Knights battle hard in final match

Seniors
LEONGATHA Knights hosted Wonthaggi United in a match that potentially only had any bearing for the Wonthaggi side. With no Reserves game, Leongatha was able to field a full and fit squad.
Knights started with Charlie Dougherty in goal and he knew that the Wonthaggi side would be hard to keep out as they have a number of quick players that have stretched the Leongatha defence in the past.
Knights had a settled defence of Dylan Van Puyenbroek, Tom Rycks, David Simon and Tom Barker.
This allowed Fergus Warren to move forward into the midfield where he controlled the ball for the day.
He was well supported by Brian Gannon, Blake Moscript and Ethan Bath as the play makers who were then able to release the ball down field for PJ O’Meara and John Wilson.
Wonthaggi scored first when it advances down the right hand wing.
Throw ins were kicked or headed out and led to the United team being deep into Leongatha territory.
When its throw in went long it seemed to confuse the defenders and a very slight touch from the Wonthaggi player saw the ball deflected into the net.
Leongatha’s first goal of the match occurred when PJ made a run forward with the ball and the Wonthaggi defender panicked and grabbed his shirt trying to stop him.
Ethan stepped up as the side’s penalty taker and put the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
This effectively ended the 1st half in a well played match.
Jack Bainbridge, Sam Bainbridge, Sean Villasevil and Matt Wardle all came on during the second half to help out the Leongatha side.
When the Knights team pushed the Wonthaggi defence back towards their goal they were only able to clear the ball over for a corner to Leongatha.
Ethan took the corner kick and when Wonthaggi couldn’t clear the ball it was Brian who pounced.
Starting outside the goal square he could see the ball and the defence in front of him, when the clearance came to him he was able to control the ball off his chest and thump the ball high into the net with a solid left foot drive.
Wonthaggi realised that the Leongatha team had something to prove and whilst the Knights won’t play finals the fourth placed Wonthaggi side started to attack relentlessly.
Wonthaggi had its chances with a number of players not taking the opportunities that came their way.
Womens
THE Leongatha Lady Knights took to the pitch against Wonthaggi United hoping to secure top position on the ladder.
The Lady Knights had the strong wind advantage first half and the amazing Kathy kicked an early goal through after some great strong teamwork.
Wonthaggi United worked hard to keep the Lady Knights out but after a wonderful chain of passes, Kathy was able to score again before Wonthaggi kicked one back against the wind.
All over the pitch the Lady Knights were running hard.
A determined Rachel showed her versatility by going forward and kicking a great goal to open the second half.
With the many talents of Alice, Pauline, Iznaya, Jordon and Lorena holding the strong Knights defence together, Wonthaggi United could not break through.
Kathy played on to kick five goals for the game and was well supported by Sarah and Annemeike.
Consistent ‘two way’ hard running from the Knights wings Jemima, Hayleigh, Sophie and Tammy made sure the Lady Knights played well.
Leongatha Lady Knights captain Bethany again battled strongly up forward to keep the ball in play.
The Leongatha Lady Knights were winners six goals to one, which was enough to secure top spot on the ladder.
U16s
SUNDAY’S match at home for the Knights was against Wonthaggi.
This game was a do or die for the U16s to play in the semi finals next week.
The rain and wind set in whilst the team were warming up and it continued throughout the entire game.
Wonthaggi quickly scored three goals in the first 15 minutes, but this appeared to make the Knights even hungrier.
The Knights team picked up their attack and they began to play really well as they got their momentum going. At half time the Knights managed to bring the result up to three nil.
The results in the first half consisted of an own goal from Wonthaggi’s Malik and another well executed play effort by the Knights.
The second half proved to keep the spectators on their toes, with lots of play back and forth.
Malik managed to get his hat trick for the game, scoring three great goals throughout the day.
Nick, Kody, Eddie, Vinnie, and Jarrod had a very busy time in defence with the fast Wonthaggi strikers taking any opportunity to have a crack at goal.
Among the midfield, there was lots of great passing to help set up some great opportunities between Curtis, Adam, Will, Harvey, Aidan and Malik with Sean and Tom working hard along the wings.
Shem had a big day in goals and the wintery weather made his job even more challenging but he carried out his role to perfection.
Leongatha got to five-three then in the last 15 minutes Wonthaggi snatched another goal which made the game very interesting.
Wonthaggi had several more close chances but in the last five minutes Tom chipped a great ball over the goalie to make the score six-four.
All the Knights had to do now was keep the pressure on to get that chance to play in next week’s semi final.
U15 girls
LEONGATHA Knights U15 girls played their last match of the season on the home ground against Wonthaggi this Sunday. In the first half Bri and Xanthe worked well together in the midfield, setting up several goal opportunities.
Louise had a shot at goal but was so close and deflected off the post.
At the end of the first half the score was two nil to Wonthaggi.
The girls showed determination in the second half and kept their heads up high.
With the help of Evie, Lissy scored an exciting two goals which brought the two teams level.
As the final whistle blew the result was two nil.
Thanks coach Beth for getting this team up and running for the first year.

In action: Leongatha’s Louise Janssen moves the ball around her Wonthaggi opponent in the U15s. Photo by Beth Milkins.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Sep 5 2017. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry