On Monday afternoon, we hosted South View for a Year 3/4 football match, still looking for our first victory as a team. Whilst we had performed very well in our last two outings, we didn't quite manage to be on the right side of the scoreline. However, this was the day that it finally did go our way. 

We set up with an attacking 3-2-1 formation with the wingbacks instructed to get forward and support the attack, this very quickly paid off as we managed to press their back line, and Tommy scored a goal to make it 1-0. We kept using our energetic press to our advantage, pinning South View back in their half, and grabbed 3 more goals through Finley x 2 and Isaac to head into halftime with a 4-0 lead. The boys were deservedly elated at halftime as we were so dominant and limited South Views' chances to score.

Heading into the second half, I encouraged the boys to keep doing the right things, and there would be more opportunities for goals. When you start to win a game convincingly, everyone wants to get on the scoresheet. Because of this, we seemed to lose our way in the first 5 minutes of the second half, and their number 9 carved through our defence on 2 separate occasions to make the score 4-2. This was the wake-up call we needed, and we quickly reorganised ourselves. After this, we won a free kick near the halfway line, and Finley stepped up to take it. I encouraged him to shoot as he has a thunderous left foot, and wow... did he shoot... He unleashed a vicious strike that nestled into the top right corner of the South view goal, which knocked the wind out of their sails. From here on out, we had numerous chances to score, and we ran away with the game, with the final score ending up being 9-2 to us, with goals coming from Ethan P, Jack x 2, and an own goal.

I was incredibly proud of our performance. The boys worked and pressed as a unit throughout, took their chances well, had some wonderful passages of play and ultimately all gave 110%. I am starting to see them understand and implement the tactics I am giving them, which is making them more cohesive as a team and will ultimately lead them to more success. Ethan and Antony were exceptional in goal, making some fine saves and building out the play from the back. Jackson was a rock at centre half and had a great battle with their striker. The wingbacks, Blake, Oscar and Ethan P, all showed so much energy to support the attack and defence. Tommy, Finley, Jack and Isaac had some phenomenal link-up play in the middle of the park and going forward.

Team: Ethan P, Blake M, Finley P, Tommy S, Ethan W, Jackson W, Jack W, Isaac L, Oscar A and Antony M-K