Saturday, April 6th, 2013

Bunbury Forum Force (1) v NTC (3)

The visitors were dominant throughout the match and after some early half-chances to Bunbury, the NTC enjoyed a sustained period of midfield dominance.

It was only broken by the first genuine chance of the match, as NTC ‘keeper Jordan Franken had to dive full-length to deny Jon Brooks’ firmly struck effort after 21 minutes.

Riley Woodcock was rewarded a penalty after 32 minutes. Bunbury were unhappy with the decision, and the contact looked minimal, but Woodcock stepped up himself to give his side the lead.

Just four minutes after the penalty, Borbor Sambindi missed an empty net from less than three metres out, before eventually scoring after the ball bounced off the bar, but Bunbury’s players surrounded the referee insisting a clear offside had taken place in the lead-up.

The hosts received a stroke of fortune themselves in the final minute of the half, with a handball in the box giving player-coach Matt Lock a penalty, and just like last week, he scored. Bunbury made a double substitution at the break to liven things up.

Time after time, NTC’s pacy wingers and attackers got in behind the defence, but it wasn’t until the 88th minute when Matt McRoberts finally converted a simple opportunity to be sure of the three points.

Bunbury did have their own chances after the break, with an Oliver McGee header that hit the crossbar and striker Aaron Brittain being denied by a phenomenal goal line clearance from Jeremy Tshongo among them.

Sunday, March 31st, 2013

Bunbury Forum Force (2) v Bayswater (3)

Last years champions Bayswater were welcomed to Payne Park on Saturday. With the memories of a controversial game last year, and Football West tipping a loss of 7-0, this match was always going to be a spectacle.
Force were buoyant after a positive performance against Floreat last week, and the management team chose to field the same side for a second week.

The game got off to a frantic start with Bayswater having the majority of possession, however it was Force that came close through the lively Ryan Francis. However the game turned when Bayswater were awarded an early penalty after just 8 minutes. A long range free kick was floated into the box and players competed for the ball, with not one appeal from a Bayswater player the referee David Bruce decided to award a penalty which Gustavo Marulanda drilled home with ease.

The game continued to be scrappy, but Bunbury showed quality and applied pressure throughout the first half. Bunbury soon equalised after Francis made the most of a fumble by Bayswater keeper, Gianni Papalia, from a wide free kick.

The second half started much like the first with tough tackles, arial battles and contested second balls. Bunbury then gained a penalty through controversial circumstances, as defenders again competed to clear a free kick and it was decided by the referee that it hit a Bayswater hand. Player/Coach, Matt Lock finished it powerfully, taking Bunbury into the lead.

With the Bunbury fans elated, Bayswater hit back immediately through a Todd Howarth free kick which hit the outside of the upright. However this was just a taste of what was to come when Howarth took advantage of another free kick to equalise the match.

In the final minutes of the match Bayswater had a speculative strike which went wide, but referee ruled that Gustavo Catarcione had been fouled while shooting and awarded a penalty.Yet again not one Bayswater player appealed. However the decision was final and Maralunda secured the lead for the away side with another quality penalty.

Player/Coach Matt Lock concluded, “it’s a bitter pill to swallow when a few decisions determine the outcome of what was a pretty even affair, in my opinion all three penalties were pretty harsh”. On a positive note Lock highlighted “we are not far away, we just need to tighten a few areas of play up and really stick to our game plan”.

Bunburys next game is a against the National training Centre (NTC). Kick off is 11am for U18′s, 1pm for U23′s and 3pm for the League side, all taking place at the Soccerdrome due to Football fixtures taking place at Payne Park. Lock has stated that “the squad is at full strength and we potentially have new signing Liam Hutchinson available depending on international clearance”.

The Firebirds have had a tremendous start to the season. After playing only 4 games together, the team are showing real cohesion.

Leeming are a very experienced squad and finished 2nd in last years Division One League. The Firebirds faced Leeming during the pool stage and lost 3-1, but are certain they can make an impact after gaining so much confidence over the last four games, especially after the fantastic Semi Final win over Quinns.

Firebirds Coach, Jason Blackney said ‘’the last 4 games have seen a huge amount of improvement across the squad and they are really starting to bond well.

It is pleasing as a coach when the team implements the playing style that you teach. The playing style and structure is very new to most of the players, so considering we have only played 4 games as a squad it is very satisfying watching them implement it.

Considering we are still very early in our development as a squad, the fact that we already playing well structured, composed, expansive and possession based football is very pleasing.”

We wish the Firebirds the very best of luck for the final – and for the rest of the season to come.

2013 Woman’s Night Series Final
Sunday 7th April
Coker Park, 5pm
Firebirds v Leeming

Adult tickets cost $100 and family tickets are $200.

Membership includes free entry to all home games, priority booking for all Force functions and you become an associate member of the Bunbury Football Club, which includes use of all facilities. All Adult Memberships will be automatically placed into the raffle to win a brand new SSangyoung car, courtesy of Pittard Motors.

Memberships can be purchased on entry to the match.

The only goal of an entertaining first half arrived via home captain Mark Pritchard and it looked to be ‘game over’ when Benny Kovadio doubled the difference just minutes into the second half. English import Chris Blackburn cut that deficit but it wasn’t until deep in stoppage time that Aaron Brittain restored parity. “We dug in today and proved that we are not the league’s whipping boys,” Bunbury coach Matt Lock said. “To go two-nil down against any team and come back is a major achievement.”

Floreat opened well to take a 17th minute lead courtesy of good lead-up work which allowed captain Pritchard to curl into the corner of Ryan Montgomery’s net from the edge of the 18-yard box. Montgomery remained in the thick of the action with a succession of saves to prevent Ian McMurray, Ludovic Boi and Matt Spurling from doubling the hosts’ advantage. But there was little the Bunbury custodian could do a minutes into the second half when Kovadio touched into the net after getting on the end of a booming Brad Eiffe clearance which caught flat the visiting defence.

Bunbury really didn’t get into gear until after the hour. Jon Brooks created some space for himself on the left to deliver into the area where Bobby Wilson turned the ball wide off the boot of Ryan Francis. The resulting corner was played by Brooks to the back post where Blackburn halved the deficit by heading past Eiffe. Bunbury were still playing chiefly the counterattack and through such a move Jamie Tandy crossed for substitute Ryan Stewart whose header was cleared off the line. The game had ticked into 93 minutes when Brittain bundled in the equaliser from Bright Ababio’s nod down to a Tandy cross.

Floreat coach Chris Barbas found it hard to contain his disappointment as the final whistle sounded. “This is a good time to give a few players a wake-up call,” said Barbas, suggesting there will be a few changes next time Floreat step out. “This is the second game in a row where we’ve made the goalkeeper look good because we couldn’t put the ball away. Every game is now a big game. The league has become so competitive, teams have recruited well and there are no easy games. We’ve got to be switched on for the whole 90 minutes and if we’re not, then we just keep putting pressure on ourselves.”

Tanner Selyer and Tommy Amphlett struck inside the opening ten minutes to pave the way for an away team victory against an opponent which rarely looked like pulling a goal back. “There’s no hiding that in the final third we need to create more, and if you don’t keep a clean sheet you always make the job more difficult,” Lock said post-game. “There’s probably only two or three players who can hold their heads high. The young players did a job for us, so when I sit down with the team manager (Matt Holland) there will be positives hidden in there.”

The game started positively enough for the home side with Aaron Brittain heading beyond goalkeeper Andy Banks after 4 minutes, however, a raised flag for offside meant it counted for nothing. Selyer rubbed salt into the wound two minutes later with a close-range tap in after Ryan Montgomery blocked his initial shot on goal. Andy Higgins was inspired and soon after unleashed a vicious strike from 26-metres which cannoned down off the crossbar but didn’t cross the line. With 10 minutes on the clock Amphlett embarked on a mazy run which took him inside the 18-yard box before angling into the far corner for a two-nil lead. After that genuine chances on goal pretty much dried up with both teams guilty of not making more of their possession.

“I’ve settled in really well,”I live in digs with a host family and it’s only about a five minute journey to training.”

The former Bunbury Catholic College student will be recharged and ready to give everything as he continues his pursuit of a professional career when he returns to England’s north-west next week.

“My goal is to play first team at the highest level and hopefully one day play for my country,” the central defender said. “There’s a lot of work to do and this is just the first step. Hopefully, if I work hard enough, I’ll get there one day.”

Only a few months ago, Richardson’s professional dream seemed as distant as the place he has ended up calling home.

He had always wanted to forge a career in the game but never imagined fate would turn quite as sharply as it has in the past few months, leading him 15,000km from WA’s south west.

From junior matches in Australind, through South West Phoenix, Football West’s National Training Centre and Bunbury Forum Force, Richardson’s career suddenly shifted gear after his dad, Derrick, sent letters to dozens of clubs requesting trials for his son.

Burnley, where fellow West Australian Aryn Williams was already playing, was the final stop on Richardson’s itinerary and it was in the club’s claret-and-blue strip where he found stability.

An impressive performance in a trial match against Manchester United’s under-17 team was the clincher in securing the scholarship.

“I went to Bristol (City), Nottingham (Forest) and Cardiff and it wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t really like it. Then I got a call from Burnley,” Richardson said.

“I went there and never looked back really.”

Sacrifice has become second nature to Richardson, who spent four years travelling up to Perth for NTC training.

The youngster is grateful to his dad, who dispensed plenty of advice and also played the role of chauffeur between home and his various football engagements.

“We’d been travelling (from Australind) to Perth for four years and dad and me both thought we don’t want to do all that for nothing,” Richardson said of the decision to seek trials in England. “Dad was talking about booking flights and I thought it would never eventuate. We started writing to about 50 clubs and three got back to us.”

But it was former English professional and Bunbury captain Steve Howson, who alerted Burnley of Richardson’s talent to set-up the trial.

Richardson is thankful, too, for the advice over the years from new Bunbury coach Mickey Cairns, his former WA State coaches Barry Wood and Kenny Weston and NTC chief Kenny Lowe.

This means that when either or both of the lads when they have some spare time and are either down in Bunbury or up in Perth will attend some of our Junior games to support our Juniors. This is fantastic gesture on behalf of Josh and Billy and we thank them for their commitment to our region.

Both Nigel and Mark have had considerable success at the Junior Level and we beleive that the talent of both these individuals will benefit all players in this team. We believe that these coaches have the necessay experience, skills and ability to produce outstanding talent.

Skills training will initially be held on Tuesday and Thursday nights with some sunday sessions being held over summer.

The firebirds offers a great opportunity for the very talented local talent to test themselves at the highest level in WA so i encourage all interested players to come along to training.

If anyone would like to contact me directly I encourage you to do so. My email address is jason_blackney@yahoo.com.au or my mobile is 0414304467.

Next year is already shaping up as a great year and I am very confident we will build 2 very competitive teams.

Parents are welcome to come and view training also if they want.

Looking forward to seeing a lot of you there.