First grade
On Sunday May 13 after the women and third grade men’s teams had both won, it was up to the Young Lions First Grade team to make it three from three wins again.
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Young were to take on last year’s premiers, Henwood Park.
Young started well finding space inside the Henwood Park half and it was not long before a cross from the right wing found Isaac Hines in the box to flick a headed goal into the open Henwood Park net giving Young an early lead after only 15 minutes.
Henwood Park then moved up a gear and engaged in a very physical game, cutting down Young’s faster players with late tackles which earnt them four yellow cards for various infractions. Young held on to take a halftime lead of 1-0 into the sheds.
In the second half Young again started quicker than Henwood Park and eventually after using excellent passing from Duncan Cameron and Callum McCaffery through the midfield, Milo Dowling was found through the ball which left him one on one with the keeper.
With beautiful timing of his run, he slotted the ball past the diving keeper to take the lead to 2-0.
Henwood Park then lost formation and control and continued to give away easy penalties for Young and field position.
Late in the game, Young found themselves with a free kick opportunity outside the box and it was left for Duncan Cameron to take the kick.
Henwood Park had failed to set their wall correctly allowing Cameron to blast the free kick to the bottom right corner, which although the keeper got his hand to it, found the back of the net for Young to run out eventual winners, 3-0 over last years grand final winners.
“This was a big win from Young and it clearly shows the improvement over last year with our younger kids,” coach Mark Mellish said.
“We have now put pressure on the other teams with four out of five wins to start our season.”
This week Young will travel to Leeton on Sunday and hopefully the winning can continue for the club in all grades.
Third grade
On Sunday the Young Lions third grade side were looking to extend their unbeaten start to the season against last placed Gundagai at Hall Bros oval.
Young were very slow out of the blocks and allowed Gundagai easy possession and field position.
For the first 20 minutes all Young could do was defend each attack.
Gundagai took a shot on goal from a wide angle that somehow clipped the inside of the far post to find the back of the net giving them a 1-0 lead.
This made Young step up their game pace and within minutes Young were now playing with aggression and launched an attack down the right wing through Jack Castle, who crossed the ball into a waiting Connor Quinn who headed a superb goal, making the score 1-all.
The game was then slowed down a bit by the midfields of both teams.
Clearly Gundagai had been under performing for the first four rounds as they tested Young repeatedly.
However, Young then pushed an attack through the middle and Kurt Lyzun was found at the top of the box, turning to shoot and beating a diving goal keeper to go into the break 2-1 up.
After a revving from Mark Mellish Young’s plan was to not allow another goal against the team.
In the second half but neither team could find ascendancy and an arm wrestle of a second half ensued.
Young held on for another win, 2-1, which keeps the team at the top of the table with five wins from five rounds. Jack Castle was voted best on ground by the referees.
This week the team travels to Temora on Saturday afternoon in an attempt to go for six wins from six games.
Lady Lions
The women were keen to keep their winning streak going as they took on Lake Albert at Hall Bros oval last Saturday.
The Lady Lions started quickly, showing the boys how to do it with excellent structure and some lovely passing through the midfield.
Young’s striker Freya Hewitson found herself in space repeatedly in front of the opposition goal and it wasn’t long before she had bagged two goals for Young.
Lake Albert then tried in vain to breach the backline however led by Tessa Long, Lake Albert could not get near the goal with a united defence. Young also had five subs meaning that fresh legs were always available to prevent Lake Albert from advancing.
One of Young’s players, Brittany Clarke was having an excellent game in her new position as a wing up front, putting pressure on the defence and being a constant threat with speed.
Young’s midfield led by Michaela Hall then took control of the game and Young were able to bag another four goals through constant pressure, giving Young a 6-0 half time lead.
After the halftime break, Young took the foot off the pedal and simply controlled the game in the middle of the ground, holding the ball and working on passing structure.
Lake Albert never threatened the Young goal.
Maggie Davis had been moved up front and managed to score with a long range free kick from about twenty yards out, giving Young a comprehensive win 7-0.
“Our first half was excellent, with the girls coming together each week, improving each week,” captain Jemma Long said.
“Our game plan was simply to control possession and play the game we want to play.”
The ladies travel to Cootamundra this Sunday for possibly their toughest game so far as Cootamundra sit one place below Young on the table.
Pascoe Cup Draw
Round 6 – Leeton United vs Young at MIA Sports Field
Round 7 – Lake Albert vs Young at Rawlings Park 1
Round 8 – Cootamundra Strikers vs Young at O’Conner Park
Round 9 – Young vs Wagga United at Hall Bros
Round 10 – Young vs South Wagga at Hall Bros
Round 11 – Young vs Tolland at Hall Bros
Round 12 – Young vs Tumut at Hall Bros
Round 13 – Young vs Junee at Hall Bros
Round 14 – Henwood Park vs Young at Rawlings Park 5
Round 15 – Young vs Leeton United at Hall Bros
Round 16 – Tolland vs Young at Rawlings Park 4
Round 17 – Young vs Cootamundra