Round 14 - Oakleigh

The Under 12B East team arrived at Jack Edwards Reserve on a cold & rainy day hoping to maintain their winning ways and to cement 2nd place on the ladder. The main pitch at Oakleigh was looking great. Unfortunately we were playing on the paddock behind. The line markings at one end were hard to see particularly the 18 yard box but more of that later!!

The Box Hill boys created chances from the start and within 5 minutes were ahead when Blayne slashed in a shot from a tight angle over on the right to score his second goal in 2 now he is playing at Right Wing. Box Hill continued to press but neither of our strikers in Josh or Devon could find the back of the net. Brendan & Declan continued to battle it out in the centre of the park to keep the pressure on Oakleigh and eventually the pressure told with an Oakleigh player handling in the box so it was penalty time. Gab stepped up and slotted the ball away nicely to take the score top 0-2. Box Hill continued to penetrate the Oakleigh defence, particularly from out wide and managed to cut the ball back but unfortunately were not able to put the ball in the back of the net as it flashed across the goal mouth. When Oakleigh did penetrate into our half they were ably marshalled by Jonty out on the left & Curtis on the Right who both pressured their players & when the ball popped up played intelligent passes out of defence. Matt & Jesse were able to mop up any of the crumbs that got through. Box Hill had numerous chances in the 1st half but only managed to convert the 2.

Martin made 4 changes in the 2nd half switching to a 3-5-2 formation. Ben was up front with Devon, Carl played in the centre of midfield, Sam played as a defensive midfielder in front of the 3 man defence & Jonty moved over to the Right Back position to allow Patrick to take up his customary position as Left Back. During one passage of play Carl received a ball played a brilliant first time pass to Devon to put him 1 on 1 with the keeper however he put the ball over the cross bar. The game was more end to end in the 2nd half & Tim had to make a couple of saves. Unfortunately from one he stepped outside of the non existent 18 yard box & Box Hill were penalised with a free kick due to the fact that the Ref hadn’t ensured adequate line markings!! The free kick was nicely taken by Oakleigh who scored to make it 1-2 and game on!! Box Hill struck back in true Box Hill fashion and after a great passage of play through the middle, Devon scored to make it 1-3. This took the wind out of Oakleigh’s sails & the pressure off Box Hill. Captain of the day Matt took a knock in the thigh so Josh was brought on to sweep and did a very good job of snuffing out a couple of Oakleigh attacks.

The final whistle went & Box Hill had done the job & got the 3 points in average conditions on an average pitch.

Next week Richmond visit Wembley & will provide a stern test for the boys.

Round 13 - Clayton

Nice handball with the line marker.

The weather and pitch conditions at Wembley were considerably better than the away encounter with Clayton last time. Box Hill were keen to even the slate as Clayton are the only team so far this season to score a win against them.

The boys came out firing and had Clayton under pressure straight away.Their continual push forward resulted in early goals and with great teamwork the score at half time was 4-0.

The second half saw some positional changes which took a little time for the boys to settle into. Clayton took advantage of a lapse in pressure and found the back of the net but this was countered straight away with a quick goal by BoxHill.

Our boys dominated this game with teamwork and commitment.

The final score was Box Hill 5-1 Clayton.

Round 12 - Bulleen

The Under 12B team headed over to the Veneto Club knowing that a win was a must in order to stay in touch with League leaders Doncaster. The day was cold & windy with rain threatening. The boys were keen to make it 2 out of 2 for Box Hill teams over at Bulleen after hearing that the Under 11A’s had won 1-0.

Box Hill applied the early pressure & this resulted in a well taken goal by Jesse to make it 1-0 to Box Hill. Bulleen. The goal prompted the Bulleen boys & they started to challenge for the 50-50 balls & penetrate the Box Hill defences. This resulted in them pouncing on a loose ball in the box to even the scores 1-1. They followed this up with another goal on the break down the left side of the pitch to make it 2-1 to them & continued to dictate the game. The whistle went for half time with the score reading Bulleen 2 Box Hill 1.

The message from the coach was delivered loud & clear to the Box Hill boys to compete, pressure & win the ball all over the park. The boys did this and started to wrest control back from the Bulleen lads. Both teams were evenly matched with Box Hill attacking well however the Bulleen defence was up for the task. The pressure from Box Hill eventually paid dividends when Devon burst into the box & slotted away the ball to make it 2 -2. Box Hill continued to pressure as the mid-field were winning more of the ball as were the defence when under pressure. Another attack resulted in a shot on goal which the Bulleen Keeper spilled & which Josh put away to make it 3-2. Bulleen went in search of an equaliser & from a corner the ball was pinging around in the box but was eventually cleared. The full time whistle went and the Box Hill boys celebrated a well earned win against a determined Bulleen team.

Well done to both the coaches & the boys for a great result.

Round 11 - Doncaster

This away game had great weather,good pitch and was against league leaders Doncaster.
Box Hill is 2nd on the ladder so this was expected to be a tough game and it did not disappoint.

The first half saw Box Hill in control.The boys did not allow Doncaster to have any room and pushed forward continually creating scoring opportunities.Doncaster defended galliantly and with missed chances by our boys the score at half time was nil all.

We knew controlling Doncaster for the whole game was not likely and hoped Box Hill would not pay for earlier misses.

The second half was even at first but after about 10 mins. Doncaster took control.They attacked continually with our defence working hard to hold them.Box Hill went forward a little,with no luck,and Doncaster quickly cleared the ball and attacked again.

The first to have scored would of won but the whistle blew and at full time the score was 0-0.

This was another great game to watch and a fair result for both teams.

Round 10 - Manningham

Box Hill entertained Manningham in very good conditions at Wembley Park. The boys started brightly and created a few chances however they didn’t find the target. Midway through the first half Box Hill scored to take the lead. Manningham struggled to get out of their half at times & our keeper only touched the ball once. Having said that they were resolute in defence & were challenging well for 50:50 balls & their keeper, like in the first game was best on ground for them.

The Box Hill boys came out in the second half & were more resolute with most players challenging for 50:50 balls. 10 minutes into the second half and Box Hill scored to make it 2-0. A third was quickly added when a Manningham player turned the ball into their own net for an own goal from a corner. Unfortunately Box Hill could not add to the score line, however had secured the 3 points to stay in touch with Doncaster. Full credit goes to Manningham who played their hearts out and worked hard for each other until the final whistle & to both teams who played the game in good spirits.

Next week is the big game for this league with league leaders Doncaster playing Box Hill over at Anderson Park in a match which is likely to decide who finishes top in the Under East 12B League. One thing is for sure & that is that the lads in Yellow & Green will ensure that the Box Hill boys will have to bring their best game in order to secure all 3 points.

We can’t wait!!