Under 15’s

The under 15’s were prepared for their toughest test yet against table leaders Glen Eira. Gippsland got off to the worst possible start as they went 1-0 down after only 6 minutes. The visitors continued to dominate possession and soon found themselves 2-0 up after a well worked team goal. Goalkeeper Steffen Aboltins managed to keep the Glen Eira strikers at bay with a few good saves before Connor Dastey scored from long range to go in at half time 2-1 down.

Gippsland started the second half much stronger and enjoyed an early period of dominance before Declan Pepping equalised at 2-2. Glen Eira took the lead again requiring the local boys to dig deep again and fight to take something from the game. The equaliser arrived through Toby Mullins who continued his fine form in front of goal.

Mullins almost found a late winner however it wasn’t to be with the result finishing at 3v3.

Best players on the day, Steffen Aboltins, Toby Mullins, Zoran Winkelman and Tristan Donohue. 

Under 14’s

After the previous week’s last minute loss to Mornington the GFC boys came out firing and applied some great early pressure on the visitors and were unlucky not to profit from some forced turnovers on the edge of Glen Eira’s box.  However the visitors gradually settled and started to show the benefits of maintaining a well-balanced shape and some slick passing. We were only 8 minutes in when Glen Eira found players in space in the centre of the park. A quick thru ball then found a hole in GFC’s defence to score a well-constructed counter attacking goal.

Although disappointed at conceding, GFC again went hunting and maintained defensive pressure of the visitors until at the 22 minute mark the big Glen Eira forward again finished after a strong run down the right. After a lot of good work and a number of unconverted chances, the U14’s again found themselves at half time on the wrong side of a 2-0 score line.

Heartened by the good signs shown in the first half and encouraged to continue their pressing game, the Gippsland boys went on to dominate the majority of second half possession.

However, despite creating a number of good scoring opportunities Glen Eira stayed true to their disciplined approach and held strong.

With no further score the game ended with the score 2-0 Glen Eira’s way.

Under 13’s

The under 13 boys were brimming with confidence after recording their first win of the season in their previous match and were up for a tough day against the ladder leaders. In foggy conditions the boys started off cautiously and were soon aware of just how difficult the day was going to be when they conceded early from good build up by the opposition. Another period of quality possession and interplay resulted in another goal and the boys were shellshocked, 2-0 down at the break.

The second half began with the Gippsland boys maintaining some possession of their own which in turn placed pressure on the Glen Eira defence. At the 28th minute mark, Julian Colantuono finished off a nice move to add to his tally for the season. What followed was end to end football as Glen Eira responded almost immediately and restored their two goal buffer. Tana Betera, also in good goalscoring form, added another for the Gippsland boys to close the gap which was unfortunately short-lived as Glen Eira again opened the gap with another slick goal.

Play continued at the same ferocity until two minutes remaining when Betera added his second, which gave the boys a glimmer of hope to snatch a result, but time ran out in the end. The game finished 4-3: the undefeated Glen Eira, a class above, surviving a scare from the dogged Gippsland FC boys.

Next week the teams are away; The u15 boys will be looking to continue their form in front of goals when they face Mornington at Dallas Brooks Park, Mornington. A late kickoff at 2:00pm. U14’s,  look to regroup after two successive defeats, have a bye this week after Endeavour United pulled out of the competition, and the under 13s visit similarly placed Clarinda United, at Lemnos Club, Braeside, 11:20am kickoff.