BALMAIN AA6B

NEWSLETTER no 11
Any contributions should be given or faxed to Ricky Onsman (fx 9375 1446) by Thursday midday.

Battling Balmain Fights Back!

MATCH REPORT No 1: by Michael Sommers

Match: Balmain AA6B v Burwood
Venue: Blair Park
Date: Saturday 1 August 1998
Time: 1.15pm kick-off

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Balmain 6B made the trip to Blair Park, home of the newly demoted Burwood. After a slight lay-off, everyone was keen to carry on from the 3-1 victory over Canterbury a fortnight ago. But unfortunately, not everything went to plan.

In our familiar 4-4-2 formation, with myself and Serge up front; Ronan, Con, Jamie and Peter in midfield; Richard, Glenn, Dave and Ricky in defence and Rocco between the sticks, we got off to a shaky start and couldn’t settle down. Burwood drew first blood because of it, their No 11 scoring due to a wicked bounce which caught our defence off guard. The No 11 soon made it 2-0 to Burwood with a classy finish against Rocco - but Rocco would get his revenge!

The second goal sparked us into life. We dug deep and started to play football. Ronan got us back in the game with a brilliant solo effort (how sorely we will miss him!). Then it became the Fiorenza Show, with yet another hat-trick, the highlight being his second, which he took with the outside of his right foot - a very difficult thing to do in practice, never mind during a game.

Once n front, it never looked like we would relinquish it. In the scanned half, we could have scored heaps of goals, but once again the bumpy pitch had the last say. Rocco got his defence sorted out, and they didn’t let him down, except on one occasion where he was one-on-one with their No 11. But this time, Rocco had the last laugh, as he anticipated correctly which way the No 11 was going to put it. Good on yer, Rock!

On the whole, we all played well. We showed we can play football, but it can’t stop there. We must do more passing and moving, people must look for space to run into. When you have space, you have time - you can look up and figure out what to do next. That’s when you find yourself being one step ahead of the opposition. Well done, lads. Keep it up.

PS Club Secretary Dick McCabe was smiling when he heard the score!

The Pele Medal points go to:

Sergio Fiorenza 3 points
Ronan Walsh, Rocco Nuzzo 2 points
Everyone else 1 point

NEXT GAME

Match: Balmain AA6B v Earlwood
Venue: Parry Park No 2
Date: Saturday 22 August 1998
Time: 1.15pm kick-off

Back to Earth ... with a thump!

MATCH REPORT No 2: by Jamie Flintoff

Match: Balmain AA6B v Strathfield
Venue: Mason Park
Date: Sunday 2 August1998
Time: 3pm kick-off

I do my job - others bother me not” - Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius

Well, Strathfield certainly did a “job” on us, with the final result being 5-0. Balmain can hold its head high though, as we played a very determined, parochial and even rough Strathfield, who I hope get thrashed for the rest of the season - as far as sportsmanship goes, they don’t rate.

Coming off a gritty, determined win against Burwood, we certainly came back to earth (literally, in some cases), with Strathfield scoring two quick goals within the first 10 minutes, and another two before half time. To our credit, however, we only let one into the net in the second half, and actually threatened to score on several occasions with some great runs by Con and Anthony and on to Serge, who had some close shots at goal.

The game was certainly one of physical contact, with a few altercations taking place (I, for one, was frustrated on a number of occasions, but am still to receive a card - contrary to Cameron’s report). Don’t misunderstand me, though - I’ll leave the card collecting to Russell “Centre it!” Borman, as I don’t want to steal the guy’s thunder!

Overall, our play was average in the first half, but improved immensely in the second, which really shows we are able to hold together as a team more and more as we play together.

The Pele Medal points go to:

Con La Spina 3 points
Anthony Rosenthal 2 points
Rocco Nuzzo, Richard Walsh, Glenn Bacic, Sergio Fiorenza 1 point

Pele medal count:

14 Flintoff
11 Borman, Fiorenza
10 Newcombe
9 Bacic
8 Onsman, Walsh (Richard)
7 Sommers
6 Walsh (Ronan)
5 Smith (Bruce), Rosenthal, La Spina
4 Nuzzo
3 Austin
1 Arblaster, Adams


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