News and Info

By Peter Gillan

When due to scheduling issues, the 94 Girls Green (U14) agreed to play up in the U16 bracket at the Quest Sylvan Beach Tournament the appreciation of age difference was maybe lost on some of the girls. That changed very quickly when during our warm up we began to notice that most of our opponents, Div 1 Westside Wolves U16, were arriving in the parking lot driving their own cars!!  That clearly had an early impact on confidence and Westside scored on a headed goal with their first move of the game. To their credit the Fusion girls battled hard and were able to match the older girls in terms of possession and pressure but unfortunately could not convert that into goals. The final result of 4-0 was a little hard on Fusion, but the team took great confidence from knowing that physically and skill wise they could match up for long spells.

The afternoon game against the hometown Quest U15’s saw Fusion play a great match. They were pretty much in control from the first whistle, with the defenders giving Quest very little space and the midfield controlling the tempo. Despite a very frustrating multitude of offside calls the Girls in Green were able to run out 4-1 victors with Arialla notching a hat trick and Kate adding a great finish.

Sunday morning saw a repeat performance with Fusion once again matching up against the U15 Quest team. The N.T girls again dominated from the off with another great midfield effort and solid defending. The game ended in a 3-1 victory for Fusion with Lauren, Arialla (again) and Ariadna each claiming a goal.

Clearly the N.T girls were relishing the chance to play the U16 Westside team again. It was still mathematically possible for Fusion to tie them at the top of the standings but no-one could have predicted how the game would unfold.  From the kick off it was Fusion who went on the offensive, spreading the ball wide and out passing and out fighting the older girls at every turn. Mid way through the 1^st period Lily curled a fantastic shot from all of 20 yards, over the excellent Westside keeper and into the right side top corner. Westside were spurred into action but were totally shut down by some torrid Fusion tackling. The defenders were rock solid while the midfield creativity, combined with steely determination meant that Fusion continued to dominate. Lily found herself one on one with the on rushing keeper and struck a superb lob from the 18 yard line over the goalie. It bounced once and hit the cross bar before coming down on the goal line. Lauren was first to the ball and bundled it home for a hugely deserved 2-0 half time advantage. The second half saw Westside come out looking to gain a foothold in the game but the Fusion defenders marshaled by the hugely influential Lupita at sweeper, completely shut up shop and the older girls could find no way through.

The midfield continued to dominate and Fusions fine passing game lead to Christy being hauled down in the box when through on the keeper. It was Lily who stepped up to side foot a perfect penalty past the diving goalie into the bottom corner. When the final whistle blew for an incredible 3-0 victory, the “youngsters” had amazingly tied Westside at the top of the bracket with 29 points. If the game itself didn’t provide enough drama, the tournament staff decided that the only way to settle first place was to go to a penalty shoot-out. Fusion would go on to win by 3 penalties to 2 with Lauren, Lily and Ariadna all scoring from the spot but it was keeper Theresa who was the hero, making 3 great saves to deny Westside and cap a wonderful weekend of soccer.

The girls gave Coach Mike a well deserved ice cold drenching in his tournament debut. On the strength of this showing, he can look forward to many more!!