Day 2 Update From The Girls Under 14 and Under 15 National Junior Championships

Two parents (Eddie Senatore and Simon Kravis) of players in both teams have kindly forwarded the NPL progress reports from Day 1 of competition.

 

 

 

Day 2 Results

 

For the ACT its good news:

• ACT Under 14s - Draw 3-3 (ACT v Northern NSW)
• ACT Under 15 - Loss 3-1 (ACT v Queensland) - this was a cross over game with a very strong Group A team. ACT reported to have played well. 

 

Simon Kravis, the NPL roving reporter of previous NJC reports sent this report on both games:

Westfield Football Federation Australia National Youth Championship for Girls BCU Stadium, Coffs Harbour
Tue 12 July 2011
The second day of the National Youth Championship for Girls saw the ACT Under 14 team play host team Northern NSW in the early afternoon in a gritty game that was more a contest of individual skills than strategic play. The game ended in a 3-3 draw in which the speed and determination of the ACT team matched the greater power and physicality of NNSW, whose players mainly towered over their ACT counterparts. Julia de Angelis and Bridget Calabria were able to maintain the momentum of the ACT team under sometimes daunting pressure.
ACT started strongly and quickly went ahead through Hayley Armstrong striking from the middle of the defensive line. Maddie Whittall followed up with a near-miss after the ball escaped from a crowded midfield, but NNSW responded with a powerful strike from Kally Ann Lewis that was just over the bar. Tulia Palozzi tucked away a rebound a few minutes to equalise, but ACT took the lead again when Hayley Armstrong took a very slim opportunity to slam home a short pass into the bottom corner of the net. ACT had the better of the next period of play, with the threatening NNSW strikers receiving little service from their midfield.A poorly timed ACT tackle in their penalty area escaped penalisation but resulted in a marked increase in the roughness of play. Tulia Palozzi brought the score level again at 2-2 when she netted for NNSW from a penalty area melee and striker Kally Ann Lewis received a yellow card soon afterwards.
This did not prevent her from picking up a loose ball and driving it home to put NNSW into the lead 3-2, and she would have extended their lead further but for an excellent save from ACT keeper Jessica Giovinazzo. ACT substitute Caitlin Cantrell's speed allowed to intercept a poor goal clearance and equalise the score at 3-3. The last 15 minutes saw missed opportunities at both ends, with Jessica Giovinazzo making some dramatic last-ditch saves from the feet of oncoming strikers, but with neither side able to grasp victory.

The ACT Under 15s played Queensland, widely regarded as the powerhouse of women's football in Australia. Queensland prevailed 3-1, with the ACT strugling for cohesion in the later part of the game after a good start, with three shots on goal narrowly missing their mark in the first 20 minutes before Thalia Backhouse slipped the ball over the Queensland goalkeeper to give ACT a 1-0 lead. This advantage slipped away a few minutes later when Queensland's Kate Archibald converted an angled free kick unnecessarily conceded by the ACT on the right wing just outside the penalty area to bring the score to 1-1. The ACT played strongly, with defender Siena Senatore managing to thwart the Queensland attack through the centre and Natalie de Marco sending the ball just wide of the Queensland goal after an excellent build-up just before the break.
However, after the break Queensland asserted themselves more, and only excellent goalkeeping from Phoebe Worth stopped Queensland from going ahead in the first 10 minutes, but Amber Maxwell eventually sent the ball past her to give Queensland a 2-1 lead. A tiring ACT team were not able to maintain pressure when they they were able to get the ball forward, despite having a number of chances, and Lucy Iannou sealed the match for Queensland with 5 minutes to go with a 3-1 final scoreline.
Despite the loss, the ACT Under 15s can take credit for holding a team drawn from a much larger pool of potential players for the majority of the game.



Both the Under 14s and Under 15s take on Victoria tomorrow morning.

ACT Under 13 Girls On Track At The Nationals!

After a terrific first day at the National Junior Championships, the ACT Under 13 Girls faced at fomidable opponent this morning - South Australia.

South Australia's form at the end of day one was very impressive.

The game against SA this morning was  on a ground covered by heavy dew - heavy conditions. This meant that passing required some adjustment, as sprays of water came off the ball on the ground and slowed the speed of the ball. Both teams were challenged by this change in playing conditions.

The first half was all ACT. Itw as easily their best technical performance of the competition thus far. They dominated possession, played an impressive passing / possession game, but just could not put away any of several chances. The SA defence coped - just!

Then came the half time break.

The game turned around completely. The SA team consciously pressed their defence well forward and held the ACT in it's defencive third for more time than was good them. SA dominated possession and the ACT turned out "all hands on deck" to repell the SA team. Fortunately for the ACT, the SA team could do no better at scoring a winning goal than the ACT.

When the full time whistle went, it ended 0:0. A fair result.

So there we have it for the ACT midway through Day 2 - one win (against Queensland), and two draws (NSW Metro and SA) and probably the best of the opposition in their group seen off without loss. However, as each day passes the teams are playing better football. It can only get a bit harder for all concerned.

For example - the game that followed the ACT game this morning was between NSW Metro and Queensland. It was easily the highest quality game I have seen in Group A. Very impressive and to a standard that was a little excess of our ACT performances (based on a whole match performance).

The ACT players must be very pleased with themselves. They are playing as they trained and for much of the time, it looks real good. What a pleasure to watch. Great campaign!

Now on to Northern NSW this afternoon and Victoria metro tomorrow morning.

For all the results so far go to this location:
http://www.capitalfootball.com.au/site/njc_girls_2010.php

FFA National Junior Championships - Under 13 Girls and Under 13 Boys

The FFA National Junior Championships for 2010 will begin on Easter Monday, 5 April 2010 and the Under 13 years Boy and Girls competition will be held in the ACT. The draw has been released by the FFA and is listed below - so clear your diary and treat yourself to a "festival of Football"!

I can't recommend this competition too highly. It's the one chance we all have to make some assessment of the standard of Football in Australia at this age group. Is the FFA's new National Curriculum making an impact?

The ACT teams have been well prepared by Capital Football and their Coaches, parents can see the end to a lot of hard work for all concerned, so let the games begin. Remember, its all about "development". Do everything you can to make the young players, all of them, feel good about what they are doing. Only positive things from the sideline - no criticism please. The game belongs to the players. Let the game be the teacher.

The ACT teams who will participate are as follows:

ACT Girls Under-13 FFA National Championships Squad: Hayley Armstrong, Emma Bestek, Freya Brent, Brigette Calabria, Caitlin Cantrill, Julia De Angelis, Jessica Giovinazzo, Mikaela Goldstein, Hiwot Johnstone, Ruth Kravis, Melissa Leary, Edwina Nelson, Siena Senatore, Madelyn Whittall, Phoebe Worth, Georgina Worth, Clea Porteous Borthwick (standby), Hollie Massey (standby)

ACT Boys Under-13 FFA National Championships Squad: Nathan Alferink (gk), Sam Brown (gk), Jack Elliott-Dunn (gk), Amir Adam, Anthony Giorgi, Daniel Hearle, Niko Kresic, Jed Lloyd, Sam McLachlan, Adrian Macor, Thomas Milicevic, Thomas Nikolovski, Brady Nixon, Andre Saleh, George Timotheou, Mark Tokich, Niko Ujdur, Lewis Bates (stand by player), Osman Fofanah (stand by player), Will Laird (stand by player), Shaun Neuss (stand by player), Simon Noveski (stand by player), Dominic Soriano (stand by player)



For the detailed draw see below.