WA Over 45's - 2005 Match Reports
WA vs VIC - Friday 7th October
Result: WA 5 - VIC 4
We were punished for only scoring one goal in the first 10 minutes during a period of complete dominance.
Victoria capitalised from its few opportunities and led 3 –1 at halftime.
In his maiden game Shane Gherbaz opened the scoring after a great pass from Burgo.
After half time, we pressed strongly and drew level quickly with Jos’ penalty stroke and Tonks tapping one in.
After the Vics scored to lead 4 -3, we again rose to the challenge with goals in the last 5 minutes from Rosco and Jimmy to win 5 - 4.
The Vics selected Jimmy as our best player.
Goalscorers:- Shane Gherbaz; Jos D’Silva, David Tonkin, Ross Arancini, Jimmy Miller.
WA vs WA Country - Sunday 9th October
Result: WA 1 - WAC 2
Despite having clear superiority with possession of the ball and numerous short corner opportunities, we lost the derby.
WAC scored early through a long pass to an unattended forward.
We equalised 8 minutes from the end through a goal to Spike, but WAC converted a short corner with only 2 minutes remaining.
WAC ended up with bragging rights until the next time we meet.
Goalscorers:- Mike Sputore
WA vs NSW - Monday 10th October
Result: WA 1 - NSW 5
A unified NSW side displayed superior basic skills suited to the sand turf field and dominated the first half to lead 4 nil, whereas we had great difficulty adjusting to the surface.
In the second half we performed to a higher standard through positional changes and greater purpose.
We matched NSW and were eventually rewarded through a goal from Jimmy.
But, we now have our backs to the wall, and need at least one more win to secure a place in the finals
Goalscorers:- Jimmy Miller.
WA vs QLD - Tuesday 11th October
Result: WA 4 - QLD 3
Despite Willow and Tonks being unavailable through injury, we were confident of reversing our poor results over Qld in recent years.
A firm commitment to the team game plan was quickly rewarded by 2 first half goals, with Cam banging a short corner and Burgo finishing off some great team play.
QLD pulled one back just before half time then equalised through a short corner just after the break.
However, through spirited play Burgo got a second goal, and with his great individual skills Jos weaved through a number of QLD players to put a beauty into the net and put the result beyond doubt.
QLD fought back again and responded with 2 minutes to go to finish 4-3.
Goalscorers:- Cam Fairbrother; Craig Burgess (2); Jos D’Silva
WA vs TAS - Thursday 13th October
Result: WA 4 - TAS 2
A lacklustre 4 – 2 win against Tassie was sufficient for us to secure 2nd position at the end of the qualifying round.
We led 3 -2 at half time thanks to a short corner conversion by Cam and field goals to Burgo and Carty.
We completely dominated possession throughout the second half, forcing innumerable short corners but only secured one additional goal through Carty who was on fire for the whole game.
Our opponents for the semi-final, WA Country, lost their last game to the Vics which meant they had to beat us in the semi.
Goalscorers:- Cam Fairbrother; Craig Burgess; Paul Cartwright (2)
Semi-final: WA vs WA Country - Friday 14th October
Result: WA 2 - WA Country 3
WAC scored first through a breakaway 10 minutes, but we then fought back strongly to lead 2 – 1 at half time by a brilliant narrow angle missile launched by Cam and a penalty stroke conversion by Geoff.
WAC pressed hard during the second half and hit the lead 12 minutes from the end through a flicked short corner.
Disappointingly, we were unable to convert the limited opportunities presented to us in the remaining time.
Thus we missed out on the coveted grand final which was played between WAC and Queensland who managed to convincingly defeat NSW.
Qld went on to defeat WAC by one goal to nil and retain the title from last year.
Goalscorers:- Cam Fairbrother; Geoff Robinson.
Special Achievements:
• Geoff Robinson was voted by the officiating umpires as the 45’s player of the tournament
• Jimmy Miller was selected for the Australian Over 45’s Team