With more beautiful soccer days arriving every week on the Sunshine Coast, our fantastic U13 Storm boys played three games in eight days recently. The first was a clash with the other Storm team in the league from North Van and this proved a battle for the ages. As previous games had shown our boys, this team was not to be taken lightly in any way as they always test every aspect of our game to the fullest.
As the striker and lead physical player for the North Van team showed/shoved his purpose on the field, our Storm were brilliantly able to shut his speed and skills down most times – until one particular turn at the top of the box left him open and able to slot one in nicely for them to go up 0-1. Being down a goal always seems to excite our Storm boys into a frenzy this year, and it was all Sunshine Coast hard work for the rest of the game, leading to an all-out blitz to finally even the game at 1-1. To be true, the score should have been without a doubt 5-1 at least, but our local Storm were truly “unlucky” and simply couldn’t find the back of the net.
Game two of the week remained at home again and welcomed the Coquitlam Ajax to our shores. With a tough tie in their minds from the previous game and a blue sky above, the Storm made sure this game was an all-out surge of skill and perseverance. The first half was a real battle to be true as the teams tried to figure out each other’s weaknesses and ended with a 1-1 tie.
Coming off the bench in the second half though, our Storm created chance after chance in the Ajax end. It was only a matter of time as they figured out how to penetrate the enemy territory and assault the net. The score quickly rose to a sweet 4-1 victory and the fun they had playing the beautiful game was infectious. Time after time these talented Storm boys led Ajax around by the leash and practised all the great techniques they have mastered.
This game secured the top spot in the league for the Storm no matter what happens for the last game of the season next week, first place in the division, awesome coastal representatives to be proud.
The third game in this crazy week of all-out soccer was a North Shore Cup game, separate from our regular season and by invitation only to the top teams in the area. The Storm went to play the North Van Fury at the amazing William Griffith turf last Sunday. They have never met this team before because they are actually from the next division up from us, a challenge to say the least. It was clear there is a reason this Fury team are in the next division – they had a decisive passing game that put us on guard from the whistle.
Our Storm boys rallied very quickly and found some of their old magic resourcefulness to shut down the precise Fury attacks with a fantastic defensive line and unbelievable goal keeping. It was an all-out war the entire game, but the Fury were able to go up by three and stay there. Time after time the Fury were first to the ball and quickly made passes that needed quick mid-field shutdown from the Storm. As our determined boys found their rhythm, they began to draw fouls from the Fury leading to two penalty kicks, but the keeper from North Van denied both.
A free kick and several brilliant lunging shots from the Storm should have made it close, a tie or a possible win for our boys, but this is soccer and sometimes the score definitely doesn’t reflect the effort. This day would end in a tough loss technically but a true victory because of the Herculean effort our Storm team showed and the lessons learned about what it takes to move up to the next level in this league.
Watch out, the boys from the Coast are coming.
