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Game report
Rooball Report:
North 10 Blue v Heathridge 3/5/09
2009's first assignment for Paolo Mercuri and Tim Leech's North Beach 10 Blue Rooball squad was the long road trip to Heathridge.
The game started at a lively pace from both teams, but it became clear early on that Heathridge were in for a difficult day at home. North Beach's defensive line up of Connor Rawlings, Riley Moriarty, James Steffenssen and first gamer Brendon Russell was a fortress all day. Connor played his usual role setting the shape of attacks from deep in defense with his sharp football brain, and newcomer Brendon excited the Beach's fans with some spearing runs and creative passing from the back half. The defensive control freed James up to roam through the midfield, where his pace and aggression on the ball provided great service to his team mates further up the park.
North Beach began attacking in relentless waves and soon had Heathridge pinned in their penalty area. On the 5 minute mark the pressure was rewarded when striker Marcello Mercuri found space with a run up the middle and slid a neat ball to right winger Eric Litteri running in support. Eric finished crisply from a 45 degree angle with a low drive that beat a diving keeper. 5 minutes later North Beach were in on goal again, courtesy of a long run from dynamic midfielder Jack Leech. Jack's trademark fast feet opened up Heathridge's defense and he put Marcello in for his first goal of the season. Marcello was involved again at the 20 minute mark of the half when he drew a crowd of defenders on the edge of the 6 yard box before delivering the ball across the face of goal and into the path of a powerful strike to the top right corner from left winger Sam Banks-Smith. Sam took the opportunity for his second goal 3 minutes later when a well timed strike from 20 meters beat the Heathridge keeper.
The half-time whistle saw North Beach with a comfortable 4-0 advantage, and it could have been several more on the run of play as Heathridge were finding it very hard to get any meaningful possession against a spirited and committed North Beach outfit.
The second period saw more high quality football from North Beach, with Jack and James continuing to provide relentless drive through the middle, Brendon continuing to impress with his reading of the play, and long passes down both wings, and Riley and Connor refusing to allow even a single shot on goal for Heathridge's ball starved strikers. Jack's impressive work rate in the 27 degree heat was rewarded at the 8 minute mark of the second half when he pounced on a well played through ball from Eric and curled a sweetly timed right foot strike from 15 meters into the back of the net. Gustav Persson also marked an impressive first game for North Beach with a well taken goal on 19 minutes. Gustav's pace and keen instinct for a goal will be a valuable addition to the team this year. Eric bookended his match with the final goal 3 minutes from time after lashing in a sharp low cross from Sam from deep in the right corner . Specialist keeper Thomas Mayes kept the cleanest of clean sheets, and was immaculate as always in what he had to do on what was a very quiet day at the office for the custodian thanks to the total control of the flow of the game from his team. The final score of 7-0 was a fair reflection of a great first up effort by the boys.
North Beach 10 Blue continue to be a credit to themselves and their coaches, and their weekly battles against the best junior squads the State League clubs can offer promises to be one of the highlights of 2009 for the North Beach Soccer Club.
Please submit all match results and reports to: mail@northbeachsc.org.au.