Hornsby RSL Youth clinch Frank Broughton Cup
A brace to Geren Ligon powered Northern Suburbs Association side Hornsby RSL Youth to the State Cup title, as they claimed the Frank Broughton Cup with a 3-1 win over Manly Warringah Football Association’s Seaforth.
Hornsby RSL were on the attack from the opening whistle, and scored in the 2nd minute, after Ligon made a fast break down the left wing, squaring to Armaan Saxena who shot into open goal.
After the frantic exchanges, the game settled down as Seaforth began to get into their groove.
The wet field made it difficult to strong passes together, as both sides were guilty of coughing up the ball.
Zack Williams did a great job in dispossessing the Hornsby RSL defender after a short goal kick, but his cross sailed across the goal square.
But Seaforth wouldn’t have to wait much longer for a goal, when a corner found Finley Wilkinson inside the 6-yard box. From such close range, he was never going to miss.
Seaforth began to assert their authority on the match, controlling the tempo and keeping Hornsby RSL pinned down in defense.
However as soon as they got a sniff of goal, the boys in blue and gold made their opponents pay.
Ligon received the ball at the top of the box and danced his way through the defense to execute perfectly to make it 2-1.
Despite being behind, Seaforth continued to dominate possession, but a deep defensive effort from Hornsby RSL kept them at bay.
A flurry of chances for Seaforth in the dying stages of the first half sent Hornsby RSL scrambling, some excellent defense allowing them to hold their 2-1 lead at half time.
A brilliant run by Ligon in the opening minutes of the second half looked certain to finish in a goal as he headed straight for goal. But Harry White, who had been subbed into goal-keeping duties at half time, stood tall in stopping him.
Soon after the resumption, Ligon again went on a stellar run after breaking into space, but was brought down in a heavy tackle by Zachary Chadwick, who was shown a red card.
Hornsby RSL were soon on the attack again. An excellent run from Anthony Brown down left edge saw him deliver a sublime cross, but Hugo Thorsby was on hand to clean up.
The Seaforth defense soon began to tire, and Ligon made the most of it after breaking into the clear before rounding the keeper to score in the 40th minute.
Seaforth refused to yield to the Hornsby RSL onslaught and were courageous in defense. However they couldn’t get on the score sheet in the second half, going down 3-1 as Hornsby RSL claimed the State Cup.
Hornsby RSL manager Jill Curtis was proud of her team’s efforts throughout the tournament.
“The early goal helped to lift the boy’s confidence and after that they played really well. A lot of these boys have played together since under 6’s or under 8’s so they’ve been together a long time now, they just know each other so well and they’re all great friends. It’s a fantastic team.”
During the State Cup Finals, Football NSW will make use of balls supplied by Deploy Football. An Official Ball Sponsor of Football NSW, Deploy Football product can be purchased online through The Football Corner website. Football NSW would like to thank Deploy Football for their ongoing support of our beautiful game in New South Wales.
Match Stats
Hornsby RSL Youth: 3 (Saxena 2’, Ligon 15’ 40’)
Seaforth FC: 1 (12’ Wilkinson)
Sunday 17th July, 2016,
Valentine Sports Park
Referee: A. Wunderlich
Assistant Referees: S Andrews S Athanasiou
Fourth Official:
Hornsby RSL Youth: 1 FARRELL Miles 2 PREDDEY Keita (5 RYU Alvin 17’) 3 CURTIS David 7 MCGUIRE Phillip (6 PINTO Zane 21’) 4 BROWN Anthony (8 MCGUIRE Damien 17’) 9 LIGON Geren 11 SAXENA Armaan (10 RANA Yajatsinh 21’) 12 CHEONG Ryan 13 SHRESTHA Suvan14 WATSON Adam15 JUNG Jeffrey
Substitutes not used:
Yellow Cards:
Seaforth: 8. KERNAHAN, Matthew (GK) 3. WILKINSON, Finley 4. JONMUNDSSON, Tomas 5. HIRRET, Maxime 6. CHADWICK, Zachary 7. PINN, Matteo 11. WILLIAMS, Zack 12. KELLY, Benjamin 13. HARIS, Edward 14. MOELIKER, Thomas 15. WHITE, Harry 16. THORSBY, Hugo
Substitutes not used:
Red Cards: Zachary Chadwick 29’
