Corporate goals achieved

Play: Cpl Lauren Lennox, JLU-NQ, left, takes the ball past a competitor at the NSW Corporate Games.

Good stop: Over 30’s ADF team member Cpl Paul Fleming, 1HSB, takes the ball around an OKI player in a semi-final match at the NSW Corporate Games. Photos by Bill Cunneen

TWO ADF women’s soccer sides have led a brilliant Defence performance at the NSW Corporate Games in Sydney last month, taking first and second place in the Open 6’s division.

The two teams played-off in the final, with Blues defeating Reds 4-0, after both teams trounced undefeated through the competition, with no goals scored against them.

Men’s open player WO2 Steven McNaughton said the women’s final was an even match, although the scoreline suggested otherwise, with action happening at either end of the park.

“The two ADF women’s teams were composed from the one 11-a-side ADF team, rather than creating an A and B-side,” he said.

“The opens men’s and over-30’s teams that competed in the Corporate Games Soccer Competition were also selected from last year’s soccer carnival.

“Obviously not all players from the representative sides were available to make the competition, so we filled the positions with local players of the same standard.”

The ADF over-30’s side played undefeated to the final, where Optus United beat them 4-2 through penalty kicks, which was the first game they have been beaten in this competition in seven years.

They took away silver from this year’s division, remaining on their good track record of a top-two placing.

The ADF men’s opens team played in more of a round-robin styled competition pool, finishing at the top and moving into the knock-out competition played Marconi Stadium

Traditionally making it into the finals each year, the men came up against the favourites, ANO.

The majority of this team was made up of players who have represented Australia during their youth and use these games as a get-together.

After a tough encounter with no team giving an edge, the game ended in a stalemate and was decided on penalties.

ADF were finally defeated with a scoreline of 4-2. By all accounts, this game should have been the grand final as ANO continued on to comfortably win the gold medal.

The ADF men went on to easily take out the game in the bronze medal play-off.

WO2 McNaughton said the Corporate Games were a good lead up for the Arafura Games for both the women’s team and the men’s open team.

“The women will be competing in the 11-a-side competition and the men will try their hand at the open men’s Futsal competition,” he said.

“The NSW Corporate games is definitely one of our main competitions that we enter into to give something back to the players that are good enough to be selected for the ADF side.”

With a gold, two silver and a bronze medal, ADF retained the NSW Corporate Games overall division championship and the soccer championship trophy that has been held for the past six years.