It was a cold and windy morning out at Gymea for the first game of the season. The 7A’s had a great start to their season by defeating Gymea Soccer Club convincingly. The boys showed great potential from the start of the game with great passing, amazing speed to the ball and some thrilling shots at goal. Antonio started the goal scoring streak within the first few minutes of the game. Alex later set up two fantastic goals for Antonio to smash them into the back of the net. Gian soon grabbed some glory too by scoring a couple of goals from some nice passes across the field by his team mates. Then it was Julian’s turn to smash through Gymea’s defence and score a couple of goals. Noah had a superb game in defence showing some great skill with his feet and putting a few great balls through the pack into the clear for Antonio to capitalise on. As the full time whistle went, the boys were still thirsty for more, but they will need to save it for next week, as the competition will start to get harder. Well done Menai Hawks, you are in for a great season. Player of the week went to Julian.

Report by Annita Lepre.

Coach: Mark Zekusic

Manager: Annita Lepre

The season started for the 7E2's with a game at a cold and windy North Caringbah Oval. The boys started the game well, scoring the first goal. They could have scored a couple more, with Sam hitting the post twice. The boys also defended well and Liam made some great goal line saves. Jackson was all over the park and continued to run even though he had a knock on the knee. North Caringbah kicked off the second half strongly but good defence from Cameron kept them at bay. Jaylen made some good runs up field to allow the boys some shots at goal.

Overall a good start to the season, and I am sure with each training session and more games, the boys will continue to inprove.

What an entertaining game to start the season! The game started with some friendly back and forth play between both sides. Anton looked strong in goals as Gymea bombarded him with shots in the first half and intimidated the Gymea attackers with some hard tackles. Charlotte surprised all the boys of the team with some magnificent darting runs down the wing culminating in some great chances for us to score. As deserved as it was, unfortunately it was not to be, until Josh broke the deadlock with a great goal. Once he started, he could not stop as he finished off the game with a hat trick.  Zane played tenaciously and eased past defenders until he provided a fantastic piece of finishing with a goal of his own. James was solid in defence squandering many of the opposition’s chances through intelligent marking and positional play. Daniel showed great enthusiasm, being the first to the ball on many occasions.  

It was cold, it was windy but there were smiles all round as the boys were eager to start the season. Although frustrating at times, the game was highly entertaining and without a dull moment.

Jad and Kosta impressed us with their tackling skills while Jayden and Joshua dedicated themselves to defending. Together, the boys played extremely hard, from start to finish, against a strong Sylvania Heights team. Even injuries couldn’t keep our team down and the boys fought back again and again.

Nicholas and Ethan combined well in the second half to have a shot at goal, but unfortunately the ball did not find the back of the net. Daniel and Max had an intense workout in goals with many great saves. But the missiles kept firing and several got through.

Despite the loss, the Hawks left the field in good spirits eager to return stronger next week.

Man of the Match – Jad

Hawks vs Seagulls

Great effort from our team in the first half even though we were down 3-1, the score did not reflect the way we were playing. With a great goal scored by Christian which started in the backs passed thru the mid field & finally to the forwards which completed the task. It just goes to show that our team have the required skills to play as a team, this goal really lifted our spirits. The second half started off as the first did with all our players showing 100% effort & trying their absolute best, but we seemed to loose focus a little bit & with players from the seagulls unmarked in the middle of the park it wasn't long before the Seagulls  got a run of goals on us with the final score ending up 9-1 to the Seagulls. We are improving & hopefully our next game will be the one that kicks the season off for us.

Rd 01. Menai 14a’s v Gymea.  Won 7- 1

To Andrew,  Jack,  Jordan C.,  Lachlan,  Liam A.,  Liam S.,  Luke,  Matthew,  Michael,  Nicholas,  Peter, Sean & Tom.  Congratulations on making the 14A's squad for the 2011 season.

During our pre match warm up you could sense the nervousness amongst the team and parents. Our first competition match of the season and the whole team was focused on the upcoming game.

From the kick off we put the pressure on the Gymea defence. Menai quickly took control of the mid field as we continually attacked their goal. With three near misses in the first three minutes you could see the determination and resolve to win.  Sean scored the team’s first goal of the match after four minutes of play.  Two minutes later Sean scored his second goal. The whole team gave it their all as they shut Gymea out of the game. With Michael controlling the backs, Liam A. Luke and Nicholas were relentless in defence. They quickly dealt with the Gymea attack, and then setup our counter attack as they ran the ball up to our midfield. Andrew scored the team’s third and fourth goal in the sixteenth and twentieth minute of the game.  One minute before half time Jack scored the team’s fifth goal. The boys went to the break with a well deserved 5 nil lead.

 During the half time break John stressed the importance of maintaining their enthusiasm and determination in the second half. 

The second half was tough. Gymea came out firing as they continually attacked our goal for the first fifteen minutes of the second half. Lachlan was called upon to make numerous saves as Gymea was relentless in their attack. Then we began to take control of the midfield.   With Jordan B., Jordan C. Liam S. and Matt and continually attacking the Gymea goal, Tom scored the team’s sixth goal after some great passing in the twenty first minute. To their credit Gymea did not give up as they attacked our goal. A great save by Lachlan followed by an unlucky bounce saw Gymea score their first goal.  Then with about two minutes to go Peter scored the team’s seventh goal.  The final score was 7 – 1.

After the game Coach John awarded two MoM’s awards. The AMF Award went to Nicholas and the McDonalds Award went to Liam S.  Thanks to Jordan B (14b’s) who helped the team out today. Today’s game was a real team effort. Each of you played your part. Well done.   

                                              * Inspirational quotation *

"I think that the key is to try and play quality soccer, soccer with imagination. In my view that's the path we need to follow. When you aim to keep possession of the ball and you play to win the game, that's when the victories really start to come your way” 

  Italy coach Cesare Prandelli

Welcome to the 2011 season boys!

Welcome also to the new boys selected for the team: Adrian, Liam, Jake, and a ‘welcome back’ to Dean & Daniel after several years’ absence.

The boys were so keen to take to the field in their new strip. Knowing we could beat St. Pats from last season was a real confidence boost and the boys got on the attack from the beginning. Many attacking raids resulted in 4 Menai goals being scored in the 1st Half. Great passing up front from Andrew and Jake was leaving the defence grasping at air, as we ran straight through them time after time. Encouragement from John at half-time to keep playing this way was taken in, but we had a slow start to the 2nd half. With 10 minutes to go, our defence was finally broken with a long-ball and St Pats finally scored a goal. This seemed to spur the boys on, scoring again before the end.

In total, 4 goals from Jake earned him Man Of The Match, with Andrew bagging 2 and Jacob 1.

A great start to the season takes the team to 1st on the table, leading the way into round 2 against another team from last year – Gymea United.

Round 1 - 16A - 2-1 Victory over Miranda Magpies

At last, the much awaited 2011 season was here. 10 players backing up from last year and after a foray into the transfer market and medicals succesfully passed, 4 summer signings - welcome to Conor in goals, Matt, Tom S and Leavers adding strength all over the park! First up were Miranda - a bit of an unknown quantity given our last 3 games against them over a season and a half were all washouts. Two months of pre-season training and a couple of trial games had our boys pumped but nothing can compare to a competition match against quality opponenets to check where the team is at. The first half was nip and tuck with few chances created and probably shaded by Miranda who seemed to have that bit of extra desire being strong in the tackle and first to the ball particularly in midfield. That said at 0-0 all was to play for. Norm's half time talk focused on using the width that we had practiced at training and 'muscling up' in midfield. The second half was a different story. The first 5 minutes were all Menai as good chance after good chance was created. Against the run of play Miranda sneaked a goal after a defensive mix-up. Undeterred the boys pressed on and their efforts were finally rewarded following a through ball from Aidan calmly slotted home by Leavers and a girl mouth scramble that saw 3 attempts on goal before Harry finally found the back of the net. 2-1 was a deserving result and very pleasing to see the boys keep their shape and their heads despite going down a goal against the run of play. On balance a fairly scrappy game with plenty for Norm to focus on at training but lots of encoraging signs and good to notch a first win. Men of the match today - Tom S who had a towering game at Centre Back on his debut, Dillon who worked hard down the right wing and David who was very strong and gave nothing away at right back. Roll on next week!

Alan Phillips - Manager

35F Menai v St Pats – Win 4-0

After such a long off season, there were many happy faces to be back in action for another year. Simmo looked very fashionable arriving wearing the Safari Suit as part of a tradition and once the new playing shirts were distributed we focused on the game plan, which was to win. St Pats were the defending premiers and our “bogey” team so we were keen to do well. We welcomed Tony’s relatives, friends, neighbours, sponsors etc as additions to the squad in New Nick, Con, Cousin (Cuz) Paul & Andrew Byrne (aka Bernie Lomax) and they all did well, with Cuz playing an important role in many passages and Bernie being unlucky not to get on the scoresheet with a shot that hit the crossbar. Too Tall was excellent as our stand-in Keeper, prompting his declaration after the match: ‘#@*+ I played good today !?’. Johnny Cash enjoyed the freedom of getting on the field and not playing Keeper once again at Forest Road (must be something about the goal area there). Mel’s positional play was outstanding, while Scotty, Campo, Dasha and Niley all excelled at the back. The mids in Alan & Dave Phillips proved a handful for the opposition, while Javier was creative in setting up many attacking raids. Simmo confused his team mates by never holding his position but contributed on the scoresheet by sending a corner kick into the net after Tony had predicted it and warned the crowd. However, the story of the match was undoubtedly our hat-trick hero, bringing a piece of Hollywood to Kirrawee, in Steve Costa. I will spell it out, that’s;

S as in Steve Costa,

T as in Three goals to Steve Costa,

E as in ‘Everyone loves the hat-trick by Steve Costa’,

V as in Very nice goals by Steve Costa,

E as in Excellent hat-trick by Steve Costa,

C as in ‘Can you believe that hat-trick by Steve Costa’, O as in ‘Oh my God, it’s a hat-trick for Steve Costa’,

S as in Steve Costa,

T as in Tremendous hat-trick by Steve Costa and

A as in ‘Anybody not know about the hat-trick by Steve Costa ?’

By the way, that is the same number of goals he scored all last season. Thanks to JP for running the bench and of course the second half contribution of Stubbsie shouldn’t be underestimated. Great start to the season fellas. Let’s all get to training and help Campo out practising his throw-ins.

Mark Simpson

It was billed as the battle of the champions. The Hawkettes - last year's run-away W13B premiers versus Lilli Pilli - last year's run-away W13A premiers. A top game for round 1 of the new season and a stern test for the Hawkettes at the new dizzy heights of A grade football. Welcome to new players Lisa and Maddy J. They both did well on their debuts. Lilli Pilli are obviously a quality team who are well coached and they gave us a bit of a football lesson today. The girls, whilst a bit rusty did really well to hold a strong team to 4-0. It was almost like a doctor's surgery on the sidelines at the end with Mikaela's chipped tooth, Eloise's dodgy knee and Maddy J's sore foot but .... the Hawkettes are strong .... are not deterred by a minor setback .... vow to work hard at training .... listen attently to super-coach Arthur .... obey his every instruction …. and .... will rise again .... have absolutely no doubt about it! Dames of the game this week were Deanna and Tasmin who both gave stand-out performances. Watch out Bosco - Round 2!

The season opener against last year's grand finalists was both exciting and frustrating.  This wonderful team always entertains and makes the early Sunday morning kick off's a pleasure to witness.  Although a little rusty, the W16B1's certainly convinced me that they will be a force in the competition.  There is no substitution for game time so I am sure today's match was just what the girl's required to help them focus and train with purpose.  The ingredients are there: David will add the expertise; I will add the "mongrel" and the girls will  do the rest to make a statement in this competition.  The GK's were negotiated by Ashlee, winning the reverse alphabetical order.  Thank you to Keira and Alannah for accepting their roles without any objection.  Our backs played very well, diluting most attacking raids with ease.  Sometimes it's hard to highlight player performances, but I thought both Emma's and Angela's contribution was outstanding.  I may be a little biased, but our team improved as the game progressed.  Down by two points, the girl's displayed great character to equal the ledger.  With a little more game time, our forwards convinced me that they will dominate our next encounter with BR.  From a coaching point of view, I had a shocker.  But, happy to learn and improve for the next match.

Coach - Mark Davies