SENIORS
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
to PETER VRETTIS from our Reserves team on making the final squad for the State School Boys Final Squad.
SUPER LEAGUE - ROUND 6
SATURDAY 7TH MAY 2011
CON MAKRIS PARK
“A HARD DAYS NIGHT”
GALAXY 2 (1) ABE 2 (2)
Gino De Lucia; Damien DiMella; Chris Annicchiarico; Damien Crittenden; Chris Atsikbasis; Gianluca Lagati; Tony Hatzis; Nicholas Bucco; Chad Bugeja; Fortunato Filetti; Subs- Ian Kamau; Evan Kounavelis; Kym Harris;
The Blues travelled to Con Makris park for the Saturday evening match against Adelaide Galaxy. Galaxy has had a good start to the season and this match promised to be a tough challenge for the Blues. In the end the Blues came away with a well deserved point but it could possibly have been more.
Dean Kenrick returned to the Blues defence, initially at left back but eventually in the centre. Adam Vizzari was the player to make way otherwise the team remained unchanged from the previous week.
The game got off to a very quick start when Chris Atsikbasis conceded a free kick just outside of the area on the Blues right after 4 minutes. Galaxy took full advantage of the opportunity by scoring directly from the free kick with the ball being well played over the top of the wall. Keeper Gino DeLucia didn’t have a chance.
To their credit, the Blues struck back immediately and within less than two minutes had levelled the score. There must have been some sort of karma at play when Atsikbasis was the person picked out from a Blues free kick cross to head home cleanly, making amends for having conceded the free kick at the other end. So, less than 6 minutes played, a 1-1 score line and game on.
The half was played at a very high tempo with both teams appearing to be very evenly matched. Nick Bucco and Chad Bugeja both had good, long range strikes on goal that either grazed the upright or called on the Galaxy keeper to save. At the other end, DeLucia was sent scrambling across his goal by a Galaxy effort but it went just wide.
The Blues did seem to be right side dominant in the first half with Fortunato Filletti appearing to be involved in everything going on down that side. Filletti was proving to be quite a handful for his Galaxy opponents and his ability to stay on his feet and in control at speed when under pressure is, at times, quite amazing.
Half time came with both teams locked at 1-1 but it was an entertaining match to watch for the small crowd that had turned out. From a spectator’s perspective, the half flew past.
The Blues started better in the second half and gradually appeared to start to get on top and control the play a little more. From a positional perspective, the game was played out increasingly in the Galaxy half. However, Galaxy were dangerous when going forward and particularly from set pieces. After just 6 minutes of the half, Adelaide Galaxy once again assumed the lead again from a left side free kick. This time, the ball was whipped in towards the near post and flicked on, past the defence into the goal. The Blues were stung.
Two substitutions followed in quick succession with Bugeja being replaced by Kym Harris and Evan Kounavelis coming on in place of Damien DiMella. This had two impacts, firstly, it created more movement down the Blues left flank through Kounavelis and secondly brought on a new, hard running target man up front in Harris. Both were effective moves.
In the 20th minute Harris worked his way into possession inside the right hand side of the Galaxy area. The Galaxy defender, Michael Doyle, made a clumsy challenge and the referee instantly pointed to the spot for a penalty. Unfortunately for Galaxy, the referee, somewhat harshly, decided that Doyle was the last man and showed him a red card. Kenrick stepped up to take the kick and absolutely blasted the ball home to equalise the score at 2-2.
Being reduced to 10 men and with the Blue Eagles increasingly starting to dominate, it felt like it would only be a matter of time before Galaxy would be brushed aside. The Blues had good chances through Bucco and Kounavelis but were just unable to press home their advantage. To Galaxy’s credit, they hung on and were able to finish the game with the scores locked at 2-2.
Full credit to the Blue Eagles for coming back from being behind twice in the match. It showed a fighting resolve. Given the relative positions of the two teams at the start of the game and given the away fixture, the Blues will probably be the happier to come away with a point but it was so nearly all 3. Well done boys, keep it up.
Reserves – Adelaide Galaxy 1 ABE 1
U19 Team - Adelaide Galaxy 3 ABE 5
SUPER LEAGUE - ROUND 5
SATURDAY 30TH APRIL 2011
MARDEN SPORTS COMPLEX
“VALUABLE 3 POINTS TO THE BLUES”
ABE 2 (1) RAIDERS 1 (0)
A good crowd turned out to watch as the Blue Eagles welcomed the Raiders to the Marden Sports complex for the 5th round of the SA Super league. On paper this looked like it would be a tough match and the atmosphere at the ground was excellent as the two teams took the pitch. Both teams have a proud heritage and good supporter bases and neither would be entirely happy with the start of their 2011 season and would be looking to improve.
The Blues started the game without their talismanic central defender Dean Kenrick but his replacement, Chris Atsikbasis, is a very familiar figure for the Blues and the defence had a good solid look about it. Mid-field for the Blues has been reasonably settled over the past few weeks with Adam Vizzari once again lining up alongside Tony Hatzis, Fortunato Filletti and Nick Bucco. Damien Crittenden returned to the first team after a delayed pre-season and slotted in to left mid-field.
As with several of the Blue’s games this season, they started a little slow and the game failed to settle into any real pattern for the first 20 minutes. The Raiders team made good early use of their long throw option and the Blues had to quickly adjust to deal with this new threat. The game had good intensity about it and both teams defended high, denying the opposition time on the ball. As a result, neither side were able to assert themselves and were finding it difficult to retain possession for any length of time.
It took until the 21st minute for the Eagles to have their first strike on goal. It came after a good solo effort from Fortunato Filetti, somewhat unusually through the centre of the pitch rather than on the right wing where he usually does his work. Filetti got his shot away from the top of the area but it was charged down by a Raider’s defender. Chad Bugeja, ever alert for a goal opportunity, was first to react but the Raiders keeper was also on his toes and saved Bugeja’s half chance.
Bugeja was involved 5 minutes later when he combined with Tony Hatzis to serve as provider for Adam Vizzari to get a second shot away. One thing that you can usually rely on from the Blues is good movement off the ball and Chad Bugeja was an excellent example. He worked hard all day getting into space and providing options for ultimately no personal reward, but to the benefit of his team.
The Raiders responded well and had their own first real strike on goal at about the 33rd minute mark. However, less than a minute later the Blues opened their account. A calm clearance from defence was consecutively flicked on by Hatzis and then Bugeja. It seemed like the Blues had lost possession but Nick Bucco refused to give up the chase and won possession at the top of the area when it looked like the Raiders should have cleared their lines. Having made a little space for himself, Bucco held of the defensive challenge and slotted the ball into the bottom right corner, out of reach of the advancing Raiders keeper. This was a well taken goal that was really manufactured out of sheer persistence and effort by the Blues mid-fielder.
The Raiders response was positive and they certainly were not about to give up. However, the game persisted with its earlier pattern of neither side being able to dominate right through to half-time. Raiders almost equalised right on the stroke of half time when a clever, step-over dummy from a cross in the middle of the area left the Raiders clear at the back of the goal from where they should have equalised. Fortunately for the Blues, their keeper and captain, Gino DeLucia, spread himself well and was able to get enough on the ball to keep the Blues lead intact as they went into the break.
The second half continued the form of the first with strikes on goal being rare. Tony Hatzis had an excellent strike from about 40 meters that went agonisingly just over the top in the 20th minute and DeLucia made a clean save from a Raiders free kick a couple of minutes later. DeLucia got his handling just right which proved important since 2 raiders attackers would have been first to any crumbs that might have been on offer.
The Blues second goal came in the 29th minute of the second half when evergreen Gianluca Lagati rose at the back of the defence to meet a Tony Hatzis corner and head the ball down into the goal line. Initially it looked like the ball may have been cleared off the line but the linesman, standing in line after the corner, signalled that the ball had indeed crossed the line and the goal stood. Lagati was clearly happy and his team mates did not catch him until he had got back to the half-way line in his celebrations.
Once again, the Raiders response was positive. Whilst the Blues had started to look slightly the more dominant the Raiders continued to come at them. It was only 4 minutes later before they got a goal back when they scrambled the ball into the net following some mixed defending in the centre of the Blues’ area. With 10 minutes left to play one of the Raiders players was shown a straight red card for an off the ball incident. The referee indicated that it was a deliberate elbow. Having been reduced to 10 men it was going to be a hard come back for the Raiders and ultimately it proved just too hard to overcome.
Just before the end of the game, Blues defender, Damien DiMella, appeared to take a hit to the head when he fell after a contest in the air. DiMella is usually a hard unit so you just know that if he stays down that there is a problem and he did appear to be very unsteady on his feet and potentially concussed. He did eventually leave the field with help and was able to walk to the change rooms but he did look unsteady. Hopefully, the effects were not long lasting and Damien will be back on the field next week.
On reflection, this game was not the prettiest game of football ever played. Both teams struggled for rhythm but then both teams put each other under continuous pressure as well. The game itself was played out in a good spirit and there was certainly a lot of endeavour on both sides. Chris Atsikbasis and in particular Chris Annicchiarico put in good solid performances in defence and as usual, Nick Bucco and Chad Bugeja worked hard for the Blues.
You hear about teams “winning ugly”, well this was probably one of those occasions. However, history will show that the Blues took the 3 points and from the league perspective, that is really what counts. Well done boys, keep it up.
Reserves - ABE 5 Raiders 2
U19 Team - ABE 2 Raiders 1
SUPER LEAGUE - ROUND 3
SATURDAY 9TH APRIL 2011
MARDEN SPORTS COMPLEX
“METROS DOUBLE PUNCH BLUES TICKET”
ABE 0 (0) Metro Stars 2 (0)
Gino DeLucia; Damien DiMella; Dean Kenrick; Chris Annicchiarico Adam Vizzari; Chris Atsikbasis; Fortunato Filletti; Tony Hatzis; Nicholas Bucco; Chad Bugeja; Subs Gianluca Lagati; Johnny Giannitto; Paul Radice; Lucas Andreucci;
The Adelaide Blue Eagles welcomed the Metro Stars to Marden on a blustery, wet autumn day. These two teams have been very competitive over the past couple of seasons but the Blue Eagles had managed to pull off a double win over Metros in the 2010 minor rounds. No doubt Metros would be looking to redress this but also to amend for their ordinary performance from the previous week where they were held to a scoreless draw by the Croydon Kings.
Everything was therefore set for a really entertaining match. Unfortunately, the weather proved to be something of an omen of things to come with much of the first half being a quite subdued, uneventful affair. The game started slowly with neither team really able to find any rhythm for the first 10 minutes or so. In fact it took until the 18th minute before the first shot on goal by any team occurred. The Blue Eagles were clinically opened up and should really have found themselves 1-0 down but fortunately for the Blues the chance fell to the Metro’s left back rather than to one of their strikers and he was just unable to convert his chance.
The game continued to be played out through the mid-field with little progress being made into either penalty area by either team. It took until the 27th minute for the Blues to have their own first strike on goal. The chance fell to Chris Annicchiarico who found himself on the penalty spot with a clean header from a Tony Hatzis corner. Whilst he made good strong contact with the ball, the header went just over the bar.
There were only one or two other half chances, both of which fell to Metros before half-time and the game ebbed and flowed through mid-field until the Metros started to get the upper hand towards the end of the half. The Blues never managed to find any fluidity and struggled to break down the well organised Metro defence. Both teams went into the break level at 0-0.
If the first half was even the second was dominated by Metros and it was the Blues captain and keeper Gino DeLucia that stood between them and what could have been an embarrassing score line. On at least 5 occasions DeLucia was called into action and made saves to keep the Blues hopes alive.
The Metros cracked the Blues defence 15 minutes into the second half. Tony Hatzis conceded a free kick just outside the area on the Blues left. The resulting kick was crossed deep past the far post and headed back across goal to a waiting Metros player to head home. This looked very much like a training ground exercise and was certainly effective. 8 minutes later, Metros effectively put the match beyond doubt when they almost repeated the same approach to score again. The ball was crossed deep, headed back to the centre of the goal but this time the ball was on the deck and the Blues failed to clear their lines and the ball was scrambled home.
Only 2 minutes later, DeLucia prevented a third Metros goal with a very good diving save low down to his left hand side.To the Blues credit they continued to fight and were able to manufacture their best chance of the game at the 82nd minute mark. Gianluca Lagati came on as a replacement for Nick Bucco and found himself down the Blues right flank from where he whipped in a deep cross to the back post. The ball cleared all of the Metros defence and fell to Chad Bugeja who had drawn away to give himself space. Bugeja had to take the ball first time and was stretching in order to do so. His technique to keep the ball down was excellent but not good enough to get it on target and the ball went agonisingly wide of the left post.
The Blues struggled to contain the Metros attack and De Lucia was called into action 3 times late in the half to keep the score at 2-0 but in the end all he could do was save goals and not score them. The Metro Stars were deserved winners. The Blues simply never seemed to get going.
After three games, it is clear that there is quite a performance gap between those teams likely to be contenders for the title and those that will scrap to stay up. The Blues have experienced both extremes in their last 2 outings and will need to find a way to break down the well drilled teams consistently if they are going to compete for the title. We have the players and the ability and just need to work on the execution. Keep working hard boys.
Reserves - ABE 0 (0) Metro Stars 1 (1)
U19 Team – ABE 6 (1) Metro Stars 0 (0)
SUPER LEAGUE - ROUND 2
FRIDAY 1ST & SATURDAY 2ND APRIL 2011
JET PARK
“JETS GROUNDED BY HIGH FLYING EAGLES”
Modbury 1 (1) ABE 3 (2)
Gino DeLucia; Damien DiMella; Dean Kenrick; Chris Atsikbasis; Chris Annicchiarico; Adam Vizzari; Tony Hatzis; Nicholas Bucco; Ian Kamau; Chad Bugeja; Fortunato Filletti; Subs - Gianluca Lagati; Johnny Giannitto; Haydn Walter; Milos Tosic; Lucas Andreucci;
Newly promoted Modbury Jets hosted the Adelaide Blue Eagles at Jet Park on Friday 1st April for their first home game of season 2011. Both teams lost their opening round matches and so each was looking to get their respective seasons on to a winning track as quickly as possible.
A very good crowd of several hundred turned out on what was a crisp but perfect night for football and the home supporters were very quickly rewarded when the Jets went ahead after just 55 seconds of play. Modbury put together 6 completed passes as they moved the ball quickly from right back, across field through midfield to the left wing and finally a cross to an uncontested header from about 10 yards out. The Blues were simply spectators. Fortunately for Blues fans, this goal was definitely not a sign of things to come and in fact served as something of a wakeup call for the Blues.
The game quickly settled into something of a pattern with goal opportunities being created by the Blues about every 4 minutes from the six minute mark onwards. Fortunato Filletti had the first attempt on goal but his left foot shot went over the bar. A few minutes later, in the 9th minute, Ian Kamau got the Blues level when he found himself point blank on the goal line to head the ball home from a blistering cross from Tony Hatzis on the right hand side.
At the 16th minute mark, the Modbury keeper made the first of what was to prove to be his many interventions in this match. On this occasion he only managed to force Filletti wide on the left hand side but it was sufficient to prevent him from being able to make the angle and score. Just a couple of minutes later on, Adam Vizzari made another attack down the right hand side and drilled a terrific cross to the far post where Chad Bugeja was just unable to get over the ball sufficiently with his volley and the ball went over the bar.By the 20th minute of the game, the Blue eagles had really started to assert themselves and were continually putting the Modbury goal under attack, particularly down their right attacking flank.
In the 24th minute the Blue Eagles conceded a free kick about 30 meters out from goal on their left hand flank. From the restart the ball was played square to the centre of the pitch and absolutely drilled at goal by the Modbury central defender. It required a very god finger tip save from Blues Keeper Gino DeLucia to prevent a Jet’s second goal.
After this close call, the half resumed its previous pattern with the Blues dominating once again. Chances fell variously to Nicholas Bucco, Bugeja, Filletti and Hatzis but combinations of fine saves by the Modbury keeper or missed targets meant that the score stayed at 1-1. It was not until the 39th minute that Bucco was able to put the Blues ahead. Chris Annicchiarico and Filletti were proving to be simply too fast for the Modbury defence and had combined well down the right hand side once again to create an opening. Filletti’s cross found Bucco whose initial shot was blocked by a defender. However, Bucco kept a cool head and rather than blast away for a second time instead skilfully beat two defenders before being able to side foot the ball home.
Further opportunities fell to Bugeja before the close of the half and DeLucia pulled off an outstanding save in extra time, high to his right, from a point blank Modbury header to allow the Blues to go into the Break ahead 2-1. On reflection, and looking at the quality of the chances created, it could realistically have been 4-2 to the Blues at half-time but for some excellent keeping at both ends. The Blues were dominant and Modbury really did look like they still have some work to do to get up to pace with the Super League if they are going to be truly competitive this year.
Unsurprisingly, Modbury came out in the second half with renewed energy and intent. Damien DiMella was on hand to prevent an equaliser in the 10th minute of the half. The Blues continued to press with many players finding themselves with good opportunities and having strikes on goal. Adam Vizzari, Gianluca Lagati, Filletti, and Bugeja all did their best to get on the score sheet again but often found the Modbury keeper in good form and in their way.
Finally the pressure proved too much and Kamau got his second goal for the match and the Blues third after a couple of attempts from Hatzis had been blocked by the Jets defence.With the game now pretty well beyond doubt, it settled into a something of a mid-field affair with Modbury really not looking threatening and the Blues increasingly comfortable. There appeared to be a clear difference between the two teams with the Blues looking fitter and sharper than their newly promoted opponents. The Blues also had far better movement off the ball that served to create many opportunities and threatening attacks and to keep the Jets on the back foot.
From a Blue’s perspective, this 3-1 result away to Modbury was a pleasing result. The boys looked sharp. They created a lot of opportunities, particularly down their right hand side and could realistically have scored several more goals if their finishing had been a little more accurate and if it were not for their keeper who probably saved about 5 goals. Well done boys.
Reserves – Modbury 4 - 3 ABE
U19 Team - Modbury 1 - 5 ABE
PREMIUM HOME IMPROVEMENTS "AZZURRI CUP"
SATURDAY 26TH MARCH 2011
MARDEN SPORTS COMPLEX
TEAM DE LUCIA GOES BACK TO BACK!!!!!
2011 saw the Azzurri Cup move from its inaugural end of season timeslot to a pre-season competition as a prelude to theto the competition which now meant teams were made up of a mix of Seniors all the way down to the Under 14's.
The format consisted of 1 group of 5 teams all playing each other once in a 30 min game. The day started off quite
friendly with Nick Bucco subsituting as captain of Team Vizzari who did not pass a late fitness test. The action heated
up as we got closer to the final with all teams out to win.
Following a round robin the top two squads Team De Lucia and Team Bugeja proceeded to the Grand Final.
A controversial switch due of injured player Gianluca Lagati saw him replaced with Under 19 player Marco Balsamo, who was from another squad, did not please Team Bugeja coach Vojo Gluscevic. While the players were enjoying a barbeque, Competition Co-ordinator Bruno Mignone was able to confirm the Azzurri Cup competition rules stated
"If a player withdraws during the tournament injured, he can be replaced by another player from another
team that plays at least one level below the injured player".
The final was refereed by Dean Kenrick with Adam Vizzari and Milos Tosic as linesmen and Di Mella fourth official.
The final didnt reach any great heights due to the warm weather, fatigue of preliminary rounds and the bbq just
enjoyed slowed players down. Nevertheless Team De Lucia was able to come out on top 1-0 with Marco Balsamo
the late injury replacement netting the winner.
Thank you to Phil Tirri from Premium Home Improvements for sponsoring the Cup, as well as all the coaches
who coached the teams, the seniors and all the players who came out for a kick and the parents who acted as
referees and linespersons.
See you all next year!!!
FINAL TABLE
Team |
P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| Team De Lucia | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | +5 | 10 |
| Team Bugeja | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | +5 | 7 |
| Team Kenrick | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 6 |
| Team Di Mella | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 4 |
| Team Bucco | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -5 | 0 |
GOALSCORERS
5 - Bugeja (Seniors)
3 - Lagati (Seniors)
2 - Luciano (u16)
2 - Gemma (u17)
2 - Vagnoni (u19)
1 - Barone (u14)
1 - Gomez (u14)
1 - Vrettis (Reserves)
1 - Di Mella (Seniors)
1 - Giannitto (Seniors)