Coming off a mid-week game and carrying injuries, the PlaceMakers PNBHS 1st XI was bolstered with reserve players. The time spent training as an extended group has made syncing between the two teams effortless, as seen in today’s match – players coming from the bench are certainly ‘value added’. The 1st XI continued their charge up the table, defeating Marist Reserves, 8 – 4.
Unfortunately, Marist was awarded a hand-ball penalty early in the first half to open the scoring. Brooklyn Browne managed to get a stiff glove to it, however, it was not enough. Momentum swung soon after, as PNBHS played some beautiful one-touch football, moving the ball quickly down the field and trusting in their playing systems. After missing out in previous games, Adarsh Dutt found his touch inside the opposition goal box. Turning and bouncing his way through the defensive line, Adarsh scored two goals in quick succession to put PNBHS in front. Not wanting to have all the fun, Adarsh, breaking the defensive line again, lay off to Thomas Bell who secured the team’s third goal, and giving the team a comfortable lead heading into the break.
Marist came out quickly and capitalised on a poor effort to clear the ball from the danger area, bringing them back into close contention. Settling back into a rhythm, securing possession, and building play, PNBHS came back with a ball worked through the field. Flirting with the goal line and at a narrow-angle, Xavier Coleman beat the keeper, notching up his maiden goal for the 1st XI. It did not take long for Adarsh Dutt to get back in on the action, this time with Xavier Coleman volleying a ball over the defenders and Adarsh only needing a tap in to bring up his hat-trick. It was not all one-way traffic though, with Marist scoring from a close-range free-kick, again keeping them close. From here, the gates opened for PNBHS. Jaiden Meyer penetrated the defence and scored freely; the fresh legs of Riley Maclean created an opportunity for Daniel McDougall to get on the board for his first of the season; and to round it out, Ben Mori turned and cracked a beautifully struck ball into the net, coming from well-executed mid-field rotation play.
A comfortable finish for the PlaceMakers 1st XI after a nervous start sees them a point behind the competition leaders after six games. Ben Mori and Jaiden Meyer’s consistent form sees them 2nd equal in the competition’s Golden Boot standings, with seven each to their names.
Thank you to all of our PlaceMakers PNBHS 1st XI Football Sponsors!
Link to all photos from today's game: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y4iBh7x_xnVrdW-KMk35Fm-GY8pn74QM?usp=sharing
