Today’s clash saw West Pymble take on Chatswood Rangers in an important division 5 match; Chatswood had only won one game so far this season and West Pymble had lost all of their games. So both teams were looking for a win.
The afternoon was bright and sunny and the temperature warm for football. That meant this game was going to tire men quickly.
Although division five soccer doesn’t have the discipline or finesse of the Premier League, it still brings a lot of energy and quality to a suburban afternoon match.
Last year, West Pymble went the entire season without winning a game and were keenly looking to break that hoodoo. They have struggled for players and so they had to bring in some 16 and 17 year colts to the side, just to give themselves some depth. Although there was a noticeable size difference with a couple of the younger players, they also brought extra speed around the park.
To me, Division five is an interesting level of football; some players are young and finding their way, many are good players that simply cannot afford the time commitment that Premier League football requires. And some are playing in the highest level of football that they will ever achieve. But they’re all out on the park, living the dream and giving 100% effort and that’s what matters.
The first half was played well with pressure coming quickly from Chatswood pushing continuously in to the West Pymble area. Chatswood’s strikers couldn’t get the timing of their runs right and kept on being penalised for off-side. Twenty five minutes in to the first half Chatswood got their timing right and fired one in to the back of the net, giving them the lead.
However, the pleasure of leading was short lived and West Pymble equalised two minutes later.
West Pymble’s goal seemed to break Chatswood and West Pymble slotted two more goals in the first half.
3:1 to West Pymble at half time.
The second half was characterised by long periods of possession by West Pymble, moving the ball around, with short, accurate passes, but they simply couldn’t break through a re-energised Chatswood defence. Chatswood had a couple of good chances on goal, but just couldn’t quite finish.
Frustration boiled over a couple of times with overly vigorous tackles bringing players down unnecessarily. However, the referee ran a tight game and would not stand for any dissent, booking a number of players who attempted to argue with his decisions.
No goals scored in the second half and therefore the final score was unchanged at 3:1.
A good game to watch on a sunny afternoon in South Turramurra.
Photos from the match are on our Facebook page and in our gallery.
