A day at Hawkesbury Indoor Sports saw the Boomerangs club on a knifes edge all day.

As well as trying to come through the day with as many wins as possible – several players/coaches/parents maintained contact with spectators at the Sydney City vs Phoenix round being played simultaneously at Ryde to keep track of any points accumulated by the Eagles. When they met earlier this season, the Eagles fought hard for a decent return of four wins. The Boomerangs ‘brains trust’ had estimated that a minimum of four wins (12 points) would be required for the Boomerangs to safely avoid bottom place on the club championship table.

The day started poorly for the Boomerangs with no wins from the 12s or the 14s – although all four teams played their hearts out on a hot humid day. The 12 girls were impressive in their 1-0 defeat, playing well above themselves, and the 14 girls salvaged a 2-2 draw — after leading at half time. One point from the first four games…. not the start that was hoped for.

The 16 boys – having had such a good season, and only going down to Quake by a single goal in Round 6, were penciled in as a win. But alas, after leading 3-0 at half time, the Boomers 16s had trouble matching the second half intensity and running of the Quake. Goals flowed and the Quake took the game 5-4.

The 16 girls then did what no Boomerangs team had yet done this match day…. took full points with a strong performance – a tight 2-1 win. Two thirds of the way through the day and only a single win and a single draw. Things were not looking good for the Boomerangs.

The youth men’s game – as usual, was a tough physical encounter. With only four regular youth starters available, many of the 16 boys suited up again. The result – a hard fought, nail biting 2-2 draw.

The women’s team were not one penciled in for a win at day’s beginning, but by now the Boomerangs were looking for a win from every team that stepped onto the court. They showed true Boomerangs spirit, playing their hearts out — including many of the 16 girls who had run themselves into the ground in their win not long before. A close encounter finished with the Boomerangs going down, but only by a solitary goal 6-5.

The men’s game was always going to be tough – but definitely winnable. Before the game Quake sat in fourth place, and the Boomers men could leapfrog them and steal their fourth place with a win – it was all to play for. Once again, with many absentees from the regular line up, youth players backed up, as did a number of sixteens. And this on top of having already played a tough game against Dural at 11.00am that morning. Over 50 minutes, nothing could separate the two teams and a one all draw was the final result. So close for the Boomerangs men, but now needing to look to next year for finals glory.

During the women’s game, the message had come through from Ryde, that the Eagles had only won a solitary game (12 Boys) and had a draw in the 16 Boys – they were to also go on and win the open women’s. As a result the three draws and a win by the Boomerangs against Quake was enough to see the club avoid relegation to the Super League.

A stressful day for all the players, those associated with the club, parents, partners, and everyone who had driven up to the games (as well as those constantly checking the results on Facebook and by SMS).

The club would like to make special mention and say thank you to a number of players who went above and beyond to help the club out this weekend. Their efforts are much appreciated and deserve to be recognized.

• Zac Barbatano (10 years old), Liam Wille and goalkeepers Jamie-Lee Guo and Deakin Jewell from the 12 boys who all played exceptionally well filling in for the 14 boys with Liam scoring a cracker goal set up by Zac.
• Sean O’Neill, Chris Smith, Tom Zeitlhofer, Nick Rathjen, Jonathan Ciminelli and Nick van Aalst from the 16 boys who all played three matches for the day (16s, Youth Men and Open Men), Special thanks to Sean and Chris (and their parents) who drove up to Sydney 5 hours early to play the open men’s catch up game against Dural at Dural with Sean scoring a contender for goal of the day.
• Jake Wilsener, Gianmarco Senatore and Matt Zeitlhofer from the Youth Men who filled in for the Open Men against Quake.
• Daniel Bennett who drove over 3 hours to Dural for the open men’s catch up match, then drove 1.5 hours to Wollongong to play a pre-season outdoor match and then drove another 1.5 hours to Windsor to make it back for the Quake match.

 

Thank you to all these players and to all the players who filled in for other age groups throughout the season and helped secure additional points for the club.

It is this kind of dedication to the club and team spirit that we try to engender in Boomerangs players.