Ok this the first time I've had time to put pen to paper in a few weeks. My St Pius X College 1st XI have just played and won two cup finals in three days. The adrenalin has barely stopped pumping I'm still floating along. It's nice when you suggest a side might have 'it' early on and they come through and deliver. Some have already asked what it is about this side that makes them special and I answer in a roundabout way like this.
Our season effectively began on a Sunday on February 12th with a kickabout game with the local Northbridge Under 18 side. Many of my trialists were and still are involved in some way with that club but also play for the School 1st XI. Three quality players came into the squad who had not played previously...centre back Nick Moribito, midfielder Luke Capra and wide man Tom Higham.
As is the way with the 1st XI we set up plenty of trial / friendlies to get it right. We have had 5 players for those 4 defensive spots and I will admit it....the central defenders are the best pairing I have ever coached and that includes NSWCCC, NSWCIS, ISA and MCS representative sides as well.
At this point we have played 37 games this season ....won 25 drawn 7 and lost 5. The football we play is based on a 4 5 1 system and it is founded on playing the ball out from the defence. Our centre backs play together at both school and rep level and the full backs are strong with pace to burn. Having such a solid heart enables us to rotate players through the midfield ....the 17 man squad is flexible.....we have hard working wide players and three forwards none of which are a traditional centre forward type. Some believe that 4 5 1 sounds defensive but our 105 goals in 37 games surely puts that one to bed. The main forward Joel Olivieri has got 27 to date.
As players who have played with my sides will attest, I am a firm believer in that you learn most in matches. We had seven Sunday matches and thirteen midweek games in spite of actually playing in a Saturday competition:)
An early season hit out usually comes through the 12 team St Andrew's Cup..... this was washed out in 2012:(
Instead we played in the Kings Seven Tournament going out in the semi final without losing or conceding a goal! Trinity won that tournament and we would meet them later on.
We went down to Barker 2-3 and then by a the same score to a very strong SPX Old Boys side. These defeats led us to 4 games in April and May where we were scoring for fun in the last few trials....9-1; 8-0; 4-0 and 2-0.
The first ISA game v St Pat's on 5th May saw us lose our first and what turned out to be only Sydney competitive game by 2-3. Here we trailed....led 2-1 only to ship two goals late. As said earlier you probably learn most in defeat....we had lost concentration and paid the price. In the following weeks we saw off SCECG's 7-0, St Andrew's 4-0 and Chevalier 2-1 in a tight one. We then beat SCECG's
1-0 in the ISA before falling Broughton Park of Campbelltown 5-1 in the NSWCIS Cup. The weather had been awful but our Oxford Falls pitch lived up to it's reputation as being virtually the best in Sydney. So bad had been the rain that St Andrew's came to us again ....failing to play at a waterlogged Wentworth Park.....this 2-0 win set us up for a classic clash with Riverview in the NSWCIS 3rd Round at their place. In a game where we looked comfortable we ended up scrambling to a 3-3 draw with a wonder goal form Kastropil. In the penalty shoot out our boys were perfect to win 5-4...our illustrious neighbours stunned by their exit.
On July 1st we set off to play in the Southern Skies week long tournament in Brisbane....this our seventh visit. Victories over Sydney Grammar, Clairvaux, Bethlehem and Kings were brought to a halt by defeat to John Paul College a Queensland academy with a nucleus of quality Korean players.
We had made the semi final and in a great game went to penalties against a finely matched St Peter Claver eleven. In a heart breaking finale captain Luke Sullivan hit the woodwork with his kick and we went out 5-4 on penalties. After what was a great tour for SPX... Luke Sullivan was deservedly named in the 'All Stars' Team of the Tournament'. Striker Joel Olivieri scoring eleven goals in the week!
Returning to Sydney we had two games in 3 days..... the first after a long early morning drive down to Bowral for Chevalier. In a below par performance in tough conditions we escaped with a 1-1 draw.
Surprisingly after such a close call we then absolutely played out of our skin to beat Trinity College
3-0 in the NSWCIS Cup 4th Round. This was probably our most complete performance to date and earned us a semi-final spot to savour later in the month. Our two toughest ISA games followed in quick succession.....a 2-2 Draw at home to Oakhill and then what was a rare revenge 5-1 demolition of the 'Men in black from Stathfield".....we were now flying! Just two days after this on 6th August we faced St Joseph's College on the 'all weather surface' out at East Gardens.
Few who saw that match will ever forget it .....we led 2-0 with just 4 minutes to go and somehow let them back into it to push the game to sudden death extra time! In the second period Kastropil again stepped up in the clutch moment to score a wonder free kick...all over 3-2 we were in the Final!
In the ISA we also wrapped up a finals spot by winning 2-1 at Oakhill and faced Chevalier in a
1st v 4th play off at Oxford Falls. On the day we were too strong for the Bowral side and won 5-0 to go into the ISA Grand Final against Oakhill at their home field. This game was on the Saturday...our NSWCIS Final being switched to be just 3 days later on 28th August.
The Oakhill final saw us largely out fought for the first half Kastropil pulling us level at 1-1 from the penalty spot. Our boys were calm and convinced that Oakhill could not maintain the high tempo of the first half. This proved true as mistakes crept in...their discipline dropped and we got on top. A fine volley from Tom Higham came from our often used long throw routine:) We won the ISA Final pleasingly delivering on the promise of a long season with just one ISA defeat.
On Wednesday 28th August we set out to make some football history in the NSWCIS Final.
St Pius X College had played the final twice before but not won. A vocal college crowd had come out to East Gardens to cheer us on. As is often the way with finals, the game was tight, tense and inconclusive. The score was 0-0 at full time. Newington probably had the best chances but we had dominated most of the play. Sudden death extra time came and went and soon we were down to penalty kicks. Karma had certainly made a note of our captain Luke Sullivan's football movements because here once again he was entrusted with taking the last kick in the shoot-out just like Queensland!
Typical of the player he is ....Luke did not flinch....up he stepped and drilled it into the corner....all over....we were NSWCIS Champions. Things had come full circle....he had put the wrong right:) We are first ISA side to win it.
What does it say? Well first off you need to be part of a team to succeed. Fellow coaches Simon Yue and Marc Cinelli truly kicked every ball......two cup finals in three days were amazing but we all know that the margins were slim and these two games not our best....but then you need some fortune to win anything. We now face the best in the state in the NSW Challenge next week.
St Pius X College 1st XI 2012
ISA Champions and NSWCIS Cup Winners
Back Row
Assistant coaches; Marc Cinelli; Simon
Yue; Nick Moribito; Will Richardson; Lachlan
Pollet Tommy Matic; Luke Sullivan (Captain); Peter Kastropil;
Jean-Claude DiManno; Adrian
Prieto; Mitch Cook; Coach Steve Quilty
Front
Row
Greg Bayer; Ben Haughton; Christian
Barker; Joel Olivieri; Tom Higham;
Luke Capra; Daniel Guirenoni; Jayden
Milat
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