Round 19 Reports and Club News

Presidents Report

On Sunday we had our second last home round of the year against our foundation partners Melrose. Our Ladies played some awesome football in front of the home crowd and got the full points to cement their spot as second on the ladder leading into finals. The two Mens divisions had some disappointing results against a couple of teams that showed some enviable fight and resilience.
This weekend marks the end of our home games and will be a relief to our brilliant volunteers who have worked tirelessly in the canteen this being the 11th time this season. Thanks for all your efforts Olivia, Phil, Kate, Tony and all those others that have popped in to help or done an extra shift on the BBQ. The canteen is a major fundraising arm of the club that helps us maintain things like new goals, balls and equipment to keep our club functioning. Thanks again all those volunteers.

Crowd behaviour

Last night we held our monthly AWFA meeting with other clubs. Discussed heavily was the behaviour of crowds at games across the association. There has been an increase in poor behaviour at games across the board, foul language aimed at referees, opponents and other crowd members has been noted in numerous incident reports across AWFA.
I can thankfully report that our crowds have been well behaved and so far without incident. This is the benchmark of culture that we should aim to maintain.
With finals just around the corner, emotions will be heightened, maintain this great level of support for your club and team.
And remember, without referees, coaches and other volunteers we have no game at all.

Major Fundraiser – Cadbury Chocolate drive

We are coming to the end of our Cadbury Chocolate fundraiser. Thanks so much to those that have sold their boxes and returned their $60. Thanks also to those that took an extra box or two.
Reminder that this money can now be given to your coach, or any other committee member you find at the grounds or or at the canteen on Sunday.
We still have 30 boxes left that are waiting to be sold, if you haven’t received one to sell , or would like to help us out by selling another that’d be greatly appreciated.
Prizes for those that sold the most will be announced at the junior presentation day.

See you Sunday

#GoSpurs

Brad Howard
President
Albury Hotspurs

Hotspurs Heroes

From Spurs to the W-League

Kat Smith who started playing football as a junior with Albury Hotspurs in the 1990’s was this week appointed as head coach of the Western Sydney Wanderers W-League team.
Kat was an exceptional player and played in the Hotspurs senior womens team which won the AWFA League title in 2000. After finishing school Kat moved to Melbourne and soon became interested in coaching. She has a great CV coaching at Melbourne Victory and the Junior Matildas. It is a proud moment to have a Spurs junior achieve what Kat has.
She is thankful for the start that Hotspurs gave her. Congratulations Kat.

From Spurs to the Commonwealth Games

Jocelyn Bartram played with Spurs as junior and senior player for ten years.
Jocelyn was a very talented soccer player but she was also an exceptional hockey player. Jocelyn is now the No.1 goalkeeper for the Hockeyroos and will play in the Commonwealth Games. Good Luck Jocelyn.

All Abilities

11am to 12pm Sunday’s at Lambert Park. March 27, April 3, 10, May 1, 22, June 19, 26, July 24, 31, August 7.

More information and registration link can be found here.

Miniroos

Training 5-6pm Tuesdays.
Game Day Saturday’s – Final week is 20th August 2022

Miniroos Quick Links

Latest Hotspurs News and Events

Fixtures Results Ladders

With the introduction of SportsTG/GameDay all Fixtures, Results and Ladders are now availbe to view under menu…
SEASON 2022>Fixtures Results Ladders>Hotspurs Only or All AWFA
Right click to open in new tab/window

Hotspurs v Myrtleford at HOME, Sunday 7 August
Duty Team: 14 Boys

Ground 1	Team
8:30:00 AM	16 Boys
9:50:00 AM	Div.3 Men
11:20:00 AM	Div.1 Women v Diamonds
1:10:00 PM	Div.2 Men
3:00:00 PM	Div.1 Men

Ground 2	Team
8:30:00 AM	17 Girls
9:55:00 AM	12 Boys
10:55:00 AM	12 Girls v Wang
12:00:00 PM	13 Boys
1:10:00 PM	14 Boys v Cobram
2:20:00 PM	14 Girls
3:30:00 PM	Over 35s

BYES
Div.2 Women

Club Short

Thanks to Club Short sponsors, Beyond Bank Australia and Bonetti’s Pizza & pasta. New players to the club receive one pair free.
Anyone previously recieved a pair and have lost or required another pair, cost is $25 each.
Club shorts availble from canteen or contact your coach
#GoSpurs

These are Game Day Shorts, not training shorts!

Club Shop

OPEN NOW. Go to the shop!
Updated Club Polo, Jacket and Hoodie with the new 50 Years 1973-2023 logo’s.

TAKING NEW ORDERS NOW – Next Cut-Off date for Made to Order – 5 August 2022

Limited Stock held at Canteen
(extra stock arriving with latest orders)

Fleece Hoodie $35
Jackets $35
Polo shirts $30
WOW Caps $15
Neck Ties $25
Scarves $20
SPURS pom pom Beanie $20

New 50 Years of SPURS stubby holders, available from canteen at home games.
This is the first item Celebrating 50 years of Albury Hotspurs 1973-2023, leading up to an evening of celebration some time during the 2023 season.

Match Reports

Div.1 Men

The sun was shining and the conditions for football were almost perfect as we welcomed Melrose to Spurs Stadium for our must win encounter on Sunday. We had Nick out of the team this week and welcomed Zac Fordham back in. Melrose to their credit had a number of players who had played Reserve grade and were doubling up in the higher division to field a team. We controlled large passages of the first half and were rewarded when Kristian powered home a fantastic cross from Zac Fordham. Unfortunately we made two defensive errors and found ourselves heading into the break 2-1 down. Unfortunately we conceded a penalty and had a player sent off and we slipped behind to 3-2 down, while we tried we just couldn’t find the back of the net again. This has now taken our finals campaign out of our hands and it is up to others. We play 4th placed Myrtleford this week at home.

Women Div.1

>
>
>

Div.2 Men v Melrose Lost 0-2

Missing a couple and losing Townie in the warmup made our job a lot tougher today. Again shipping an early goal and then a penalty in the first half, we remained positive at the break but could not convert our chances in attack. Losing this game means that our League hopes may have faded but it also means we have a grounding to launch a finals campaign that we can be proud of.
Simple recipe for success. EVERYONE must work hard at training.

Women Div.2

>
>
>
>

Over 35s

>
>
>
>
>

Div.3 Men

>
>
>
>

17 Girls v Myrtleford Won 4-0

Another dominant effort from our girls. Having no one on the bench this week meant all of the girls had to put their best efforts in. Hayley and Rylee assisted in goals and performed well. The first goal was scored by Rylee after excellent midfield defensive work from Maddie. Summer was in goals for Myrtleford and she saved a number of excellent shots by Charlotte and Seanna. Rylee’s second goal came from a great intercept and pass from Bi to Keely. Keely showed great composure on the ball, looked up and placed a well weighted ball for Rylee to score. We went to the break 2-0 up but the every dangerous Summer was to play on the field in the second half. Keely was charged with making sure Summer had no space in midfield and Maddie worked together with Keely to nullify Summer’s impact. Keely and Charlotte combined in the penalty box with a quick one-two to allow Keely space to slot home Spurs third goal. In the dying minutes of the game a beautifully kicked corner by Charlotte bounced onto the chest of Maddie who controlled the ball well to score our forth and final goal of the game. Well done to all 11 players. Also thank you to players and parents who assisted with duty team responsibilities. This games shout out is to Taylor Furze who ran all day and defended wonderfully the whole game. Scorers: Rylee 2, Keely 1 and Maddie 1

16 Boys v Melrose Lost 0-2

This was possibly the most lacklustre game of the season. Missing a couple of important players should not equate to players showing no effort.
We did create a few decent efforts on goal that were not converted and won a couple of on field battles with Bailey pulling off some fine saves and Cooper winning the midfield battle.
Time to reset and rejuvenate for a positive finals tilt.

14 Boys

>
>
>
>

14 Girls

1 vs 2 WOW what a game.
Coach Fi had the girls primed and ready for this game.
Spur girls started slow, but once they got into it the girls started to fire.
A beautiful passage of play saw Pania score a beautiful goal. Mj was next goal scorer after some magic work from Captain Rylee.
Our strong back line kept Myrtleford with no score in the first half
2-0 Half time
Second half the girls come out firing, a great corner from Mj saw Eve netting a superb goal (finally) lol..
Myrtleford hit back with 1 with 10mins to go, but credit to our girls their fight and determination got another goal through Stam.
Winning 4-1 Cracking game. Well done Coach Fi and also to all the amazing girls you all played well and did an amazing job.
1 win away and the championship is ours.

13 Boys

>
>
>
>

12 Boys

Sunday was our last game with interim coach Aidan at the reins while Kinno has been enjoying some UK sun.
We got off to an early lead with MJ scoring a cracking goal within the first 30 seconds.
Again the team implemented the new structure and were able to get on top of Melrose early applying pressure throughout the ground.
Another great goal from Dom had us looking in control early at 2-0.
Will was working the wing well and crossing the ball into some great positions- we were really making their goal keeper work and he was up to the challenge.
Melrose pegged back a goal before half time but we quickly replied with a goal from Victor having us going into the half 3-1.
A few positional changes were made at half time giving Ryder Reid the freedom to run up and down the wing getting a lot of possessions.
We had a lot of corners in the second half with MJ setting up some great balls into the dangerous area but their keeper again was up to the challenge. Taj started throwing his head at the corners and we finally got one to the hit the back of the net- a few players may try and claim this goal but it unfortunately came off the thigh of a Melrose player.
Thierry’s pressure up front was relentless and after many attempts at goal he was rewarded with a much deserved goal following a great cross from Ryder.
We finished off the game with a 5-1 win, giving Aidan an unbeaten run at the helm.
Next week we welcome Kinno and Elijah back.
A big thanks from the team for all Aidan’s hard work over the past 5 weeks. The team seem to be really enjoying the new structure and you have put us in great stead leading into the finals.