(see next story for match report and gallery for pics)
Well, what a year it has been. From the very start, our girls looked as though they meant business. They are  a small squad of 14 players. Many of them should in fact being playing under 11’s. Four on the team had not played club soccer until this year.

As individuals they have shown commitment to training and a willingness to improve their skills at every opportunity. As a group, they have gelled magnificently and it has been a joy to watch them not just win – but develop friendships and a love of the game of soccer. Every single girl on the team has improved their individual game significantly over the course of the last 2 years. A large part of what junior soccer should be  about.

This of course could not have happened with the awesome and dedicated work of their coach Lui Abbracciavento. Over the last two years he has shown amazing patience, enthusiasm and an ongoing belief in the girls and their ability to take on the best and win. During this time he has turned a rather raucous bunch of individual girls into a polished team of young soccer players. Bravo Lui! May you enjoy your deserved break – for a few weeks anyway.

Sue McLachlan has worked quietly and tirelessly in the background (as all Managers do), getting on with the mundane, but very necessary tasks of making sure our team runs smoothly. Sue, we couldn’t do it without you.  Elvis and Simon have also brought their soccer expertise to the team, which has further served to develop the girls. Simon has done some fantastic work with our goalkeeper this year and the results speak for themselves, with the Pirates having the equal lowest goals scored against them this year. Elvis has done a magnificent job of building that indefinable thing called ‘team spirit’ which can make all the difference in the tough games.  A big thanks to Alex our linesman over the year. This is a thankless task, that requires a thick skin.

To all those who turn up week in and week out to support your daughter/niece/granddaughter. - be it at the game or at training, they couldn’t do it without you.

Thankyou to the Pirate Junior Committee who have helped support and promote the girls during the year.
Congratulations also to the Under14 boys for taking out their League division. A great day of celebration at the Club.
 
Finally to our Pirate girls.
Your achievement in winning the B League is mighty indeed.  Be proud.  You deserve it.

A lot of nervous parents, but a surprisingly calm group of girls fronted up for our final must win game of the season. After some concerns that the match would be cancelled due to poor pitch conditions, all was good – so game on. As is often the case in the girl’s games, no referee appeared, so Elvis kindly volunteered to take on referee duties.With the wind favouring us in the first half, the girls got off to an excellent start, with the ball in our half for the first 10 minutes. Alex, TJ and Hannah combined to put relentless pressure on the Adelaide city defence. Any stray balls were quickly scooped up by Lucinda in the mid field and despatched back into our forward lines. A great pass by Hannah went onto the boot of Alex who scored our first goal just on the 10 minute mark. Adelaide City 0- Pirates 1 (parents able to take a breath).

Shortly after TJ took another shot on goal, but just missed. The Adelaide City defence working hard to stop any score.Our mid field were ferocious  for the next 15 minutes. Despite some good work by Adelaide City, they could not get the ball past Lucinda, Sofia or Bec. Danniella made her presence felt in the midfield when coming on and saw some excellent passes through to the forwards. Hannah and Sarah, kept providing opportunities on the wings  and some excellent  knocking around of the ball by the girls was a delight to watch.

A brief foray was made into the Adelaide half where Rachel had to bring down a ‘rainmaker’ skyed ball, with great skill.  Jaz then combined with Sofia to get the ball up forward to TJ who threaded in our second goal. Adelaide City 0 – Pirates 2.

This seemed to wake the Adelaide City girls up and they began to put some attacking moves up forward. Kate seemed to be a magnet for the ball and made sure anything looking like and attack was quickly cut off and returned to the mid field.

Some great work up the wing by Lucinda saw the ball on to the strong left boot of Sarah who put it into the net, but unfortunately the goal was disallowed by the ref (no one can accused Elvis of being biased!) Bec as usual was busy around the packs and made a couple of excellent runs towards goal, just unlucky on both occasions.

Adelaide again pressured forward, but Kate continued to hunt down the ball. Lucinda and Sofia seemed to be able to read each others’ minds and combined on a number of occasion to move the ball into our half. Late in the half the Adelaide City girls made an attack. Taylor was suddenly called into action with a great reflex save from a strong kick - much appreciation was shown by the relieved Pirate Parents.

Half time Adelaide City 0-Pirates 2

The wind picked up and the rain began to tumble in the second half, slowing the pace of the game down. This combined with some excellent work by Adelaide City, saw the Pirates under sustained pressure for the first 15 minutes. Our defence was called into action on numerous occasions. But trio of Jaz, Kate and Rachel worked hard and made sure any chances were cleared. Jaz going in bravely on several occasions. Bec made a daring dash down to the defence on and booted the ball out of danger. Once again our young players Tiah and Malenyah, showed they hold no fear of the bigger girls and willingly threw themselves into the thick of the action. Well done girls.

 A sudden ball into the Adelaide half saw Rachel do one of her cross field sprints and cleared the ball off the line (phew!) Taylor pulled off a number of good solid saves during this time. The girls seemed to rally in the last 10minutesof the game and we saw some good solid  play with a couple of strong kicks outside the box from Lucinda and TJ – both only missing by centimetres. Adelaide made one final move forward, but the girls seemed to know the game was up and kept the ball in our midfield, where finally the whistle to mark the end of the game was blown.
Final score Adelaide City 0 – Pirates 2.

It is a good thing us Pirate parents have strong hearts as today’s game was enough to set anyone’s heart racing (and blood pressure up for that matter). In the second of our three must win games, this was going to be the toughest. Blue Eagles had only lost one game all year (to the Pirates) and were a team of polished young players.

As expected, the game commenced at a blistering pace; fortunately the ball remained in our half for much of the first 15 minutes. Our midfield kept sending the ball back to our forwards who continued to pepper the goals, but to no avail. The Blue Eagles then settled and our defence was put under pressure, but speed and strong kicking did not allow for any real opportunities by the opposition. Blue Eagles had a number of corners late in the first half, but they were all expertly cleared by our defensive team.  It was a fantastic first half to watch, with both teams displaying great skill and determination.

Half time Blue Eagles 0 –Pirates 0

The beginning of the second half saw us under some real pressure. The Blue Eagles team were moved around and looked threatening up forward. We had to work very hard to move the ball out of defence and create attacking opportunities. Some great saves were made during that time. Slowly, our girls worked their way back into the game, showing steely determination. Toward the end of the second half the Blue Eagles were awarded a corner that resulted in a frantic scuffle of feet in goal (real heart attack material!), however the ball was finally cleared.  In the last 5 minutes of the game, a final drive out of defence saw the ball up forward and passed into goal where the winner was scored!  The girls dug deep and kept their nerve in the final stages of the game, the Blue Eagles never looking as though they would score.

 Final score Blue Eagles 0–Pirates 1

Today the girls used skill, determination and dug deep when the going got tough. It was the complete team effort and they were rewarded for their efforts. It was also fantastic to see the game played with great sportsmanship. For those who did not make it onto the field today, know that your efforts throughout the year contributed to your team being in the position to be playing for top spot next week.

We certainly hope for a slightly easier game next week, as it may be the parents needing the medical attention, not injured players!

With the first of our ‘must win’ final three games, the girls launched into their game against Cumberland at a blistering pace, peppering the goals on numerous occasions from the start. Alex was in fine form and had excellent touch on the ball. Not to be out done, Bec seemed to be everywhere and was our first goal scorer in at the 10 minute mark.

Our midfield knocked the ball around with ease, Lucinda showing some fine moves and Sofia always ready with the big kick towards goal. The ball found its way into the Cumberland half on a number of occasions where our defence  quickly returned it to Daniella and the mid field team. A brilliant steal by Hannah and an excellent pass to Alex, saw her kick our second goal from just outside the box. Hannah decided she liked this ball stealing business and proceeded to do the same again, this time passing to TJ who put in our third goal in quick succession. Tiah contributed well in the midfield, not afraid to go in against the stronger girls.

Towards the end of the half, the Cumberland team seemed to settle  and started to challenge us for the ball. Our performance on the day was a little hot  and cold and we had to work hard for the remainder of the half against the breeze. A couple of challenges by Cumberland put our defence under some pressure, but our speedsters in Jaz and Rachel and the tenacity of Kate kept the ball away from the Cumberland goal.

Half time Cumberland 0 –Pirates 3

Cumberland started and second half the way they finished the first – in attack mode and our girls were again put under some pressure. Milayanah came on and quickly made herself useful up forward A scrappy period of play then ensued in front of our goals. Finally Alex latched onto a good pass from the midfield and threaded her second (and our fourth) goal for the day, another great kick. Both Sofia and Hannah had shots  shortly after, but no luck. Sarah returned to the field once again and was quick to pounce on any loose ball and push them forward.  Our girls seemed to stop for the next 10minutes and Cumberland took full advantage. Taylor made a couple of great saves, but a low moving ball snuck through for Cumberland’s first goal of the day. This seemed to wake our girls up and we replied quickly with our 5^th goal. Lucinda and Sofia  took it up a notch in the midfield in the final stages of the game and made sure any loose balls were directed to our forwards. Alex scored our final goal of the day. Making it a comfortable victory.
Final score Cumberland 1–Pirates 6

A game of ups and downs today with some periods of absolutely brilliant football by the girls. If they can maintain that standard for the entire game next week, they will be unbeatable!