Day 4 - Tour Match v Carey Baptist Grammar School

After two days of hard football and early starts to the day the physical toll was starting to show on the students. The superb facilities of our hosts, Carey Baptist Grammar School, was just what the doctor ordered. A beautifully manicured pitch with a coat of Autumn dew was enough to get even the most jaded player in the mood for a friendly game of football. The girls unfortunately drew the short straw and had to contend with a dirt-covered cricket pitch in the middle of their pitch, but they slowly adapted to the conditions and played a brilliantly exciting match. Our hosts kindly provided some much enjoyed food at the end of the matches and we were then on our way to the home of Australian sport - the "G".

The MCG tour was broken up into two sections - a walk around the grounds (locker rooms, oval, members' area) as well as the museum in which all sports to have been played here were represented in some way. Surprisingly, there was an emphasis on Australian "no-rules" football. Victorians really are a crazy bunch. Seriously though, there can be little doubt that Melbourne is the sports capital of Australia, if not the world.

After the MCG tour the students got to enjoy the Melbourne city skyline via the Eureka Skydeck. In the meantime, I was given the task of finding a cake for our birthday boy, Jon Edwards. As a married man of some 18 years, I was reasonably confident that I had the appropriate skills to handle such a task. Clear instructions from Mrs Schreiber ("buy a cake") and the job was completed with the minimum of fuss.

Today we go to the Victoria Markets and play our final tour match against Camberwell Grammar before we watch the City v Reds A-League game. A scored draw would be very nice...


Open Girls

Today the weather was ideal for football. No rain and cool but comfortable. The field had a very muddy cricket pitch in the middle and was smaller than standard. The game plan was similar to others. Keep the shape, ball possession and placing emphasis on our first touch. 

In the first half the opposition started off well with good combination play in the defensive and middle third. They kept the ball away from us and used the width of the field very effectively. We struggled to keep up and went behind three times.  

Through hard work and a high press we forced a mistake out of the oppositions back two and Bella capitalised on this and scored a from a great shot.  

In the second half we kept the intensity of the high press in the middle third and the attacking third. This created a situation where the opposition became rattled. We took away space and time on the ball and started to play more quickly. This hard work allowed fantastic opportunities for our strikers. Bella scoring a hat trick with beautifully placed shots. One ending up in the left hand corner out of the goal keepers reach. Sami Gould was the other scorer from a rebound. Jessica once more bravely put her body on the line saving many shots and making it hard for the opposition to score.  

Overall the girls had a brilliant win with all players pitching in to display a game full of great strength and team cohesion. They came back from three to one, to win the game four to three. 

Mrs Schreiber & Ivor Nuñez

Development Squad

The third day of our tour saw us take on Carey Baptist Grammar School on a crisp Autumns morning, with the playing temperature around 16 degrees and the sun shining through. What more could we ask for!

Today we were working on controlled possession in the middle third as well as switching the play. Much like our other 2 previous encounters, goal scoring opportunities came thick and fast in the opening minutes. Superb play was seen in the midfield with John looking to switch the play as quickly as possible. This saw our first chance of the game when a perfectly hit through ball pierced CBGS's back four and played Hugh in behind. Hugh took a superb first touch and whipped the ball to the far post, where an outstretched Charlie missed connecting with the ball by centimetres. 

To the credit of CBGS, they played a very proactive based brand of football and rotated the ball around the pitch seamlessly. However, the Saints worked relentlessly to attain possession back off the throughout the entirety of the match. With some brilliant lead up play, CBGS took both chances that were presented to them during the half and went into the break with a 2-0 advantage.

Another special mention much go to Adam in goals who is having an outstanding tour. Without his strong presence in goals we would most certainly be conceding more goals than we would like. A few more chances were had by the Saints, however one of the better chances came in the 45th minute of the game, when a wicked cross was whipped into the 18 years box, where Charlie unfortunately was unable to keep the ball down and his header went dangerously close to piercing the back of the Grammar schools goal. 

In the last 10 minutes the flood gates opened, and through some very intense passing and movement from CBGS's team they managed to score another 3 goals. In the final 2 minutes, Callum tried to make a blistering run in behind their back four, however when the keeper came out to cut out the pass, Callum's foot became stuck in the ground resulting in him being flipped over the keeper. It was later found that Callum had unfortunately broken his collarbone. To his credit, it was great to see Callum play with such intensity right up until the final whistle. We hope you have a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you back in the mighty maroon Saints strip very soon!

At the end of the game, the boys and I spoke about how the score line was not reflective of the game. To CBGS's credit, they took their chances, and unfortunately we did not. Football can be such a cruel game sometimes, but that's why we love it!

Our final game see's us travel to Camberwell College, where we look to finish off the tour with a very strong performance. Let's go Saints!

Mr Leong


1sts

After a big win, and a narrow loss, the saints first XI boys were keen to gain another win in the 3rd of 4 tour fixtures. 

An injury requiring an ambulance in the previous game delayed the kickoff, however once underway, it was evident that both sides had the capability to win the match.

Frantic play in the opening 10 minutes saw box to box football, with neither side really being able to gain a handle on the game.

Carey Baptist opened the scoring around the 20 minute mark, after a scrambled ball on the right wing was bounced back and magnificently drilled from outside the box into the bottom right corner - nothing Spencer "Neuer" Cook could do.

Shortly after however, the saints boys responded brilliantly; a pass from Jack Thompson found George, who delicately slotted an Özil-like through ball - cutting out 4 defenders before finding Rooney, who calmly placed it past the keeper.

The remainder of the first half was similar to the opening 10 minutes - hard work from both teams resulting in brilliant football being played. However, the game changed with crucial injuries to both Jack Thompson and Dougie Mcindoe, who were forced off.

The second half continued in a similar manner, but much to the annoyance of the saints boys, Carey Baptist scored again, this time a brilliant piece of dribbling followed by a cut back for an easy tap in; a great team goal. The startled saints boys recovered well, and continued to knock the ball round well, resulting in great attempts from Rooney, Tim Kraft, George, and debutant Nathan. However, much to our disappointment, the Carey boys acted on a counter attack with an outstanding volley - 3 great goals from a very strong team.

The game finished 3-1, with it being evident Carey Baptist's clinical nature in front of goal was the difference between the 2 sides. In saying this, the saints boys still had many positives to take from the game. Well done boys!

Dougie Mcindoe