Samford Rangers Football Club

Another cracker of a winter’s morning greeted us for our second 8:30 start in a row at Mitchie. Though this time the humidity was low and there was no dew on the grass, so those roster tails that fly off the ball during the warm up weren’t there to spray us awake.

An even nicer surprise was to face a team, Mitchie Mariners, that weren’t all boys!  For the first time in several weeks Emily and Hannah had some female opposition. And for the first time, I think ever, there were more girls on the other team as three Mitchie girls lined up against us.

The game got off to an absolute flyer as Jacob netted within the first 30 seconds. But things settled down after that as the game found a groove.

Mason had the gloves in the first half and put in probably the best ‘keeping performance of the season making several great saves including a high lob from half way that nearly bounced over his head, but he was good enough to gather it. Most impressive of all were 4 or 5 running clearances made outside the box as he perfectly timed his run and kick to thwart oncoming attacks.

Meanwhile, in mid-field, Sebastian and Corban were once again solid and made great tackles and poked a few balls forward to team mates to get us moving forward. Corban’s down-on-one-knee tackling style is quickly becoming his trademark.

Toby scored a cracker of a goal with a right foot drive, mid-height to the right side of goal in general play adding to his tally for the season.

Joe made some of the best runs he’s done all season, with one in particular down the wing beating 2 or 3 then getting a great through ball into the scoring zone. Analysing the video footage after the game his awareness and "looking up" while dribbling were excellent.

Nick did his usual Messi impression down the right wing dazzling a couple of defenders with his footwork and now trademark turn.

Sebastian was in goals for the second half and put on a good display with brave saves and clearances holding out the Mitchie attack.

Hannah once again found herself in good positions and had a couple of half chances on clear breaks but was shut down by the defence. This however may change in the near future with a new incentive scheme as you’ll learn below. An off-the-line clearance was added to her repertoire also.

Emily played her natural cover defence role and had a great chance to score from a penalty kick just outside the box in the second half, but her attempt was blocked.

Talking point of the game was Jacob’s goal streak, netting four and he could have had a few more with a bit of luck. Showing great hunger for the ball he chased down everything and never gave up on the ball, eventually becoming so confident he was shooting from half way. He did a similar thing last year, when instead of the usual 1 or 2 goals a game suddenly cracked 4 or 5. The secret of his success may be the fee-per-goal contract he is on, which I have now had to put my daughter Hannah on as well. Stay tuned....

The scoring wasn’t all one-way as Mitchie got a few through the game to make it a very entertaining game to watch.

As last week’s Player of the Week, Connor was a last minute withdrawal with the flu, we didn’t have our PotW trophy as I suggested Connor’s folks not make the trip out to Mitchie to drop off the trophy as they were about to do. Before the game we joked that everyone would be player of the week but as it turned out, they all were!

A fantastic effort by everyone and a great way to lead into the holiday.

I wish all the players, parents and supporters a great break.

First half began with great enthusiasm with a well collaborated defence including Harry having a flying start in kicking the ball. Flynn Scott was everywhere around our goal area doing great tackles and helping out with the goal kicks. With many attempts at goal Mathew Chui stoped 5 certain ones against our team while on goal keeper duties. Jesse Vankan played in attack and was in good position when Flynn did  one of many humongous goal kicks well past the halfway field mark. What Jesse didn't have was support players to help him take advantage of good field position when it came so he could make a run on the oppositions goal. Jesse also did a lot of field work and was even seen defending our goal area out wide, not bad for someone that ran half the field to do so.

Ben Mortensen did some great turn and chase, dribbling and passing  and this was when he wasn't 100% well. Flynn linked up with other defenders and allowed them to run the ball down the side line.

Second half saw a lot of combined teamwork  between Lincoln Whitehead, Ben Mortensen and Zackary Warman. Lincoln did a great run and beat 3 tacklers and still kept going. Ben showed how dribbling and kick and turns should be done and Zackary did very well in cover defence and diffused one certain goal. On top of this he showed attacking skills by beating two tackles down the sideline.

Conner Hay and Daniel Dawes showed good soccer skills in the entire game with Conner  also showing good dribbling skills and two runs up the side line. Daniel showed how he is starting to read the game in defence by reading the opposition and looking for gaps  and went from defence to attack and put pressure on the opposite team forcing them to make an error in their own goal.

Mathew Chui returned the favour of helping defend our goal area when Flynn was in goal keeper duty.  In all the team played pretty well and the reason the other team won by so much was that almost all of the goals scored against us were from the same fundamental mistake of doing a goal kick straight to a wall of waiting opposition in the middle of the field and allowing them to boot it straight in at close range while most of our players were off to the sides waiting for the ball that never arrived. If it wasn't for this the scores would be pretty close so it's a lesson we must learn if we are going to win games. We are all great teammates and enjoy playing together so let's go Manchester United.  Soccer is fun, winning at soccer is even more fun!

Due to school holidays we were down to 4 players and a big thanks to Samford Fulham and Samford Blackburn for helping us out with players to make up a team. All the boys played well with Seb Woods and Sid Adams standing out.

Goal Scorers:

Seb Woods 3

Matthew 1

Mitch 1

This week we played Pine Hills Hearts.

Leading 1-0 at half time following another goal from Teague, Spurs were unable to hold on in the second half despite some great goal keeping from Ben. 

The final score of 1-1 was a fair result and reflected the closseness of the game.

Player of the match was Jack.  Well done Jack!

a good bounce back after last week's crah landing and great team effort despite the candle light illumination of the pitch.

The actual score was

5 real goals

2 real goals but the ref did not count them despite the fact that the ball was behind the line (including the goalie)

6 duds which were 150% chances

1 penalty which hit almost in the middle bewteen the post and the corner flag and sent the shooter to the bottom of the penalty shooter list.

Man of the match in shooting the ball into the biushes and the creek : Al

Thanks to Brian for supporting the MM.

It was the start of the second part of the season and playing Mitchy Mustangs for the second time showed how much the girls had improved. We did a great job keeping up with a very determined Mustangs' team, even without the Samford boys that helped us out the last time we played this team.

Ollie still wanted to play with an ankle injury, but she was confined to goals and what an outstanding job she did standing strong against many attempts at goal from Mitchy. It was great to have Prue and Liv back this week and both had a great game. Prue consistently read the play well and covered many players in defense with ease even when they were often much bigger! Liv's tackling was fantastic as usual and she often came away with the ball looking dangerous moving towards Mitchy's goal. Libby came in hard against her opposition and on one occasion did a great tackle on Mitchy's biggest player, which saw him come off second best and on the ground. Ash did really well moving up in defense when needed and also did a great job of taking on many of the opposition which were often many heads taller than her.

Ella and Mia both had fantastic games. Mia just didn't stop running and would be in defense on one side of the ground, see the ball coming down towards our goal on the opposite sideline and somehow make it over to jockey the opposition and eventually tap in at the right time to clear the ball. Ella's "one touch and I'm done" approach in the beginning of the year is no where to be found and she now follows up each and every time she comes near to the ball. She also did a great job this week finding space and being a great option for her team mates to pass to when needed.

The "Player of the Week" trophy this week went to Bella and much celebration was had! Congratulations Bella, you have improved so much and this week listened and responded every time coach Pat called to you with instructions.

Close and tight first half saw the score 0-0 at half time. We controlled the ball well with a new formation but failed to penetrate. With the wind in the second half we had many more chances with Matt scoring a beauty against his old club from outside the box. Leo had a strong game in defence again as did Tom up front and in the midfield. Dean pulled off some great saves again to ensure we notched up a good and well needed win.

Brrrr. Our first away game for 8 weeks and an 8:30 start at Mitchie on a coldish winter’s morning.

As we arrived at the ground the dew across the field added to the overall feeling that this was indeed a winter’s morning, but the sun was out and it was a beautiful day. 

My daughter Hannah sensibly chose the end in the sun to warm up. And as we kicked the ball around, our full complement of ten arrived for this clash – the second in four weeks – with Mitchie Giants – oops Glory.

The gamed started out as a fairly tight affair, with the teams trading possession in end-to-end football. Connor had the gloves in the first half and once again pulled off some stunning saves and clearances – not to mention his great goal kicks.

Although we had several chances on goal, with Corban, Sebastian, Nick and Jacob all recording near misses, we didn’t convert a goal in the first half and went into the “sheds” a couple of goals down.

Early in the first half Jacob fell awkwardly on his shoulder at full pace and looked to have done a shoulder. But by the time the magic spray was out of the bag he was up and at ‘em again.

Toby had the gloves for the second term and also showed off his great ‘keeping skills. We are lucky to have several natural ‘keepers in out squad.

The instruction at half time was to attack, and the team responded with more aggressive play. Again we had several chances with balls falling to Emily, Mason, Joe and Conner in front of goal, and Hannah getting a couple of clean breaks, but again we were unlucky to not score.

Connor pulled off one of the best defensive tackles of our season to date, coming from nowhere, to effect a perfectly clean tackle on a Mitchie Giant who had broken clear of the pack, to the woops of a delighted crowd. This combined with his ‘keeping efforts in the first half earned Connor the Player of the Week.

It was great to see the team respond to the call to attack more in the second half. Every player is improving by the week. If we can just get someone onto the end of the great crosses we are getting in, we’ll be fabulous! Go team.

A special post-script for Nick and Jacob who both played in the Rangers’ rep team against the Caboolture development squad on Sunday. They both represented the club well with good performances in a thrilling 5-3 victory.

A chilly morning gave way to the heat of the field of the enemy when our brave lads took to the field at Mitchelton this week.

The game kicked off with 'Wildcat' Zackary running the ball around the field and exhibiting total dominance. In support this whole period was Jesse 'Tim Cahill' and 'Lightning' Lincoln in the mid field who made sure that the ball was always a threat. The defence was steadfast with 4 brilliant saves from Matthew 'Safe hands' in goals.

Harrison made a HUGE impact on the field with a great kick out to stop the progress of Mitchy's frontline. Benny 'the badman' ran the ball with such effort and courage that it made his mum weep.

After encouragement that rivalled the State of Origin team last Wednesday night, the huge gains were given up early after oranges as the heat really kicked in and the opposition scored a quick goal. This was always going to be the case with the number of kids stacking up against 'Fearless' Flynny who held fast under pressure. The hands used by this goaly would make Schwatzer proud. 

Connor and Danno also had a good second half because they never gave up and always had a laugh. Danno saw the girls on the other team and decided that marking one of them all game was a great idea, much to his Dad's delight. 

Overall we need to follow Dan's example and mark our players, be they ugly or attractive, big or small.  We also need to keep the pressure up and follow through when we are close to goal. Another big thing that was noted was the need to call for the ball, so when we see the ball coming our way, we call for it, that way we can not bump into each other and fall over.

Man of the match Zack the wildcat for total domination of the ball in the first half and the encouragement award from the Coach went to Benny for his heart of oak.

A very tough match with the team playing one person short against a full strength opposition. The boys worked very hard but trailed 3-1 at half time. In the second half everyone dug deep and managed to tie the match up by full time. There was no player of the week award as the whole team performed exceptonally, as a team.

Goal Scorers:

Michael 3

This weekend the under 10 Spurs side played Mitchie Roar at home.

Leading 1-0 at half time following a Teague wonder strike, Ben scored the only second half goal.

Emelio was named player of the match following some industrious forward play in the first half and some acrobatic saves in the second half.  Well done Emelio!

Another beautiful winter’s morning saw Newcastle taking on Mitchie Jupiter at home at Samford Parklands field #4.

The season’s colds and flus took out our gun goalscorer and Samford U8 rep. Jacob, so we had nine players fit and well for this clash.

Joe took the gloves for the first half and after taking a pounding in the opening minutes dusted himself off to complete the half in style.

Meanwhile up the other end of the park, Nick pulled off one of the goals of the season stepping around 2 or 3 defenders and driving the ball into the right corner of the goal for our only score of the match.

In mid-field our engine room was on song again with Sebastian and Corban in continuing good form, with Hannah, Toby and Connor supporting and venturing forward.

The photo shows Player of the Week Corban leading the charge to the ball while hotly pursued by several other players.

Emily and Mason were solid at the back. Emily's cover defence again a highlight as were Mason’s tackles.

Mason had the gloves in the second term and continued what is becoming a tradition of great goalkeepers in the Newcastle squad, making some fabulous saves and clearing kicks.

Another fun game was had and it was a great game to watch. Good job to all the players and supporters.

Go Newcastle!

Well, what an amazing effort this week! I don't know where to start, as every player this week played at a level we have not seen them play at previously. The girls each had an individual challenge this week and they all accomplished exactly what was asked of them.

We arrived at Mitchelton knowing we were up against a hard team and also down two of our fantastic little players, Prue and Liv. As the start of the game neared, we had two boys from Samford Liverpool offer to fill in so things were looking a little brighter.

The game started with a fierce pace and Arsenal lifted to the challenge. Bella had a cracking first half, sticking to her player like glue and hungry for the ball. Every time you looked up, she was on a path for the ball! Ella had the first half in goal and came up against a pelting of attempts at goal from Mitchy. Once on the field in the second half, she followed up on every touch of the ball. She also came up against a shoulder charge from a rather large Mitchy boy, but bounced straight back up and took off in play. Libby worked tirelessly and seemed to be everywhere. Just about every time she went in for a tackle under pressure near goal, she timed a touch to the ball and cleared it to the line. Ash once again took on the strong and large opposition. Her standout for the game was how she not only controlled the ball, but then looked up and gave a strong pass or big kick into space. Mia did not stop running and was often the player to chase down the opposition on their run to scoring and intercept their attempts at goal. Ollie had a fantastic first half with her challenge being to try and not just do a huge kick for the sideline, but look up and maybe pass or kick to space. She did a fantastic job at this and many times turned a run towards goal for the other team, into a lead in the right direction for Arsenal. The second half unfortunately she was struggling with a problem anckle, so a quick goalie change was had and she took on the Mitchy onslaught with amazing courage. It was for this reason and also her ability to excel at her weeks challenge, that she received Player of the Match.

A special mention has to also be made of Matt and Declan our fill ins. Thank you so much for playing boys. You both had a fantastic game, with Declan mixing it well with the Big Mitchy boys and Matt's huge kick finding the goals a number of times for Arsenal.

Amazing work Arsenal, your families were extremely proud of you all!

The boys had a tough game this week. The team demonstrated some great attacking and defending skills which sadly are not reflected by the final score.

The goalies for the match had to work extra hard. Matthew was in goal for the first half where he took a spectacular dive to save the ball. Connor and Flynn shared the role of goalie in the second half. Both had some great saves standing up well to the Mitchelton attacks, with Flynn literally putting his body on the line to save a goal.

Great attacking skills were demonstrated by Lincoln, Ben, Jesse and Bailey. Both Jesse and Bailey had a number of attempts at goal but unfortunately just couldn’t capitalise. They created some exciting moments particularly when an attempt at goal by Bailey was cleared by the opposition goalie only to be followed up straight away by another attempt at goal by Jessie. Bailey’s third attempt at goal with a large powerful kick was amazing and so close.

Great defending skills were shown by all of the team particularly Flynn, Daniel, Lincoln, Matthew and Zachary. There were some nice passing skills, particularly between Connor and Ben, and Daniel showed some nice play making up the front.

Early in the first half, Harry had an attempt on the ball and was also chasing and following the play. He was awarded the coaches trophy for this week both for doing well in training and during this game.

A well-deserved “Player of the Week” was awarded to Flynn.

Overall, the boys played well against a tough team – Well Done to All!

Another good game from the team. Great goal from Connor in his first start in the forwards this season. Overall the boys are putting skills learned at training into practice in games but still have plenty of room for improvement as the season progresses, particularly in remembering to pass to team mates in a better position.

Goal scorers:

Michael 2

Seb Woods 2

Connor 1

Sid 1

Player of the week was Seb Woods.

This week Spurs faced Samford Fullham.

As many players from the two teams are friends the game was played in a fantastic spirit.

Leading 1-0 at half time, Spurs played with more width in the second half running out 4-1 winners.

Emelio scored the only first half goal. Second half goals followed for Jack, Declan and Ryan.

All Spurs team members had solid games. Ben was rewarded for some industrious forward play and for his fearless tackling and was player of the match. Well done Ben!

This week I have two great performances from the girls to catch up on!

Saturday 2nd June v Samford Man United -

The girls did a great job this week managing to keep Samford Man U scoreless in the first half. This was not only due to Prue's great job as goalie with her saves under enormous pressure amazing, but some fantastic defense from the team. Bella had some impressive tackles in which she came out on top by clearing the ball to a safe space. Ash showed great determination to follow through in a hard contest and also achieved clearing the ball to the line or a team mate. Liv and Ollies' big kicks were flying as usual and saw many attempts from the opposition at goal cleared with force.

In attack Libby had some great moments of control up the line with the other team in toe and Ella showed fantastic awareness in finding space, with a call to Libby for the ball whilst positioning herself near goal.

Mia had a standout game which saw her receive Player of the Match this week. She didn't stop working and had countless 1 on 1 challenges in which she came out with the ball.

Well done girls, we are really enjoying watching you grow your soccer skills!

Saturday 26th May v Mitchelton Slingers -

It was a chilly morning in Samford, but once over the range and out of the breeze it was a lovely morning over at Mitchy. The girls were up against a strong team, but seemed to lift their performance up another notch once again.

Bella started in goal and did some fantastic work trying to keep the ball from entering the goals. She had many great saves, but the most impressive was when she stopped a goal attempt with her feet and then followed up with a great save using her hands when the ball was kicked straight back at her. Ollie was under huge pressure in the second half defending the goals and also did an amazing job. Her great clearing kicks really came in handy in this position!

Ella's confidence under pressure was great this week and saw her win many 1 on 1 contests as she then moved the ball well up field. Ash showed great skills as usual, with her control of the ball when needed being a standout. Liv was busy as usual and showed fantastic skill with an air kick save right in front of our goal. Lib and Liv worked well together at goals and nearly succeeded with a goal. Libby also took a great shot at goal and nearly found the net.

Prue and Mia showed amazing guts with both taking on many of the opposition to win the ball. At one stage Prue moved the ball into our attack half with 5 Mitchy players on her. She now just needs her team mates to get forward in position and her work may pay off with someone to pass to. Mia did similar work in defense....she came up against 3 players from Mitchy and won the ball and cleared to the sideline.

Libby received player of the match this week, due to her hard work throughout the entire game.

I was looking forward to our derby with Samford Man U. on Saturday morning as they were one of, if not the best of, the Samford U7 teams last season. So it would be a good test to see where Newcastle was.

With two of our team out with the dreaded start of winter flu, we had eight players keen to get on the pitch for this test.

Connor and Toby took the ‘keeping gloves for this game and both showed some sensational skill, pulling off many good saves with some spectacular dives.

Newcastle again showed continuous improvement with every member of the team showing their stuff and putting in a great effort.

Man U. proved to be the stronger team on the day but Newcastle competed for the whole 40 minutes. We had a few good chances to score but were unlucky not to convert.  While Man U. benefited from their greater number of attacks scoring a couple of their handful of goals from deflections.

An enjoyable game to watch and a good competitive match. It’s great to see the team grow stronger every week.

A special mention to Nick and Jacob for being selected in the Samford U8 team.

Corban also had another greatly improved performance for the third or fourth game in a row. He also copped a tag in the knee just before half time but was right for the second half.

Player of the Week was Hannah, who started off with a bang getting stuck into the play right from the kick-off, and had some clean breaks in the second half also.

Well done team!

After a cold and drizzly start to the day – the boys took to the field.

From the beginning the match proved to be a thrilling contest.

Brilliant attacking play was demonstrated by the whole team and some pleasing combination play resulted in a few goals being scored.

The first half saw Flynn Scott in goals. Connor Hay had a shot at goal with a nice attacking combination supported by Ben Mortensen. Ben M also had an attempt at goal. Good defending by Matthew Chui, and periodic follow of play by Harrison Engwirda.

The second half saw Matthew Chui in goal. The team demonstrated a brilliant attacking game, Matthew and Harrison had time for a quick game of Ring a Rosie in the goal box!

Meanwhile attempts at goal were made by Bailey Viner (x2), Lincoln Whitehead (x2), Jesse Vankan (X3) and Flinn Scott (x2) the modest score of 3-0 did not reflect the brilliance of the boy’s team work.

Daniel Dawes played a great defensive game as did Zackary Warman maintaining much pressure in the final 10 minutes with support and great passing between Lincoln and Jesse, Zach Warman scored a beautiful goal.

Flynn Scott showed great all round play and scored a skilful goal in the top right hand corner of the net. Another great pass from Lincoln - Jesse – Flynn resulted in a beautiful goal straight down the middle.

The boys should be congratulated on their fine effort and first win of the 2012 season.

WELL DONE BOYS!!!

This week saw the Samford under 10 Spurs travel to Colin Thiele Field to take on Dayboro.

Jonte was missing this week so we lent two players from Arsenal, Michael and Seb.  Both boys had very strong games.  Thanks for helping us out boys!

Whilst the score line looked comfortable (6-1), the game was a very tight affair.  Whilst Spurs led 3-0 at half time, Dayboro changed things up in the second half and were unlucky not to score more than 1 goal.

The Spurs goal scorers were:

1^st half

Teague

Ryan

Michael

2^nd half:

Michael x 2

Emelio

Teague had a strong game and was our player of the match.

Samford’s top team made amends for a first round loss to Grange by handing out a 5-0 drubbing in the opening match of the second round of the Brisbane Premier 2 competition last Saturday. The win consolidates 3^rd position on the competition ladder and now 6 points behind current leaders Bayside with 10 matches remaining.

While Grange dominated the first 15 minutes of the match Samford were snapped into action after a strong run from captain Damon Tune who came up from fullback before delivering a pinpoint cross to striker Alan Robinson who volleyed the ball into the net. This proved a tonic to Rangers who took full control of the match and before half time netted another two goals through Robbie Wales.

The second half saw much of the same with Samford controlling the match and through a long-range free kick from Sam Hornby and then Adam Sherman scoring off a corner the scoreboard could have been even worse for Grange. A number of close range chances were missed by the locals but a 5-0 score-line was a satisfying result.

“We had to make sure we didn’t become too complacent after it was clear we had the game under control and I’m pleased to say that we were very disciplined throughout” said coach Mick Hornby.

Samford was without striker Zane Clayton (unavailable) and keeper Dave Bull suffered a serious knee injury in the previous match and these were big losses for the team however reserves keeper Matt Malcewski stepped up and kept a clean sheet.

“We face a difficult month ahead with some big games and unfortunately are likely to have a number of players out so it was healthy to see us perform well without two of our stand out players and have those that come into the team play so well”.

The next match is away to Holland Park who are the form team of the competition with the next home match on Sunday 24 June.

Conditions: Wet

Crowd: Good

Referee: Good

Reserve Grade: Samford 2 vs Grange Thistle 2

The ressies team put in a solid performance in difficult wet conditions and after several raids on the opposition goal eventually scored the opener via penalty duly taken by Rhys Hornby. Although Grange held majority of possession, they did not create a lot of chances in the attacking third, however after a looping cross was not dealt with accordingly, they equalised just prior to half time.

The second half saw much of the same as the first, with both teams evenly matched and creating several chances only to be dined by great saves or poor finishing. However after receiving a ball inside his own half Mick Hornby cleverly played Jason Mckee into space behind the defence which he ran onto and then neatly slotting home Samford’s 2^nd from a tight angle. Not to be denied, the Grange team continued to play hard and got the equalizer with only a couple of minutes left to play. In the end probably a fair result although the boys were disappointed not taken all 3 points.

The match was almost a repeat of the first clash between the teams including the rain. A weak first half saw the MM under a lot of pressure and Mitchie scored an easy goal. The second half saw the MM pressing Mitchie into their box and it took almost to the end until Craig relieved the team with goal worth the title goal of the month and shocked the opposition. With a powerful hit from around 30m+ the ball flew straight to the goal smashed against the bottom of the cross bar into the goal. What a cracker.