Round 14: vs. Kemblawarra

YOUTH – Lost 2-3: The youthies went down early and could never really find their feet in this game.  Came back with new signing Abdul scoring his first UOWFC goal but it wasn’t enough.

RESERVE GRADE – Won 7-1: Three words. The Vando Show. The boys completely dominated a Kemblawarra squad who wern’t too bad in round 1 going down 2-1 to UOWFC, however this time they couldn’t withstand the Luke Vandenburgh domination. Everything Vando touched came off in the first half with his four shots on goal putting the ressies boys up 4-0. The fourth was particularly special as Vando was about 40 yards out, looked up and set his sights on where the keeper was, and then curled it up and over him into the net. The second half continued in this way, with Vando getting his 5th and 6th goals, and David Cahill also getting in on the act for a special win and very special moment in the sun for Mr Vandenburgh.

FIRST GRADE – Won 2-1: First grade had won against Kemblawarra in round one, and were confident of getting another good result. However going down 0-1 wasn’t in the script for Uni and really they probably deserved to be down. Both keepers had pulled off some greats saves in the first half to keep it at 0-1 at the turn.

The second half brought the same old story with Uni deciding to start playing the ball and it didn’t take long for import and recently promoted youthie Emil Totland to glide past some defender and produce a great finish into the corner of the net. 1-1 and game on. A heater incident when Uni was attacking brought a surprising double red card incident, with both Uni’s dangerous attacker Marc Lee and a Kemblawarra player both sent for violent conduct. It looked a bit like handbags at two paces but that was the refs decision. However from this moment Uni looked in control and with six minutes to go Grant Newman snuck in at the back post from a free kick, coolly brought it down with his head and slotted it underneath the keeper to make it 2-1 and seal the points for Uni.

Round 6 (catchup game) vs. Shell Cove

YOUTH GRADE – Won 4-1: The youthies started off ok but soon were under pressure by a surprising Shell Cove side with a number of chances that went close. Uni were trying to force the play and not hitting the ball to feet. The wet, flat deck should have made for a fast ball playing game, but Uni struggled to come to terms with it early on. A through ball finally found the run of Kevin Vu and he calmly chipped the keeper to make it 1-0, although possibly not in the exact manner that he meant.

The second half brought several periods of domination by Uni, with Abdul Lawal showing great feet in the box and a great finish into the corner of the net to make it 2-0. Kemblawarra pegged one back however Uni were too strong and Abdul  got into the action again. It finished up 4-1 with Uni too good on the day.

RESERVE GRADE – : Good ball play early against an ageing but still well drilled shell cove side. The boys looked threatening but had to be careful not to get caught out at the back, which almost happened when Shell Cove missed a close header. Brendon Fotheringham showed great skill and composure in the box to slot into the corner and make it 1-0. Youth grade keeper Damien Clark pulled off a great one handed save to keep Uni up. Luke Vandenburgh turned well in the box and smashed the ball into the near post, however Brendon was on hand for the rebound and made it 2-0. Shell Cove got a scrappy goal back from a ball that bobbled around from a corner. Late on Brendon put a great deep cross in and Vando hammered it into the net for 3-1. David Cahill turned in the box and despite the initial save from the keeper was able to bundle home the rebound for 4-1. Uni kept moving the ball around well and a couple of good crosses from Pete Dohnt and Lachlan Williams caused an own goal to make it 5-1. Vando got on the end of a through ball and buried a nutty through the keepers legs for 6-1. He also had the pleasure of giving the ref a red card when walking back to the kick off (it had fallen out of his pocket). Uni way too good and playing good football again!

FIRST GRADE – Lost 2-3: Injuries and suspensions meant that there were a few changes for the First grade side, however they went up early through youth grader Anismis Bakini with a great header back across and over the keeper. Unfortunately the conditions played their part and when Shell Cove hit the post and the ball fell straight to their winger, Scott Mawbey’s outstretched leg could only deflect the ball the wrong way into the Uni net to level it up. Uni then went behind when a deep free kick could only be turned into the net by goalkeeper Liam Stevenson. Uni clawed their way back however when Abdul Lawal pounced on a miskick from the Shell Cove keeper and finished well. It was either going to take a mistake or a moment of quality to split the two sides, and it was the later that occurred in the second half. Shell Cove were awarded a soft free kick and it was buried into the absolute top corner with Liam Stevenson no chance in goals. That ended up being the deciding goal and Uni left wondering what could have been against the league leaders.