Round 4 Reports and Club News

Miniroos Training

Reminder, NO Miniroos Training over school holidays, Tuesday’s 6th and 13th April.
Training to resume Tuesday 20 April 5-6pm.

Out numbered! (D1M). Image courtesy Cobram

Presidents Report

Gday Spurs,
It was a great week for Spurs Seniors who have advanced in the FA cup to Round 2.
The reserve grade have already made it to that round by default with Cobram forfeiting the week prior.
The club travelled to Cobram on Sunday in which is our longest travel out of the way early in the season. We had some great results on the road and great to see many supporters come along to cheers the teams on. The conditions were cold and blustery but the football was still a great spectacle.
I have mentioned before that Spurs have the most teams in the competition. With this great achievement comes an added burden of requiring more volunteers.
This is particularly evident on Game Day with each team requiring not only a coach and manager but someone to run the line each game. Please put your hand up for this job, its being left to too few people, and quite often the same person each week is left the responsibility. We are all unpaid volunteers who are mostly there to watch our sons and daughters have fun and get the most out of themselves. These small little jobs mean so much to the functioning of a successful club. “Many hands…”
This weekend the club are again on the road but quite a bit closer playing Albury City at Jelbart Park. Go and see the coach/manager of the team you support and say, ‘I’ll run the line for you this week’.

#GoSpurs

Brad Howard
President
Albury Hotspurs

Fixtures Results Ladders

With the introduction of SportsTG/GameDay all Fixtures, Results and Ladders are now availbe to view under menu…
SEASON 2021>Fixtures Results Ladders>Hotspurs Only or All AWFA
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New Club Short

Thanks to sponsors, Beyond Bank Australia and Bonetti’s Pizza & pasta the club shorts and new strips looked fantastic.
#GoSpurs

Club Shop

Place your Made to Order club gear ASAP. Cut off date Wednesday 24 March for late April delivery. CLOSED, Next cut-off order date for made to order products TBA. Go to the shop!

Match Reports

Div.1 Men v Cobram Won 1-0

This was a strong performance by the senior men who were able to get their first win for the year. The first half was somewhat disappointing as it was hoped to built up a good lead with a strong wind at our backs.
The lead was only by one after Patrick Sibomana converted a penalty.
The second half was always going to be difficult against the gale but the team worked really hard to defend the lead and even create some opportunities to go further ahead. Coach James Eggleston lead by example with a really strong game. He was well supported by Jono Cochrane, Brandon Vescio , Jacob Schreiber and goalkeeper Zac Bonetti who were all outstanding in a solid team effort.

Mark of the year. D1M (Courtesy Cobram Facebook)

Women Div.1 had a bye

Div.2 Men v Cobram Won 5-1

What a day, we struggled to find the spark that we have shown in warm up from the previous weeks and it showed in the early parts of this game. We were struggling to get control of both the ball, the ball in the back of the net and the conditions until Tobey popped up for his first goal on the 32nd minute mark, this then sparked us and within the next 13 minutes Jeremy(delivering again with brace) and Jack Castles took us to the break at 4-0. Going into the breeze and defending against it was going to be a better challenge in the second half and the team responded with penetrating attacks from all over the field but we just couldn’t get the breakthrough until the people’s prince, our fearless leader Adib Golshan, scored his first goal. In scenes rivalling Nikki & Cathy’s brilliance at the 2000 Olympics, there was celebrations that ended with the coach stinking like he had ran a marathon from Dibby’s hugs and a yellow card to cap it all off, in fairness we will let that one slide! Unfortunately we conceded a late goal but Francesco made some great saves before this. A shout out to Will, Ben and Mercy for their unselfish efforts and to Jack Bergin for his great cameo. We are currently in first position via goal difference and we take on 6th placed Albury City at Jelbart next week.

Women Div.2 v CobramWon 3-2

The entertainers of the club turned it on again this week, producing a gusty win against a very skilled and physical Cobram side. Spurs came out firing and took an Early Lead thanks to Elisha finding the top right corner off her left foot, and Riley and Nat both clinically finished off crosses to snag a goal each. Nat had the chance to get a brace, however her “hand of god” goal was overturned by herself as she owned up to the ref that she had indeed thrown the ball into the back of the net.
Our 3-goal lead was quickly reduced to 3-2 after Cobram scored a couple of nicely worked goals which was how it ended at half time.
The second half was intense with Spurs running into the howling wind, holding on to the slender 1 goal lead. Georgia produced a splendid half in goals, saving a penalty, a couple of one on ones and a rebound of the post that looked certain to go in. It was a tough win to hold on to 3-2 and by the end, the girls were exhausted and sore but very happy to get their first win for the season. It’s the first time I have heard the comment “I think I broke my boob!” on the soccer field but gives an indication of how hard the girls battled to get the win. Super team effort with everyone doing their bit.

Over 35s had a bye

Div.3 Men had a bye

17 Boys v Cobram lost 1-3

It was always going to be a tough encounter against Cobram, however we didn’t really hit the ground running and were always chasing Cobram is seemed.
Solomon did score a nice goal, however we failed to counter Cobram’s pressure across the park and even though we played some really nice football, we had lapses that allowed Cobram to get 3 goals on us and take the win. We nearly snagged a couple of late goals which is testament to how hard everyone tried to get back in the game.
Jay and Dawson had strong games and ran them selves into the ground, while Reece and Cody also worked hard against a talented Cobram Attack. As a team we need to just lift our intensity a bit and work smarter holding our shape to ensure we don’t leave large open spaces for oppositions to play through us.

17 Girls had a bye

15 Boys v Cobram Lost 3-1

We had our best weeks training. We are getting closer. The lads are getting fitter after realising that X-Box FIFA, Youtube and TikTok really wasn’t good at keeping their football smarts/ touch and fitness levels up over lockdown. Thanks to Daisy Tuksar for running the midfield and showing the boys what is required when on the field. Patrick was again a live wire at striker and created many opportunities. Unfortunately their wasn’t the support in the final third that ensures a lot more of the attacking thrusts end up in the back of the net. Dustin and Sam are again getting their touch back and we can see that in a few weeks time we will again be pushing the better teams. Thanks to all that made the journey, particularly Darcy’s family who parked the bus on the hill and got very loud with the cheering.
Goal: Patrick

14 Girls v Cobram Won 6-1

The 14 girls are really starting to put their game together and many are playing in different positions.
Wildy lead the way with some early goals and finished the game with a hattrick. Eve O’Connor is really showing her versatility moving from the strikers position to centre midfield later in the game.
It was great to finally get Pania on the field after injury and she ended up bagging a handy goal when she went forward and remained onside.
One of the shining lights though is our defenders. With ‘The General’ Eloise away for the game the defence were lead by Bianca and Seanna really stood up and made some smart decisions.
We will definitely be tested this week against Albury City. Cant wait for the test.
Goals Wildy 3, Pania and Eve 1 a piece. OG x 1

13 Boys v Cobram Lost 0-2

Our round 4 encounter saw most of the team make their first trip down to Cobram for a competitive game. We were welcomed with a cool, windy day and an opposition team with some size all over the park. We battle hard into what turned out to be a two goal breeze in the first half with everyone putting in a solid effort in what was effectively a half played in our defensive area. Bailey was under constant pressure in goals and did all he could into the wind. The defensive team lead by Cooper with Riley, Hamish and Aidan battle hard all day with great support from the midfielders of Monte, Will, Josh and Muireann all working hard to cut down the attacks as well. A special note must go to the forwards who rotated well throughout the game and continued to run and try to present opportunities against a big back line, Jake kept running as much as he could and Cayde and Mason will have slept well on Sunday night after their efforts. Thank you again to the younger spurs for helping us out and to the parents for getting them to the game. This loss currently has us in 7th with a trip to Jelbart park this week to face the fourth placed Albury City.

12 Boys v Cobram Won 5-1

A great result and performance for the boys this week with goals from 5 different players.
It was all Spurs from the kick off but took almost 15 minutes before they found the net with a screamer of a goal from out side the box by Aidan. That opened the floodgates with Noah quickly making it 2. Great celebration Noah. Will, Cayde and Johnnie also bagged their first goals of the season which means we now have 10 goals from 9 different players. Defensively we were excellent, moving up the pitch as a unit and there was some good passing and much to be happy about. Our goal difference is now 0 and we sit 3rd on the ladder. Well done #gospurs.