Cranbrook Corner – Round 4 Football Report
The weekend’s fixtures saw Cranbrook take on Waverley College across various venues, with Queens Park once again hosting a number of matches.
The 10A’s kicked things off in style, recording back-to-back victories with a commanding 5-2 win, showing their attacking flair and continued growth as a team. On the neighbouring field, the 3rd XI appeared to be in full control with a 2-0 lead heading into the final ten minutes. However, a late resurgence from Waverley saw the game end in a 2-2 draw, with the equaliser coming in the final moments—a tough but valuable lesson in game management.
Elsewhere in the Year 10 cohort, both the 10B and 10C teams also secured well-deserved victories, highlighting the depth across the year group.
It was a more challenging outing for our Year 7 teams, who came up against strong Waverley sides and found the going tough. Only our 7B team came away with the win. Nonetheless, their effort and attitude is outstanding, and they will no doubt look to bounce back stronger next round. A standout in the junior age groups was the 8A’s, who continued their excellent form with a confident 4-1 win, further cementing their strong season.
Overall, it was a positive day for Cranbrook Football, Our program won the majority of our games, we had some encouraging performances and signs of growth across many teams. A huge thank you and well done to all players, coaches, and supporters involved.
We now look forward to a well-earned weekend off—an opportunity to rest, reset, and get ready for Round 6.
1st XI Match Report – Cranbrook 2 v Waverley College 2
In a dramatic and emotionally charged contest, the Cranbrook 1st XI battled to a 2-2 draw with Waverley College, showing tremendous resilience to salvage a point in the dying seconds of the match.
Against the run of play, it was Zayah Askaro who opened the scoring midway through the first half, giving Cranbrook a 1-0 lead. Despite the goal, the boys struggled to find rhythm in possession, uncharacteristically misplacing passes and inviting Waverley into dangerous transition moments.
Defensively, however, Cranbrook held firm. Tom Miles, Hugo Bongardt, and Oscar Wilkins were outstanding in the heart of defence, dealing with Waverley’s threats calmly and effectively. Out wide, Lachie Zhang and Jeno Kerr did a terrific job containing their opposite numbers, limiting Waverley’s options down the flanks.
Just before the break, Tom Melhuish had a golden opportunity to double the lead, finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper. A sharp save from the Waverley keeper denied Cranbrook what could have been a decisive goal heading into halftime.
After the break, Cranbrook turned the screws and began to dominate possession and territory, launching wave after wave of attack. Despite creating multiple chances, the combination of wayward finishing and an inspired performance from the Waverley goalkeeper kept the scoreline at 1-0.
Then, in a cruel twist, Waverley capitalised on their first corner of the second half, scoring directly to level the match at 1-1. Moments later, lightning struck twice—another Waverley corner found the net, and suddenly Cranbrook were trailing 1-2.
Refusing to give in, Cranbrook pushed everyone forward in the final moments of the game. In a thrilling finish, with literally the last kick of the match, it was Hugo Bongardt who rose to the occasion, hammering home the equaliser and rescuing a vital point. The referee’s whistle blew immediately after the restart—a great comeback and a testament to the team’s fighting spirit.
The draw keeps Cranbrook in the hunt as we head into the final rounds. A gutsy performance with plenty of lessons and positives to take forward. Well done to all involved.
Cranbrook 2nd XI 4 defeated Waverley College 2nd XI 2
I first saw it at the Avalon Cinema back when it was own by Mike Walsh. It’s looking a bit the worse for wear these days … Avalon Cinema not The Neverending Story. The Neverending Story, or Die unendliche Geschichte for the German speakers among us, is timeless. Now I know what you are thinking, I’m going to draw a parallel between Queens Park 2 and the Swamp of Sadness, but you are completely wrong.
The Swamp of Sadness (also known as Queen’s Park 2) was no match for the 2nd XI, and unlike Atreyu, we did not lose our horse. No, the Cranbrook 2nd XI, began brightly with fierce tackling by Luke Brady, brilliant long balls by Josh Chidiac and determined heading by Lachie Read. The first signs of real trouble for Waverley came from through balls by Gio Alafaci, first to the King of Monaco Ayrton Palmer, and then to Luke Brady who shot just over. It should be noted, that in the second instance, it was an excellent tackle by Harry Sewell that created the transition for Gio. Sunshine arrived on the counter, when a great ball from Lachie Read found the King, who demonstrated great strength and speed to hold off a defender and drive towards the 18 yard box. A sneaky little through ball to Gio (I’m styling it like this, G10, from now on), who weaved in and out of a couple defenders before cutting the ball back for the King, Ayrton Palmer, who finished off the move. We almost scored a second when Zac Yaffa, picked out the British sculptor Henry Moore with a superb diagonal ball, but the Waverley keeper made a smart save low to his right. It happened again when Harry Wilcockson, from Anglo-Saxon origins meaning son of little William, showed a little bit of razzle dazzle, a Cryuff turn or two followed by a Maradona, before shifting it to Jordi Singh, who found Zac Yaffa, and again another beautiful diagonal ball. Don’t tell Barker, but we set up in a 3-5-2 this week for just this purpose. Goal number two came from Luke Brady’s throughball to Ayrton Palmer, who took it to the byline before crossing for the 2nd XI’s favourite monumental bronze sculpter, Henry Moore who calmly sloted the ball home. In the last five minutes of the first half we did get a bit tired, and they were raining in shots from the left. One provoked the most outrageous save by goalkeeper Josh Chidiac. Full stretch, top corner, two hands, came down with the ball, no worries. It was a pivotal moment. Had that gone in, 2-1 at half-time, things might have turned out differently.
At half-time, Conor and I emphasised the repress. As soon as you lose it, try to win it back. And this is what led to goal number three. The King of Monaco won the ball back, played it to G10, whose finish reminded me of Georghe Hagi’s goal against Colombia in the 1994 World Cup. At 3-0, Conor suggested that we make the Swamp of Sadness our home ground. But then sadness over took us for a minute and before you knew it, we were back to 3-2. Artax was starting to sink again. Fortunately, Kai Crotty and Renzo Balagna, making his debut for the 2nd XI, came on and raised the intensity level. Kai made a number of critical tackles and important defensive headers which halted Waverley’s momentum. Similarly Renzo tacked hard, recovered agressively and looked dangerous on the ball. With the game running in our favour, we delivered the knockout blow. Josh Chidiac stepped up to take a free kick just inside our half. We’d sent Jordi Singh up to win the ball, becuase he is a brilliant header of the ball. Jordi’s header was contested by Harry Golovsky and the goalkeeper. Harry winded himself for the cause, and the ball fell for Renzo who finished in the corner. We’d told the boys to treat free kicks in our half as set-pieces. We had told them Josh would take them. We’d told the boys that the game would come down to determination and the desire to compete. We’d told them that we might cop a goal or two on this field, but that we just needed to keep our chins and keep fighting. They executed all of this. We almost scored a fifth when Chids played another superb diagonal ball to Henry Moore who drew another great save from the keeper. And in the last 10 minutes, Thomas Plasevic and Sun Yuan-Hare came on and helped make the victory secure.
As I said that the start the core literary device in this report was not a comparison between the 2nd XI’s victory at Queens Park 2 (also known as the Swamp of Sadness) and the Swamp of Sadness from The Neverending Story. Although, if it was, we saved the Artax the horse. No, the real comparison was to the scene where Atreyu has to make it through the Sphinx Gate after watching the sphinxes disintegrate a knight in armour. Having copped two defeats on the bounce, it would have been easy for the boys to have lost faith in themselves, and therefore been annihilated. But they didn’t and they weren’t. We made it through, bum a bit singed by lasers beams, but we made it through. Something to be genuinely proud of.
Before I end, just a little shout out to Mr Grice, who gives the impression that he never had a childhood, but he knew that Atreyu’s horse’s name was Artax. As a consequence, I’ve decided to start a Go Fund Me page to raise money to buy a white horse, called Artax, that Gricey can ride around on on Saturdays.
Ben Rollinson
Head of Football