Very close games were the flavour of the day at the Sunshine Coast Finals for the South East Queensland Football Championships this week. Our Year 5 and 6 boys football team played fantastic football against teams of very similar ability to themselves.
The best four school teams from four school districts qualified for these finals and GCC progressed by an impressive 5 – 2 win against Banksia Beach State School last term.
The boys played Southern Cross Catholic College in their first game and scored the first goal of the game. Our boys passed the ball around well and had several attacks on goal but attempts were cleared or saved by Southern Cross. They held the lead until early in the second half when the opposition scored and the game was evenly balanced. We were ready to go into a penalty shootout to decide the winner but just seconds before full time a goal was scored against GCC and the score line became 1 – 2. What a close game and the boys were obviously disappointed with the final score but proud of the way they had played.
This loss put them into the 3rd and 4th final and they had to play again with only a short break between games. This game was against Buddina SS who had lost in a penalty shootout in their first game. Both teams were keen to get the win and the game was very even with both teams having shots on goal which were saved by the respective keepers. Buddina State School were awarded a free kick and the ball was hit superbly into the top of the net. Carl Besalo made several important saves and our attackers also had several opportunities to score. Ben Ramke made a strong tricky run with the ball through the midfield and defenders, laid it off to Beau Quinlan who scored a great goal to make the score 1 – 1. A second goal was scored not long before full time meaning the score was 2 – 1 against GCC. The boys finished in a very creditable fourth place, making them the fourth best school team on the Sunshine Coast which they should all be proud of.
The team was very grateful to have Mr George Saleh as coach and they benefitted greatly from his training sessions in preparation for the carnival. It was great to have him at the carnival to direct play and encourage the team. The boys played fantastic possession football and were so close to getting a win as there was very little difference between all four teams in the competition. Southern Cross Catholic College went on to win the Senior Boys division and will represent the Sunshine Coast at the SEQ Finals.
It was great to have many parents and family members at the game supporting the team. We are all very proud of the standard of football the boys played and the effort they put into both games.
Wendy Stott
