After their unexpected round 1 loss to South Cardiff the Bears travelled to the home of Hamilton Olympic for round 2 of the NBN State League. Conditions for the match were poor with heavy rain and the cold making it difficult for both sides.
Olympic were the first to find their feet in the conditions and they put the Bears defence under huge pressure with 2 great opportunities in the first 5 minutes of play. The crossbar being the Bears saviour after 3 mins, then a great save from Bears keeper Tim Pratt in the 5th min is all that kept the score at 0-0.
The game so far was being dominated by Olympic and with only 15 minutes gone, things appeared to go from bad to worse when Bears Striker Dave Field was harshly shown a straight red card for a challenge on the Olympic keeper.
Field's red card appeared to rev the Bears up with several attacks in the Olympic final third. The extra possession the Bears were enjoying was converted when Jamie Subat was awarded a penalty after being fouled in the Olympic 6 yard box after 26 minutes. Nathan Morris stepped up to the spot and made no mistake to give the Bears a 1-0 lead.
Nathan Morris was almost on the score sheet again 7 minutes after his penalty when his free kick from wide on the right forced a great save from the Olympic keeper.
Olympic also had their chances to equalise with the best coming in the 35th min when they played a ball across the face of the Bears goal that somehow eluded everybody in the congested box ensuring the Bears took a 1-0 lead to the sheds for the half time break.
The first half saw Olympic hit the Bears from the get go and it was exactly the same in the second with a well hit shot that sailed over the bar in the 50th min. They then hit the post after Pratt was beaten just a minute later.
Corey Fletcher was getting forward creating plenty of chances for the Bears and in the 56th min he looked to be in for a 1 on 1 with the keeper only to be brought down from behind only inches out of the Olympic area. The referee awarded a free kick and gave the Olympic defender an early shower when he produced his 2nd straight red card of the night to make it 10 v 10 contest.
Both sides were now throwing everything at each other and the game as expected opened up with end to end attacking football. Jamie Subat took advantage of the open style of play when he played a fantastic through ball for Robbie Turnbull in the 72nd min. Turnbull then went onto a 1 on 1 with the keeper only to splay his shot marginally wide of the far post.
Tim Pratt saved the Bears again only minutes later when he made a great reflex save from an Olympic attacker who had free header in the 6 yd box. Pratt played the ball out and after a scrap in the midfield the ball was played out to Jamie Subat who had got in behind the defence and in for yet another 1on 1 with Olympic keeper. Subat chose to chip the advancing keeper which looked to be goal bound only to just miss to the right of the goals.
After playing a major part of the game a man down, the Bears would now enjoy the advantage on both the scoreboard and also the numbers on the pitch when the referee produced a 2nd yellow card to an Olympic player making him the 3rd player of the game red carded with 10 minutes remaining.
Rob Macbeth could have put the game to bed with 8 mins remaining but he failed to get over his shot and it sailed high over the bar. With a minute left in normal time Olympic could have pinched a point but thankfully the shot was just wide and the Bears hung on for what would be one of the gutsiest displays by the club in recent years.
U/23's horror start to the season continued with a heavy 1-5 loss. Jordan Howard found the net for the Bears after they also had a player sent from the field early in the first half.
The Youth Side also showed plenty of character to take the 3 points 2-1 after they had 2 players shown red cards. Montgomery and Henry the goal scorers.
U/17's Colts competition got under way with a 1-4 loss to Edgeworth, Jake Millsteed the Scorer. Junior trial games also continued with all games against Lake Macquarie. The U/13's going down 0-1, U/14's ended 1-1 Matt Rees scored the goals, U/15's had a 2-1 win with Jamie Manning and Jordan Smallhorn netting a goal each.
Next Saturday the Bears are back at Thomas and Coffey Park against the newly promoted and big spending Lake Macquarie with First Grade kicking off at 6pm, U/23's 4:15pm and Youth League 2:30pm.
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!!!!
Read more online at the Maitland Mercury
Weston V Hamilton
U/13's
This was the team’s first match together and Darren was very pleased how the team competed even though they went down 1-2 against Hamilton Olympic.
Darren has plenty of ability to work with and there was some stand out players. With time the team will gel and we are sure they will be a force to be reckoned with (Caleb Henderson 1)
U/14's
Went down 0-1 but played some good football and are showing plenty of promise for the season ahead.
U/15's
As always the game with Hamilton was played at a fast and physical pace with our boys rising to the challenge. Our existing and new players showed some very positive signs in both attack and defence.
We have a few area’s we will need to work on however an overall exciting game to watch. Congratulations to the boys for a 3-0 win (Sam Richardson 3)
U/17 Colts
Had a fantastic result against a difficult West Wallsend side 3-2 (Sam Garaty 1, Bryson Cox 1 and Jack Whitney 1)
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!
Weston Workers Bears FC started their 2011 season and Premiership defence with a home game at Thomas & Coffey Park. The side went into the match with 5 of their senior squad unavailable due to Injury, work commitments and suspension, the most serious being Mick Ryan who injured his knee through the week.
The Bears started the game the better of the 2 sides and were unlucky not to score after some fantastic work from Carl Thornton wide on the right. Thornton weaved his way through the defence before laying a perfectly placed ball to Jamie Subat. Subat's low shot forced a great finger tip save from the Southy keeper.
South Cardiff had to wait till the 18th min before they had their first chance of the match. The opportunity came when the Southy attacker got in behind the Bears defence and onto a 1 on 1 with Bears keeper Tim Pratt. Pratt spread himself well and smothered the shot to keep the score 0-0.
Jamie Subat continued were he left off last season with a massive work rate that creates many chances for his strike partner. This was on show again in the 26th min when he gained the ball wide on the right, drew and beat 3 defenders before playing a ball to Bears new recruit David Field. But just as Field looked to pull the trigger he was out paced by a Southy defender who toed the ball away to safety.
Corey Fletcher was promoted to the first grade squad and he came close to breaking the deadlock in the 40th min with a well hit shot looking goal bound before taking a deflection away from goal.
Although the Bears had the better of the play for the majority of the game it was South Cardiff who were starting to place more pressure on the tiring Bears. This pressure proved too much when in the 43rd min they made the Bears defence pay for a series of sloppy marking that produced some nice one touch football before drilling a well hit low rocket of a shot past Pratt and into the bottom left hand corner of the net. The score remained at 0-1 till the half time break.
With the signs not good towards the end of the first half it was hoped that the Bears would come out from the sheds stronger for the 2nd and in the 57th min David Field was in on goal but the Southy keeper was again too good and he snuffed out the 1 on 1 opportunity. Nathan Morris was on hand to pounce on the rebound but his shot from outside the box sailed over the bar and into the Members Stand.
New Coach Darren Elkin made the decision to replace the hard working Jamie Subat with pocket dynamite Joel Page just after the hour mark. Page caused instant problems for the Southy defence and in the 68th min Page was fouled in the centre of the park and 30 mts from goal. Nathan Morris has made many a keeper look foolish from this exact area so it was no surprise when he let loose with another bullet of a shot that dipped and bent past the keeper to give the Bears the leveller.
South Cardiff didn't allow the Bears fans too much time to enjoy the Morris free kick as they hit back with another goal 5 mins later after they were again allowed too much space to make the score 1-2.
With the score board in against them, the Bears were looking worse for wear and allowing the Southy players far too much space and time on the ball. With so much possession it was looking like it was only a matter of time before Southy would put the game to bed with a 3rd and this should have happened in the 86th min but luckily for the Bears they shot over the bar and the score remained at 1-2.
The game had gone into injury time and the Bears were pushing forward to get the equaliser, it almost came when they had a fantastic chance in the 92nd min but like so many chances throughout the game the shot was not on target and the game ended with a rare home defeat.
U/23's game also went down 1-2. Luke Campbell found the net for the Bears in a game that they should have won by 3 or 4 if not for some poor finishing and basic errors.
Game day started far better than it ended with the Youth Team proving far too strong for South Cardiff with an easy 4-1 win. Jake Barner and Tim Gleeson both bagged a brace for the Bears to start the season in the best possible way.
The Junior Bears continued their preseason with trial games over the weekend with mixed results against Hamilton Olympic. U/13's played some great football but went down 1-2 with Calab Henderson the goal scorer. U/14's lost by the narrowest margin 0-1. U/15's showed they will be strong with a convincing 3-0 win with Sam Richardson showing his class by bagging a hat-trick. The U/17's played West Wallsend and took the honours 3-2, the scoring was shared by Sam Garaty, Bryson Cox and Jack Whitney.
Next Saturday evening the Bears travel to Darling St Oval for the round 2 clash against Hamilton Olympic. Olympic at Olympic is always a difficult game to bring away the points but the Bears have had the wood on Olympic in recent times (including a 4-1 win in a pre season trial) and with several players including club captain Chris Cousins available again things are looking positive for a result. First Grade Kicks off at 7:00pm, U/23's 5:15pm and Youth Grade 3:30pm.
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!!!!
