Year 8 Boys Soccer SMR Finalists

On Thursday 14 August the Year 8 Boys Soccer team travelled down to Kingston Heath to see if they could progress to the State Finals by winning through as the SMR representative.

The team went unbeaten at Kingston Division in Friday sport with many boys taking part in the team over Term 2 on a Friday afternoon. It is fair to say that Year 8 boys can be wildly exuberant at times, but I have also seen them grow as people over the term as I have at times, dispensed some tough love to a few to ensure that their behaviour is respectful and they fully understand what it is to be a member of a team. I have also seen them play some brilliant football and score some stunning goals as they took onboard my ideas and structures.

At SMR, due to the late arrival of another school we changed pool groups and had to play our first game 40 minutes earlier than expected without a proper warm up. The boys responded by winning that opening game six nil. All team members were involved in the opening game as I able to switch many members of the team and give them all a taste of SMR soccer. McKinnon won the second game 3-1 and once again due to the team’s strength, I was able to rest and rotate all players again in preparation for our final pool game against Gleneagles.

McKinnon only needed a draw to go through to the final and played well in the final pool game. However, despite creating many chances they were undone by the most brilliant free kick having witnessed in almost 30 years of school sport with a Gleneagles free kick sailing into the net from 30 metres at speed and height which was unstoppable. McKinnon almost equalised a few times afterwards, but it was not to be as the Year 8 boys lost 1-0 to Gleneagles and did not progress to the SMR final. The Year 8 McKinnon boys had lost just the solitary game all year and played some brilliant football, but it was not to be. 

Having said that, I was really impressed by the spirit, skill and growing maturity of the 19 boys who were part of the squad. There were some fabulous goals scored throughout the whole year with Jackson having the good fortune to have his cracker captured on video by the school photographer but there were many others who displayed the McKinnon Magic. 

Miklos was brilliant in goals, Theo and Daichi marshalled the midfield with superb support from Harry, Jackson, Jake  and Jude. Our defence was ably led by captain Thomas whose calmness and great touch was great to see with great support from Aiden, Lio, Caleb, Tim and Zachary. 

Attacking wise Gabriel's movement off the ball, presence and great goals served the team well where he was ably supported by Daniel who scored some great goals as well. Alon and Zach also played their part in many positions. Special thanks to Thomas and Faris who came along and ran a line and supported the team so well.

I was really proud to see the growth of these boys and I want the whole school community to know how proud I was of these boys. 

Well done.

Jonathan Jhoomun

Coach