Drop Ten turn and face 51

Drop ten, turn and face.

Quilty’s Football Yarns 51

2014 NSWCIS Champions and Queensland High Energy Cup Winners.

Having experienced two fantastic seasons since returning as 1st XI coach in 2012, it was difficult for me to believe that our 2014 team could surpass those efforts, but on some counts, I think they did. A key difference was that this was ‘my team’, I had coached them at both U14 and U15 level, in two ISA Grand Finals, winning one and going down in the other. John Chapman had been the skipper in both of those seasons and in 2014 it would be no different.

As ever, our preparation was early and testing. Six early Sunday morning games pitted us against a range of school, youth and All Age teams. Mt Colah, Thornleigh, Hornsby Heights and St Augustine’s provided stiff opposition but probably none more so than the Berowra Premier League team with whom we drew 2-2. An equally tough draw with Knox, set us up well to defeat St Aloysius 4-1 in the NSWCIS Cup 2nd round, after a bye. It was clear from early on that our balance of quality and depth was special. Almost all of the sixteen-man squad, had Rep experience and we had a good number of Year 12 students returning for a second season, as well as two players having played 1st XI since Year 10. A key factor, as mentioned, was the inclusion of John Chapman to be skipper, because he had played for me in 2010, 2011, 2013 and now 2014.  We knew each other well!

In a first for SPX, we held, through Donna Patterson and the SPX Football Club, a World Cup Luncheon out at Dalton House. Several hundred, parents, players, staff and members of the public were treated to fine food as well as a great deal of insight into Australian football by Socceroo’s Ange Postecoglou.  Former Socceroo and Man Utd keeper, Mark Bosnic and Brett Emerton were also there. In a publicity coup we also had Fox sports Andy Harper with Mel McLaughlin as a very professional MC in a stellar event. Looking back having the opportunity to launch our season with that of the Socceroo’s was amazing. Their target being to reach the World Cup final stages and ours to win every piece of silverware we played for!

It was disappointing then that our St Andrew’s Cup campaign in April spluttered to just a sixth- place finish, after wasteful finishing. Fortunately, in going down 2-0 to Barker we did learn an important lesson we would benefit from later in the year. The immediate consequence of this disappointment was the opportunity to put things right with a 2-0 win over St Spyridon’s in the NSWCIS 3rd Round on the Astro turf. As luck would have it, Illawarra Grammar then forfeited the next game and we found ourselves into the Semi-finals., St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill, would once again be our opponents out at Hensley Athletic Park.

The ISA is our own competition. We were reigning Champions the past two years and made great start at defending it once again. Wins over Oakhill 4-0, St Andrew’s 5-1, SCECG’s 14-1, Oakhill 2-1 and Chevalier 5-1 got us off to a flier before a 2-2 with St Patrick’s broke our winning streak. However, the undefeated run set us up nicely for the St Joseph’s Semi-final, out at a rain-soaked Hensley Athletic Park. Once again, as in 2012, the Joey’s media department facilitated a comprehensive summary of their lead up games in the competition. A full video recording of the 2014 semi is included here once again. On the night the game was tight. Fear of making an error stymied free flowing football. Several hundred supporters turned out providing brilliant support. Then when extra time was looking a distinct possibility, young Alex Drake rose to flick home what proved the winning header. This earned us a final spot against Barker College and a chance at redemption for our St Andrew’s Cup reverse. At the final whistle, team relief was tangible with John Chapman leading the side to the crowd who rendered a great version of the Edmund Rice hymn with gusto. We were at the half-way spot in the season and we had another NSWCIS Final to relish.

Comfortable in this knowledge, we headed off for the Queensland-based international High Energy Youth Cup Tournament in Brisbane. This was a competition we had competed for over a decade, without winning the main final, just twice lifting the Plate. We knew the task ahead was a big one. This year the sides hailed from New Zealand, Country Queensland, Brisbane, Sydney and also, an  African youth side. These competitions are usually a test of attrition, stretching through the week. It was a massive achievement for SPX 1st XI to run off six consecutive wins without conceding a goal on the first three competition days. Clairvaux 7-0; BBC 2-0; Shore 2-0; Scots NZ 3-0; St Peter Claver 4-0, African Youth 1-0. The key victory was against the African Youth side. Here was probably our toughest test against an opponent who was physical, athletic and very unpredictable. Coming out on top 1-0 was a fine performance by our boys. We were ranked 1st of the ten sides and earned a Semi-final spot against fourth placed Sydney side, SHORE. Goals by Refenes and Esposito gave us a comfortable 2-0 victory and a Grand Final rematch against Queensland side Sir Peter Claver. As expressed previously, these tournaments are well run and friendly. Making a final against a Queensland side is something else. State of Origin in just another guise. The tournament this year was out at Mitchelton Sports Centre. This facility has multiple fields but the main one, in the middle of the precinct is only used for the final. Sub-consciously, through the week you are mentally working towards a chance to play there. On the 2014 Tour we earned that right.

On a large, dusty pitch at the Mitchelton Football Centre, the game proved to be a messy one. With way too many free kicks punctuating the flow. SPX gradually worked its way into the game, going ahead with a fine finish from Claudio Rosano. Half time came and went but we could not add to our score. Claver hung in doggedly. Then, just 15 seconds from the end, we conceded our first goal of the whole tournament to send the match into extra time. Conceding so late was heart-breaking. We now needed to stabilise and go into extra time. In this final we made a point in the clutch moments, of getting the group well away from the crowd, enabling ourselves to get some clear thoughts. In the circumstances our decision was key.  We steadied, extra time proving inconclusive and we went to penalties. The shoot out swung both ways: we missed early but keeper Greg Frelingos gave us the chance to win, saving after Claver had also missed. Then up stepped Ben John to calmly score the winning kick and the High Energy Youth Cup was ours! Celebrations were immense, SPX winning the Queensland Competition for the first time. A comical story, was told afterwards. Ben John had had no idea of the significance of his kick, with regard to the shoot out result. He calmly slotted his kick away and was engulfed by a Sea of SPX, Blue and Gold!

Returning to Sydney our boys were so happy. They had made SPX history and brought home the Cup from Queensland. Arriving home there was no time to rest on our laurels because we had St Pats and Barker within just three days. The ISA fixture with St Pats saw us lose 2-1 but most agreed at the time that it would steady us for the NSWCIS Final. And it did. Oh what a night!

With many SPX supporters in the crowd of 400 we made the worst start possible in the final, conceding in the first minute! What followed next has gone down in the annals of our football history. We worked hard and drew level by half time, with a penalty from John Chapman. This brought us back on level terms but no one could have foreseen what came next. We absolutely overwhelmed the opposition in the second half. The final score of 6-1 in no way flattered our side. Their keeper, Tom Heward-Belle plays for Sydney FC nowadays, didn't have a bad game but his defence had no answer. We were NSWCIS Champions for the second time in three years. Claudio Rosano scored four second half goals in a brilliant performance. It was the crowning moment in a season where he represented NSWCIS and scored a record 50 goals! 

Having won the NSWCIS Cup, we returned to our own ISA Competition. Three clear victories over St Andrew’s 5-2, Chev 2-0 and SCECG’s 8-0 enabled us to wrap up our third consecutive ISA Minor Premiership. We led the final ladder by 5 points with a record of 8 wins, 1 Draw and 1 defeat; scoring 48 and conceding 10 goals.

It was thus a big disappointment when we went down to St Pats who had finished 4th in the regular season by 2-1, in a classic game at Oxford Falls. Both sides played very well, but in the end, ‘The Men in Black from Strathfield’ prevented us from adding a record third competition to a stellar season. 

Our big cup win qualified us to represent NSWCIS at the All Schools Championship and this was an honour. In a new format, the winners of the Independent, Catholic and State Knock out Cup’s came together in a ‘Champion of Champion’ event down at Seymour Shaw Stadium. We literally drew the short straw in having to play consecutive matches, the second being against Westfield Sports High who were fresh and just off their air-conditioned bus! In the first game we led 1-0 against Holy Spirit Bellambi, had a second disallowed and probably should have won the game. In the event, we gave up two late goals to geo down 2-1. In the second game we found it very tough against Westfield. On the back-foot, we trailed 2-0 at the break. To our boys’ credit we dug deep second period and had to very near misses with he keeper beaten. Conceding a third late goal was disappointing but we fought so well throughout. Westfield also beat Holy Spirit 3-0 becoming deserved Champions. This alma mater  of Harry Kewell, Jason Culina, Alex Brosque and Aaron Mooy, are always the Australian Schools’ benchmark. 

Our 2014 season consisted of 38 matches in all, with 29 wins 5 draws and 4 defeats, scoring 137 goals conceding 38. These were truly shared around and while Claudio had his half ton, Joe Esposito had 20, Refenes 13, Chapman and Bersee 10 with Desa and Drake scoring 7. For all the statistics Simon Yue and I often stand and reflect on what we had helped create. Danny John and Neil Chapman truly brought us into the modern media age with amazing material to work with. Donna, Chris Semaan, Simon Aitken and Leisa Proc all played their part in a monumental season. My lasting memory of that 2014 season is actually a photograph of our Hensley Athletics Field Final crowd.  It involves the team with their backs to the camera facing the grandstand. Not seeing the faces makes it distinctly SPX in a bigger sense. Special, and what I call ‘SPX Eternal’

Joeys NSWCIS Semi 2014

https://youtu.be/IXy5tvXdGnU