Match Day 5 Review of the FFA National Youth Championship plus All-Stars squad
After a week of strong performances, the National Champions have already been decided with NSW Metropolitan taking out the Under 13s competition whilst Queensland Metropolitan have been crowned Champions of the Under 14s.
Under 13s Metro 5 ? 2 Capital Football
The match started on a sour note with NSW Metro on the back foot almost instantly. Capital Football?s Joseph Brown getting himself a goal just moments after kick off. One of the few moments all tournament that NSW Metro have in fact switched off defensively.
Luckily for NSW Metro the side didn?t have to wait long before there was an equaliser. Henry Davies capitalising on a piece of miscommunication between Capital Football?s defence and goalkeeper.
Soon Henry found a second goal to give NSW Metro an edge in this fixture, and then came the barrage of NSW Metro attacks.
Goals from Daniel Arzani, Solomon Monahan-Vaika as well as Marley Peterson securing the win for the boys from metropolitan NSW.
Capital Football did manage to get themselves a goal back in the final minute of play however it was too little, too late for the boys in yellow.
And so with NSW Metro being crowned Champions of the Under 13s, here is how the table for Group A ended up at the end of the tournament:
1. NSW Metro ? 15 points (+13 goal difference)
2. Queensland Metro ? 13 points (+17 goal difference)
3. South Australia ? 11 points (+1 goal difference)
4. Capital Football ? 9 points (+2 goal difference)
5. Victoria Metro ? 9 points (+2 goal difference)
6. Northern NSW Metro ? 3 points (-15 goal difference)
7. Football West ? 1 point (-19 goal difference)
Under 13s NSW Country 2 ? 2 Victoria Country
There aren?t many games that have both teams cancelling each other?s attacks as much as this fixture did. As soon as NSW Country would attempt an attack, Victoria Country were on the counter attack and vice versa.
There were just a handful of moments whereby either side would have a lapse in concentration and that is effectively when the goals occurred.
NSW Country were the first to score just seconds after the starting whistle, Kurtley Golden got himself in a strong position, finding the back of the net and his name on the score sheet.
Victoria Country not content with sitting back and giving the result to NSW Country went on the attack and in the 14th minute, the scores were level. Peter Marziano getting the better of NSW Country?s defence and slotting home an equaliser.
With the commencement of the second half, NSW Country found themselves in front once more, this time it was Connor Caponecchia who scored a brilliant header as he was left unmarked on a corner.
That however was not the last goal with Victoria Country?s Sebastian Pasquali getting the fourth goal of the game and more importantly the equaliser ten minutes from time to make sure there was a tie at the top of the ladder for Group B.
Here is how Group B ended up for the Under 13s:
- NSW Country ? 11 points (+20 goal difference)
- Victoria Country ? 11 points (+13 goal difference)
- Queensland Country ? 11 points (+7 goal difference)
- Northern NSW Country ? 4 points (-7 goal difference)
- Tasmania ? 3 points (-12 goal difference)
- Northern Territory ? 1 point (-21 goal difference)
Under 14s NSW Metro 6 ? 0 Victoria Metro
Battling the 33-degree heat, NSW Metro took to the field of play to take on bottom of the table placed Victoria Metro in their final game of the Championship.
The opening period of play was challenging for both sides thanks to some outstanding pieces of defensive work as well as some brilliant saves from the Victorian Metropolitan goalkeeper.
After a quick drinks break, NSW Metro switched on with stand in captain Hassan Dagher walking the ball around the goalkeeper to get the opening goal of the game. Moments later and it was 2-0 in favour of NSW Metro thanks to a Daniel Maskin goal.
On the stroke of half time, NSW Metro all but secured the result with a third goal. Gian Mendez tapping the ball into the back of the net after Jackson Bandiera played the ball across the face of the goal.
There was still time for three more goals with Joe Caletti and Charles Abou Serhal each getting a goal as well as Daniel Maskin getting his second of the game.
NSW Metro might have secured a 6 goal win however it wasn?t enough to be crowned Champions of Group A, that honour going to Queensland Metro.
Here is how NSW Metro and NSW Country ended up in their group:
1. Queensland Metro ? 13 points (+12 goal difference)
2. Queensland Country ? 12 points (+7 goal difference)
3. NSW Metro ? 11 points (+12 goal difference)
4. NSW Country ? 9 points (+3 goal difference)
5. South Australia ? 6 points (0 goal difference)
6. Victoria Metro ? 3 points (-19 goal difference)
7. Football West ? 1 point (-15 goal difference)
Under 14s NSW Country 3 ? 4 Queensland Country
In a game that resembled more of a tug of war, as soon as one team looked to gain any form of an advantage, the other would push on in a counter attack.
NSW Country got on the front foot first with Kobe Rapley in just the second minute of play. That goal looked to rattle Queensland Country at first but in time the goal served more as a form of motivation.
Nicholas Reilly for Queensland Country found an equaliser in the seventh minute of play followed by Nicholas Panetta getting a second goal for Queensland Country within the space of just three minutes.
It looked as though Queensland Country would have the edge heading into the half time break before NSW Country?s striker Samuel Smith managed to get himself yet another goal to add to his ever-growing tally from the tournament.
Just after the restart, Samuel Smith got his second goal of the game making it 3-2 in favour of the NSW Country side. However their lead was short lived with Jamie Dimitroff of Queensland Country bringing the scores level once more in the 35th minute.
The final goal of the game came from Nicholas Panetta in the 40th minute. Queensland Country with the winning goal, making them National Youth Champions of the Under 14s competition.
Post game though there was some sad news with NSW Country coach Ben Wright explaining to his team and their parents that he would not be continuing as the side?s coach next year and instead will turn his attention to coaching at a club level once more.
Meet the All Stars ? Under 13s
1. James Delianov (Victoria Metro)
2. Henry Davies (NSW Metro)
3. Nicholas Zervas (NSW Metro)
4. Daniel Arzani (NSW Metro)
5. Nathan Beasley (South Australia)
6. Sebastian Pasquale (Victoria Country)
7.Oliver Corbitt (Capital Football)
8. Jamie Gorgovski (NSW Metro)
9. Gbenga Folami, (NSW Metro)
10. Marc Tokich, (Capital Football)
11. Duncan Stewart, (Queensland Metro)
12. Cooper O’Donnell, (South Australia)
13. Gianni Stensness, (NSW Metro)
14. Henry Hore, (Queensland Metro)
15. Denis Genreau, (Victoria Metro)
16. Connor Metcalfe, (Northern NSW Metro)
17. Harry Van Der Saag, (NSW Metro)
18. Samuel Ball, (Queensland Metro)
19. Marley Peterson, (NSW Metro)
20. Thomas Theodoulou, (South Australia)
Coach: Marcial Munoz (Capital Football)
Meet the All Stars ? Under 14s
1. Gerard Roebuck, (NSW Country)
2. Toan Pham, (Queensland Metro)
3. Ricardo Bernardino, (NSW Metro)
4. Kye Rowles, (Queensland Metro)
5. Zak Waters, (South Australia)
6. Joe Caletti, (NSW Metro)
7. Kosta Petratos, (NSW Metro)
8. Nicholas Panetta, (Queensland Country)
9. Nicholas D’Agostino, (Queensland Metro)
10. Gian Mendez, (NSW Metro)
11. Jackson Bandiera, (NSW Metro)
12. Charles Horsley, (NNSW Metro)
13. Jamie Dimitroff, (Queensland Country)
14. Jake Brimmer, (Victoria Metro)
15. Danny Kim, (Queensland Metro)
16. Luke Ward, (Victoria Metro)
17. Jordan Maricic, (South Australia)
18. Thomas Schultz, (Queensland Country)
19. Christian Verbi, (South Australia)
20. Mitchell Evans, (NSW Metro)
Coach: Paul Wilton, (Queensland Metro)
-By Pete Nowakowski
