Urunga Raiders v Boambee Bombers
The Raiders v Boambee Bombers last weekend was billed as the match of the round for a couple of reasons.
It was the only Sunday match and a match up between second and fourth on the table is always a competitive one or perhaps the real reason is its just good fun to watch ‘bad boy’ Brady Parker pound away at the defensive wall in a free kick situation. [I mean would you deliberately want to put your tackle in harms way?] He’s scored plenty in that fashion and his lethal left foot is a threat that most discerning coaches deliberately address in pre match preparations. So a large crowd was on hand at Ayreshire Park to witness centre referee Blayne Whiteman release the sides.
The Bombers were first to strike as the last of the fans were coming into the ground from a ball fired across the Raiders defensive line that Boambee’s Grant Scully controlled and hammered in as the Raiders defense closed. Loose marking and accurate play from the Bombers had given the home side a dream start. It only got better from there the pace of the game was fast and movement from both sides excellent the Raiders though were able to reply after Jai Waddick’s free kick was only parried by Bombers keeper Jake Stitt and Harry Gale able to head in from close range. With parity restored on the scoreboard the sides really played entertaining football given that the surface of Aryeshire Park is of dubious quality. It was the ‘bad boy’ Parker to score the Bombers second on 27 minutes after he was able to control a ball near Coramba and thump in a laser like shot. He might have been a bit closer than that the shot giving Raffe Brennan no chance of a save.
With the Raiders under the pump again Ben Dooley was able to find Grant ‘red bags’ Homes on the left side, Homes crossed the ball to Josh McGovern at the top of the box . Macca took the ball on his huge chest and volleyed in the best goal of his life on 37 minutes. The simplicity was stunning and the execution outstanding it was enough to sent the sides to the break at 2-2 and I can tell you no one was leaving Aryeshire Park just yet.
The second half was more of a struggle with both sides feeling the speed of the game. It was the Bombers though who used the ball more efficiently with the Raiders being put under increasing pressure. With 7 minutes left it looked like a 2-2 draw would be the most likely out come but a simple Bomber’s corner changed that. It was fired in flat and landed at the near post and was not dealt with by the Raiders defence. As luck would have it the Bomber’s Justin McMillan was ‘Johnny on the spot’ and slapped in what I’m reliably informed is his first goal since under 6’s. He liked it, the crowd loved it, I hated it, Greg McCoy crossed McMillan off his Christmas card list and the Raiders well it transformed them in a strange way. For the remainder of the game (6 minutes) they played like the Greek economy - no discipline. In this last period the Raiders gathered an astonishing 4 yellow cards mostly for dissent a one red card (Josh ‘I can play and ref too’ McGovern) Anyhow the Bomber’s were able to score their fourth 2 minutes from time despite valiant efforts from Raffe Brennan and Bradd Danzey. The final score 4-2 and apart from the last 10 minutes was of high quality and certainly heralds the Bombers as one of the teams of 2010. The Raiders sans McGovern, Tutt (4 yellows) and Kelly (suspended) will now look to this weekend (Sunday) when they take on the Coffs Coast Tigers who are coming off a 3-1 loss to Coffs Lions. In a battle for the top four it should be a cracker. In other results the Youth Grade went down 4-2 (goals to Lee Kennedy and Steve Savage) the women however dominated with 1st grade winning 12 nil and the 2nd division 6-1. The under16 boys went down in convincing fashion to Boambee 5-1 with Adam Marks scoring a great own goal!
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