Football can be a cruel sport sometimes, you can play better than the opposition and yet still lose the game. The coach felt that way at this game, as did most of the spectators at the field. 

The Yass U18’s can be truly proud of this game against St Edmunds and how they conducted themselves at the end of the 90 minutes, even though they walked off with a 2-1 loss. The team appreciated the contributions of Sally and Daniel who stepped in due to the U15’s having a bye. 

The game began evenly, with opportunities at both ends. Both teams were a bit sluggish at times and were happy to sit back and watch rather than moving in and pressuring the opposition. 

The St Edmunds team soon began to resort to the tactic of long balls over the top of the Yass defenders who were able to handle the pace of the opposition this week, even though sometimes the defense was a bit scrambly. 

The Yass Goalie handled the ball more than his St Edmunds counterpart, but mainly due to the over hit long balls coming through. Late in the first half, the Yass defence was caught out and a desperate challenge in the box resulted in a penalty to St Edmunds. 

Goalie Elliot was up to the challenge and made a great save. Both teams went to the break at 0-0.

The second half saw Yass running downhill on what is a small field and the long goalie kicks gave Yass numerous chances on goal with no result. Then from what seemed to be a harmless move by St Edmunds they suddenly had a goal. Again, to the Yass Redbacks’ credit, like in previous weeks, they lifted and had most of the possession and put some good play together, being unlucky not to score a number of times. 

Eventually, one of these raids resulted in a good goal to Daniel. Yass dominated from there and it only seemed like a matter of time before Yass would score the winning goal. Then with 2 minutes to play, St Edmunds managed to get the ball near the Yass goal and after some chaos in the box the ball went in the goal. 

In the majority of times, a free kick to the goalie would have been awarded as he was impeded, but on this occasion a goal was awarded. The Yass team was visibly upset but regrouped and almost got back an equaliser. 

Even the last kick of the match was a free kick to Yass that just sailed over the crossbar. The Yass team of Elliot, Sally, Kris, Callum, Shaun, Brendan, Tom, Annabelle, Jay, Victoria, Daniel and Ryan can be proud of their efforts.

Under 13s

The U13 Redbacks side travelled to Corwell to take on a side from Cooma for the first time in their playing history. The Redbacks were hoping to get their season back on track after suffering a rare loss the previous week. The whistle blew and from the onset the Redbacks looked in the groove against the team from Cooma. An early corner from Reuben Robinson saw Mitch Starr score for the Redbacks with control and calmness. 

The ball seesawed up and down the field as the Cooma Tigers were determined in their attack with Ben Luck being busy at times but very safe in the goal keeper role. The Yass Redbacks extended their lead when Keegan Doyle was awarded a penalty shot and without hesitation put it into the back of the net.  

The game wasn't much older when another corner shot from Reuben Robinson curled through the Cooma keeper’s hands to take the Redbacks to a 3-0 lead midway through the half.  

The Yass defensive line was strong with Nick Hinds , Zoe Tritschler, Callum Ironside, Harrison Walker and Max Hansson playing well. Mitch Starr was unlucky not to score again for Yass just before half time and at the break it was the Redbacks in total control.  

The second half was very much like the first with the Redbacks playing determined soccer. Ben Luck and Bryce Battye were full of running and Jacob Collins was rewarded with a penalty shot that he drove into the top of the net for Yass to extend the score to 4-0.  

Cooma never stopped trying and Mitch Starr, as second half keeper, was doing a fine job. Colby Owens and Brookylnn Bolton were putting in big efforts when Keegan Doyle got his second goal for the afternoon when he casually snuck the ball past the Cooma keeper. 

The match ended with a comprehensive win to the Redbacks, 5 goals to nil, and the team looks to be back in their normal groove of winning soccer matches. 

Great effort team.

The U8 Redbacks played Belwest Hawks in a 3-2 win. The U9 Redbacks took on Belwest Bluetongues that resulted in a 5-4 win. Another victory was claimed by the U10s against Woden Valley Ninjas who walked away with a 12-0 win. U12 Redbacks played Belsouth and took the win of 7-2. The U14 Redbacks took on St Edmunds Blue and took away the 8-0 win. The U15 Redbacks has a bye.