Trafalgar Victory FC travelled to Sale to play Sale Green for round 3 of the LVSL Under 14 Boys season. Once again it was a game played between two very evenly balanced teams. During the first half Trafalgar had the vast majority of the ball and generated numerous shots on goal with courtesy of some dominance from the midfield.
Central midfielder Michael Judd owned the centre of the park and set up multiple forward runs. His killer passes were accurate and well weighted. Unfortunately for the team, the forwards couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities presented and failed to score in the first half. Nic Tammes and Jacob Holmes contributed all day and also set up the strikers with numerous opportunities. In fact Trafalgar controlled the centre of the ground without any goals to show for their hard work.
Sale on the other hand, entered their attacking half only 5 times in the half, but managed to score on three occasions. Their central striker was dominant and whilst the Trafalgar back four played a great team game they were simply no match for the Sale forward who at times walked his way through the defensive unit.
At half time Coach Mark asked the boys to lift their heads and to be proud of their efforts. Mark explained that unlike the previous week against East Gippsland, where the team did not play well as a unit, the team was playing exceptionally well but had conceded multiple goals.
The second efforts of players such as Jack O’Connor and Jackson Clerks was inspirational to the entire team. The boys gave all they had and were never beaten in a contest. Connor Ibbotson played a very strong game also and executed numerous headers to defend grandly.
The lads took to the pitch for the second half and seemed to lift. There was some beautiful play from both teams and Trafalgar eventually found the back of the net via a lovely curling goal from Nic Tammes at the 45 minute mark.
The team stood taller following Nic’s goal and all worked hard to push for another goal. Striker Darcy Lewis had some superb shots on goal only to be denied by Sale’s amazing goal keeper. Seriously this keeper had to be seen to be believed. Trafalgar’s very own keeper Luke is an outstanding keeper and played a blinder of a game in goals himself. But some of the acrobatics the sale gloveman made were out of this world. Having said this Darcy did manage to sneak one past his to give Trafalgar a second goal.
The boys did very well and played the entire game out. The second have resulted in 2 goals apiece and Sale the winner with a score line 5-2.
Put simply Trafalgar played exceptionally well for the entire game. At the end of the day they were beaten by the two bookends of the Sale Green team, that being their striker and goal keeper.
Despite the loss the boys should be very proud of their game. The past two weeks have resulted in losses to East Gippsland and Sale Green. However, Coach Mark believes that TVFC are capable of beating both teams given continual development of players and a bit of luck on the day.
The team has next weekend off as the Vic Country Championships are being played in Bendigo and all LVSL junior teams have a break for the week. The team wishes midfielder Michael Judd all the best in Bendigo as he represented Latrobe Valley.
This week’s BK’s team player award was awarded to Michael Judd for his dominance in the middle of the park and his number of scoring
