15 August 2009 : Vasco da Gama U11C 0 Durbanville U11D 1
Written by Rory O'Donoghue
Monday, 17 August 2009 12:22
We arrived at a wet and slippery Da Gama park to play 4th placed Vasco and hopefully keep
the u11 D's unbeaten record intact. Vasco are formidable opponents and you can always
expect a tough match.
We adopted a more traditional 4-4-2 formation as opposed to our normal 4-3-3 in order to bring
an extra midfielder in (with our Cup game last Sat, we were a little light-weight in the middle).
Before kick-off I had emphasized the need to keep our shape and to look up, pass and move,
and I must say I was really proud of the way the boys kept to this game-plan....it was a pleasure
to watch, even with the pitch being very slippery and control difficult at times. Four of our regular
players were out for the day, but it showed the spirit in the side with the other boys stepping up
and fitting in well.
We dominated possession for most of the first half with Daniel Meisinger, Michael Basson,
David Adekayode & Damon-Lee Coetzee controlling the midfield. Callum Morris, our captain for
the day was having a stormer at right back, defending and passing well. Michael Mouton and
Ethan Buhler, our strikers, were running well but the final ball through was just eluding us and
Vasco defense was very solid. It seems they had stuck their best players in the centre of
defense.
A strange incident happened when the ref blew the 1st half after only 14 minutes (should be
20min) - the score was still 0-0. A parent pointed this out to me, and after asking the ref (who
did not seem to know the rules), he agreed to play the 6 minutes. Our goal finally came when
we were awarded a free-kick just out-side the big box. Daniel Meisinger stepped up and
cracked a beautiful right-footed shot over their tall keeper and into the corner of the net for his
7th goal of the season - a lovely goal and a 1-0 lead to us....just reward for the positive way we
were attacking. The half time whistle blew shortly afterwards.
The 2nd half saw us have all the possession once again. The ref was not blowing for some
tackles which was frustrating, and when Ethan Buhler was fouled in their box and no penalty
awarded, things did heat over slightly when I approached him and asked him to please protect
all players from these tackles. Ethan was visibly hurt, and that was not good to see. We need
the ref's to protect our children from bad tackles - fairness needs to prevail on all fronts.
Anyhow, Ethan was finally up after being treated...thankfully.
Our defense line of Dayne Maddock, Ryan O'Donoghue, Tristan Brand & Callum Morris were as
solid as ever, and never allowed Vasco to have a shot on goal. Tristan Brand at centre back
was impressive in this position. Michael Mouton, who had run very well today, was replaced by
Shakes (our pint sized striker). Shakes tried hard, but was very tightly marked as Vasco
remembered him scoring against them in our home match.
With a minute or so of play to go, Vasco were awarded a free-kick just outside our big box after
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15 August 2009 : Vasco da Gama U11C 0 Durbanville U11D 1
Written by Rory O'Donoghue
Monday, 17 August 2009 12:22
a ball over our defense was judged to have hit defender Ryan O'Donoghue on the arm as he
cut it out. As the Vasco striker hit it, I thought it was going in (I'm sure most parents did), but
alas......Patrick O'Donoghue (our keeper) jumped up high with arms out-stretched and managed
to palm it away for a brilliant save - the ball was cleared from danger and a sigh of relief from
the side-lines. The final whistle blew shortly afterwards and a well deserved and hard fought 1 0 victory to Durbanville.
Well done to the boys on the way the you played today - you kept your shape, you passed well
and never stopped running - the unbeaten run continues and 31 points collected out a possible
33. Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet though - we still have some hard work to do before
we can clinch the league.
A close call today as everyone played well, but man-of-the-match goes to Callum Morris for his
solid performance at right back (that captains' arm-band must have helped). Play of the day
goes to Daniel Meisinger for his superbly taken goal. All in all though, a great team effort. Well
done boys !!
Next up - 3rd placed Edgemead at home.
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