State Cup Match Report – O35.1B – Game Date: 19/05/2019

BMFC O35.1B: 4
vs
Select club: 1

BMFC Goal Scorers: Chicken (3), Zap

Player of the Match: Played superb on the wing – Chicken

Match Report: State Cup v Greystanes

Ah the romance of the Cup! We set off bright and early for our home game, at Auburn, against Greystanes. Far too early as it turned out with the game before us running late and then going to Golden Goal to decide the contest (Paul, you owe half the team $5 each as the yellow team won)

Cobra negotiated the extra admin involved with a State Cup game well. It was the first time the player cards had been utilised and oh dear, some of the player photos more resemble a police line up than fighting fit footballers – see below

Pre-match warm up saw The Dentist nut meg Prince Archie at least 3 times – ‘come on, come on ‘ave it’ was Archie’s cry as he steamed in to make the tackle followed by ‘cor blimey guvnor’ as The Dentist did him like a kipper once again

We noticed Greystanes had a much larger, well chiseled version of our own Thor and all hoped we didn’t have to mark him

Finally game time arrived and with the players all hanging around the centre circle the referee and two linesmen in shiny new bright red shirts strided out from the club house, past all the players and across to the far side line. About turn, shoulder width apart, then strided back across to the centre spot. Very official officials

The game itself we largely controlled. Greystanes were reduced to long range efforts in the first half, Double Fist untroubled. Captain Marvel split the defence with a ball through to Chicken who plucked the ball away from the on coming keeper and into the net. Before half time Mark Sem beat one of Greystanes ‘SC’s’ and passed onto Chicken running through on goal – poultry in motion – two nil

In the second half, Chicken rose high to a cross to peck home his hat trick. Zap joined in, nodding in a fourth from a super Brad cross. Greystanes pulled one back but we’d done more than enough and through to the next round and hopefully a lucrative home fixture for the club to swell its canteen coffers

Match Report – O35.1W – Game Date: 19/05/2019

BMFC O35.1W: 5
vs
Springwood United FC: 2

BMFC Goal Scorers: Felts(3), Ghost, Ads

Player of the Match: The weather

Match Report: 9am kick off and plenty of absences through injury, fatigue, misadventure, holiday and honeymoon saw just 12 of us on the sheet – Hughsey a welcome addition from Fridays giving us the all important 1 sub.

Felts got the nod to play striker, with the risk of being demoted to left back if he didnt break his duck before Skinner returns.

We knocked the ball around well from the start, Felts working a nice 1-2 with Andy and rising to the occassion to finally break his duck – left back avoided for another week.

Felts soon on his second and then playing Ghost through to also break his respective duck. Up 3-0 heading into halftime, with the backline holding firm and Steve making a couple of nice saves to maintain our lead.

A good first half only marred by a potential sniper (yet to be confirmed) taking out Dre’s hammy…although it was clearly weakened following a truly awful 1st time cultured lob attempt earlier.

Down to 11, with the recruitment of Hughsey on loan now a managerial masterstroke.

Springwood got on the scoresheet first in the second half, but Rod put Ads through not long after and Andy combined again with Felts for his hat-trick.  Steve also had a blinder, stopping a handful of point blank attempts.

A few other things we learned:
    *Ads to never take a free kick again
    *Beer soothes Cranky
    *Dirty is still clearly fearful of earning a fine for foul throws
    *Akin to the multi-academy award winning film – Mighty Ducks – this rag-tag bunch of misfits are working their way up the ladder, now somehow sitting 4th.

Match Report – 16.1 – Game Date: 18/05/2019

BMFC 16.1: 2
vs
Penrith Rovers FC: 0

BMFC Goal Scorers: Ethan, Og

Player of the Match: Max

Match Report: Team photo day and the boys donned their beanies as has become the tradition, to remember their mate Connor (editor’s note: it’s lovely that we all get to see the annual ‘beanie’ photo – nice one, team)!

We then travelled out to Rovers for a top of the table clash with both teams having won all of their games so far

Defence first had been our focus in the last two games and it had worked well so we kept that same structure

We were under the pump off the whistle but we gained control after a few minutes. Max won the ball at left back and released Ash early. Ash got to the bye line and pulled his cross back which the retreating defender unluckily hit into his own net. The first goal was always going to be important and so it proved

In the second half it was more of the same with back four of Alex Win, Millsy, Max and Sam aided by Jake and Martin in central defensive midfield roles soaking up the pressure, backing each other up and keeping Rovers at bay. Eli did have to make one brilliant diving save on the one occasion a chance was worked in the box

Upfront Aidy was linking defence into attack superbly in his attacking midfield role. Harry worked tirelessly down the right in the first half and then Damo replaced him. Damo won numerous headers against boys much taller than him, showing great determination

With a few minutes remaining we doubled our lead and secured the points with Ethan getting around the last defender and shooting past the oncoming keeper

A brilliant team performance against a very good opponent. Players player of the match went to Max – Max has been superb the last couple of games against tough opponents – handling the player he marked well and getting forward to help in attack

Match Report – 16.1 – Game Date: 16/05/2019

BMFC 16.1: 2
vs
Penrith RSL SC: 0

BMFC Goal Scorers: Ethan, Ash

Player of the Match: Jake

Match Report: A night game playing the team that edged us late in the grand final last season

We made a good start with Jake & Martin winning lots of 50/50 ball in midfield and on one occasion Jake did this and put Ethan away to fire home from just inside the box

Not too much later we doubled the lead. This time Jake’s throw in found its way to Ash in the box and he drilled it past the keeper from a tight angle

Max, who loves a night game, was getting forward well from the back and had a number of shots – one of these hit the bar

On the other side at the back, Keastie was doing a great job. In fact we looked solid right across the back line reducing the opposition to long range shots and any balls played through were well cleared

There were chances for both teams in the second half – Alex Crambrook had a header at the back post that went close. We had to defend well at times – a a scrambled clearance by both Millsy and Keastie most memorable

An excellent team performance. Max had a great game defending and getting forward. Jake though for Coach’s and Players man of the match – was superb in central midfield – winning so much ball and creating chances too

Match Report – O35.1B – Game Date: 12/05/2019

BMFC O35.1B: 8
vs
Glenmore Park FC: 0

BMFC Goal Scorers: Prince Archie (3), Thor, Mark S, Paul, JB

Player of the Match: JB

Match Report: Today we played Glenmore Park, who used to be Penrith FC until this year when the entire squad changed clubs

Talking of used to be, our cross dressing defender Pom, excitedly talked about Eurovision before the game, letting us all know to tune in next Saturday night. The Bearded Lady, as we all fondly refer to him, reminisced about his / her time in the spotlight at Eurovision 2016 (photo inset)

With only 16 able to go on the team sheet and mid week seemingly 18 available for selection, no one had answered any calls or texts received from the Gaffer. The majority chose to arrive early to ensure their spot. JB was a little later into the change rooms and Dave let JB know his place may be in doubt – it was pointed out that the rule does not apply to footballers

Highlights of the game were:

– We were called off side, a lot
– We created plenty and finished off some
– ‘Prince’ Archie notching a hat trick

Match Report – 16.1 – Game Date: 11/05/2019

BMFC 16.1: 3
vs
Blaxland FC: 0

BMFC Goal Scorers: Ash (2), Ethan

Player of the Match: Sam

Match Report: Derby day. Numbers had been a concern during the week with 4 injuries and only a squad of 13 but fortunately enough boys came good come Saturday

Keen to tighten ourselves defensively, even if meaning losing a bit offensively a structural change had been worked on at training and employed on game day

We made a quick start with Ash driving into the box on the left and shooting into the bottom corner for the opener. The remainder of the first half was fairly even – we had a couple of chances, particularly Ethan through one on one and putting his shot just wide

In the second half, we seemed to take control of the game and two further goals came – Sam providing a super through ball for Ethan to beat the goalie one on one and Ash driving into the box and rifling a bullet shot home

Eli was largely untroubled in goal. His distribution was excellent – one chipped goal kick to Martin out wide a stand out. Sam and Max defended well & both got forward a number of times with the central midfielders of Jake and Martin providing great cover. Harry was creative down the right and Aidan in the first and Alex Win in the second half provided and great link between defence and attack

Sam voted player of the match – always gives 100%, defends well, gets forward and created a goal today

Match Report – 6.Zebras – Game Date: 04/05/2019

BMFC 6.Zebras
vs
BMFC 6.Wolves

Player of the Match: Harrison Gralton

Match Report: Another strong display this week by the Zebras, a performance that was matched by the opposition.

Both teams put in some serious effort in the pre-game training session and it showed with players out on their feet in the 2nd half.

A well-deserved player of the week went to Harry who week in, week out, puts in a huge effort, even if he doesn’t always get the desired results, well done mate!

Match Report – 12.1 – Game Date: 04/05/2019

BMFC 12.1: 3
vs
Springwood United FC: 3

BMFC Goal Scorers: Zac, Bailey, Jake

Player of the Match: Tom and Aiden

Match Report: In a third vs fourth tussle the expectations were high from both teams (and coaches) Three minutes in Myles takes a long run continuing his form from last week and narrowly missing a great shot.

Seven minutes pass and Josh finds open ground, pushes the ball through to Jake up front and we have another crack – near miss.

One minute later Springwood are on the attack, carving us up with a certain shot about to happen Jackson was ready as ever and Jacob appears out of nowhere to get his leg in the road and save a dashing run – great hussling by our boys.

Springwood take first blood at the 16 minute mark 1-0. Twenty one minutes in, Springwood take a corner with plenty of scrapping and kicking in the goal mouth and another one rolls in 2-0. Tom, Bodhi and Matthew are working overtime holding Springwood out with Myles, Josh and Ben running hard up front in support. Zac is in the right place at the twenty three minute mark and nails it for a 2-1 deficit at half time. Jackson made some incredible saves and took time getting it out from the goals.

Andy was clear around winning 50/50s at his half time chat and we had to deal with a quick Springwood goal, one minute int the second half and we are down 3-1, then the magic happened…… BMFC didn’t lay down, Five minutes in and Bailey knocks one in after a through ball from the workhorse Aiden who has played his heart out, 3-2. Seven minutes in and Sam has a crack narrowly missing after a great run through the opposition, fifteen minute mark and Ben is away down the sideline, his feet are working well being supported by Zac in the middle zig zagging up the right wing. Ben nails the cross to the waiting feet of Jake who punches it into the net, 3-3.

The boys done themselves proud in the comeback, Everyone on that field stood up and delivered to get us to a draw.

Match Report – O35.1W – Game Date: 05/05/2019

BMFC O35.1W: 1
vs
Blue Mountains FC O35.1B: 5

BMFC Goal Scorers: Skinner

Player of the Match: The force of good over evil

Match Report: A real highlight of the season’s fixtures, as we shaped up against our dark alter ego Blueys team, O35.1 “black,” in the ‘Old Man Bragging Rights Cup’, who were looking rather spiffy in the new away strip, but with home team advantage…

G showing the early focus and determination we were looking for, first missing Yoda’s pre-game talk as he entertained some of the crowd (i.e. our kids), then arriving late for the minute’s silence. New team fine category.

Special mention to El Presidente Dave Smith for reffing and receiving raptuous applause as he arrived fashionably late.

A real arm wrestle of a first half, with arguably both teams holding their own – our boys defending strongly with the army of darkness blacks trying to create a few more attacking chances.

Poor Rusty on the receiving end of a classic Knapsack bounce in our box – handball adjudicated and that will be $15 to the kitty thanks mate.  Rusty also promising never to set foot inside our own 18 yard box ever again – motion seconded and passed.  1-0 to the dark side in the ensuing penalty, but credit where it’s due to the black storm trooper Iceman’s sports psychiatrist who has clearly nursed him through a tough period since his last missed penalty.

1-0 halftime and plenty of good buzz amongst the hero’s of this tale, the Whites.

We pushed a bit more forward 2nd half and Skinner was rewarded for his constant chasing-down runs, being Johnny on the spot when blacks goalie Kev uncharacteristically dropped his lollies… 1 all.

The backs of Dre, JB, Macca and Crussel all defended stoically and we were unlucky not to go 2-1 up, Andy denied by the crossbar with a great shot off his left hoof.

10 minutes to go and the game still tied up, but like the Night’s King atop his zombie dragon, the blacks managed to finally break our wall, slotting away a few late goals.

Thanks blacks for a good game – looking forward to the next encounter when we will have home field advantage, and will see once and for all if good can overcome evil in the Old Man Bragging Rights Cup final.