1st Grade
Magic had a lot to play for when they met Adamstown on Saturday. After a draw to Pheonix and the loss to Edgeworth the boys needed a lift after dominating both those games but not taking maximum points. Up for grabs was still the 4th playoff spot. So we needed to win this game as nothing else
would do. Magic were clearly the better team as we punished the Adamstown team whenever they were sloppy on the ball. Some inspiring tackling in the midfield proved that any fitness worries surrounding Johnny Bennis were all but forgotten as he made the young Adamstown players work overtime in the middle of the park.
It was one such tackle that won a ball that found an unmarked John Majurovski. His jinking run into the box opened up the Adamstown defence and his well placed finish left experienced keeper Craig
Carter clutching at the air as the ball found the back of the net. Magic continued to dominate the first half and the Adamstown side must have been relieved to hear the Halftime whistle and lucky not to be down by more goals.
Adamstown started the second half stronger and some of the challenges on the Magic players saw the referee bring out the yellow. Ibi Khodary is proving a handful for many of the defences in the NBN league with his blistering pace and well timed runs. It was one such run that saw him pick up the ball at pace and with Carter closing him down, enough to frighten many strikers in the league,
Ibi took on the experienced shotstopper, rounded him, to have an easy tap in to the open goal. Magic 2-0. Magic continued to batter the Adamstown defence and it was Maja who picked up the ball on the right side of the park. As he does so often he was turning the defence inside out when one of them carelessly fouled him in the box.
It was a trademark penalty by Maja that took us to 3-0.
That's where it ended and it gave the boys something to celebrate at the Magic Ball held on the Saturday Night. Magic played with patience today against a spoiling team but once again proved they can dominate games and win them. Over the weekend many of the games played were favourable to our push for 4th spot. It's now up to the boys to keep winning to ensure finals football this year, something their coach Damien Smith believe is their destiny as a team.
Thank you to Ian Milne for his 1st grade report
Reserve Grade
Magic met Rosebuds with the teams a point apart and in a three way dog fight for a place in the semis. Kevin Helmers returning from injury came into the side and with Gilbert Afful back after several weeks in first grade and the team looked to be a more settled lineup. Rosebuds had put on a series of
strong results in recent weeks and at home looked to be ready to avenge their first round loss to Magic.
The first ten minutes were a disaster for Magic with two goalkeeping errors resulting in a 0-2 scoreline and Rosebuds with their tails up despite the Magic midfield of OToole, Afful, Ellenbacher and Mooney having the better of the territory and our backs otherwise untroubled despite the height advantage of Rosebuds. It was clear the lead had given Rosebuds all the confidence they needed and their defence tightened to strangle any room around their 18 yard box. Magic continued to pass the ball around but Ben Martin and Roger Dowdell had little room to move and touch was difficult on the dry surface.
Strength of character proved to be the catalyst for our boys to turn the match on its ear in the second half which was only three minutes old when Dowdell attacked the ball at speed down the left hand side of the box and cannoned the ball into the net for a 1-2 scoreline and, just as importantly, to give the team momentum.Kevin Helmers began to push forward while Mark Jones and Mick Kekov comfortably handled the Rosebuds strikers. Simon Mooney made a series of dangerous forays before demonstrating pure class with a run down the right hand edge of the 18 yard box and then cutting infield onto his left foot to curl an absolute gem of a shot into the top left corner of the goal to make it 2-2.
For the next 20 minutes it was all Magic with attack after attack nearly producing the winning goal. Finally Mooney burst into the box and beat the keeper with ball at feet for what was surely a simple finish , until his legs were hooked out from under him. Both teams knew a penalty was inevitable but to the astonishment of all the whistle did not blow . The team was clearly frustrated by what may have been a season ending decision but showed real character in continuing to attack to the end. The boys gave a huge effort with their fightback and genuinely deserved better than a 2-2 draw.
Thank you to Chris Turner for his reserve grade report.