The competition was high stakes as the Eddies team had to win the entire day to progress to a diocese elimination round. The following details the match results and an overview of the day.
The first pool match saw St Edward’s up against St Pauls Catholic College (4-0). Our team started quickly and were gelling nicely, despite not having any training sessions together. Playing in 4-2-3-1 formation, we soon found the back of the net with Jude Ranking finishing after a nice reverse ball from Jesse Mantell. Jude would go on to earn a brace, while Luke Colgan scored a header at the back post and Joel Parrelli finished off the rout with a clinical finish.
The second pool match brought us against St Brigid’s Catholic College (6-0) and we maintained our dominate display of total football. Taj Werner earned and bagged a penalty before going on to secure a hat trick. Jude continued his run of form with another brace, while substitute Ellis Milson popped up at the far post to finish neatly from a teasing cross. With a squad of 16, it was a great opportunity to rotate the team to ensure everyone had game time and understood their roles.
Our last pool match was against St Leo’s Catholic College (1-0). Despite being able to rotate the teams in the first two matches, our first half display was flat and the boys struggled to break down a far more organised defence. The first half ended 0-0. A change in personnel saw Isaac Broomfield start the second half and from the kick off, he was able to slip a perfectly weighted pass in to Jude who finished. We were able to hold our 1-0 comfortably and finish top of our pool.
The Broken Bay representative team were selected based on a possibles/probables match. Selectors picked two teams from all the schools present on the day. Typically, we have had several boys picked. Congratulations to those who played in the trial and a further congratulations to Aidan Ellis, Jesse Mantell, Finn Palmqvist, Jesi Wanjohi, Daniel McCarthy and Aidan Walsh-Catanzaro (shadow squad) for their selection in the Broken Bay team.
After a short break, the team had to re-group for the semi final against St Augustine’s Catholic College (3-0). This was played on the synthetic pitch, which suited our teams technical ability and style of play. The opposition were one of the strongest outfits on the day with some dangerous players that looked to hit a team on the counterattack. Luke Colgan was not having any of that. Not only was he composed in defence but he popped up just outside the area after a corner to pivot and smash the ball in for an early lead. After this goal, our team turned it up a level with Isaac Broomfield curling a left foot shot into the top corner after some great passing and Taj back among the goals executing a team move that left the coaches speechless. We had maintained a clean sheet so far, however a critical save was made by Tom Lawton to protect that stat.
The final saw a re-match of the tough pool against St Leo’s Catholic College (2-0). It was back on grass and the field was not ideal for beautiful football. Despite the lethargy and creeping cramps, Jude once again showed his authority with a clinical finish before Isaac had the time and composure to slot a second goal to ensure St Edward’s won the day.
The squad now progress to the elimination competition, which will see us play against the winning team from the Newcastle Diocese competition. A huge thank you to Mr Ellis who provided immense tactical and coaching support for the team. It was a fantastic day for football.
