Narrabundah Weekly News & Match Reports
28 July 2010
Narrabundistas
On the balance of results a pretty good round of matches for the club last
weekend:
3 wins, a draw and a loss. All teams are still in with a chance of finals
football in 2010, which is a very healthy sign.
Div 1: NFC 1 (K. Macdonald) lost to Queanbeyan City 3
Coming into this fixture NFC were in need of some valuable points to
remain in contention for their 3rd successive season in the
final 4, and although they produced a decent display they went down 3-1 to
a slightly stronger QBN outfit. Once again they were struggling to field a
fully fresh starting 11 with Serafin Ruiz and Brett Romero backing up from
Division 2, and Willy Schneider spending his first week on the sideline
following a 6 match ban. Brent Chick was moved to an attacking role to ease
some stress on his slightly strained calf, which saw Juan Damiano making
his second appearance in the central midfield role with Duncan Harrington.
NFC were holding good possession through midfield and were looking like
they'd be the first to score, however a slight misjudgement of a long ball
over the top saw QBN through on goal for an easy tap in past a helpless
Seri. Unlike past performances when going down to an early goal, NFC showed
some fighting spirit and levelled the match from a perfect Diego Rodriguez
through ball to Kenny Mac who produced deft little near post flick past the
oncoming QBN keeper. It wouldn't be long until QBN had taken the lead again
through another NFC mistake similar to the first, NFC going into the break
2-1 down.
The halftime break didn't seem help the reds, they came out with little
attacking drive or cohesion through the middle, and some sloppy mistakes
all over the pitch, however they managed to stay in the match until the
final few minutes… NFC were pushing forward to find an equalizer, providing
QBN with several opportunities to counter attack and manufacture their
killer blow with 5 minutes left on the clock.
It's not all doom and gloom for our Div 1 boys sitting bottom of the table,
they have produced some good performances on the back of injuries and
suspensions with little training. They still only remain two wins from the
top 4 and hopefully with some team unity and dedication, they can produce
what's needed to make reach the finals!
Div 2: NFC 1 (C. Padrotta) drew with Queanbeyan City 1
'Lionel Richie has Queanbeyan Dancing on the Ceiling'
Scoring
1 - 0 Padrotta 31'
1 - 1 L. Richie 88'
On a sparkling day in south Canberra, a Narrabundah side low on confidence
lined up against a side that has proven to be their bogey team this season,
the lowly Queanbeyan City. With a combination of hard running and non-stop
whinging both on and off the field, they are team that has always seemed to
unnerve a usually calm and collected Narrabundah side and so it was to
prove today.
From the off, it looked to be one of those days as Narrabundah faltered in
the face of Queanbeyan's high pressure game. As Queanbeyan continued to win
the ball in dangerous areas, Ruiz was called into action several times
early as the struggletowners failed to make their early dominance tell on
the scoreboard. And they looked to have paid the ultimate price as a cheap
turnover at the back allowed Padrotta to waltz in and fire home.
Narrabundah into the break with a scarcely deserved 1 - 0 lead.
Narrabundah re-emerged from the break looking to recover some of their
composure and to their credit, managed to at least match Queanbeyan for
most of the second half with a high pressure game that forced both teams
into a glorified game of force-em-backs. As per usual Queanbeyan resorted
to the strongest aspect of their game, whining and cheap shots, as more
than one Narrabundah player received a kick around the ankles behind the
play. Unfortunately, the referee was no assistance in this situation as
even the ones he did see he felt only fit to punish with a warning. As the
match dragged on and the struggletowners failed to create any clear cut
openings, they ramped up their whining efforts, at this stage putting the
output of many of the top of the range electrified whining machines to
shame. At this stage, despite their own filthy off-the-ball tactics, every
Narrabundah tackle became a red card offence and every contact with the
ball above the waist a handball. This 'pressure' eventually told. A through
ball managed to bobble it's way through the Narrabundah defence to find
Lionel Richie streaking through to score what will surely be the goal of
his limited career, under pressure, looping the ball over Ruiz only for it
to bounce in off the underside of the far junction. Soul glow bathed the
field as Richie and the struggletowners celebrated what I am sure they will
tell you was a famous 1-1 victory.
As the players trudged off, they could at least be consoled by the fact
that the feeling would have been pretty similar regardless of the result.
One of Queanbeyan's greatest assets as a team (and a club) is their ability
to make you feel like you have lost even when you have won convincingly.
This ability makes it very difficult for teams to get motivated to play
them and leaves everyone with that dirty feeling. For Narrabundah, despite
the recent poor run of results (which let's face it are losses to the top 2
teams, a win and a draw) are still sitting comfortable in 4th spot. But to
make any mark on the rest of the season, they will need to improve and
recover some lost confidence. The rest of the season starts tonight!
Div 5: NFC 2 (A. Russell, L. De Scoutheete) beat Tuggeranong Utd
1
'League heavyweights take a tumble'
The reds were up against title favourites Tuggies whose imposing goal
difference of +51 was enough to make most teams shake in their boots at the
prospect of taking on the boys from Kambah. Narrabundah had also been taken
to the cleaners (6-2) in the first leg, mainly due to the pacy Tuggies
attack taking apart an uncharacteristically static NFC defence in the first
half. Once that problem was remedied the reds matched their counterparts in
the second half and began looking forward to revenge in the return leg.
That day arrived on Saturday.....
Some undercover surveillance work by coach Mase last week proved
invaluable and a game plan was put in place: 'score more goals than the
opposition' - Brilliant !.
Tuggies were surprisingly slow to get out of the blocks and Remy was the
first to put a scare into their big green hearts with a header that the
Tuggies keeper saved at point blank range. It was only delaying the
inevitable however, and a cross from Matty was flicked-on by a stooping
Adrian to give the reds a deserved lead. This woke Tuggeranong from its
slumber and they began to come back into the match and forced Oscar,
returning from injury, into a series of fine saves. Jose was keeping the
opposition defence on their toes at the other end with his close control
and dribbling. The ref blew for halftime and the teams went in with NFC
ahead by 1-0.
During the break Mase stressed the importance of holding Tuggeranong out
for the first 10-15 minutes of the second half and the boys went out and
did just that. The defence was playing a fantastic game with Chalmers,
Marko, Steve and Captain Will all doing a fantastic job in keeping the most
dangerous defence in the league quiet. As Tuggies began to press forward in
numbers, Jose, Paolo and Laurent all found gaps at the back and were
unlucky to be called offside by the closest of margins on several
occasions. On the one occasion we did get free of the offside trap, a great
ball from the left found Jose whose mis-hit shot was gathered thankfully by
the keeper. Just when it started to look as though we might be losing
momentum, a great one-two found Laurent charging in on the Tuggies
goal....the keeper came out to narrow the angles and Laurent, with all the
calmness of Diego Forlan on valium, chipped the ball over the keeper and
into the net for a well-deserved 2-0 lead.
This bought Tuggies out of the blocks and into a full-on offensive on the
Narrabundah goal - this also meant that numerous gaps appeared in their
defence and we were very unlucky not to get a third goal through a
combination of poor finishing, great keeping and that 'damned offside
trap'. At the other end, Tuggeranong made the last 5 minutes a bit more
interesting with a scrambled goal in the 85th minute to give them a glimmer
of hope...but it wasnt meant to be. This was Narrabundah's day and the reds
held on for a famous victory that keeps them in the hunt for a finals
appearance. The most vital thing for the team, is that they show a bit of
consistency and win their following two games against Lanyon (Satuday) and
Woden (Tuesday) to set them selves up favourably for a tough run-in to the
end of the regular season and (hopefully) finals football.
Div 6: NFC 3 (M. Bass x 2, S. Hermes) beat Olympic 1
Div 6 have really found their form and have continued to play great
football for the past few matches, Saturday's game against Olympic really
demonstrated how good the Reds can be. Clearly the better team from start
to finish there was little the Olympic boys could do to break the
disciplined players in red as Narrabundah dominated possession, field
position and chances to score. After a number of opportunities in the first
half the Reds had to wait until the 40th minute for Scott Hermes to get
onto a nice pass from Matthew Bass, popping the ball over an advancing
Olympic keeper into the back of the net. Olympic did manage to get a
freakish equaliser from a magical deflection that travelled over everybody
and bounced into the goals and the next 10 minutes they worked hard to get
themselves back into the match. A couple of interchanges by the Reds with
20 minutes to go swung everything firmly back in their favour however,
Jacob Hermes devastating out on the right managed to get a great low cross
into the box and Matthew Bass put it away (2-1). Olympic started to
struggle as Narra didn't let up on the attack and Matthew Bass go his
second after taking on a few players and calmly finishing to confirm the
win (3-1). Another great win making it 10 points from the last 12 for the
Div 6 boys who all played exceptionally.
Masters: NFC 1 (D. Park) beat Gungahlin Utd 0
A change for the better this sunday, as
a fine turn out by the Masters was reciprocated by a beautiful sunny
morning. For the first time in living memory the team was blessed by having
3 subs on the bench, and apart from Goran and Ray (both out injured) it was
the first time a full strength side could be fielded. This fact became
evident within the early stages as Narrabundah started well. The midfield,
well they were also present for the first time in ages, and what a
difference it made. Passes were controlled and mostly along the ground and
to feet! The boys moved well and communication was certainly up on previous
games. At several points in the first half Narrabundah were playing with a
smile on their faces and actually looked as if they were enjoying
themselves.
The new set of circumstances were quite
a shock to the boys as it was a strange feeling not to be charging around
like a herd of bulls. With a ready supply of subs we reached half-time with
a goalless scoreline and a relatively fit and injury free squad.
Instructions by Em and Coops advised us not to panic on the ball, focus on
calling and making the run, and maintaining the flow of the first half; the
goal breakthrough would come.
And so it did. As I stood in the
cubicle of the dressing sheds at the start of the second half, having a
well earned pee, the cry went up "GOAL!!" I learned the truth on emerging.
Apparantly Davor, the mercurial Serbian Defender/Striker, had made a
glorious run towards goal. Just as he'd pulled the trigger, a sudden flurry
of excitement came from Danny. This was in part due to the fact he'd made
it into the second half without dialling '000' for his hamstrings, and
partly because he could see Davor was tired and so thought he'd help by
smacking the ball into the net himself. (1-0 Narrabundah).
The game continued with both sides
having chances but Narrabundah's defence and midfield coped with pretty
much anything Gungahlin threw at them. Utd played gallantly especially as
they lost a player in the 2nd half and were forced to continue with 10
players.
The next game is against Canberra
Olympic on our new 'home' turf! Lets use our recent outing at Hawker to
take all the points!
This Weekend
Saturday 31 July
Div 1 NFC v ANU @ ANU Willows 1 (North Road ANU) from 3pm
Div 2 NFC v ANU @ ANU Willows 1 from 1pm
Div 5 NFC v Lanyon Utd @ Conder 1 (Tom Roberts Avenue) from
3pm
Div 6 NFC V Gungahlin Utd @ Harrison (Katoomba St) from
1pm
Sunday 1 August
Masters NFC v Canb Olympic @ Hawker Enclosed from 9am
Good Luck to all teams !
The NFC Committee
"NARRABUNDAH FC - STATE LEAGUE CLUB OF THE YEAR"
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