Round 12 - 3 August 2024
Hard to believe it’s August and Round 12! The Season is flying past! The sun was back on Saturday in a welcome respite from the weeks storms and heavy rainfall. Monday’s night games were not so lucy, with the rain back for the games in Busselton.
U6 Warriors
A late morning match up against Cornerstone Cubs in the beautiful Busselton sunshine had the U6 Warriors keen to get going! With perfect conditions, the team warmed up quickly; a nice change from our recent training sessions of cold wind and wet weather. Our on-pitch presence oozed confidence! The Warriors positioned themselves well, providing plenty of opportunities for passing, running into space and shots on goal. We were loud; calling for the ball and also celebrating as a team during play for the many successes of the morning, including goals and defensive slide tackles. Regrouping post-game with Coach Ian was a special moment for the team, reflecting on the awesome play and fun that was achieved by all the Warriors for Round 12. We congratulated Oakley and Winston as our Players of the Day who selected vouchers from Ninjas in Mocean. A huge shout out and thank you to the Ninjas in Mocean team for sponsoring FMR, it’s always a favourite place for our kids to visit in our community!
U8 Raptors
On a frosty but sunny morning, the boys played their hearts out against Dunsborough. Coe was everywhere in defence and attack. Cooper saved some good attacks on goal. Congratulations to Torin and Jay for player of the day showing their skills at striking. Thanks to Amaze’n for their support this week.
U8 Legends XI
A very early start to the morning, Legends 11 took on Capel Wolves Green. Despite the early start, the team were firing on all cylinders. A great display of team spirit saw Legends 11 rise to the occasion and work together in all aspects of the game. Solid in defence as always, followed by precise passing in midfield. Great goals by Knox and Hutch to seal the game. POD went to George and Sonny for their ‘getting stuck in’ attitude.
U9 Strikers
Greeted with perfect conditions for Soccer the two Margaret River teams put on a stellar performance. Sam and Jahla were staunch in goals with some spectacular saves. Arlo D and Miles working well in the midfield, creating some good opportunities for Josh and Arlo D forward. Anouk and Genevieve doing great work in defence helped keep the scoring down. Thanks to Squid Lips for the Players of the Day.
U9 Grizzlies
The sun was shining on the pitch this week as the Grizzlies took on fellow Margaret River side the Strikers. The Grizzlies knew it was going to be a tough match so they came prepared for the challenge. The Grizzlies defence was next level and did not let much through whilst at the other end of the pitch, the front line player’s boots were on fire as they continually found the back of the net. The players of match this week were Archie and Tyler who will enjoy an outing to Ninjas in Mocean. Massive thank you to the Strikers for an awesome match, to the parents who helped to set up and pack and of course to the coaches and referee.
U10 River Squad
River Squad put up a great fight in this week’s game against Capel, which we narrowly lost 2-3 after powerful goals by Cubbi and Westy. Players of the day were Westy, who scored a Squid Lips voucher, and Heath, who was awarded a Two Cracks Coffee voucher.
U11 Breakers
The Stars started strong against the Breakers for the derby at Gloucester Park. The Breakers struck back with Zoe scoring a goal to earn POD. Marshall showed determination in working to stop the ball entering the striking zone to also earn POD. Despite some strong team play and shots at goals from the Breakers, the Stars maintained the upper hand. Thanks to Amaze'n and Burger Baby for prizes.
U11 Stars
Great to see the sun shining as the U11 Stars took on one of the other U11 Margaret River teams the Breakers. With lots of familiar faces the game was played in good spirit with some great skills on display from both sides. The Stars had the edge this time around with some good passing moves across the team, providing lots of goal mouth action. The theme of the game was to be brave. Brave on the ball, being confident to take a first touch and brave in the tackle and it certainly paid dividends with great performances across the whole team. Isacc Mann took out player of the day for the Stars with an all action display, he was all over the ground, tackling, passing and shooting. Awesome to see his passing game improving week on week playing with his team mates to create lots of goal scoring opportunities. In the spirit of the Olympics both teams were a credit to the green and gold of Margaret River well done all!!
U11 Jettz
The team played amazing as a whole today. The ball was shared well amongst all the players, Bridgets willingness to take on, tackle and defend the opposition, and Kayla’s work in the defensive line and followed her move forward, showing off her tricky ball skills were some of the highlights.
U12 Legends
U12 Legends played a derby this week with the Wyverns. It was a great match, the Legends showcased their growth with consistent team play covering the entire field and clear communication. Big shout out to Sam our step in coach while Jeremy has a well earnt break. The second half gave us plenty of scoring opportunities and a pearling play from Ashley and Denzel to score a goal. Well done to Ashley for playing strong the entire game for switching between defence and attack. Legends, you should be proud of this game.
U13 Rockets
The Rockets played a strong game this week, with Haydo nabbing the first goal, thanks to the quality defensive work of Mylesy who was super reliable and always looking up to see where to put the ball. Cody was doing a fine job of cutting out wide and then placing the ball back towards the centre, he was covering plenty of ground and working hard. I think this epitomised the overall ethos of the boys who despite being clearly the better team didn't just rest on their laurels but stepped up and went hard!
Tex managed to nail a sweet goal from a penalty, nice one! Darc was displaying his pace consistently and Dom was using his body well to barge through some heavy traffic. Talking of traffic, Kalani negotiated some crazy traffic with the precision and speed of his old man racing through Sanur to score the elusive right hander before the tide drops and the wind comes in. Hugh also used his body well and did a great job of sticking to his man. Old twinkle toes Albs was amongst it making a few appearances with some nice passes too.
Griffo certainly wasn't holding back and slotted quite a few rippa goals, he was stoked! Monty aka Johnny Platten (sorry couldn't think of a soccer star lookalike so AFL will have to do) had his invite to the goal festival and slipped a nice into the net. Laec had the luxury of moving out of his usual defensive role and getting some limelight in attack which was good to see. Riley was no lounge lizard and having good crack here and there, poor old Ollie was having quiet run down in goals with very little action for him, I'm sure he didn't mind though.
Charlie landed more than one goal I'm sure of it and I could tell he was having fun rolling one very sneakily past the keeper. Twinkle toes reappeared nabbing another with Haydo also bending one like Beckham into the net. It was nice to see the boys working well as team and with the big lead being able to play with some edge and risk. That being said as discussed with many of dads (read this next part in a grumpy disapproving dad voice) you always learn more from a loss than a win.
U13 Warriors
The Warriors played an exciting and impressive game this weekend, emerging victorious against Cornerstone Chooks. At the end of the first half, we held our ground at nil all, defending against the Chooks' strikes and making our own shots on goal. Catto's goalkeeping was impenetrable, and the Warriors' backline cleared the ball, paving the way for our forward movement. We sent balls through for our wingers and strikers to run on, putting relentless pressure on the Chooks' defenders.
In the second half, the Warriors quickly scored their first goal, with a through ball setting Declan up to work his magic. The Chooks responded swiftly, bringing a powerful strike past our defensive line. Our game plan unfolded well as the Warriors started to really click and work together, passing the ball around to keep possession and find their way forward. The next through ball found the feet of Luca, who quickly scored. Declan was rewarded with a second goal later in the half.
The Player of the Day award went to Flynn, who greatly impacted the game running the wing. He made outstanding tackles and interceptions, looked for passing options, and got into position to support his teammates, getting involved in defensive mid and attacking plays.
The whole team is going from strength to strength, communicating effectively, self-organising on the field, and responding to change and challenges with maturity. A great win, crew! Thanks to Paul for running the lines for us again, champion, the great atmosphere created on the sideline by all of the player's parents, and the Chooks team for a friendly and sociable game of football.
U14 Tigers
FMR Tigers got off to an early start against their fellow club rivals the Sharks slotting a goal in the first 10 minutes. It was a seesaw battle as both sides played an excellent passing game throughout the rest of the game. FMR Sharks then hit the scoreboard ending the first half with a score of 5 to the Tigers 2.
FMR Tigers came out in the second half with renewed energy and teamwork, again seesawing shots on goals with a final score of FMR Sharks 6 and Tigers 5. A well deserved player of the match awarded to Chloe Willsher, with thanks to our sponsor Burger Baby.
U14 Sharks
Last Saturday morning we had one of the best soccer games of this season. The local rivals U14s FMR Sharks and FMR Tigers met in a very competitive match. FMR Tigers started the game scoring the first goal in the first two minutes of the beginning of the game. FMR Sharks didn’t wait long to equalise with a goal from Kai Hillier.
Sharks continued to push forward with a great game from the midfield with Austin Willing, a member of a younger FMR team who came to help out Sharks team. Benji Willing got the perfect opportunity to score another goal at the end of the first half bringing a comfortable advantage for FMR Sharks.
In the second half FMR Tigers recovered and scored four more goals that made them closer to FMR Sharks who hold their game in the defence line with Ava Yea Wilson, Felix Gibbs and Vincent Lonnie and recovered their score with goals from the Willing brothers by counter attacking with the assistance of Max Prolongeau, Kelani Taylor and Ziggy Denham. The final score came to 6-5 with the victory of the FMR Sharks. Congratulations to Austin Willing for his brilliant performance got the player of the match and thank you to Squid Lips for their voucher.
U15 The Blaze
It was wet and miserable on Monday night as the Blaze met the U14 Development Squad in Busselton. With only 12 players, it was going to be a hard match. But at least kits wouldn’t be wet sitting on the bench! A few brave parents were on the sidelines supporting the team, but I’m not gonna lie. I watched from the car 😂
It was an even match. The ball moving up and down the pitch, with both teams having chances at a goal. Ethan was displaying some fancy footwork on the left. Jarrah making saves in goal. There was a nice heel kick backwards from Charlie to Ethan, but we couldn’t break through their defense. Charlotte and Jay were holding the right. A nice play by Ethan, Charlie and Lisa gave us a good chance, but was caught by the keeper. Ollie L tried a long bomb but went just wide.
William, Charlotte and Archie were strong in defense. William even clearing the ball out from ground level after being knocked over. The Dev Squad had a good shot, but lucky for us, Matty knocked it out to cheers from the sidelines. Both teams had chances but weren’t able to get it over the line until some good teamwork gave Poom the opportunity to get one in just before the half time whistle.
Second Half - Dev Squad had a chance off a corner but Jarrah came out and caught it. They finally evened the score when a shot went through Jarrah’s hands. Followed closely by another that sailed over the top to go in. Archie put one through from a free kick to even the score at 2-2. Jarrah made one last save and the whistle blew on what was an exciting, if wet game to watch.
Players of the day went to William, Charlotte, Matt and Lisa (not pictured). Well done Blaze!
YL Wanderers
Margaret River travelled to Bovell on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon to take on Cornerstone in what is fast becoming a thoroughly entertaining affair.
The game began evenly with both teams having chances in attack and it wasn't till twelve minutes in that Cornerstone managed to get a shot past the keeper and gain an early lead. The next ten minutes was dominated by Margaret River though, as the players began to play a more attacking style of play, kicking longer into their attacking half and creating chances. Taj managed a cracking shot at the eighteen minute mark, only to be denied by a great save.
Despite having limited chances, Cornerstone managed to make the most of any chance they got and added another well placed goal to go two nil up towards the thirty minute mark. Margaret River responded three minutes later with a superb goal to Lucas and headed into half time with a little work to do if they wanted to take any points home.
The second half played out much the same way as the first ten minutes of the game, with no teams really dominating and it became much like a war of attrition. This was until late in the half when Margaret Rivers Finn Lange demanded the ball from a throw in, threaded his way past two opposition players and unleashed what was very nearly the goal of the year, if not for the crossbar.
Super unlucky to not walk away with a two all draw, but everyone can hold their heads high. Player of the day was Lucas who played superbly all day, with honourable mentions to Taj, Finn and every other player today. A fine team performance.