The victorious U9 Rockets after their win.THE Sherbrooke Rangers Rockets and the Yarra Valley U9s had a ball in the mud at Menzies Creek on Saturday.
A changed line-up for the Rockets saw Shaun Allen at the pointed end of the attacks, and with support from Patrick Walker and Jacqualyn Horsburgh, he scored an excellent goal in the first half.
Yarra Valley were a much-improved side thanks to quite a few individually strong performances.
In the second half, Josh Hogben and Jordan Dicker moved to the front for the Rockets. Jordan’s hard work paid off, with a well-deserved goal, giving the Rockets a 2-0 lead. Alan Damen and Chris Heckenberg played superbly providing passes to their fellow players.
At Baynes Park, the U12 Gunners, hosting Berwick Blues, realised their potential and opened with a confident passing game.
Forward pressure resulted in an early breakthrough when Jake Leenheers struck the first goal. With their confidence soaring the Gunners began to swarm forward with Jack Shoesmith and Patrick Schill providing good driving runs and Jonathan Weatherall and Liam Parker pushing up from the midfield.
Berwick opened up their game and soon levelled with some precise play. Their running forwards began to trouble the Gunners and another goal saw them lead 2-1 at half time.
After the break the Gunners weathered a storm thanks to the strong tackling and cover defence from Michael Zanolla and a series of spectacular saves from goalkeeper Connor Reich.
Having survived this onslaught the Gunners rallied and with Andrew Brown, Joe Blair, Jake Goodie, Callum Van Leeuwen, Nick Van Berkel and Grant Eadon all toiling away manfully the Gunners descended on the Berwick goal.
After a number of corners the pressure proved too great for Berwick and Jake Leenheers slotted home his second to equalise.
The Gunners were not finished and pushed forward for victory but a close range shot was saved by the Berwick keeper for a well-deserved 2-2 draw.
