Kinja 1 v 2 Kensington Dragons U14B
The under 14B Dragons came from behind for a gritty 2-1 victory over Kinja. On a narrow pitch the early play was characterised as congested as the two teams sized each other up. Time was spent trying to burrow through the middle of the pitch through traffic and it was not an elegant opening 15mins. Play began to widen and the quality improved. Cole Charnetski proved to be the catalyst as he made Beckenbauer like runs up the middle from his rear guard position. John Carrafiell had his hands full in defence as the Kinja team was heavily weighted to his side. Cool under pressure his galloping presence in retreat was able to stanch the flow from Kinja time and again. Halftime saw a scoreless draw and the second half began with more counter attacking from both sides. Kinja had a very physical player up front who was looking to joust with any and all comers. Will Fox and Charnetski proved to be up for the challenge as play became more and more physical. A looping arc of a corner kick by Kinja eluded the outstretched hands of goalie Miles O’Reilly and was headed into the back of the net by the Kinja mighty might. The game was played without a proper referee which became trying at times as the physical play crossed over at times and appeared to escape the view of the substitue referee. Undaunted the Dragons pressed forward with a renewed vigor. The crossbar proved a worthy defender on two occasions thwarting two headed balls. Jack Ryan (man of the match) caused confusion in defense for Kinja as his relentless pursuit of the ball bore fruit. Pressuring the defense like a mad hornet, Jack crossed home a stolen ball and Rocco Poelzlbauer with an uncanny ability to arrive at the correct spot ensured a game tying goal from close range. With 7 minutes remaining the Dragons bruised, and winded rode the ample shoulders of Cole Charnetski. Stealing the ball at midfield, Cole sped to the end line and sent a low searing cross to the penalty spot. Jimmy Wafa was the happy recipient. His right foot struck the sweet spot of the ball on a full volley a la RVP. Frozen by the speed and fury of the lightening strike, the goalie had only one job remaining, to retrieve the ball from the net.
See below for Match Stats!