Sutherland under 12s match report - the one that got away
24-Nov-08

by J Gulisano

Saturday, 22 November 2008 saw the Sutherland Shire Futsal Association host their Round 7 Super League home clash at its regular training court at Endeavour Sports High School Gymnasium, for the first time this season, against the Northern Beaches Breakers.

The Under 12's kicked off the day's proceedings with yet another tough, exciting, and nail-biting game. With the boys seemingly having control of the match at 3-1 with appoximately 5 minutes to go and which would have given them their third win on the trot, what happened thereafter can only be described as " the one that got away !"

From the commencement of the game Coach Lee Pepper had the boys pumped, taking each player aside in the change-room individually before the game to deliver his last minute instructions and the accompanying Pepper "Pep-Talk" !

Whatever the coach said was working beautifully as the boys had the necessary intensity and concentration to have them 2-1 up at half-time after well-worked goals to Nathan Spinola and Blake Stewart .

Nathan also picked up another goal in the second-half with about 8 minutes left to play, after great lead-up work from Samuel Gulisano .

Unfortunately, this would be one of Samuel's last contributions to the match as in a scramble to try and stop a Breakers player from scoring a goal, the Breakers player accidentally clipped his heel sending him into the air horizontally causing him to land onto the point of his elbow and hip with a thud...OUCH ! The game was immediately stopped by the referees as the player was obviously in some distress and many thanks must go to the Breakers parent with obvious medical training for his assistance in determining the extent of the injury .

Samuel was carried off the court and the game re-started, however, Samuel's injury seemed to startle the boys and they appeared to lose focus and concentration in defence with the Breakers scoring 3 unanswered goals in the last 5 minutes to win the game 4-3 .

Whilst it is an admirable quality for the boys to have been concerned about their injured team-mate, they learnt the valuable lesson that it is always important not to lose focus and concentration in these circumstances as an injured player will always receive the best of possible assistance, medical or otherwise from others at the venue .

Playing representative Futsal for Sutherland gives you and all of us, in fact, the opportunity to grow and learn new lessons with each week that passes and this week was just one of those weeks.

Well played boys, you continue to do your club, coach and family proud, week in and week out . One another note, a particular vote of thanks to Endeavour Sports High School and the Department of Education & Training (DET) for allowing us to host this week's round. Special thanks must also go to our President - Jonathan Simnett and all the wonderful volunteers involved in organising the preparation of the court venue, barbeque and raffles for the day . By all accounts, a very successful day at the new venue .

Source: SSFA