June 15, 2015
by Dafyd Martindale
A lack of players is hampering the Barambah Football Club.
Barambah doesn’t have enough male players to make up two separate men’s squads this year so most players have been playing twice every match day.
Given that a player can run several kilometres in an average game, the strain is beginning to take its toll.
On Saturday, Barambah shared the points with Gunners in a 1-all tie in 2nd Division, where they played above their past form (or Gunners played below theirs).
But when the clearly tired Barambah players re-emerged 90 minutes later for the 1st Division clash, the much fresher Gunners’ side walked away with a thumping victory.
* * *
In the 2nd Division clash, both sides appeared evenly matched.
Ryan Sommerfeld found the back of the net for Barambah barely five minutes into the game, and the side was elated.
From that point on, Barambah players exerted control until just a few minutes before half-time when Brendan Kelly took his chances and equalised for Gunners with a blistering shot.
In the second half, neither side was able to gain any further advantage.
Barambah kept the pressure on, but their desire to hold something in reserve for the 1st Division game seemed to take the edge off the fierce attacking form they’d shown earlier.
This may have been lucky for Gunners, who seemed a little taken aback by Barambah’s seemingly sudden form improvement midway through the season.
* * *
Barambah’s desire to keep something in reserve didn’t do them any favours in the second men’s game of the day.
Torren Anderton launched a Gunners’ assault early, sinking the ball into the back of the net in the 15th minute, which was followed by team-mate Simon Linnane’s effort just four minutes later.
Barambah’s spirits lifted 60 seconds later when Ryan Sommerfeld sank the first for Baramabah, but from there on it was nearly all downhill.
Anderton scored his second of the match in the 31st minute, then Joseph Copas followed him in the 37th to bring the score to 4-1 by half time.
In the second half, Barambah seemed to firm up their defence.
No one was able to break through until Anuwat Silalat scored Gunners’ fifth goal in the 62nd minute, followed by Copas again 12 minutes later.
Barambah was able to rescue its fortunes slightly when Ayden Connolly delivered a reply in the 80th minute. But by then it was all over for the north’s red rovers.
Barambah now faces the difficult choice of deciding whether to put 100 per cent of their efforts into one division or the other, or continuing as they have been this season and getting results below their true ability levels.
It seems unlikely they’ll be able to secure a place at the top of the ladder in either division if they continue attempting to do double duty, though they probably deserve a medal for trying.
* * *
Barambah’s women’s team has turned into a movable feast of talent this year.
While there are lots of candidates to choose from, not all are available on any given Saturday. So precisely who’ll be playing from one week to the next is sometimes an open question.
On Saturday, the 10-person team that took to the Tom Alford soccer fields was certainly powerful enough to storm over the Gunnettes, despite Gunnettes having a numerical advantage on the field.
And Barambah captain Sarah Vanderkolk added extra spice to the game by mixing up her team-mates’ usual playing positions.
The result of this strategy was a very strong performance from the northern side, which onlookers attributed to the players being forced to think more closely about what they were doing rather than play on auto-pilot.
Whether or not this was the cause, Barambah excelled in both possession and passing throughout the match.
Emma Sippel found the back of the net twice for Barambah in the first half, and Kayla England bumped her team over the line to a 3-nil win in the 75th minute, leaving the luckless but dedicated Gunnettes to dwell in the cellar just a while longer.
* * *
Results:
Nanango v Wests (in Nanango)
- 1st Division – Nanango 4 (Kieran Mangan 22nd, Harry Sterling 6th, 14th, 49th) – Wests 0
- 2nd Division – Nanango 1 (Karl Pichlis 47th) – Wests 1 ( Ryan Jacobs 56th)
- Women – Postponed
Gunners v Barambah (in Kingaroy)
- 1st Division – Gunners 6 (Torren Anderton 15th, 31st, Simon Linnane 19th, Joseph Copas 37th, 74th, Anuwat Silalat 62nd) – Barambah 2 ( Ryan Sommerfeld 20th, Ayden Connolly 80th)
- 2nd Division – Gunners 1 (Brendan Kelly 32nd) – Barambah 1 (Ryan Sommerfeld 4th)
- Women – Barambah 3 (Emma Sippel 14th, 29th, Kayla England 75th) – Gunnettes 0
* * *
Next Saturday’s Games:
Nanango v Gunners (in Nanango)
- 12.30pm – 2nd Division
- 2:00pm – Women
- 3:15pm – 1st Division
Wests v Barambah (in Kingaroy)
- 2:30pm – 2nd Division [UPDATED]
- 4:30pm – 1st Division [UPDATED]
- Women’s game deferred
NB. The deferred Women’s game between Wests v Nanango will be played on Thursday at 6:30pm in Kingaroy.
* * *
Points Table:
* * *
Laura was selected recently in Queensland’s U15 Girls NPL team which will be playing at the National Championships from July 4-11 at Coffs Harbour.
The NPL success follows on from Laura’s selection in the Qld Under 15s Girls School team last year, which included a tour to Japan.
She has been playing soccer for the past few years with the South West Qld Thunder.
Another local women’s soccer player, Lateisha Wilkins – the goalkeeper for the SWQ Thunder U13 Girls team – just missed out on selection for the Queensland U13 Girls NPL team but has been named Shadow goalkeeper.
