Quake shake the Raiders Youth and Take the Points
The Western Raiders and Campbelltown City Quake put on a great display of youth Futsal on Saturday night at Parklea as Quake took out both the under 16 girls and men’s youth matches.
With Alexandra Huynh away with the under 16 outdoor national side (she played in the 0-17 thrashing of Singapore) the Raiders still boasted a strong line up that included Sydney FC trainee Renee Krstanovska and former under 17 national player Candis Sciberras. However it was the Quake who started the stronger side in the under 16 girls clash. Laura Donnelly saw her third minute shot touched onto the post by Krstanovska. A minute later Zoeie Redman danced down the right and played the ball into the danger area only for Sciberras to be too strong in defence and clear the ball away.
Redman and Donnelly then combined but somehow Steph Haaring was able to defend against both of them and deny both shots from Donnelly. However in the sixth minute Donnelly grabbed the ball and despite traffic around her, squeezed the ball past the opposing keeper and into the back of the net. Linda Dudek then tried to double the lead for Quake but was once more denied by Haaring. Redman wasted a great chance in the 11th minute before Kirsti Bridge took a shot from distance for the Raiders only to see Carla Monforte cover the ball well in the Quake goalmouth.
Just before half time the Raiders nearly snuck in an equaliser with Sciberras unable to get a shot away in the 17th minute and Bridge being denied thanks to a one handed save by Monforte.
Two minutes after the break Cindy Yildiz hand balled in the area and the resultant penalty saw Dudek successfully convert and the Quake double their lead. Redman was soon at her marauding best but was denied by strong defence from 13-year-old starlet Courtney Fitzharris.
In the 25th minute Lisa Seeny saw her shot from distance rebound off the post so hard it actually landed back at her feet, her second effort well saved by the Raider’s keeper. Another chance fell to Dudek from good lead up work by Redman but she had an air swing and the opportunity was missed. The Raiders were giving up too much cheap possession to be able to apply too much pressure but finally on the half hour they did pick up a goal. Bridge played the ball to Sciberras who ran at an angle and then laid the ball past the keeper, nestling it in the back of the net to give the Raiders some hope.
The hope was dashed just three minutes later when a Donnelly shot spun off the keeper and into the path of Jasmina Kasic who touched the ball home on the far post and give her Quake team a 1-3 lead. From that point on it was virtually all Quake and goals to Dudek (36th minute), Sharon Walsh (39th minute) and Kasic (40th minute), saw the score finish 1-6 to the visitors. Quake deserved their win although the Raiders did not deserve the final score line.
In the men’s youth match it was Quake who once more flew off the mark with Raiders goal keeper Justin Faint called into action in the opening 30 seconds of the match. Carlo Manna was strong in the Raiders defence and a strong part of his game was his ability to transition from defence to attack so quickly. Good Quake defence denied their opponents three times in the opening five minutes of the match.
In the 7th minute Quake punished their opponent’s inability to score with a goal of their own. David Von Dinklage laid the ball back to Daniel Fulton who heeled the ball, set himself and then fired the ball into the far corner of the net. Quake was 0-1 up but within three minutes things were tied up once more. Shayne Ardle took the ball from the defence and ran away from goal before he shot back the other way and into the back of the net, catching his opponents off guard.
In the 11th minute Darren Shadlow of Quake was fouled on the edge of the area only to quickly get up and play on, his shot just grazing the post but on the wrong side. In the same minute the match saw the scoring of a third goal. David Von Dinklage stole the ball off the Raiders defenders and smashed the ball home to put Quake back in front.
A minute later the side were further in front after Chris Sheerin flew down the flank and passed the ball to the far side where Daniel Fulton met the ball with a full blooded shot that hit the target. For the remainder of the half the Raiders chased a goal to get back in the match but a combination of poor shot choice and strong defence and keeping saw them denied on each occasion.
The tempo of the match slowed for the opening five minutes of the second half but finally in the 27th minute Ardle scored a goal for the Raiders, putting them back in the match at 2-3. Ardle had seen his opponents back off and that gave him the room to fire a pinpoint shot into the back of the net. Two minutes later he almost hit the equaliser but his effort cannoned off the post.
On the half hour Quake got their two goal lead back with a brilliant display of dribbling the ball from Emmanuel Harihiau saw him beat his opponents and then lay the ball in the path of Darren Shadlow on the left who smashed the ball home. James Kirkland almost scored immediately in reply for Raiders but it was just off target after he had curled it goalwards from over half way. Mark Symington was then denied by Raiders’ custodian Justin Faint who saved the ball magnificently.
With three minutes to go Chris Sheerin conceded a free kick on the edge of the area for shirt pulling and Ardle scored with the free kick to make the score 3-4. It was not the end of the action as Reece Diaz made two goal line clearances to deny the Quake before Oliver Lawton denied Ardle at the other end with the last kick of the game.
Overall these were two tremendous games of Futsal and a great advertisement for the quality of the young players coming through the ranks.
