KOONDROOK Primary School cemented its status as a local school soccer heavyweight with a clinical defence of its inter-school crown on Sunday morning at Atkinson Park, Kerang.
Arriving in bullish mood and having two separate teams entered in the second edition of Kerang Soccer Club’s five-a-side tournament for local schools, Koondrook’s ‘A’ side produced a ruthless display of finishing to win the grand final 5-0 against a Combined Schools team featuring players from Barham and Kerang Christian College.
Despite the final score, the Combined Schools side weasable to take a lot of positives from their campaign, being the surprise package on the day.
A grand final rematch had been on the cards, with Koondrook and Kerang South Primary being kept apart at the semi-final stage of the event.
However, the players in the Combined Schools side didn’t allow their inexperience of playing together affect them as they saw out a deserved victory against Kerang South in their semi-final.
The second semi guaranteed that Koondrook had at least one representative in the final, as the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sides were pitted against each other, meaning that players came up against classmates and fellow family members.
They had already played out a draw during the group stages of the event, but another evenly contested game eventually saw Koondrook ‘A’ advance to the final.
With player of the tournament Zander Martin orchestrating things from midfield, Koondrook Primary proved too much going forward for the Combined Schools’ young defence.
At the other end, Koondrook were able to claim a clean sheet thanks to an inspired, point-blank save from goalkeeper Charlie McInerney late in the game.
While the final 5-0 score was probably a little unjust on the Combined Schools’ tournament efforts as a whole, it was by no means misleading in regard to Koondrook’s dominance in this tournament.
The region’s other schools will be keen to put them to the test in the next run of the tournament, which will be scheduled next autumn.
“The day had been another tremendous success,” KSC president Daniel Michaels said.
“I don’t want to tempt fate for the next edition but we’ve had tremendous weather at both tournaments and it’s obvious that the kids are really enjoying themselves as well.
“We’ve been so lucky that the local council have allowed us the use of such a significant section of Atkinson Park, in addition to the local sporting club grant that helped to pay for some of the equipment we use on the day.”
KSC treasurer Daniel Roberts was also keen to highlight the role played by the club’s volunteers and the players’ parents.
“We can’t overstate the importance of those who have given up their free time to help, whether that be by scoring, cooking the barbecue or even just helping put some cones away at the end of it all,” Roberts said.
“We pride ourselves on all of our junior soccer sessions and events being free for everyone, but without the help from those both within and outside of the club these things simply couldn’t happen.”
The tournament signalled the official conclusion to the club’s autumn–winter soccer program, but a smaller spring edition is provisionally pencilled in for October.
Details will be announced on the Kerang Soccer Club Facebook page.
