Sunday 1st of March saw the Milton Ulladulla Panthers travel to Shoalhaven Heads for the annual pre season tournament, The Henk Ryug Cup. Milton headed into the day being the defending champions looking to win the Cup for the second consecutive year with a mix of some first grade prowess, an old head to plug any gaps and some youthfulness.
Greeted by blazing sun we begun our title defence against the hosts, Shoalhaven Heads. After going behind early, they managed to level up the match after Ivan was brought down in the box to earn a penalty, which he slotted away. The score finished 1-1. Playing a new formation with players trying new things it was a good solid start and the boys were hyped up for the next match.
With only 35mins between each match there wasn’t much time to rest and we were soon up again, this time against Husky. The boys started the game with enthusiasm and were all over Husky early. They settled and wrestled momentum back and were looking ominous for a goal but was denied with some brilliant work from keeer Kev Castle who sure looks the goods this year! Brent Anderson fired a shot from well outside the box to find the top left corner to give us a 1-0 lead. Kev Castle again kept us in the game after some lazy defending and we held on for the 1-0 win.
Up next was United. Our team was mixed around for this one and the young guys were really showing the other boys how it was done as they dominated the game from the get go. Chances started flowing and finally with Brent Anderson again scoring to give us the late 1-0 win.
After 3 games we were on top of the table and improving with every game, most of all the boys were gelling and enjoying themselves.
Game 4 was up against Illaroo. We knew a win would have all but sealed our spot in the big dance at the end of the day, so we kept the youthful team to start and they again dominated from the get go with Simon Law and coach Daniel Todeschini causing havoc up front. We decided to give the other boys a go and sure enough Jarrod Murray managed to find his way to the goals and finish to give us a 1-0 lead. A sloppy late goal gave Illaroo a 1-1 draw.
Still undefeated heading into the final clash which was against Bomaderry. Lose this and we go home, win and we play the final. Bomaderry was our best game yet and we played some very nice football. The tired legs proved too much at stages but all in all we played some neat football before Brent Anderson managed to score another goal from outside the box. We are expecting plenty more of that this year mate! Bomaderry were never really in the match and we managed to score a second through Jarrod Murray to seal a 2-0 win and a spot in the final.
The final, Milton v Husky. Reining Henk Ruyg Cup winners against the reining competition champions. Both sides were out on their feet, and so the resulting game was very slow paced. It felt like the sun was at its hottest at this point. The boys really dug in and tried their best but had a dodgy penalty decision go against us. Kev Castle tried his best but Husky snuck home the goal. For all the trying and attack we threw at Husky it just wasn’t to be our day. The gane ened in a 1-0 loss.
Congrats to the boys from Husky and thanks to the Shoalhaven Heads/Berry FC for putting on the day. The boys that travelled up on the day, thankyou! It was pleasing to see us play some good soccer but also enjoy each other’s company and enjoy the day. I was particularly impressed with the young boys; Bailey Lay, Jack Rutland, Cordale Bakouris, Micah Boye and Jack Begg; who really stepped up, held their own and were a big part of the reason we played in the final. Finally, thanks to old man Lawsy (Simon) for filling the gaps and helping me out on the day. Looking forward to Saturday where hopefully we can get a big crowd to watch a lot of great soccer and raise some money for a good cause.
Daniel Todeschini
