Under 11’s V Wangaratta   Won  7 – 1

Under 12’s V Wangaratta  Won  2 – 1
A hard fought match with the game deadlocked until the last 30 seconds. The back line was solid and Will was strong in goals. Kye scored both games from through balls – one from Josh and the other from Connor. Great team work from all the players.
Awards: Sarsha, Jaspa, Harry and Josh

Under 12’s Girls V Wangaratta   Won  9 – 0

Under 13’s V Wangaratta  Lost  1 – 3
A very fast game with Manny, Harry and Marcus dependable in the back line. Felix played a solid game in the mid-field and was ably supported by Kye. Tim passed the ball well to his team mates and Connor played a valuable role up front. He passed the ball through to Felix who scored the only goal for us. Nice work by Scott in goals. Well done boys.

Under 14’s V Wangaratta   Won  5 – 3
It was going to be a tough game for the U14’s, that was clear from the very start, especially after hearing the news our captain wouldn’t be playing.
Then Wangaratta scored after one quick minute. Our defence stood valiantly for the next little while, and our goalkeeper Ray had to be fast on his
feet, but Wangaratta’s second goal came not long after. A difficult start, but it gave us something to aim for. We pushed and pushed for the remainder
of the first half. Cody streamed down the right, leaving the defenders in his wake and Mitch demolished the opposition in the centre. Charters and
Anna stood firm at the back and we started to overlap down the flanks.  We deservedly got a goal with ten or so minutes left – in a mad rush to get the ball in the net it took the third or fourth effort before Zac latched onto it and sent it true. Then, with three seconds left until the break, Oliver pounced onto a high corner from Mitch and poked the ball into the open net.

Half time and two all.

Coach John told us we needed to play to feet, and so we came out onto the pitch rejuvenated. Oliver scored his second, volleying the ball in from close to the penalty spot. Alex adapted well to his new role as attacking midfielder, while Casper and Jack halted most of the opposition attacks. Charters then took us safely into the lead with a terrific kick, before a nerve wracking five minutes as the opposition received free kick after free kick on the edge of our box. In fact the referee Lewis gave a yellow card to his own sister Anna but it came to nothing as Ray saved spectacularly. However a corner not long after led to a Wangaratta goal and we were only up by one. Then from a through ball by Ben the goalkeeper came rushing out and knocked over Oliver. Zac stepped up and scored from the resulting penalty. Ben and Felix had marvellous games, taking turns to mark Wangaratta’s best player out of the game. Oscar was influential in the back after coming on and all of the forwards looked dangerous. Altogether a good win from the team, and we look forward to the rest of the season. The only downside: the fact that the words “Water Bill” could not be included within this report.

Under 14’s Girls V Wangaratta Won  3 – 1
A warm and sunny day embraced a diminished squad of girls for their round 2 clash at Wangaratta. We only had six under 14 girls in attendance with a string of 12 girls hitting up into the 14’s with great aplomb.
The pitch for our game was rather ordinary to say the least, very dry and patchy and quite obvious that Wangaratta FC had been remiss in paying their water bill.

As for the game what a stellar performance by the bare 11 girls, with courageous and gutsy performances by the 5 under 12 girls playing up, what stars of the future who are obviously learning a very good game plan and skill sets from their coach Fiona Smith. The game started with Hotspurs dominating from the get go and a stunning goal from Mary B in the 8^th minute looked like we were going to be on a roll, however Wangaratta stepped up a bit and an end to end tussle ensued. Albeit the majority of the play was going Hotspurs way, when a fast break by Wang had Anna lunging to stop the goal and a great save helped keep Spurs in front. Late in the first half Mary B went on a stunning run into the box to be brought down, the ensuing penalty was converted by Tarsha C which excited the girls no end, 2nil up at half time.

The second half started with some clever play from the Wang girls and to be fair some of our troopers appeared a bit tired. Around the 11^th minute mark of the second half Wang got one back on the scoreboard when a Wang fast break caught our defence out of position. A late goal to Mary B after some great lead up work by Hannah P enabled the girls to come away with a well earned  win.
All girls played well, especially when you considerer due to the low numbers how many played out of position. Mary B was rather inventive in her new position of centre forward, ably assisted by Hannah P on the right and Sarsha (Supergirl) Smith on the left (Sarsha was playing her 3^rd game for the day).

The midfield had a lot of action with Tarsha C in the first half and Captain Anna P in the second half filling up centre midfield with 2 very able and courageous 12’s in Laura G and Bella G playing at right and left mid respectively, they delivered so much ball out of the midfield it was great to watch.

The backline was classic in its shutting down Wangaratta raids, barely letting the Red Devils into scoring opportunities, a super game from Isabella P, Erica Smith, Alesha M and newcomer Yasmin L. What a super effort Yasmin first game of 12’s for Hotspurs and then backed up for a very good performance in 14’s with pace and a good boot.
We will be giving out two awards each week for our budding champions, this week’s award winners are Bella Godfrey (best on ground) and Erica Smith for a super defensive effort. Next week we play St Pats at Alexandra Park, let’s try and get a full team there for that one.

Under 16’s V Boomers FC  Won  5 – 1
“Thorman brace fires ruthless Spurs to victory”
A brace from Samuel Thorman saw Albury Hotspurs put Boomers to the sword with a 5-1 thrashing at Aloysius Park on Sunday. The home side started the match brightly with Lee pouncing onto a spill from the keeper to slot home from close range. It did not take long for the hosts to double
their lead as Thorman dribbled past a couple of defenders to fire low past the Boomers keeper. A goal from Boomers late in the first half saw Hotspurs lead at the break 2-1
The second half started at the same tempo as the Spurs ran riot while the visitors remained determined to keep the score as respectable as possible.
Parrett killed off any hopes of a late comeback as he drove in his first league goal of the season from a set-piece 40yards out. The hosts still kept their guns blazing as Clarke fired a superb shot from the right to solidify a superb start to the season for Spurs.
Thorman completed his brace a few minutes from time moving defenders inside and out, moving Hotspurs on to 3 points, at the top of the table par with Myrtleford who also grabbed a superb 5-1 win against Wodonga Diamonds.

Under 16’s V Wangaratta   Won  4 – 1

Under 17’s Girls V Wangaratta BYE

Third’s V Wangaratta Won  5 – 0
A very good game from the Thirds. The highlight was the hatrick by our German import Felix Mulitse, who worked very hard on his shooting at
training during the week. Other players to standout included Indra junior, Hamish, Karl and Will Heath. Welcome to Suman who played well in his first game for Spurs.

Over 35’s V Wangaratta Lost  1 – 4
Our first official game of the year & we started well, & for the first ten minutes were mostly in control. Then our structure fell apart once again (as in previous years) & we let them back into the game when we started standing off them. This resulted in Wang running the midfield & scampering down the flanks on a very short pitch. Down 0-2 at half time we attempted to regroup & start again but another Wang goal & a silly own goal did not help our cause. We tried hard & were competitive but could not get back in to the contest. A reshuffle & some cool headed play towards the end resulted in a well-placed goal from Mark to put us on the board. Jim Cannon was very unlucky not to have got on the scoresheet with two well hit ‘rockets’ deflected around & over the posts & crossbar by their keeper. A rusty start but with some good patches of play shows us there is some positive & encouraging signs that we will improve as the season evolves.

Reserve Women V Wangaratta   Draw  0 – 0

Reserves V Wangaratta Won  4 – 1
The Reserves played an excellent team game with all players contributing to this win. The defence lead by Mitch, the two Zac”s  and Jon C was very solid. Wayno, Irish and Vids were a strong midfield and Dhan and Ram were good up front. It was good to note the contribution of Ethan and Brayden. Goals to Wayne E, Irish and Ram set up a good win.

Ladies V Wangaratta Draw  1 – 1

Seniors V Wangaratta   Won  6 – 2
The senior men were impressive in deposing of Wangaratta. The players combined well and most goals were the result of good team play. Towny got two and did Ryan G with  Mark Belgre and Paul Kinning getting one each. It was pleasing to see how the Spurs players maintained their composure when Wang started engaging in rubbish. Ryan Giles, Tyson Mason, Paul Kinning and Jack Percy were excellent in a good team.

Match reports

Under 11’s V Boomers FC  Won  2 – 0 (Forfeit)

Under 12’s V Boomers FC  Won  8 – 0
What a great win for the first game of the season.
Thanks to the under 11 players who have offered to help boost our numbers and to Sarsha for coming back to join the boys, you all played an important role in our win. Our defence was very solid and didn’t allow Boomers a chance to score. The ball was moved very confidently up the field where there was an amazing amount of team work happening to score our goals.
Coach awards went to Kye and Marcus.

Under 12’s Girls V Boomers FC  Won  2 – 0 (Forfeit)

Under 13’s V Boomers FC  Won  2 – 0 (Forfeit)

Under 14’s V Boomers FC Won  16 – 0 
It was clear from the 31 second mark that the 14s were likely to register a win. It was an impressive start to the season with 9 different goal scorers.  The team has retained almost its entire line-up from last season and has also been lucky to welcome a number of strong new recruits. We look forward to many more exciting performances this season. Go Spurs!

Under 14’s Girls V Boomers FC  BYE

Under 16’s V Boomers FC  Won  5 – 1

Under 17’s Girls V Boomers FC  BYE

Third’s V Boomers FC  Won  4 – 2
This was a great effort considering the team had not trained and played much together. Sam got a hat trick and was well supported by Ben and Indra up forward. Indra and Karl also had strong games at the back. The midfield of Hamish, Felix, Henry did a terrific job for the side. Thanks to the 16’s who helped out.

Over 35’s V Boomers FC  BYE

Reserve Women V Boomers FC  BYE   

Reserves V Boomers FC  Draw  0 – 0
It was great to good a point in the season’s first game. The whole squad worked  very hard and supported each other well. Irish and Wayne were really good in midfield and both Zacs had strong games in defence. Johhno was solid in goals and Dhan played a top game up front. Well done team.

Ladies V Boomers FC   Lost  0 – 11

Seniors V Boomers FC   Lost  0 – 1
A very close game which had very few goal chances at either end. Unfortunately Spurs were sloppy early and Boomers scored in the 8th minute after poor play by the defence.  Both teams dominated possession at different times for the rest of the game. Paul Kinning played well in his first game for Spurs. Ryan Giles, James Eggleston also had good games Drummo was very safe in goal. The team showed enough to suggest they will get a win soon.