A thick blanket of Fog covered the valley for the final round for the Under 8 Miniroos season, the squad were ready for the Gala round with two games back to back, it would test the teams fitness and concentration levels but the TVFC under 8s were up for the challenge and the tricky cold conditions were not going to dampen their excitement and enthusiasm. There was a big crowd of family and friends to cheer them on. The first match was against Falcons and it was a terrific contest with both teams starting with high energy, it was fast and furious with some fantastic passing moves from both sides. Trafalgar had the majority of the ball but could not turn possession into goal, they were made to pay for this when Falcons scored a couple of unanswered goals. In tru spirit TVFC fought there way back into the game with some relentless pressure from Tyler and good defensive work from Anton and Stella.
Half time and we were down by three goals to two, a quick changeover and it was more of the same. Arlo, Harley and Rylee were combining well through the middle with Jack helping out at the back. Quinn was everywhere and getting stuck in and showed great sportsmanship by stopping to help a opposition player who had a fall, great example of how to play the game. Cohen as usual was getting lots of chances and slotted in 3 unanswered goals but they were soon cancelled out with a late surge from Falcons, a great game by all.
Next opponents were Churchill and TVFC were warmed up now and there was no stopping them in this game. From the start they were passing the ball around with plenty of energy and purpose. Felicity was going for a clean sheet and was not really tested in the first half. Harvey and Rylee were picking up lots of possession and running with the ball, Tyler had a great contest with the Churchill playmaker and kept him very quiet. Arlo was getting into the game with some good defending and some great through balls for Cohen to run onto. Half time and were were three goals up with none conceded. With three players on the bench and only fifteen minutes left in the last game of the season, nobody wanted to be off the pitch. With quick rotations, everybody got good game time and made the most of their time on the pitch. Three more goals put the result out of question and Cohen added to his massive tally of goals for the season, the Harry Kane of the TVFC under 8s, a outstanding effort for the year.
Thanks to all the parents for getting the kids to training and the games, braving some pretty ordinary weather and providing great support for the team. Thanks to Tanya for all the organisation, coordinating and support. My biggest thank you is to my team, for my first year I was blessed to have such a great group of players who were a joy to coach, always keen to learn, polite, funny, good sports and were enthusiastic students of the game, I hope they got as much enjoyment out of this season as I did. My goal was to ensure they all enjoyed themselves, got to play as much football as possible and maybe learn some new skills along the way and have some fun, I hope we achieved this and can build on this for next year
Report by Peter Court
U8 Coach
