Stirling Districts faced a top of the table BOSA side in Round 13 of the SA Amateur Soccer League played at Charles Cane Reserve.
The away side faced a number of forced changes in the starting eleven due to a number of suspensions and injuries. The back four was the hardest hit with the sole survivor from the previous week Lewis Coulls pairing up with the returning Captain Ryan Gore in central defence and promoted reserves players Paul Teteris and James Laughton taking up positions in right and left back respectively. The midfield was made up of Tim Cookes, Joel Byrth, wide players Scott Mather and Daniel Wilby and defensive midfielder Matt Hawthorn. Vice-Captain Jonathon Gomez was the lone striker up front while Christian Burden took charge in goals behind the back four.
The order of the day from manager Peter Cottle was not to play pretty football, but to play a disciplined defensive game on a heavy pitch against a well drilled outfit. The home team kicked off and immediately controlled possession as the Aces kept a compact formation which was designed to frustrate the opposition and force them to play the long ball. Early in the first half BOSA tried to play the ball down the wings and managed to break through on occasions on the left hand side. However Stirling Districts defence mopped up any loose balls that threatened the goal and at times Burden was called into action, pulling off some great saves. Playing on the counter attack the Aces only clear chance of the half fell to Hawthorn after the team pressured BOSA’s ball carriers, causing a turnover. With a two on one situation Hawthorns pass to Gomez didn’t hit its mark and with it the most clear cut chance of the half. At the half time break the teams went in level with surprisingly only one yellow card shown in the first half.
The second half started in the same way as the first with BOSA controlling most of the possession as Stirling Districts remained compact. The Aces style of play often meant that the only outlet was Gomez up front, who worked hard all game but was constantly hounded by the opposition defence. The deadlock was broken by BOSA on the 50 minute mark with a top volley from just inside 18 yards. All of the hard defensive work from the Aces had come undone by a moment of class and this meant a goal was needed to get anything out of the game. Unfortunately fifteen minutes later the second BOSA goal went in after a deflected shot looped over Burden. Moments after BOSA were reduced to ten men due to the strikers numerous coming’s together with Gore. This allowed Stirling Districts to attack more and bring on fresh legs in Josh Berger and Martin Moran. In the closing stages of the game the Aces looked more threatening but the final ball was always lacking which meant the keeper had little to do. The Aces look forward to taking points next weekend away to the Wanderers.