemed to be quite good.

[povman_2009]

This weekend saw a titanic struggle between PHE and TTG, we took the lead 3 times and ended up losing 4 - 3 to a last minute goal, very frustrating day , highlighted by another 30 yd special from one of my lads , who tragically put one over the bar with an empty goal in front of him when we were 3 - 2 up, the football gods are cruel masters sometimes...

[GULLY BOYZ]

The football gods were cruel for PH East by the sounds Povman . But they were smiling on TTG !!!

[lefty]

The football gods were cruel for PH East by the sounds Povman . But they were smiling on TTG !!!

Hopefully the gods will be shining on the Gardens this week up at Gully and we can pick up our first win

[povman_2009]

The football gods certainly did not smile of PG this week, they went down 9-0 to TTG Wanderers, the other TTG team Rovers managed a 3-3 draw with first placed Ingle Farm, a great result for the Gully Boyz, in PHE's game against MV the tide ebbed and flowed throughout an entertaining first half which saw the scores locked at 2-2, with another new contender for goal of the year scored by our left winger from an extremely tight angle, one of Vistas goals was a cracking long range free kick, I am constantly amazed at the quality of goals being scored in this league. The second half saw possession shared evenly but all the goal scoring was at our end and we finsihed strongly to record a 6-2 victory, the scoreline somewhat flattered us as Vista had a lot of the ball in attack but could not shake our tight defence and some outstanding saves by our keeper. The league ladder is very tight after all the teams have played each other once, Ingle Farm on top with 11 , PHE second with 10 and TTG W closely following on 9 points. The predicition of a tight league battle is certainly coming true. Only Ingle Farm remain undefeated at this stage but they have had two 3-3 draws so they are obviously not rock solid at the back. I am looking forward to the next round of games with a lot of interest.

[lefty]

The football gods certainly did not smile of PG this week, they went down 9-0 to TTG Wanderers, the other TTG team Rovers managed a 3-3 draw with first placed Ingle Farm, a great result for the Gully Boyz, in PHE's game against MV the tide ebbed and flowed throughout an entertaining first half which saw the scores locked at 2-2, with another new contender for goal of the year scored by our left winger from an extremely tight angle, one of Vistas goals was a cracking long range free kick, I am constantly amazed at the quality of goals being scored in this league. The second half saw possession shared evenly but all the goal scoring was at our end and we finsihed strongly to record a 6-2 victory, the scoreline somewhat flattered us as Vista had a lot of the ball in attack but could not shake our tight defence and some outstanding saves by our keeper. The league ladder is very tight after all the teams have played each other once, Ingle Farm on top with 11 , PHE second with 10 and TTG W closely following on 9 points. The predicition of a tight league battle is certainly coming true. Only Ingle Farm remain undefeated at this stage but they have had two 3-3 draws so they are obviously not rock solid at the back. I am looking forward to the next round of games with a lot of interest.

Well they were smiling on Saturday for the Gardens against TTG in my U9's game they won 7-1.
But Sunday was another day the Gardens lads were very disappointing full credit to TTG they obviously have a few injuries at the moment with a few lads having to fill in from U16 or U15 game before hand.

[povman_2009]

The football gods certainly did not smile of PG this week, they went down 9-0 to TTG Wanderers, the other TTG team Rovers managed a 3-3 draw with first placed Ingle Farm, a great result for the Gully Boyz, in PHE's game against MV the tide ebbed and flowed throughout an entertaining first half which saw the scores locked at 2-2, with another new contender for goal of the year scored by our left winger from an extremely tight angle, one of Vistas goals was a cracking long range free kick, I am constantly amazed at the quality of goals being scored in this league. The second half saw possession shared evenly but all the goal scoring was at our end and we finsihed strongly to record a 6-2 victory, the scoreline somewhat flattered us as Vista had a lot of the ball in attack but could not shake our tight defence and some outstanding saves by our keeper. The league ladder is very tight after all the teams have played each other once, Ingle Farm on top with 11 , PHE second with 10 and TTG W closely following on 9 points. The predicition of a tight league battle is certainly coming true. Only Ingle Farm remain undefeated at this stage but they have had two 3-3 draws so they are obviously not rock solid at the back. I am looking forward to the next round of games with a lot of interest.

Well they were smiling on Saturday for the Gardens against TTG in my U9's game they won 7-1.
But Sunday was another day the Gardens lads were very disappointing full credit to TTG they obviously have a few injuries at the moment with a few lads having to fill in from U16 or U15 game before hand.

Gee I hope for their sake they were not U15's playing under 18's that would be against the rules must Have been under 16's or 17's even though they play at the same time as under 18's I would hate to see them lose points for playing ineligible players

[GULLY BOYZ]

Steady on Povman !! Im sure our coaches know better than that !! Looks like it could be a good league this year with all teams looking like winning against each other on any day !!

[lefty]

Steady on Povman !! Im sure our coaches know better than that !! Looks like it could be a good league this year with all teams looking like winning against each other on any day !!

Well when I handed the match card to the ref after filling it in there was only 10 TTG names on the card and I think 2 or 3 players that had just played were included but dont know what age group they just played in. Doesnt matter they could of been u14 and still won the way we played.

[povman_2009]

Chin up lefty, I have had good and bad seasons with my team , as long as they remain focussed on achieving small targets and move forward as a group you are getting somewhere, in fact one year we had the parents giving the team a clap for getting a corner... I also used to record the amount of time we went without conceeding a goal and a few other things just to challenge them.

[povman_2009]

Well this weeks games saw some movement in the ladder with a loss to top of the table Ingle Farm seeing them slide down ever so slightly, and a win to PHE see them take over at the top, although with the top 4 separated by only 3 points it is a very open season indeed. Parafield Gardens is still stuggling to find it's feet and went down 9-1 to Vista, it must have felt good to get a goal though ... In the struggle between PHE and TTG R the game was settled by a brilliant hatrick to our #15 who continues to go from strength to strength, the game see sawed one way then the other throughout and both teams looked to have chances to take all the points. In the end our lads held on tenaciously with only 11 fit players, against a full squad of 15 for the Gully. The wet ground took its toll and our players will be looking for some rest at training this week, in the lead up to another big game next week against Ingle Farm... The game istelf was marred with 4 yellow cards , two for dissent , one to each team , it seems these lads just do not want to be told what to do... The quality of the football belied the conditions and I must say I am enjoying the eveness of the league this year.

[povman_2009]

Not sure of the other results this week, E&D website has updated the cup games but not the regular games played by the older divisions, the top of the table clash saw a 2-2 draw as the result between Ingle Farm and Para Hills East, somewhat against the run of play PHE took a 2-0 lead into half time after two well taken goals against the run of general play. With 40 minutes to hold out it seemed almost inevitable that the Farmers would come back and back they did and with 5 minutes to go it was 2-2 ... a fairly fought contest without too many dramas on field, one yellow card but the ref was in control for the entire game and it was played in a competitive manner without too many dramas. If anyone has other scores would be keen to see them...

[GULLY BOYZ]

Hey Povman, good to see all going well so far !! I think from talking to the coaches both Gully teams won their games, dont hold me to it but, a 4-1 win aagainst Modbury vista and a 2-1 win against para west. As I said, think this was right but could be wrong !!

[povman_2009]

Cheers Gully Boyz...

The Para West would be Parafield Gardens, they have been struggling in the comp so far so good to see them getting closer to a result, Vista have found the going tough in the last few rounds after a solid start ...

Well with both Gully Teams winning the ladder should look like the following

TTG W = 15 points
PHE = 14 points
Ingle Farm = 12 points
Modbury Vista = 10 points
TTG R = 8 points
Parafield Gds = 0 Points

No team is undefeated after 7 games a handicappers dream... with Gardens to get some points on the board soon...

[GULLY BOYZ]

Thanks for that mate, your right tho,to be honest, the way it has gone so far, any team can beat anyone on any given day !!!! Which is great to see for the first year running. I also think its great to hear that the finalists in the Challenge cup will be playing at Hindmarsh !!! Will be great feeling for the lads !! Good luck to all teams !!

[povman_2009]

Cup is going to be a hoot, as there are only 6 teams in the league the 1/4 finals will see two teams get a bye into the semis, the other 4 teams will playoff against each other for the other two spots , will be a big day the draw comes out... (fingers crossed)

[povman_2009]

Another very competitive round with one exception the top of the ladder TTG W comfortably defeated their clubmates TTG R 6-1 , at Para Hills Oval a dogged struggle between PHE and Parafield Gardens saw PHE emerge 1-0 victors after squandering a myriad of chances and seeing almost an own goal bring them undone with a defenders clearance hitting the post and going wide... The game was one of the more dour struggles in the league this year and there were certainly no prisoners being taken by either side. The ref seemed to lose control of the game at times and I feel there is a need to step on dissent and follow up clashes much earlier in the games. The PG keeper was injured late in the second half, (his shoulder popped out, according to his coach), hopefully the young lad is up and ok today as he certainly paid a large part in the scoreline being so tight. In the other clash in the group a close scoreline saw Ingle Farm 2-1 winners over Modbury Vista, an improvement on recent results between the two teams for Vista but still no joy ... Next week sees the TTG W top of the ladder versus the second placed Para Hills East, however with suspensions and injuries ruining the PHE side it could be a long 80 minutes for us...

[lefty]

Our best result so far this season even with 2 keys players out with injuries. Keeper is doing fine thanks Povman fortunately no serious injury just hyper extended it but was in a fair bit of pain hopefully he's ok for this week couldnt afford to lose him too.

[povman_2009]

This week saw the most one sided round of the season with all the losing teams failing to score a goal between them, PHE (with 3 key players missing) went down to top of the table TTG W in a game that never reached any great heights for either team, TTG W did enough to score 4 goals and were never seriously stretched in the game. This is the only team that has beaten PHE all season and they currently deserve to sit on top of the ladder. In the other games Parafield Gardens could not build on last weeks solid performance and crashed 5-0 to Ingle Farm, whilst Modbury Vista returned to form with a solid 4-0 result against the TTG R...

[GULLY BOYZ]

Well done Povman keep up the good work I look forward each week to read your write ups ! Sounds like the TTG Wanderers are going along quite nicely at the moment ! What do you and Lefty think of the standard of the 17/18s seeing as they could well be the future of our clubs in the next year or two ?

[povman_2009]

I think the teams that are made up of older lads like TTG W and Ingle Farm have a fair sprinkling of talent that should move comfortably through to the seniors next year, the other teams that are mostly U17 players have some more development to go but it will be there, there are some lads who could move up comfortably now but some of the others need to grow up physically to withstand the pressure and hardness of seniors.

At PHE I would just like to be able to get my best 11 on the park for a game and try to make some headway into the lead TTG W have built up.

[povman_2009]

Sorry guys no reports for a while have been busy interstate and overseas with work.

In summary the seson seems to have panned out with TTG Wanderers maintaining a level of dominance , although they did suffer a defeat at the hands of Ingle Farm this week. The battle for second spot is between PHE and Ingle Farm but the hard work is ahead of my PHE squad as we have not managed a win against the Farmers all year. Two draws and a loss.

TTG Rovers pulled off an upset two weeks ago beating Ingle Farm , but then the Farmers bounce back this week to knock off the top team, it is starting to get a bit Topsy Turvy ...

Parafield Gardens again pushed hard for their first points of the year but went down 2-0 to Modbury Vista...

A few rounds to go and the second spot is their to be had ...

PHE this week had a solid 5-1 win over TTG R , who must have been still coming down from their upset win a week ago.

[Kramd]

I have read this thread throughout the year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a son who plays U16/17's and often see glimpses of the U18 games that you have spoken about during the year.

My interest, though, is in what's going to happen with the U18 comp for next year (ie 2010). As we all know the E&D hierachy are not usually a strategic bunch and will put off what needs to be done today, until tomorrow. With that in mind I thought that I would have my say.

I see the E&D U18's comp as a breeding ground for the SAASL seniors. The best of the U18's players will make up the core of the senior side in future years, with the stars probably coming from Fed clubs. If this is so, then, E&D need to be working with their new best friends SAASL, to ensure that the U16 through to U18, are getting the best preparation to join the senior teams that they will end up being such a big part of. Currently I don't really see much evidence of E&D doing anything with the SAASL regarding growth and development of the 'older' juniors. Perhaps some sort of wider scope for the U18 comp to include other junior associations. ie SAASL Club juniors or Southern Districts. Maybe even a change to U20 format to allow a smoother integration of juniors and seniors, where there could be promotion from the U20 teams into the seniors, based upon performance. At the moment though, it would seem that the integration between SAASL and E&D is only as deep as the joint announcements that happened a couple of months ago. There seems to be no substance to the relationship.

What's your thoughts? and are there any strategic thinkers amongst the E&Dor SAASL that may take up the challenge?

[lefty]

Sorry guys no reports for a while have been busy interstate and overseas with work.

In summary the seson seems to have panned out with TTG Wanderers maintaining a level of dominance , although they did suffer a defeat at the hands of Ingle Farm this week. The battle for second spot is between PHE and Ingle Farm but the hard work is ahead of my PHE squad as we have not managed a win against the Farmers all year. Two draws and a loss.

TTG Rovers pulled off an upset two weeks ago beating Ingle Farm , but then the Farmers bounce back this week to knock off the top team, it is starting to get a bit Topsy Turvy ...

Parafield Gardens again pushed hard for their first points of the year but went down 2-0 to Modbury Vista...

A few rounds to go and the second spot is their to be had ...

PHE this week had a solid 5-1 win over TTG R , who must have been still coming down from their upset win a week ago.

Gardens have already scored their first points Povman 2-2 against TTG Rovers in Rnd 20 but the results arent posted yet. We certainly arent the easy beats we were early on and the boys are still pushing harder to get that 1st win. Do we play each other again

[GULLY BOYZ]

I have read this thread throughout the year and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have a son who plays U16/17's and often see glimpses of the U18 games that you have spoken about during the year.

My interest, though, is in what's going to happen with the U18 comp for next year (ie 2010). As we all know the E&D hierachy are not usually a strategic bunch and will put off what needs to be done today, until tomorrow. With that in mind I thought that I would have my say.

I see the E&D U18's comp as a breeding ground for the SAASL seniors. The best of the U18's players will make up the core of the senior side in future years, with the stars probably coming from Fed clubs. If this is so, then, E&D need to be working with their new best friends SAASL, to ensure that the U16 through to U18, are getting the best preparation to join the senior teams that they will end up being such a big part of. Currently I don't really see much evidence of E&D doing anything with the SAASL regarding growth and development of the 'older' juniors. Perhaps some sort of wider scope for the U18 comp to include other junior associations. ie SAASL Club juniors or Southern Districts. Maybe even a change to U20 format to allow a smoother integration of juniors and seniors, where there could be promotion from the U20 teams into the seniors, based upon performance. At the moment though, it would seem that the integration between SAASL and E&D is only as deep as the joint announcements that happened a couple of months ago. There seems to be no substance to the relationship.

What's your thoughts? and are there any strategic thinkers amongst the E&Dor SAASL that may take up the challenge?

Kramd, I agree with what you are suggesting or writing about, but , I think you have to sit back a bit a look at the way teenagers are these days, past history shows that these lads in the under 18s comp, will either do one of 3 things,1/ join their Senior team next year, 2/ look at going Federation or 3/ give football a miss for a year due to work comittments and find themselves going out with the mates then getting side tracked from football. I think it is solely ( at the moment) on the Club that they play for to look at keeping these lads. It has taken 3 years to get under 18s off and running due to insufficient numbers. Let alone trying to start a under 20s or 21s ? Its a hard one to fix but I would have thought the CLUB should be on to these lads, as they are the future players ?

[povman_2009]

Sorry Lefty, did not mean to short change you, yes we do play each other again at some stage.

Re the discussion around the whole concept of U18 and the amatuer link up, I am still amazed at the lack of a bridge between the two groups , even at our club where I have been coaching for 5 years, I have never been introduced to the seniors coach, or in fact even met him.

Gullyboyz is right as the clubs have it in their interest to watch these lads over the season and try to work out which ones of them would be assets in the future, but sadly it does not happen, it might as well be a grand canyon between us even though we share the same name.

Regarding the proactive nature of E&D in setting up the U18's it beggars belief that there was no real promotion last year that there was going to be a competition , there were rumours, and whispers but nothing official. Build it and they will come. In fact my entire squad is U17 and we got registered as an U18 team, still not sure why ... but it has been fun so not grumbling.

Do they have a future in E&D , no idea, has anyone posted any information about it on their website , no, has anyone contacted the clubs / coaches about it , not sure but I doubt it very much.

If they want it to continue they have to give people an eye to the future by letting them know what the plans are.

[GULLY BOYZ]

Thats a little sad to hear Povman that the seniors dont take an interest !! Last 3 years we have invited all colts to attend at least 3 training sessions throughout the year! It helps them greatly to first get to know the Senior players and also helps them pick up a few pointers from the Senior Coach and lastly they can see for themselves that the "BIG STEP UP" isnt as big as they thought it was going to be. Is the PHE committee a joint Junior and Senior committee or separate !!