The Southill football season is up and RUNNING!

Today marked our very first football match of the academic year. Eleven children from Southill ventured over to St Augustine’s for a friendly football match and it didn’t disappoint.

In the first half, the children took time to grow into the game. The pitch was rather small and some of the children have never played for the school team before. The game from the very beginning tested their resilience as a deep free kick into the box resulted in the ball ricocheting off two Southill defenders and ending up in the back of our own net. The the start we anticipated…

Having said that, the team responded impeccably. They began to pace and move the ball with confidence, keeping the ball on the floor and thinking fast on both throw-ins and corners. Our determination and resilience paid off. A quick throw-in on the left hand side landed at Noah’s feet who passed it across the box to Eli who took a touch, composed himself and lashed the ball across the goalkeeper and into the top corner. The score at half time 1-1.

Despite the scoreline, we knew we were playing great football and the next goal would be key. We did not have to wait long for our next goal…Filip and Max were bossing the midfield and a shot from Filip resulted in the goalkeeper spilling the ball. Ashton was very quick to react, pinching the ball from the keeper and tapping into the empty net.

The team then relaxed and played some incredible football. Noah, Harley, Sonny, Gurraag, Maxwell and Ellis were all so composed at the back. They were finding those key passes into midfield and Noah and Eli were causing the defenders all sorts of problems on the wings. A quick throw-in from Eli landed in Max’s feet who caressed the ball into Ashton’s path on the edge of the box. One touch and Ashton released a stunning shot, giving the keeper no chance!

Our final goal resulted in our grit and determination to not give St Augustine’s any time on the ball. Our midfielders were keeping the defenders on their toes! After winning a corner, the ball was whipped in and it fell into the feet of Noah. He passed a clever ball back to Ashton on the edge of the box and his hard and low shot found the bottom corner of the net.

The final score…

St Augustine’s 1 – 4 Southill

I am so proud of the team today and the way we played filled me with optimism about the year ahead. A huge thank you to all of the parents, carers and siblings for coming to cheer on the mighty Southill. A huge thank you to Mr. Frampton who very kindly came and captured the action on his camera. Finally, thank you to St Augustine’s for hosting and to Southill FC for putting on an incredible performance.

Tom