Quake took another small step up the Club Championship ladder when we were able to take away 14 valuable points from our visit to Rovers on Saturday. Our 4 wins and 2 draws help us jump over Phoenix into 4^th place on the ladder and we are still in the hunt to have 5 teams make finals.

Brief reports follow:

Academy: Proudly Sponsored by Xtreme Locksmiths

The squad was very depleted and players had to be brought in to breach the gap. The lack of training and playing time together was evident and the boys didn’t quite gel but they still put in a good performance and the newer players showed plenty of promise.

12 Boys: Proudly Sponsored by 40 Winks Campbelltown: Quake 3 (Angelo Kalamvokis 2, Steven. Mai) def Rovers 2

This team continues to grow in confidence and for the 2^nd week in a row they came from a goal down to win the match. All the hard work is now paying off and the boys have learnt their lessons from their earlier season lapses in concentration and are playing very good futsal and achieving results. They now sit just 1 point out of the 4 and are a realistic chance of making the finals.

12 Girls: Proudly Sponsored by JR Electrical: Quake 3 (Vesna Milivojevic, Emily North, Rosie Galea) def by Rovers 4

The girls needed to win this one to stay in finals contention and played some very good futsal but had troubling finishing again. This cost them as Rovers managed to score 3 goals off mistakes. With 10 minutes to go it looked like it was all over but then we were treated to 9 minutes of exhilarating futsal. The girls just wouldn’t give up and pulled the score back to 2-3 only to concede another fast break goal. But 30 seconds later it is was 3-4 and Quake were storming home. A heavy clash with a player from both sides down injured saw the last 60 seconds of play lost and the comeback thwarted. What a great game this was.

14 Boys: Proudly Sponsored by Capital Steel Buildings Southwest: Quake 4 (Liam. McGing 2, Anthony Haddad, Harry Bagot) def Rovers 0

Another solid performance with perhaps the only criticism being that the boys took the foot off the pedal after cruising to 3-0 early in the game. Harry was back in form and added to his clean sheet by smashing a free kick in from 7 metres. Considering the start this squad had to the season they’ve done remarkably well to be just 3 points off first place. Well done boys.

14 Girls: Proudly Sponsored by Clintons Toyota: Quake 4(Hannah Davey 2, Beth Pickwell, Mia Connors) def Rovers 0

The girls carried their good 2^nd half form from last week into this match and never looked troubled. Playing her best game of the year Beth opened the scoring early and it flowed from there. The 12 Girls helped out again and fitted in nicely helping to set up goals. Hannah got on the scoresheet again and the scoring was finished off by Mia with a solo run from the back which she finished clinically. This just shows that these girls can play good futsal and we’re looking forward to see how the finish the year off.

16 Boys: Proudly Sponsored by Einhell Australia: Quake 1 (Shaun Irwin) def by Rovers 7

Oh dear! The boys opened the scoring again and then…………..  Chasing the game they played 5^th man which didn’t pan out the way they expected and the score line blew out. They now slip out of the top 4 for the first time and with a serious injury to Anson Gilligan and a slip in form the squad has a challenge to prove to everybody just how good they really are.

16 Girls: Proudly Sponsored by Macarthur Marble & Granite: Quake 1 (Mel Walsh) def by Rovers 4

The girls also opened the score and did it easily but then went back into their shell. At 1-1 Dana was red carded for a last man foul (no argument) and the girls seemed to lose their way and the fight seemed to drain from them. A big positive from the game is that it was Jemma Crane’s best performance of the year and she took that form into the Women’s game.

Youth Proudly Sponsored by A.H. Beard: Quake 1 (Bruno Antelmi) drew with Rovers 1

With several players injured and others missing on the day the squad called on 15 year old Bradon Clissold to sit up and he and Chris Howell (normally a ‘keeper) played just enough minutes to give the starters a rest. So you would think the game was set up for a Rovers win but with the help of Shaun Irwin and Anthony Haddad from the 16 Boys the lads played hard all game and would have got the win if any other ‘keeper but Stephen from Rovers was in goals. A great fighting effort.

Women: Proudly Sponsored by Bella Arts Graphic Design: Quake 2 (OG and Zoeie Redman) drew with Rovers 2

The girls took the lead early in the 2^nd half and then fell behind. The decision to go 5^th man proved the right one with Zoeie blasting in a shot from an impossible angle. Staying with the 5^th man the girls pushed for the winner but ran out of time. Things are still not quite clicking but the girls’ determination sees them picking up points when perhaps they could have dropped them and they remain comfortably in 2^nd place on the ladder.

Men: Proudly Sponsored by United Tools Liverpool: Quake 7 (Mark Symington 3, Bruno Antelmi 2, Scott Madden, Danny Martinez) def Rovers 3

Wow! Just Wow! What a performance by the lads. With key players missing the boys had to depend on Youth and 16 year old players to help carry the load and what a job they did. Lead by Symo the team shocked 3^rd place Rovers and played some incredibly good futsal, often creating 2 and even 3 on ones that Rovers just didn’t have an answer for. Harley, Danny, Scott, Josh and Borgy were ably assisted by Bruno, Shannon and Shika from the Youth and Shaun, playing only his 2^nd top team game, from the 16s. And the Youth’s Andy Haim conceded only 1 goal in his 2^nd half stint in goals in only his 3^rd game at this level. Simply brilliant guys, this game was a pleasure to watch.