Round 16 Reports and Club News

Presidents Report

On Sunday we had the last of our away games that wasn’t in Albury /Wodonga when we travelled to Wangaratta.
This is always a challenging day, and during the school holidays has seen many teams again short on numbers through travel, illness or people just not showing.
Thanks to all that made the effort, there are still quite a few teams that have kept their league title dream alive, and with 6 rounds remaining it looks like we are travelling well in the club championship also.
Miniroos recommences this Saturday. It will be great to get our youngest Spurs back on the park playing the sport they love. Remember if you are away or unavailable please let your coach know so they can fill the squad.
This Sundays round sees us away at Heart, many teams will have a bye so please head along and support the others that are competing.

#GoSpurs

Brad Howard
President
Albury Hotspurs

Major Fundraiser – Cadbury Chocolate drive

At least one player per family will receive a box of 60 chocolates to sell/buy at $1 each.
Please return $60 cash to you coach, manager or Olivia at the canteen by 31st of July which is our Home game v Melrose on the Sunday. If you sell all you can request another box from coach, manager or Olivia.
This is our major fundraiser for the year and we appreciate your support in selling as much as possible. We use the money raised to buy vital equipment to keep our club functioning at its best.
There will be prizes for those that sell the most!

At least one player per family will receive a box of 60 chocolates to sell/buy at $1 each.
Please return $60 cash to you coach, manager or Olivia at the canteen by 31st of July which is our Home game v Melrose on the Sunday. If you sell all you can request another box from coach, manager or Olivia.
This is our major fundraiser for the year and we appreciate your support in selling as much as possible. We use the money raised to buy vital equipment to keep our club functioning at its best.
There will be prizes for those that sell the most!

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.

Attention Hotspurs All Abilities Team
You are welcome to join in with Wangaratta’s All Abilities team this Sunday 1pm at South Wangaratta Reserve, Wangaratta Vic.
Meet at Wang Canteen at 12:50PM
Contact: Diahann if your require any more information, 0409 653 563
https://goo.gl/maps/P68nEPDumxt4Znx28

Miniroos

Training 5-6pm Tuesdays.
Game Day Saturday’s

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 Wodonga Heart at Willow Park Wodonga, Sunday 17 July

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

Ground 2	Team
8:30:00 AM	17 Girls
9:55:00 AM	12 Boys
10:55:00 AM	12 Girls
12:00:00 PM	13 Boys
1:10:00 PM	14 Boys

BYES
Div.1 Women
Over 35s
Div.2 Men
14 Girls
Div.1 Men

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 – 15 July 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

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Women Div.1 bye

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Div.2 Men v Wangaratta Drew 3-3

Again we had all to play for to keep the league dreams alive. Unfortunately we have again been let down by player injury, unavailability and last minute no shows.
Thanks to a couple of U/16s who tripled up so we could make numbers, even though they were tired and sore they still did a job for the club. Jacob Walsh was thrown to the wolves playing 3 games in a row and his first game of Ressies in goals in only his 5th round of football. He pulled off some exceptional saves and has a huge future as a goalkeeper ahead. Well done Jacob.
Jay Compton and Manny in the middle worked very hard as we changed our structure to help the defensive efforts of the 2 Brodies, and the old bones of Loz in defence – yet another player willing to give all to compete for the club and played out the full 90mins.
Ethan Hurley had every right to take the week off through injury but his love of the club, contest and league hopes got him to Wang to compete, he succumbed late in the piece and Furzey replaced him at Centre half with equal passion and contest.
Marius again got himself a brace with a ripper first half goal and then a late penalty to square it all up and keep the season alive.
The Castles brothers were again at it creating many opportunities. Jack again adding to his tally.
The League is still a huge possibility, but will only come with commitment to the task. Players that show this commitment at training and on game day will be given the first opportunity.
Goals: Marius x2, Jack Castles x1

Women Div.2

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Over 35s

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Div.3 Men

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17 Girls bye

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16 Boys v Wangaratta Won 2-1

After again being left with only 13/17 players we managed to find some excellent form early in the first half, Kohan capitalised on some persistent attacking with our first goal.
Sam however went down late with looks like a nasty calf injury. Hope he gets back real soon.
Apart from this, coach was very pleased at the half, finally we had worked out how to penetrate.
The second half was a little different however, though we scored one of the best combination play goals of the year with a nice cross from Frankie and finish from Wildy, Wang seemed to get in the the heads of a few players. This has been an issue in the past, but unfortunately saw our skipper get a second yellow with only 5 mins left, finishing his day and his next week.
With Wildy leaving to head back to Albury, we were left with 10 players but managed to hold on to a 2-1 lead thanks to some ripper saves from Jacob Walsh.
Goals: Kohan, Wildy

14 Boys

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14 Girls

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13 Boys

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12 Boys

We travelled to Wangaratta to for a battle of 5th v 6th place. Severely depleted with 9 players away we relied on some of our superstar under 9 side more commonly known as the “Hill Rats” to make up the numbers. We welcomed Rory, Jazzy, Cooper, Max H and Ryder to the side. A change to our playing system was made by our stand in coach whilst Kinno is away which the boys have been working so hard on in training focusing on keeping our width and opening the field up. We also made some positional changes with our Captain and centre back Dom being moved to a new role as a striker with Aido likening him to Niall Quinn. Dom worked hard in this new role and was a constant threat in the first half with some many highlights including a magnificent cross on his left foot, he eventually got just reward hitting the back of the next with a magnificent strike. Ethan, Will and Tom battled well sticking to our game plan of contesting every ball and a constant press all over the field. When the younger lads were called upon boy did they deliver. Jazzy shut down Wangaratta’s main threat out wide muscling him off the ball and went close late on with a wonderful strike from outside the box. Cooper toiled hard and got an assist laying off to Dom for his goal. Max H shored up the defence when called upon and helped us with game management at the end of the game when we decided to park the bus! Rorza was a constant menace with his press on the ball when up front, showing off his passing ability also. Ryder played almost the whole game as one of three Centre backs, he was outstanding throughout as where his partners Noah and Marcus. Refer to this report in 2029 when these three boys will be part of a Senior Hotspurs back 4. They were like a wall in defense with Emma barely having to make a save. Through the middle Taj, Mason and Mj dominated the contest. Mason in CM was best on ground involved in almost every play both offensively and defensively. Taj playing a new role has adapted well and got the second goal late on which sealed the win.
A great win for the team, The highlight for the coach was watching these boys sing the song after the win and showing the spirit on what it is to be part of SPURS!
Onto next week with another depleted side again against 2nd place Heart.

12 Girls

The toughest, hardest game of the season so far. With many of our players away we called on the help of some of our under 10 and 11 girls, with Roxie, Molly and Victoria filling in. The game got off to a flyer with a goal from MJ inside of 2 minutes. The contest then became a tough affair with both sides going close, Lily B was rock as usual at the back. Our team lacked their usual width and played very narrow. This played into the Wangaratta’s hands as they attempted to clog the space around our attacking players. We addressed this at half time and then began to play some better football. After the break Mia, Ruby and MJ went close with some good efforts. Wangaratta kept pushing and deservedly got an equalizer with 3 minute to go. We made a quick substitute directly after Wangaratta scored putting Izzy back onto the field to win us the game. Did she deliver? Yes, she did with a goal worthy to win any game. Have a look at Tony Yeboah v Liverpool on YouTube, Izzys was better!!! 2-1 win which will be very important in our march towards the league title.