The Cup Journey 2007

The Road to the final

North Beach and Shamrock Rovers’ Squads

Expectations and hopes were high on Sunday 30th September 2007 due to the North Beach Reserves reaching the final of a major in-season cup competition. This was the first time a senior team had reached a Soccer Pools Cup final in all of North Beach and Stirling United’s long history.
The day was sunny but slightly cloudy and with a slight hint of a breeze in the air, conditions almost perfect for a cup final.  North Beach’s opposition today would be Premier League giants Shamrock Rovers.

Round 1

North Beach’s successful cup run started this season on Monday 9th April when North Beach took on unknown Division 2 side North Lake. The weather was less than desirable with the temperatures topping 29 degrees and North Beach opting to play in a change black shirt to contrast between North Lake’s red tops. The game was a tough competition which resulted in North Beach defeating North Lake by a single Volker Framenau goal.

Round 2

Round 2 saw North Beach take on Premier League team, Subiaco United. Conditions were slightly cooler with North Beach taking the game to Subiaco United in a tough encounter. The game finished at 2-2 when on 85 minutes a Ross Broad own goal gave Subiaco a lifeline and some hope. After 30 minutes of extra time with no goals scored the game progressed to a penalty shoot out. Standing up and saving 4 penalties was Kosta Kalantzis whose dynamic goalkeeping propelled North Beach into a third round encounter with Division 4’s newest club Heathridge.

Round 3

This game against Heathridge was played in dismal sideways rain with the wind blowing a gale and making it hard to even run let alone kick a ball.  With the addition of Rob Pfeiffer up front, the team slogged out a tough 1-0 win thanks to a typical Steve MacLean poacher goal. This sent the team through to the quarter finals and meet up with another Premier League team, Lynwood Colts.

Quarter Final

The game against Lynwood Colts was by all standards a fantastic game to watch. With the addition of Simon Collins in midfield the team powered through the 90 minutes winning 4-1 in the process. Stand outs of that game were speedy winger Brenton White, midfielders Simon Collins and Jim Thomson.

Semi Final

The Semi-finals were albeit a tougher affair against Spearwood Dalmatinac. With the loss of Simon Collins and the addition of another Simon in Simon Geldart and Coach Graham Corcoran the team were by far the stronger on the park. At times there were periods of flatness, but these kinks were ironed out and the team came out of the game winning 3-0 against a Spearwood team that finished the game with only 9 men due to discipline problems. Yet again Jim Thomson led the team with a terrific performance in the middle of the park.  The other highlight of the game was Mike Jeffrey's 12 minutes of carnage which led to 2 players being red carded and another being yellow card.  North Beach's very own WMD in action!

Final.

North Beach lined up against Shamrock Rovers with a full strength squad. The only addition to the team was Volker Framenau who took his place on the bench after returning from backpacking in Peru. The team started with Kosta Kalantzis in goals, Ross Broad and Ryan MacLean at left and right back with Geordie and Nik Christos in the centre of defence. In midfield there was Jim Thomson and Simon Geldart in the middle of the park with Tomas Panak and Brenton White on the left and right respectively. Up front this left Steve MacLean and Dave ‘Hollywood’ Banks. On the bench there was Mike Jeffrey, Heath Sinclair, Graham Corcoran and as mentioned above Volker Framenau.

The two teams walked through the famous Litis Stadium tunnel with Stewart McSinclair playing the bagpipes in front of them. The crowd and officials had never had this occur before and by all reports going around, on and off the internet, it was a roaring success.  It lifted the North Beach boys which is what any team needs in a major cup final.  A very special thanks goes out to Stewart who volunteered his piper services for that day.  Everyone is looking forward to his rendition of Long Way to the Top at the club wind up.

The game started off with North Beach more than holding their own.  Right from the start Brenton White was starting to dominate down the right with him passing Shamrock’s number 11 winger countless times. After only 5 minutes on the clock and after several good moves down the wings from North Beach on both sides Shamrock made their first proper attack on goals. After a defensive mix-up between Ross Broad, Nik Christos and Kosta Kalantzis, Shamrock’s forward Justin Lupini scored an excellent goal by chipping the North Beach keeper and slotting the ball into the top right corner. 1-0 to Shamrock Rovers.

North Beach immediately switched on after the restart and took the game to Shamrock Rovers.  Starting from the full-backs North Beach created countless attacks which utilized the talents of Brenton and Tomas on the wings. Dave Banks, who was being closely marked by Shamrock’s centre-back Rich Partridge, was at times struggling to break free of his marker.  When he did he created some excellent moves that narrowly missed. One in particular was on 25 minutes when Dave took control of the ball on the far side of the park near the byline, lost his marker and hit with the outside of his foot.  The ball curling in from left to right, beat the keeper but not the cross bar as it bounced out for a goal kick. It was a glimpse of the magic Dave Banks was capable of.

 
Dave showed some more magic on 27 minutes when he won the ball in the top left corner of the ground, beat a second man and then while running down the byline was nudged to the ground. The referee Jeremy Olyphant reached to his pocket and yellow carded Dave for diving.  While Dave may have gone to ground a little too easily there was still contact which resulted in him being pushed off the park, in the penalty area?

On 30 minutes after a tough in-play collision, Geordie went down like the proverbial sack and hit the deck hard. The ball was cleared out and Geordie lay on the ground with his face in the dirt groaning as if he had just been hit by a Mack truck.  As Geordie hit the deck the words ‘Heath warm up’ were mentioned by Coach Graham Corcoran. The referee flagged to the sideline and team assistant Kevin Grime ran onto the park to breathe live into Geordie and if need be offer the kiss of life. After a couple of minutes Geordie walked off the park but Coach Graham Corcoran had already been notified how bad Geordie’s injury was. The words ‘Geordie be honest to me’ were mentioned and like all great players Geordie insisted he could go on despite suffering immense pain on the right side of his body. 3 minutes later Graham Corcoran made the decision for Geordie and substituted him for Heath ‘Ranga’ Sinclair. Geordie’s amazing cup and league run of continuous games was over; 30 minutes into the final.

Geordie, soon after was taken to hospital for x-rays to determine if he had broken any ribs. Luckily for Geordie he only had severe bruising in the upper ribs. We thank Geordie for an amazing season in both the league and the cup.

Ranga Sinclair slotted in at left-back which resulted in Ross Broad moving into Geordie’s position in the centre of defence.  From the start Ranga was in the thick of the action with him getting to the ball countless times before his opponent and creating several moves forward.  What was probably beneficial to Ranga was the fact that his Shamrock opponent was probably 10-15 years his senior and not as fast and nimble as Ranga.

As the first half closed North Beach continued to push which infuriated Paul McCue, the Shamrock coach.  Several times the 4th official was forced to go over to him to ask him to calm down and to cease swearing. The first half closed with only 1 minute of extra time added on and both teams retreated to their separate areas. 

At half time North Beach talked about taking control of the game, lifting in key areas and taking advantage of the Shamrock errors. Meanwhile Tomas Panak continued to move around making sure he didn’t prematurely cramp up.

The second half began with North Beach and Shamrock continually attacking and counter-attacking. The battle was mainly met in midfield with Jim Thomson and Simon Geldart running what seemed like marathons in their attempt to close down the Shamrock midfield and create something spectacular. After a rare clumsy tackle by Jim Thomson that resulted Shamrock’s Kay Yokazuma going to ground, a scene of poor sportsmanship raised it's ugly head as Yokazuma almost begged the referee to give Jim Thomson a yellow card.  It was a rare show of poor sportsmanship from what had been so far a very sporting Shamrock team. Meanwhile out on the wing, Brenton White was continually attacking down the right with his opponent often left metres behind.

With North Beach pushing the extra man forward this often left the defence exposed as Shamrock Rovers attacked on the break. Countless times they were in front of goals and shot wide or over the bar.  On 58 minutes after a series of mishaps and no tackles Shamrock’s goal scorer Justin Lupini popped up again and slotted the ball in the back of the net for Shamrock’s second goal. Up until that time North Beach had been taking the game to Shamrock and while they had taken the risk to push a man forward this was the price they would have to pay for that tactic. 2-0 to Shamrock Rovers.

On 60 minutes after running and playing a fantastic game Tomas Panak was substituted due to his groin giving out. He was replaced by North Beach’s very own Weapon of Mass Destruction, Mike Jeffrey. With the inclusion of Mike, North Beach changed to a 4–3–3 formation with Brenton White pushing up to as a third forward next to Steve MacLean and Dave Banks. 

64 minutes Shamrock’s man of the moment Justin Lupini runs through 5 North Beach players and is one on one with Kosta Kalantzis. Luckily Kosta is not forced into making a save as Lupini shoots over the bar.  The last man he passes is Ross Broad who 'inflicts' enough damage on Lupini to force him from the ground with a pulled hamstring.  On 75 minutes North Beach earned a free kick just outside the penalty box. Dave Banks lines up to take the kick and with the kick he forces the Shamrock keeper; Matt Saliacus into tipping the ball over the bar and out for a corner.

On 77 minutes, Shamrock’s pint-sized winger Warren Lewis was apparently taken down just outside the box by Nik Christos.  On closer examination it was determined that Lewis had not been touched at all and had simulated his chopping. Nik Christos was naturally annoyed, especially after being given a yellow card for his supposed tackle.

On 79 minutes Steve MacLean is given a well deserved rest and is replaced by Volker Framenau. Steve finishes the season with 17 goals to his name. An excellent season by all standards. Volker immediately slots into a forward role and creates some havoc for the Shamrock defenders as they struggle to mark the big man.

On 82 minutes Nik Christos is given a rest and replaced the coach Graham Corcoran. It was a fantastic season by Nik, especially after coming back after fracturing his ankle earlier in the year.

 
84 minutes Shamrock number 9; James Kilbee is substituted and replaced by human beach ball Nik Silsby (number 12).  89 minutes after playing a blinding game for nearly an hour Ranga Sinclair takes down a Shamrock player in the penalty box. Human beach ball; Silsby lines up to take the penalty.  He efficiently slots the ball to the bottom left corner of goals and past the unfortunate Kosta Kalantzis. 3-0 to Shamrock Rovers.

During the last ten minutes of the game North Beach were pushing Shamrock Rovers in the attempt to get some sort of consolation goal. While they were winning the ball in midfield it was in the end their shooting that let them down as a lot of the shots were on target but straight at the Shamrock goalkeeper.  Stats wise North Beach’s shots on goal in the second half doubled that of Shamrock Rovers with North Beach finishing with 6 shots on target whereas Shamrock only had 3.  Bang on 90 minutes Referee Olyphant blows the whistle for full time.  Shamrock Rovers are the winners of the Soccer Pools Amateur Reserve Cup Final for Season 2007. While the game did not reflect the comprehensive scoreline the goals all came from defensive errors. Congratulations to Shamrock Rovers on winning the cup. Commiserations to the North Beach team who fought hard for 90 minutes and never gave up. From the sideline the looks of despair on the player’s faces afterwards showed how disappointed they were but in all honesty, to get to the final is a feat in itself and the North Beach players in the final and all  previous rounds should be proud of themselves for this.  

As Eric Idle sings  in the Life of Brian ... Always look on the bright side of life... (cue whistling)

The individual reviews are as follows:

Kosta – Did well in goals but was responsible in the defensive mix up along with Ross and Nik for the first goal. Besides that he controlled his area pretty well. 7.5

Ross – Started at LB and moved to CB with the loss of Geordie. He played better in the middle than out left despite him playing well there in recent weeks. This is Ross’ last game for North Beach and we thank him for his efforts over the years. 7.5

Geordie – Started the game strongly but was taken out on 30 minutes with a rib injury. While on the park he was a positive influence. This is apparently Geordie’s last game for the Reserves as he will be moving to Social football next year. If there is one thing Geordie would be disappointed about in this game was the fact he never got to spray somebody one last time. 6

Nik – Was the rock in the centre of defence and linked up well with both Geordie and Ross. Unfairly he picked up a yellow card for tackling someone this made Nik rather annoyed; more so after he started bagging number 11 from the sideline. 8.5

Ryan – Started at right back and was hard on the ball everytime!  He linked up well with Brenton White and made several good runs himself forward. Could well be up for North Beach Reserve player of the year with his devastating for this year?  8.5

Tomas – Played well out wide on the left.  He was part of the 4-prong attack and often took advantage of Shamrock’s lack of speed. He often made the Shamrock players look silly as he turned them inside out with his darting moves. Could possibly be up for Most Improved Player for Season 2007? 8.5

Brenton – Brenton was North Beach’s main weapon when attacking.  Countless times he attacked down the right and penetrated the Shamrock defence. At times he held onto the ball too long and turned in circles instead of passing off.  But besides these lapses he was a quality attacking player and it would not be surprising if he was poached to a Saturday side in the off-season. Hack’s Joint Player of the Day. 9

Dave – Yet again, Dave linked up well with Brenton and Steve MacLean.  At times the Shamrock defenders backed off him as they didn’t know what he was going to do?  Dave had two excellent shots against the Shamrock goal. The first goal cruelly bouncing off the cross bar and the second saved by the keeper. Hack’s Joint Player of the Day.  9

Steve – A solid game for Steve.  At times his touch let him down, but Steve never gave up and always presented himself for the ball. Late in the game Steve had a couple of shots on goal but were these were unfortunately straight at the goalkeeper. He was subbed on 79 minutes for Volker Framenau. 8

Subs

Heath (Ranga) – Came on at the 30 minute mark to replace Geordie and was immediately in the action. He made a key save with the back of his heal in the second half before Shamrock scored their second goal that stopped them scoring early into the half. While he was responsible for the penalty at the end of the game, as a player coming into the side, playing against opponents as experienced as Shamrock Rovers, Heath did extremely well and on this performance today he is Hack’s 3rd Joint Player of the Day. 9

Mike – North Beach’s WMD came on early in the second half and was part of a 3-man midfield. After a slow start Mike adapted to his role well and did what was required of him. A player who never gave up and didn’t stop running for his time on the park Mike had a good game. 6

Volker – Came on late in the game to replace Steve MacLean. Volker performed well for his time on the park and in the process confused some Shamrock players. Apologies to your average Volker.  :) 5.5

Graham – Subbed himself on late in the game just so he could say he’s played in a cup final.  J  Graham did well at centre-back but the question has to be asked… did he touch the ball?  5