Trial Update As At 17/10/11

Please be advised that due to the number of triallists that attended Sunday's trials for the Under 16's & Under 18's, the trials originally scheduled for later this week have been CANCELLED. 

 

We would like to thank all the triallists who attended the trials on Sunday.

Marconi Under 15's Take Out Borneo Cup Final

By John Economos

Reporting from Sabah, Malaysia

 

The Marconi Stallions' Under 15’s squad battled sweltering heat to crush crack South Korean side CAU Middle School 3 - 1 at the University of Kota Kinabalu Stadium in Sabah, Malaysia, to win the Borneo Cup Final.

A brilliant brace scored by Marconi’s mobile striker Jake Douglas, with a goal in each half, spearheaded the Stallions' meritorious Cup success, whilst industrious central defender Steve Papoutsis galvanised the win with a glorious header seven minutes from fulltime that flashed inside the right post.

In the eleventh minute, the lanky Douglas gave Marconi a shock early start by latching onto a lovely through-ball out wide on the right. This

lethal marksman outpaced the South Korean team’s cover defence, swerved into the box to round the goalie before placing a firm low drive

into the far left corner of the target.

Hard working central defender Papoutsis almost doubled the Stallions’ score in the twentieth minute, following a corner slung in from the right, but his crashing header shaved the wrong side of the left upright.

 

Marconi employed a very well-disciplined hot-weather strategy, almost totally dominating the entire first session in the searing heat.

 

Diminutive right sided midfielder Andre Guzman tirelessly won possession and with meticulous precision fed his frontline whilst attacking midfielders Manuel Duarte and Judah Cleur solidly supported in the 'engineroom'.

 

Twin centre-backs Papoutsis and Eoin Montford were totally defiant against the mobile, technically astute South Koreans.

 

Just before halftime Marconi doubled the score line through tenacious defender Papoutsis with a well-drilled piece of set play.

 

Following a long looping corner slung in from the right, a Marconi player out climbed the South Korean team’s defenders to head on to Papoutsis who crashed his header inside the right post.

 

Seven minutes from the bell, Marconi, despite relinquishing their first half authority, trebled the scoreboard when again lethal marksman Douglas nailed the target in the bottom left corner.

 

In the 2011 Borneo Cup, Marconi remained undefeated, scored no less than 14 goals, with goal-ace Douglas nailing eight of them, whilst conceding three.

 

The South Korean team’s second-half dominance was rewarded two minutes from fulltime when their midfielder bent a Beckham-like shot from 20 metres that sailed into Marconi's net, but the 'bus had gone' for the tough Asians and the Borneo Cup trophy was on its way to Bossley Park for the second time in three years.

 

Marconi's elated Co-Coaches, Alex Watson and Nick Valageorgiou, later briefly reflected on the Stallions’ success.

 

Watson summed up: "Being fully alert to the high temperatures, we elected to play a much smarter, tighter defence and pressure much higher up the pitch. This tactic yielded us a lucrative dividend".

 

Valageorgiou added: "Our strong defensive pattern was the base of our strategy and we focussed on keeping our solidarity throughout the match".