By
CPL Damian Shovell
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Players
hotly contest the ball during the Interservice carnival
in Sydney. Army nudged Air Force out with a one-nil win
in their match.
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Corporal
Nathan King (in blue) from RAAF Richmond is pulled along
for the ride by his visiting British Royal Engineers opponent
during the game against the ADF team. ADF won 3-1.
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Photos by Bill Cunneen
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THE
ADF Soccer Nationals left both the Air Force men’s and women’s
teams without a win after disappointing losses at Randwick Barracks
in Sydney recently.
A nail-biting match with Army on the first day saw the men’s
team match the pressure Army applied in the first half –
leaving the score at nil-all.
Air Force dominated most of the second half and constantly peppered
the Army goal before a breakaway goal gave Army a 1-0 lead.
Further frustration came when an equalising goal was disallowed
by a contentious umpire decision, resulting in a renewed Air Force
attack.
A corner into the goalmouth in the dying minutes produced a very
near miss, with only feverish defence from Army allowing them
to retain the lead and ultimately the win.
In their second match, Navy capitalised on Air Force’s slow
change out of first gear with an early goal.
Air Force soon managed an equaliser, which Leading Aircraftman
Geoff Gillard then followed with what was credited as being the
goal of the tournament from 25 metres out.
It wasn’t enough, however, and Navy sailed home the winner
after another two goals in the second half handed them a 3-2 win.
A last opportunity for victory was further denied when the NSW
Police team forfeited its match due to injury on the third day.
This left the Air Force hopes in the hands of the six players
selected in the over-30s ADF team that played NSW Police in a
curtain-raiser for the ADF versus British Royal Engineers at Sydney’s
Victoria Barracks.
The over-30s won 4-2 before the ADF team won a physically tough
match after goals from LAC Gillard who scored twice and Corporal
Paul Fleming who scored once, handed the ADF team a 3-1 victory.
LAC Gillard was awarded the Golden Boot for the tournament, and
Leading Aircraftman Amied Shadmann was awarded joint player of
the series.
The women’s team enjoyed similar success in the Soccer Nationals,
suffering a first loss of 4-1 against the NSW police team.
Their following game against Navy proved a closer contest as they
led 3-1 going into the second half, before Navy kicked three unanswered
goals, with the decider coming in the final minutes for a 4-1
win.
The final match against an in-form Army team left Air Force with
a further 6-0 defeat.
Women’s coach Corporal Kym Irvine said although the results
were disappointing, she was encouraged by the participation and
emerging talent of the mostly young team.
“Many of our players either hadn’t played before, or
had very little experience before the tournament,” she said.
“And with most of our more experienced players on deployments,
it gave them a real opportunity to gain some experience.”
Corporal Claire O’Driscoll, Leading Aircraftwoman Sarah Challenor
and Leading Aircraftwoman Michelle Allen were all selected to
joint the ADF triservice team that will travel to Singapore to
compete next year.
