The Warragul United under 10s fought out a nail biting thriller at Baxter Park in front of a parochial home crowd on Sunday morning.
The visiting team from Springvale looked very professional in the warms-up and carried that momentum into the opening 10 minutes. Springvale scored a flurry of goals from quick breaks and looked like they may run-away to an unassailable lead early on.
Ben Kelly in the goals was being put under pressure but appears to be growing in confidence each week. To stem the Springvale scoring, coach Dave O'Dea brought on debutant Hudson Zeldenryck, who skipped into his first game full of running and showed promise.
Lochie Chandler and Shyam Packery lifted their game to a new level in the latter stages of the first half and effectively shut down the Springvale offence in mid-field. Tyler Hanson forced numerous turnovers, which created plenty of opportunities for the forwards. Noah Meyer pounced on one of these and scored the only goal for Warragul in the first half, a rocketing ball passed the goalie. At half time Warragul was 4-1 down and looking rather despondent.
No-one really knows what sort of a message coach Dave delivered to his loyal troops at half time, but it must have done the trick.
The young Warragul guns come out after half time looking and playing like a different side. Logan Newsome shut down Springvale's best player and Noah "Macca" McIntosh scored soon after half time to bring Warragul back into the contest.
Eddy Marriott and Zac Robinson took it up a notch and provided some solid running down the wings, as Springvale clearly started to tire. Riley Nankervis took full advantage and fired three goals in quick succession, to not only level the score but put Warragul back in front with only minutes left to play.
Warragul continued to press home their advantage and could have been up by two, if not for some stella defensive play from Springvale. Despite a late chance for an equaliser, Warragul gained their first victory 5-4.
Under 11 boys
The boys went into Sunday's game against Bentleigh Greens as underdogs but showed they have what it takes to compete against the big Melbourne clubs.
Jake Vu started in goals for the first time and was under pressure early with some crucial saves. The central midfield pairing of Sidney Box and Jesse Davis held their positions well and created offensive spark, spreading balls wide to Hudson Riess and Isaac Sharp who were a constant threat down the wings.
It was Warragul United that broke the deadlock with a good build up and goal.
The game flowed with both sides attacking hard and Bentleigh equalised before Warragul got in front again. Some encouragement and direction from coaches Stuart Davis and Cooper Farr at half time spurred the young Warragul team on and when Jimmy Fkiaris slotted home their third goal it looked like they would hang on for a win.
Despite the defensive skill of Lewis Manzo, Jun O'Connor, Beckham Bremner and the super impressive Oliver Lee, Bentleigh were able to score an equaliser. Awards went to Oliver Lee, Hudson Riess and Jake Vu.
Under 13 girls
Warragul under 13 girls played a hard fought game against Pakenham, going down 0-4.
Alana Wilson and Ruby Reidy played well as a team up front with multiple shots on goal and were unlucky not to covert. Georgia Nankervis was solid in the midfield for the first half and took up the goalie gloves in second half with a couple of inspiring saves. Summer Spencer was solid in goals first half, stopping lots of early shots and kept their defense busy playing forward second half.
The United defenders were working well together with Amelie Williams, Asha Earwicker and Taleah Webb sharing the defensive line. Jennifer Coveney and Anika Nair stood out in midfield with good pressure and clever passing with Amelia Freeth and Edith Box both competitive in the wings.
Under 13 boys
Warragul United enjoyed a dominant 9-1 victory in their first home game of the season against the Peninsula Strikers.
A solid defensive unit of Ethan Bruce, Remy Butler, Mak O'Connor and Julian Bremner steadied the ship early as Peninsula used their bigger bodies to blast United off the pitch.
United thwarted the attack, then released the ball to the wingers Hamish Crosbie and Francis Fleming, who were creating space out wide.
Archie Halkett-Dobson and Harrison Sharp took control of the midfield and Max Lyons created havoc with his speed up forward.
A great through ball ended up in front of Harrison and he took on the last defender, beating him and the goal keeper to begin the onslaught.
Goals came in thick and fast to end the first half with Hamish tucking away an excellent flick on from Max Lyons, Julian Bremner then smashed one in before Max Zeldenryk came off the bench tand slotted one. Max Lyons beat the keeper to round out the 5-0 first half.
The second half started as more of an arm wrestle. In the end it was Warragul's superior passing and teamwork that broke Peninsula, with Harrison Sharp having four goals and Lucas Black two assists.
Peninsula were awarded with United forced into an own goal, before Lucas broke through for a goal of his own.