2008 August 28th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 28th August 2008

In This Issue Meet the Committee Summer Programs Important Dates at AP WPL SL2 Men SL3 Women www.DoncasterRovers.org        ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. Closing in on 300 wins   Meet the Committee Margot Walker   Margot has been involved with Rovers for over 11 years with both her children having played a total of 12 years at the club.  Margot was the clubs first female coach and held the Junior Chair for many years.   Contact details for the entire Committee of Management  can be found at the club website:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx Summer Programs click on the flyer below for further details

Our winter season is nearing the end but there's still a lot happening at Rovers.  Please take a note of the dates below as there will be a bit going on at Anderson Park throughout the coming months.   Please make sure that all raffle tickets are back with your team manager this weekend and don't forget the whole of club wrap night kicking off at 5pm this Sunday.  The wrap is an opportunity for all teams to give a brief synopsis of how their season went whilst enjoying a sausage sizzle as the senior men & women play a match against the masters and coaches.   Junior trophy presentations are the second week of September as per the dates below.  Club photos will be distributed on these nights.     Dates to Remember    Anderson Park 30th August - last SSG day & presentation 9am-11am 31st August - Season Wrap Night for whole club from 5pm 6th September - last SL2 game & raffle draw 9th September - U9, U10 & U11 Presentations 10th September - U12, U13 & U14 Presentations 11th September - U15, U16 & U18 Presentations 26th September - Senior Presentations 5th October - NYL Melbourne Victory v Perth @ Anderson Park 26th October - NYL Melbourne Victory v Sydney @ Anderson Park 7th December - AGM & 2009 Registrations Open Womens Premier League into the Finals    This was the game we needed to win to be sure of finals football next week, and we went in to it focussed and confident, more so than we had been for some time. The first half saw us in total control and playing some nice controlled football, we had changed our structure a little to try and combat the Preston midfield which had been strong all year. For long periods Preston were hemmed in their own box and we created two or three good chances which you would have bet your house on us scoring but not to be. We missed the target with a number of shots both close in and from more of a distance. Preston continued to knock it long and catch us on the break, and we had a couple of nervous moments, more from our efforts rather than theirs. After 26 minutes they again tried to knock it long and it was blocked and fell to Sarah who hit the target but it was blocked on the line but Enza was following up and knocked it home, now it was a matter of how many we would get. Disappointingly though, poor marking allowed then to score with a nice header from a corner, although Enza stretched on the line she couldn't prevent it slipping in just inside the post. So 1-1 at half time but still very optimistic. The second half was more even and end to end, but around the hour mark we conceded another corner and the kick bounced 4 times in the box before nestling in the corner, so it was 2-1 Preston and a big shock for us to concede a goal like that. We pushed more bodies forward because we needed to win and this opened us up a bit at the back. On one of those breakaways, Nicole came out to save and from the rebound the ball was lifted over her head and we were 3-1 down with pretty much no way back. We had a couple of minor half chances after that but to no avail, and the feeling in the camp was very low, we had let ourselves down and were probably out of the finals race. Then the news came through that Casey had also beaten Sandringham so we were now back in the hunt. Good news for us but we need to be a bit more consistent and hungrier than we were against Preston. Anyway at best it's "Game still on" Senior Men save the best till last    The Rovers seniors decided to leave one of its best 45 minutes of the season to the last Friday night game at home for the 2008 year. A scintillating second half saw the Rovers score 5 goals and simply tear Waverley Wanderers apart. But that only came after coach Joe Biskic tore the team apart at half time after they had let a two goal lead slip. All bets were on Rovers to win this one but we've seen stranger things happen in football and testimony to that is the reverse fixture when Waverley scored in injury time against a 10 man Rovers to steal a draw. The first half opened true to form with the visitors providing early resistance and then the mobility of the Rovers getting more on top as the half went on. Biskic kept faith with Daniel Ciric in goal and introduced Rovers junior Johnny Strateas in to the sweeper role due to John Petridis being hit by the flu. Starting eleven positions were also given to our leading scorer at the start of the game Fikret Korkaric, and young recruit Seb Barreiro. The deadlock was broken in the 26th minute when Ramon Dias, who was popping up everywhere, slotted coolly past former Rovers keeper Leon Kefalianos in the Waverley goal. It seemed clear that a weight of expectation was lifted from the players and only four minutes later Jeff Stefanidis broke his goal drought to put the home side 2 -0 up. With only 15 minutes of the half to play the Rovers were in control and then came the lapse in concentration, Waverley capitalised on a defensive mix up and it was 2 - 1, this gave the visitors new hope and the supporters were wondering if it was going to be a repeat of the reverse fixture. Well they didn't have to wonder long as Waverley on the stroke of half time beat Ciric in goals and equalised as the referee blew for the end of the half at 2 all. A half time spray from the coach saw the Rovers come out and turn on a display of football that has not been seen at Anderson Park for a long time. Poor Waverley were turned inside out and then around for good measure. Just as in the first half Dias got things started with the teams third and his 2nd for the night in the 51st minute, 10 minutes later Stefanidis popped up at the post to tap in for his 2nd of the night and to make it 4 -2. Only 3 minutes later it was 5 -2 when Stephan Pitruzzello continued his run of scoring and then in the 81st minute Anthony Hammer, coming on from the bench after a long injury lay off beat another former Rovers junior in the Waverley defence Michael Pipertzis to make it 6 - 2. But there was one more twist and it happened in the 90th minute when Brazilian Ramon Dias slotted home his 3rd goal of the night for his hat - trick in his last Friday night home appearance before he goes back to Brazil in mid - September. The final result read like a cricket score at 7 - 2 to the Rovers and put them back into 2nd place on the ladder after Knox City drew with eastern Lions on the weekend. Both teams are locked on 39 points but Rovers having a better goal difference. The Championship was however wrapped up by Northcote City on Saturday when they won their fixture. Friday's result puts Rovers in a good position to take the Runners - up position in the seniors and the hat - trick by Ramon Dias puts him one goal ahead of Fikret Korkaric as the teams leading scorer. In the reserves the boys came home with a bang as they scored two late goals to make it 3 - 0. Doncaster remains in second spot on the ladder behind Knox by one point. The league leaders play the third placed Peninsula this week which could have a big bearing on the reserves championship. Two wins from the last 2 games will place George Moutafis' charges in a good position to pinch the title after two years of finishing runners - up. This week is the last away fixture for the season when the Rovers take on Port Melbourne away from home. Come support the lads as both teams push for finishing above local rivals Knox on the ladder. The game is this Friday 29th August at S.S. Anderson Reserve, Plummer Street, Port Melbourne. Melway Map 56 Ref K 1. Kick Off is 6.30 for the reserves and 8.30pm for the seniors. Senior Women go down 2-1 to Albert Park    Rovers game on Sunday against league leader Albert Park, at ground 17 Albert Park, was one out of the box Rovers started the game with 11 players of which only 8 were fit to take the field with no-one on the bench. Natalie "Exon" Valdez and Christie Syrrafos both returned from long lay-offs through injury and under normal circumstances would not have played. Kirsty McInnes was also struggling with the flu. Despite this all three women played as they didn't want to let down their team mates in such a crucial match. Albert Park had only lost one game all year and it was always going to be a big ask to beat them. However the incentive was that if Rovers did pull-off an upset win, with their game in hand and Albert Park facing another tough game next week, top spot was still a chance. The first half was a real struggle. Albert Park were kicking down hill and coach Jim knew that if we could hold on then we were still a chance as some reinforcements were expected in the shape of "Under 15 Substitutes" mid-way through the second half. At half-time the score was nil all and although Albert Park dominated possession, scoring opportunities had been scarce and favoured Rovers. Rania, Laura, Kirsty and Emily put in a near perfect performance in defense and Rebeka had kept a clean score card via a magnificent save from a long range lob and subsequent follow-up shot that most keepers would have let in. Natalie & Larisa were doing there bit up front and Tata, Jade & Megz were holding their own in the midfield and wings. Despite injury Christie was her usual ball magnet in the middle. The second half started of briskly for Rovers with a couple of missed opportunities, however just a few minutes into the half Christie was forced to leave the field with a recurrence of her thigh injury and she limped off a very dejected woman. Rovers were down to ten players. For twenty minutes Rovers defended stoutly and amazingly still managed to hold their own and to spectators watching it was hard to realise that they were a player down as they still were able to mount attacks and Rebeka was required to save anything of consequence. Like last week every player gave their all, with no subs and outnumbered they ran, tackled harried and never gave up. It was great footy. Finally with about 20 minutes to go the cavalry arrived in the shape of three very enthusiastic under 15 girls who spilled out of Pina's car like a platoon of SAS Commando's besieging some foreign beachhead. In some weird twist of fate their arrival distracted most of the games participants including the Referee who for some inexplicable reason blew his whistle. Rover's players stopped, Albert Park's didn't and an easy goal was incorrectly paid to Albert Park just when it looked like Rovers could start to dominate. The goal shocked Rovers and despite Jim immediately subbing on some fresh legs in Siobhan, Elyse and Rene, Rovers were a bit non-plussed a second goal quickly followed. The game could have become a rout, however the Rovers Women hadn't read that particular script. They'd read the other one. The one that said "WE CAN STILL WIN THIS" The next 15 minutes was one of relentless attacking and wave upon wave of forward thrusts that were unlucky not to be rewarded with a goal. Eventually, with about 5 minutes to go Siobhan was blatantly brought down from behind in the box and she coolly slotted the subsequent penalty. For us mere mortals standing on the sidelines we just looked on transfixed and praying that they would have enough time to pull a couple more back (On a personal level I was contemplating the referees whistle and what I'd like to do with it) However, our prayers went unanswered, Rovers ran out of time and the game ended in a 2-1 loss but could have been so easily the other way. But what counts in sports is not the victory, but the magnificence of the struggle. And yet again on Sunday our Rovers women put on another "Magnificent Struggle" which was wonderful to watch.

2008 August 21st

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 21st August 2008

In This Issue Meet the Committee Dates to remember SL2 Men WPL SL3 Women www.DoncasterRovers.org      ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. with just over 70 matches to be played..   Meet the Committee Darren McCarthy   Darren is the club Secretary and Junior Chairman and has been involved at Rovers for 5 years.  He has a son in the U12's and a daughter in Small Sided Games.     Contact details for the entire Committee of Management  can be found at the club website:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx Dates to remember:   22nd August - last Friday night home game 25th August - online auction for Melbourne Victory family membership closes 30th/31st August - raffle tickets due 30th August - last SSG day & presentation 31st August - Season Wrap Night 6th September - last SL2 game & raffle draw 9th September - U9, 10 & 11 Presentations 10th September - U12, 13 & 14 Presentations 11th September - U15, 16 & 18 Presentations 26th September - Senior Presentations 5th October - NYL v Perth @ Anderson Park 26th October - NYL v Sydney @ Anderson Park December - AGM & 2009 Registrations Open

Final Friday Night Men's home game   The last chance to experience Friday Night Football at Anderson Park for the 2008 season is this FRIDAY 22nd August when we host Waverley Wanderers.   If you haven't soaked up the atmosphere of a Friday night at a Rovers home game then don't miss the last chance for the season, the gyros will ensure you won't go home hungry.   Reserves from 6.30pm and Seniors kick off at 8.30pm Womens Premier League Well if ever a scoreline flattered a team it was this one, 5-1 seems like an easy win but this was anything but. We made a positive start and controlled the game particularly through the midfield but as it wore on our passing and movement became quite laboured and we couldn't string more than a couple of passes together. In between these spells however there were some very good moves and it was form one of those that Dee sneaked in and tucked away a nice goal. This was followed soon after by another well constructed goal, Kat knocked a nice diagonal ball to Enza who crossed to the far post and Fiddy arrived at the right time to head it past the goalkeeper. 2-0 now we could relax and play some football I thought......well not quite. Gippsland in fairness never gave up and while they never really threatened to score they made it hard for us to play with their big hearts and workrate. Full credit to them as well when a long hopeful ball was knocked into our penalty area there was a bit of "after you" from our players and their player got on the end of it and lifted it over Nicole to score, Game on now as their tails lifted and the work rate increased. So it was a very frustrated group who went in at half time with a 2-1 lead. The second half was really the Deanna Niceski show, as her powerful running and finishing threatened to swamp Gippsland, but we continued to misplace passes and look very nervous on the ball. The only positive was that the Preston coach was there and he would have gone away rubbing his hands together in anticipation of next weeks game. Dee scored the third with a good chase and tackle and then turned inside and smashed a 20 metre shot high past the keeper, she then went on to a nice through ball from Kat and again slotted it neatly past the keeper, and our fifth and her fourth followed a great ball from Enza and a calm measured left foot "slot" past the keeper low to her left. So the final score was 5-1 which based on our all round play was probably a bit unfair to Gippsland. This consolidates Dee at the top of the goalscoring charts, and with her closest challenger being sent off last week, another good performance should seal that award which is well deserved after a terrific season of hard work and perseverance. Well we have one game left, the "battle" with Preston, any win would see us in the finals with no reliance on anyone else, however Preston can still go third so they will be trying as hard as ever, and have lifted dramatically this year to consolidate their place in the final series. Well done to them but it's now up to us. If we beat then we will play them again in the first finals game. Bring it on !!!!!!!!! Womens SL3   A Depleted Rovers Senior Women side beat Richmond 3 -1 Sunday was a day for upsets in the AFL when Richmond knocked off the more fancied Hawthorn in a match that many people thought would see leading goal kicker Buddy Franklyn kick his ton. In a striking parallel Richmond Women's State league side were coming up against the league leader contenders Doncaster Rovers and at kick-off Doncaster Rovers had 10 wins and Richmond had 9 losses. Doncaster Rovers also boast the league's leading goal-kicker in Natalie "Exon Valdez." However things are never that straight forward. Doncaster Rovers were fielding a very depleted side with only 9 senior women available and fit to pull on the Gold and Green Rovers strip. Rovers were without their own Buddy Franklyn in "Natalie Exon Valdez" and in the "engine room" Rovers were without their own Sammy Mitchell in "Christie Syrrafos" who has been dominating the mid-field this year prior to her injury against Mornington Flames. Fleet-footed winger/midfielder Effie Paparas was also out with injury and severely missed. To their credit though Rovers didn't let that get them down and approached the game in great spirit and with a positive, fighting attitude. Girls who hadn't played together teamed up really well. Coach Jim, as he has been doing all year, blooded some more Under 15 women and brought them into the side to lend a hand. The women brought in were: Jo Cotteril, Siobhan Gray, Mel Maizels, Emma Jones & Christina Katsambanis. All 5 under 15 girls contributed to the win and despite having to retire hurt late in the game Siobhan was able to leave the park with 2 goals and a warm inner glow knowing that she'd done her striker job very well in view of the Exon Valdez's forced absence. Emma stoically played the full 90 minutes at right back which crucially enabled Jim to free up Laura Sernio and move her into the depleted midfield were our numbers were most affected. Rovers dominated early but failed to capitalise on their chances however by the time 30 minutes had expired Rovers had jumped to a 2 goal lead. Although clearly the better team, the lack of experience in the mid-field exposed gaps that at times put our defense under a extreme pressure and none more so than 15 minutes into the second half when Richmond pulled a goal back through a wonderful goal that Rebeka could do nothing about. Kirsty put in another superb defensive performance and was ably supported by Emily, Rania & Emma. Amazingly the goal that Richmond pulled back was probably the only real chance that they had and demonstrated what a great job the defence did all night. Jade & Tata played their heart out and despite being unwell Megz gave her all on the wing and its encouraging to see her improve from week to week as she gains match fitness after her lay-off in Europe. Larissa did well up forward and scored a great goal and could have had a couple more. Laura too, was unlucky not to be on the score sheet with a volley from well outside the box as were Christina and Mel who had a shot saved by the goalies kneecap! All in all it was a very satisfying night played in a really good spirit. Richmond to their credit never gave up despite being outclassed by Rovers, away from home on a cold night and having no substitutes on the bench. Rodney Marsh (the footballer not the cricketer) notoriously said: "The only place for women in football is making the tea at half time" Well pal if you'd seen the way those 25 women played their football on Sunday night at Anderson Park I'm sure you'd take such a stupid statement back. Well done to both teams for a great demonstration of good honest football that was wonderful to watch.. Footnote, Rovers Goal scoring feats are quite remarkable this year as the current table blow illustrates: Football Federation Victoria - Women's State League Div 3 South-East Rank Team P W D L F A GD Points 1 Albert Park WSC 16 13 2 1 32 9 23 41 2 Mornington Flames 16 12 1 3 45 15 30 37 3 Doncaster Rovers 15 11 0 4 59 20 39 33

2008 August 13th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 13th August 2008

In This Issue 250th Win Meet the CoM EPL Fantasy League SL2 Men SL3 Women & WPL Summer Football www.DoncasterRovers.org       ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports,  club contact information and much more. 250th win for the season chalked up   Raffle Reminder !!   Team Managers have your raffle tickets if you haven't collected them already.  They are due back by the weekend of the 2nd last round.   That is the weekend of 23rd / 24th August   The funds raised go towards the significant contribution the club has made to the new artificial pitch. Meet the Committee Adam Thyssen Adam is the clubs Vice President.  Amongst his countless hours helping around the club he heads up the sponsorship efforts.  Adam has a son in the U10s and a daughter in the SSGs   Contact details for the entire Committee of Management can be found at:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx EPL Fantasy league - HURRY - starts this weekend    The European football season is about to begin and Doncaster Rovers invite all members (players and parents) to join in a free competition based on picking players in a Premier League fantasy team. Each entrant is a manager starting with a fantasy budget of 100 million pounds to buy a team. Each week, points are awarded to the team based on goals scored, defenders keeping clean sheets, and so on. The website to register your team is http://fantasy.premierleague.com/   . You'll find the rules there, plus how to score points and tips on team selection using the Pundit, and how to transfer players if they turn out to be lame ducks! Getting under the 100 million sounds easy, but can you balance a team of proven quality players with a few new kids on the block?   Doncaster Rovers are providing some prizes for our own league, to entice you to test your managerial ability during our closed season. So you think you can do a better job than your team coach and manager, eh! Well try us out!   1.       Go to the website and click  Not Registered? Sign up 2.       Create a team name and kit 3.       Check out the rules and understand the basics of scoring. 4.       Pick your squad, including reserves, and get within the 100 million budget. (2 keepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders, 3 strikers - you don't need to play 4-4-2 formation, just start games with at least 3 defenders) 5.       Once you have picked your team, Click on  Leagues, then  Join a Private League.  DRSC Challenge has a league number, so enter 182151-88416  then click Join league.

A wet day at Anderson Park last Sunday saw 4 matches abandoned on the main pitch.  Across Melbourne the rain forced 90 matches to be cancelled !   SL2 Men    KNOCKED AT KNOX   The Rovers teams in the Reserves and Seniors travelled to Egan Lee Reserve with everything to play for, a day that started with so much hope for these two teams ended in despair with both teams losing by the odd goal. Hence the seniors lost second place on the ladder to Knox and the reserves gave away top spot to Knox.   Knox City beat the Rovers with the only goal of the game in this physical local derby that had eight bookings, five of them in the second half when the game threatened to boil over. As it was, it was Doncaster that was reduced to ten men in the 78th minute when the referee deemed that Sefgi Murat lashed out and received his second yellow card.   The first half was almost tame by comparison as both teams felt each other out knowing that a draw was no use to either as they strove to gain ground on the league leader, Northcote City who had won the night before.   Knox fielded three ex-Rovers in Goalkeeper Mark Jorgensen, Zelma Martinez and Paul Nezda. With Jorgensen having the biggest impact in the first half when he made two one handed saves to deny Rovers taking the lead.   Doncaster were the better side in the first half but they were forced to mainly shoot from long range, but when they got in the area it was dangerous and the Knox defence were occasionally left wanting..   At the other end Knox's Hoogendyk forced Daniel Ciric, who was standing in for the flu stricken Torcaso in the Rovers goal, to save at full length at the foot of the post. Knox was nearly caught on the break close to half time when an attack foundered. It took some desperate defence to force the ball for a corner.   The second half was a much better spectacle as the tempo increased. The breakthrough came for Knox in the 59th minute. Nick Veljovic had made a break into the attacking third but was clumsily brought down by Murat, who picked up his first yellow for the effort. At first it looked as though the Knox man was injured but he struggled to his feet to strike the free kick clinically into the net at the near post.   Mark Jorgensen had to make a fine save when he acrobatically turned a deflected shot over for a corner. Murat was also close with another long range effort, but his time in the game was coming to an end.   He gave away a free kick on the half way line and then reacted to the Knox remonstrations and a some pushing and shoving with Knox's Anthony Edgar saw him pick up his second yellow card and an early shower.   Rovers picked up the tempo with 10-men and forced Knox back in their own half for the last 10 minutes but the elusive goals did not come.      The Reserves game was a top of the table clash. Doncaster had gone above Knox City on goal difference at the top after last week. Knox came from behind to win 2-1 and put them back on top of the ladder. They are now three points clear with three games to go. However they have a harder run home than the Rovers.   This weekend is a designated catch up round with no scheduled fixtures. Coach Joe Biskic is looking to organise a friendly game, which we will provide details of on our website, www.doncasterrovers.org   Next week (22/08/08) will be the last Friday night HOME game for the season so put in your diary now!   Line Up against Knox City: 23. Daniel Ciric 2. John Petridis, 3. Dragan Jugovic, 14. Mladen Kustura, 6. Stephan Pitruzzello, 19. Marco Dalben, 5. Michael Santoro, 18. Jhoan Barrero, 8. Sefgi Murat, 11. Ramon Dias, 10. Jeff Stefanidis Subs: Mark Torcaso (GK), 15. Daniel Sahinidis, 4. John Strateas, 9. Fikret Korkaric Women    WPL had a bye last weekend but have another important match at home at Anderson Park this Saturday afternoon.  Reserves from 1pm & Seniors from 3pm   Sunday's match for our SL2 Women was washed-out. They play a catch-up match this Sunday afternoon at Anderson Park from 5.30pm Spring into Summer @ Rovers   click on the flyer for further information

2008 August 6th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter August 6th 2008

In This Issue Meet the CoM Season Wrap Spring @ Rovers Raffle SL2 Men WPL Women www.DoncasterRovers.org    ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. 500 games & counting   Meet the Committee Laney Quinn   There's not a day goes by when Laney is not doing something around the club and more often than not you will find her hard at work in the Anderson Park canteen.  Laney's enormous contribution to the running of Rovers includes heading up our Ladies Committee and responsibilities covering sponsorship, fundraising and gear distribution.  Laney has sons in our U15 and U16 teams    Contact details for the entire Committee of Management can be found at:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx News from the Committee   Dear Members, Players and Parents,   Just a short note to let you know that I have chosen to resign from the position of Secretary and the Committee of Management of Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club.  You may not be aware but I have not had a son or daughter at the club for the last two seasons and have decided that the time is now right to withdraw from the committee of management.   In preparation for this time the Committee of Management put in place some 18 months ago a process of succession planning to ensure a seamless transition for committee members that will help to maintain DRSC's' position in the community as the best football club in Manningham.   I have enjoyed my time as a member, committee member and Secretary of DRSC immensely and ask that you all continue to provide support to your committee moving forward.   Yours in sport,   Kieran McManus   Pick-up a program and registration form when next at the club or download a copy from the club websites 'summer programs' tab.

Presentations   The 2008 presentations will be held on the following dates:   Small Sided Games - Saturday 30th August U9, U10 & U11 - Tuesday 9th September U12, U13, U14 - Wednesday 10th September U15, U16 & U18 - Thursday 11th September Senior Men & Women - Friday 26th September   Further details in the next few weeks.   National Youth League at Anderson Park   Sunday 5th October 2008 MVFC v Perth Glory   Sunday 26th October 2008 MVFC v Sydney FC   The Melbourne Victory senior team will also be playing in Melbourne on these weekends with the same opposition on the day before at Telstra Dome, i.e. Saturdays 4th & 25th October   Full draw for the NYL can be found at: http://www.a-league.com.au/site/_content/document/00000838-source.pdf 2008 Club Raffle   Tickets for our annual club raffle are now ON SALE   We again have exciting prizes this year which include a framed Australian playing shirt personally signed by Marco Bresciano, a glass boxed goal keeper glove signed by Mark Schwarzer, a mounted ball signed by Archie Thompson, a luxury bed and an extravagant haircare hamper. Tickets are in books of 10 and each ticket only costs $3.  Team managers have begun distributing books this week.   Proceeds from this years raffle to go towards off setting our large financial contribution to the development of the new artificial surface pitch. Ticket butts & monies should be returned to your team manager by the weekend of the 23rd / 24th August    The draw will be held at half time during our last senior mens match at Anderson Park on Saturday 6th September Mens SL2   LIONS TAMED   A solid performance by the second placed Rovers saw off a spirited Eastern Lions at Anderson Park on Friday night.   Joe Biskic prescribed to the coaches theory of don't change a winning line up and that is exactly what he did. Probably for the first time this year Biskic was able to play the same team two weeks in a row. Mladen Kastura who was injured early in the game against Peninsula the week before had recovered to take his spot in the starting eleven.   Rovers controlled the game all first half but seemed to lack the penetration it had the week before and in fairness to the Lions defence they seemed better organised than last weeks opposition as well.  The mobility shown by the attacking five of Alinejad, Dias, Stefanidis, Pitruzzello and Murat was not quiet visible early in the game.   It was a case that Rovers always looked more likely to score with the main threat from Eastern Lions coming from Andy Williams and Bryce Ziada. Stefanidis came close to scoring with a shot from with in the box in the 13th minute which was followed up by an effort by Dias from outside the area.   As the game wore on Ramon Dias, Shayan Alinejad and Stephan Pitruzzello started to find the measure of their markers and started getting into space which resulted in the team looking more dangerous.   The breakthrough came in the 29th minute when Dalben and Santoro in the midfield won the ball interchanged a pass and played it down the right to Pitruzzello who turned his defender with one touch and bolted down the wing and crossed in low and hard for Sefgi Murat who hit it on the full for the first goal.   The Lions were more spirited in the second half and did not sit as deep signalling intent to find an equaliser. This was good as Rovers looked dangerous on the break and exploited the spaces as they did last week. However it took longer than last week to find another goal. There were near misses by quite a few players but no goals.   In the 60th minute Murat was substituted for seasoned campaigner Fikret Korkaric and it only took him 10 minutes to make his mark, when again good work on the right wing by Pitruzzello found him cutting a cross back from the bye line. A flurry of legs and half tackles saw the ball go out to Korkaric who was lurking with intent at the edge of the penalty area. He hit the ball fiercely and it flew low and fast like a missile past the keeper to make it 2 - 0 and the 3 points were again in the bag.   So maximum points from two home games ensured that Rovers kept the pressure on league leaders Northcote City, who won their game on Saturday thus retaining their 4 point lead at the top of the ladder with 4 games to go. Third placed Knox City also won which means that they sit one point behind Doncaster.   This week Rovers are away against the third placed Knox City, a win and the Rovers seniors will be certainly finishing in either a 1st or 2nd position, a loss and it becomes an up hill battle.   In the earlier clash the reserves recorded another win which puts them equal on points with league leader Knox City ahead of this week's away fixture. A win for George Moutafis' charges at Knox and they will be 3 points clear at the top of the ladder.   The game is at Egan Lee Reserve, Wallace Road (Melway Map 73 A3)this Saturday 9th August 2008, the seniors start at 3.00 and the reserves at 1.00pm. Come support the Senior & Reserve boys as they look to close in on the league leaders at the business end of the season.   Line Up against Eastern Lions: Mark Torcaso (GK), 2. John Petridis, 3. Dragan Jugovic, 14. Mladen Kustura, 6. Stephan Pitruzzello, 19. Marco Dalben, 5. Michael Santoro, 16. Shayan Alinejad, 8. Sefgi Murat, 11. Ramon Dias, 10. Jeff Stefanidis Subs: 23. Daniel Ciric, 15. Daniel Sahinidis, 4. John Strateas, 9. Fikret Korkaric, 18. Jhoan Barrero WPL   We had a point to prove today as Bendigo had beaten us 1-0 up there in a very lacklustre affair from our point of view. They had come down though with a fairly understrength side but it was important for us to maintain discipline and confidence. We had the benefit of a fairly strong wind in the first half which meant that Nicole could have gone for a coffee for most of the half as Bendigo found it very hard to get out of their half and even when they did the ball was quickly won and sent back in quickly. We were playing some lovely one touch inter passing but the final pass was a bit strong and many times Dee, Keryn, Enza and Fiddy were centimetres away from one on one opportunities. Dee in particular had a number of half chances but in trying to be too precise the conditions and the frantic scrambling of the defenders held out. It took a Kat Smith inswinging corner which deceived the goal keeper to get us off the mark and settle proceedings, that's three or four identical goals now from Kat and this one was well worth seeing. Again we played some lovely little triangles with CT giving good width down the left but still the final pass let us down a bit. Kat, Enza and Sarah were all supporting well and we had a number of shots blocked. Then TJ played a ball forward to Dee who had come off her marker, Kat Dummied the ball, Dee took it one touch to her left and turned and smashed a fantastic shot past the diving goalkeeper from 25 metres, a great goal from a very good piece of play. Given our dominance we had switched from our traditional formation to a 3-5-2 formation with CT pushing forward into a wide midfield role. We were dominating the midfield and Ness, TJ, and Jade were rarely troubled at the back. Half time came with the score 2-0. We talked at half time about the importance of relaxing and keeping the ball on the ground, we felt that playing against the wind would help us by holding the ball up a bit. That's the way it panned out with a very dominant display of passing and finishing. Enza started off proceedings with a clinical finish after some good interplay with Keryn, Dee and Sarah, with a shot passed past the keeper low to her left. She then doubled her tally when she chipped the keeper from about 25 metres a lovely lofted shot to make it 4-0. The biggest cheer of all though came when Sarah chased a ball on the left hand side, cut back inside the defender and bent a shot round the keeper from the edge of the box, a lovely finish, the visiting Diamond Valley players as well as her team mates provided plenty of encouragement for her. Nicole was hanging out for a corner in the last 10 minutes so she could go up and try to get on the score sheet as well but unfortunately (or fortunately) we never got one. Final score was 5-0 which keeps us in the hunt. Our attention moved from time to time to Pitch 3 where Preston lost 4-1 to Ashburton, but our players were focussed and strong on doing their jobs today. We have two games left and obviously we need to win both I am sure that if we do we will play in the finals for the second year running which will be a great achievement by the girls. As quotes seem to be topical on the site there are two quotes by perhaps lesser known people which must sum up our efforts in the next two game including the training sessions leading up to them the first is from Ernest Hemingway who said "Never mistake MOTION for ACTION", the second one is from Ella Williams who very pointedly said "Bite of more than you can chew...and then chew it" Onwards and upwards Womens SL3   Match Report un-available.

2008 July 30th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 30th July 2008

In This Issue Meet the Committee Senior Men WPL Senior Women www.DoncasterRovers.org    ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. 460 games played & 160 to go   Meet the Committee Jim Michaels    If you were to look up 'stalwart' in the dictionary then that would be an apt description for Jim's contribution to Rovers.  In his 12th year at the club he still has one of his 2 sons playing in our U18s.  Jim coordinates our Senior Men's teams, he is our prmary liasion with the FFV and plays in our Master side amongst his significant contributions to the club.   Doncaster Rovers would not be the successful club that we are without the tireless efforts of what can only be described as a club legend.   Contact details for the entire Committee of Management can be found at:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx As one season ends, another begins. The European football season is about to begin and Doncaster Rovers invite all members (players and parents) to join in a free competition based on picking players in a Premier League fantasy team. Each entrant is a manager starting with a fantasy budget of 100 million pounds to buy a team. Each week, points are awarded to the team based on goals scored, defenders keeping clean sheets, and so on. The website to register your team is http://fantasy.premierleague.com/  . You'll find the rules there, plus how to score points and tips on team selection using the Pundit, and how to transfer players if they turn out to be lame ducks! Getting under the 100 million sounds easy, but can you balance a team of proven quality players with a few new kids on the block?   Doncaster Rovers are providing some prizes for our own league, to entice you to test your managerial ability during our closed season. So you think you can do a better job than your team coach and manager, eh! Well try us out!   1.       Go to the website and click  Not Registered? Sign up 2.       Create a team name and kit 3.       Check out the rules and understand the basics of scoring. 4.       Pick your squad, including reserves, and get within the 100 million budget. (2 keepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders, 3 strikers - you don't need to play 4-4-2 formation, just start games with at least 3 defenders) 5.       Once you have picked your team, Click on  Leagues, then  Join a Private League.  DRSC Challenge has a league number, so enter 182151-88416  then click Join league.   A reminder will be sent out soon, with details of the prizes. The Premier League kicks of on 16th August, so get started soon.

Only 5 weeks to go ??  Hasn't the past few weeks just flown by.   Activities for summer, planning for 2009, presentations, season wraps..it's all great stuff at Rovers as we enjoy another year of going from strength to strength.  A number of teams are within striking distance of winning their divisions and promotions look to be just rewards for some fantastic efforts.   The new artificial pitch is a tangible sign of the committment to the future of our game in the Manningham area.  Such a great surface does not come cheap, along with our own significant financial contribution we can thank Sport & Recreation Victoria and the Manningham City Council.  Over the next few months we will be asking you, our clubs members & supporters, to show the Manningham councillors how important ongoing support to Doncaster Rovers is for the community.    A reminder to all players using our new artificial pitch to look after it !  No screw in studs & no food or drink (apart from a water bottle)  Mens SL2   JOGA BENITO The beautiful game came to Anderson Park last Friday with Rovers beating the Peninsula Strikers by a convincing 4 - 0 score line.   The quick passing and the mobility of the Rovers players were too much for Peninsula to handle as their defence was at times left chasing shadows. The movement of Shayan Alinejad, Jeff Stefanidis, Ramon Dias, Sefgi Murat and Stephan Pitruzzello was a delight to watch with quick one touch passing.   Coach Joe Biskic again had to make an early change when big defender Mladen Kastura had to come off injured after only 18 minutes. He was replaced by John Strateas who was only just returning from injury himself.   In the 24th minute the goal scoring started when Ramon Dias followed a high ball in and pressured Adam Asanovski in the Peninsula goal and his defender, the pressure paid off as the two Peninsula players managed to bundle the ball into their own net.   It was clear from this point that the Rovers players had their tales up and the Strikers had had their spirits broken because up to this point they were in the game with their stand out being former Rovers boy Derrick Chisholm in midfield.   Only 10 minutes later it was 2-0 when some clever movement and passing between Stefanidis, Marco Dalben and Dias saw Dias free at the grandstand corner of the box where he calmly side stepped the defender and sent a curling shot across the goal into the top corner of the net a real contender for goal of the year.   In the second half it was more of the same, a lot more, with the midfield in complete control and Pitruzzello and Alinejad causing havoc down the flanks the Rovers were mounting attack after attack. As Peninsula cleared the Rovers defenders who were defending high up the pitch simply collected the ball and started a new attack.   During a spell of pressure Rovers won three corners in a row, each one dangerous with one being saved by the keeper by pushing the ball out for a 3rd corner. It was then that the Strikers defence cracked under pressure again with Michael Santoro tapping the ball in from close range, it was 3-0 and the contest was over.   It was time for Joga Benito and it was delightful to watch, if it wasn't for some wonderful saves by Asanovski the Strikers could have found themselves down by more.   But there was more goal to come and it was a cracker, Dias ran at the defence whilst Pitruzzello went wide in line with the defenders making space for Dias, he beat his defender and went wide into as Pitruzzello cut back and went into the centre, Dias delivered a perfect pass to  Pitruzzello on the edge of the 'D' he turned and hit a rocket into the bottom left corner of the net leaving the keeper no chance and making the final score 4 - 0.   With league leader Northcote City losing 2 - 0 to third placed Knox City the Rovers now find themselves in 2nd place only 4 points away from Northcote with five games left to play. Every game is now a must win for the seniors if they are to mount a serious challenge to the leader.   In the earlier match Reserves Coach George Moutafis was all smiles as his young charges out played second placed Peninsula and claimed the second spot on the ladder.   The team peppered the Peninsula goal in the second half with near misses galore, one from only 3 metres out but the breakthrough came in the 85th minute and much to everyone's relief a win was posted and a deserved 3 points were in the bag. First placed Knox drew with Northcote so the Rovers victory saw their lead at the top of the ladder cut to just two points. As for the seniors the resies have to keep winning and they have every chance of claiming the title.   This week Doncaster Rovers take on Eastern Lions who are always hard and competitive. In the seniors the Lions sit in 9th place and they need more points to ensure safety so they will be in for a scrap. Whilst in the reserves the Lions sit in 4th position making it another tough week for both our teams.   The game is at Anderson Park this Friday 1st August 2008, the seniors start at 8.30 and the reserves at 6.30pm. Come support the Senior & Reserve boys as they look to close in on the league leaders at the business end of the season.  WPL This was a critical game for us, and it became more critical as we had a number of girls on retreat in Rye over the weekend returning for the game after a cleansing experience (not). The other big issue though was the state of the surface at one of the outside pitches at Albert Park, there was a significant mud patch on the ground which made keeping your balance very difficult. We made a change to our attack and brought in Keryn, with Dee moving to the right hand side of the pitch to perhaps free her up a bit. The first half it was wave after wave of attack with the final ball just eluding the front players. It was good to see a much more focussed early effort from the girls this week, and it seemed much more obvious we were up for it. South had the dangerous Laura Spiranovic playing up front and her pace had the potential to cause problems but our back four of Ness, TJ, Alex, and CT, plus Nicole held her in check very well. Dee and Fiddy were giving us good width and stretching their defence and Keryn was working very hard to lock balls in and keep possession. Sarah, Kat and Enza provided good support and Sarah had a number of shots (that's what you said they were Sarah wasn't it) but we never really troubled the keeper. We broke the deadlock when a cross cum shot was brilliantly controlled by Dee who the spun and slotted a left foot effort past the keeper. The rest of the first half was much of the same and at half time it was 1-0 and it was a pleasure for the girls to get off the park and into the changing room. We talked about the fact that South would come out all guns blazing and that we needed to keep our concentration and the game was there to be won. Two minutes into the half a lovely cross field ball from TJ found Enza and Sarah with an opportunity, Sarah left it to Enza and she smashed it past the keeper from the edge of the box. Renee had come on at half time for Fiddy who had jarred her knee a bit, and she looked lively down the left. The game was sealed when a defender handled the ball in the box, it was a softish decision but it was there, and Dee dispatched the penalty low to the keeper's right and we were home and hosed. Little Kat, Age and Steph all went on and played their part in a much more convincing win that the scoreline indicated. All that was left to do was to drag Alex through the mud, just because we could and to sing Happy Birthday to CT. Alex's mum was so happy about that and thanked all the girls for their attention. Well done girls, now for the next one. Womens SL3 Senior Women record hard-fought 4-1 win over Mornington Flames   Dwight D.Eisenhower said: "Its not necessarily the size of the dog in in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog" and on Sunday night, like two weeks ago against Noble Park, the Doncaster Rovers Senior women proved that saying to be true when they recorded a hard-fought 4-1 win over a much bigger and mature Mornington Flames at home on Anderson Park in wet cold conditions. And again like the previous two matches that they have won every single woman in the side gave it their all in this victory. Rovers again had a nervous start but by half time the score was a very tight one - nil lead to Rovers through Siobhan Gray who scored a beautiful goal from inside the box after beating several defenders. Siobhan along with Elyse Kyrgios had stepped up from the U15's to help a depleted Senior Women's side who again had five senior women unable to play this week. Both Elyse and Siobhan had great games although unfortunately Elyse had to leave the pitch late in the second half with a painful hand injury. The game commenced with only three subs on the bench but with 10 minutes to go injury and attrition had left coach Jim with no uninjured substitutes left on the bench. Not to be daunted Rovers still prevailed and despite intense physical pressure from Mornington, Rovers were still able to put three more goals in the net before the final whistle. Mornington Flames did manage to pull a goal back in the 72nd minute which at the time meant the game was close at 2 -1 however a third and fourth goal to Rovers followed soon afterwards to put the game beyond Mornington's reach. Rebeka Morris played her usual hard, impeccable role in goal, however a fingertip save she made when the score was 2-1 probably saved the game as the momentum that Mornington would have got from a goal at that time could have been devastating for Rovers. Larisa Dumitriu had a sublime game and followed up last weeks hat trick with another two this week. Larisa really stood up as the team was without goal machine "The Exon Valdez" through injury. Siobhan adding another goal to her tally was also a remarkable display for one so young playing at a senior level. It was great to see the two of the injured players in Jade & Natalie on the bench cheering their team mates on. A serious injury to Christie Syrrafos was a body blow to the team as Christie along with Effie Paparas has been a dominant in the midfield for the Rovers particularly in the last few weeks. Jim had to juggle the structure very quickly after Christie's departure. Megs Rindfleisch who has just returned from a four week lay-off didn't make an appearance until the second half but despite her lay-off and lack of match fitness Megs played extremely well, persisted admirably and after getting her eye in played the whole second half and really got on top of her wing, feeding some excellent balls through to the forward line and defending as required. Laura Sernio's task on Mornington's best player who wears the number 10 was a mother of all match ups. and a real David and Goliath show. Despite giving away what seemed like 18 inches Laura held her opponent all night as did the rest of the defence in Kirsty McInnes, Emily Cipa and Rania Hatzopoulos who brought that stability to the backline that was missing early last week. Tata Iskander & Corina Ianotta both played their hearts out too, won many, many balls and kept delivering countless crosses and through balls to their team mates. The victory consolidates Rovers in 3rd spot on the ladder but more importantly gives Rover's the drop on Mornington with only a point separating them but Rovers have a game in hand. A victory in Rovers catch up game could see Rovers leap-frog into 2nd spot and extends the winning streak to six games during which they have scored an amazing 31 goals. The win puts them within striking distance of ladder leader, Albert Park, who they play in a couple of weeks. Like the game against Noble Park two weeks ago this game also had an edge to it as last time these two teams met down the peninsula Rovers dominated the second half but lost one - nil through a messy, scrambled deflected corner that Rovers should have cleared. Sunday's 4 - 1 victory put paid to any doubt as to which is the better side. Well done to all 13 Rovers women who fought hard today and keep the title hopes alive.

2008 July 24th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 24th July 2008

In This Issue End of Season Rap Night Brazil Trip Representative Honours WPL Mens SL2 Womens SL3 www.DoncasterRovers.org  ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. Club Results YTD   Meet the Committee Steve Hargitay   In his 15th year at the club and 11th as an elected official, Steve is our club President. It is difficult to imagine where Rovers would be now without the tireless efforts and passionate dedication that Steve has shown to the development of our great club.  With both of his sons playing for many years with Doncaster he still has one boy in our U16s   Contact details for the entire Committee of Management can be found at:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx      FFV launch Sports Development Program FOOTBALL Federation Victoria, with the help of SEDA (Sports Education and Development Australia) are pleased to announce the launch of the FFV Sports Development Program for 2009. This is an opportunity for current year 10 and 11 students to develop a career in the Sport and Recreation Industry by working with FFV. This course offers opportunities for graduates in areas of sports management, sports administration, event management, facility management, fitness, coaching and many other areas of the Sport and Recreation Industry. It also gives the students a chance to work on some of the existing FFV programs such as the MVFC Schools 5-a-Side and Telstra Football Anytime. For more information and to register  http://www.footballfedvic.com.au/development/sportdevprogram/index.php   End of Season Rap Night ...mark in your diary now...   More details to follow in coming weeks  Sunday August 31st from 5pm Brazil Trip Fundraiser

Rovers are pleased to announce the start of our annual club raffle. We again have exciting prizes which include a framed Australian playing shirt personally signed by Marco Bresciano, a glass boxed goal keeper glove signed by Mark Schwarzer, a mounted ball signed by Archie Thompson, a luxury bed and an extravagant haircare hamper. Tickets are in books of 10 and each ticket only costs $3.  Books will be distributed to all teams on the week beginning 28th July 2008 with proceeds from this years raffle to go towards off setting our large financial contribution to the development of the new artificial surface pitch.     The future of football at Rovers. The new artificial pitch is now complete and all teams will get an opportunity to train over the remainder of the season and beyond.  Congratulations   Kariah White from our U15A Girls was one of 5 Victorian Representatives selected in the Select XI during last weeks Friendship Games in Sydney. Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club wish to congratulate Kariah on an outstanding achievement and wishes her a successful playing career. The tournament, which featured Victoria's best under 13 metropolitan and country girls and boys, was hailed a major success by all involved with some impressive performances. Victoria's under 13 Boys Metro team remained undefeated throughout the tournament, while the under 13 Boys Country, Under 13 Girls Metro and Country all put in some dazzling performances against the nations best.  WPL   We had a point to prove in this one both to ourselves and to Keilor. We had lost the first game at their ground to a very convincing 5 - 2 scoreline albeit with a different tea. All the girls knew what was required and came prepared to play. We made a few changes with Alex and Nicole coming back in from injury, Alex's injury in particular was long term so we were very pleased to get her back. Jade also moved from the centre of defence to a wide midfield position and her aggressive running was a bonus for us on the night. The game started of at a cracking pace and following a goalmouth scramble, Enza squared the ball across goal for Dee to rifle it home, just under a minute gone and we were up 1 - 0. We were in full control in the main and it was no real surprise when we went 2 - 0 up when Fiddy made a great run across a defender and got on to Jade's cross with a fine angled header, no adjustment to the headband was needed. From there it was end to end with Keilor deciding to go down fighting if they were going to go down and they produced a spirited 15 minutes which led to a goal from a free kick 20 metres out. It was a very good strike over the wall and in off the underside of the bar, so it was 2 -1 and all to play for now. Half time came with no more score. The half time discussion was more of the same and we talked about our midfield players just dropping slightly to get a better angle at the ball defensively, the attitude was solid and we went out confident that the game was there for the taking, all we had to do was take it. Again the game was fairly open although we did look the more positive and the more dangerous, and after 20 minutes following a lovely passage of play down the left involving a number of players Jade responded well to a loud shot to "Get in the Box" and got in front of the keeper to convert a cross, so it was now 3 - 1 and we were in command. Their keeper made a couple of good saves and we missed another couple of scoring chances before Kat slid in and got on the end of a cross from Jade to score our fourth, and we ran the game out pretty well from there. This was a good advert for the Women's game again and was end to end and quite exciting even if you were not one of the coaches. Once more we were pretty sound at the back, with Alex coming through unscathed and TJ very solid.. No passengers and still now all to play for with Heidelberg beating Preston on Sunday. We need to keep winning and keep the pressure on the others particularly Heidelberg and Preston. Well done girls, big game, big hearts, big win.  Mens SL2   Last Gasp After defeating the top team last week Rovers travelled to the picturesque Partingtons Flats to meet Diamond Valley. The playing conditions were less that picturesque with the playing surface being very paddock like. The first half started with a real shock as only 10 minutes in to the game the referee judged that Matthew Wilson unfairly pushed his player and immediately awarded a penalty to the Valley men. As on other occasions this year Mark Torcaso in the Rovers goal was unfazed and confidently saved the resultant spot kick. In contrast to the fiery start that balance of the first half settled in to a dour affair with both teams being often beaten by the rough surface. Rovers threatened the Valley goal with some good work from Ramon Dias and Seb Barrera in the midfield and Stefanidis coming close with the shot. In the closing minutes of the half Dias was put through by Dalben and he skipped past his defender, Valley sweeper Stewart Laing ushered him wide but Dias still managed a low hard cross which evaded all and skipped to safety. There seemed to be greater urgency from both teams in the second stanza and anything Valley through at the Rovers defence was dealt with relative ease by the back three of Jugovic, Santoro and Kastura. The more the half wore on we saw the likes of Kastura and Jugovic actually breaking forward in search of the elusive goal. What the Diamond Valley players lack in skill they make up for in sheer effort and toughness and the tackles kept coming at the Rovers players, free kicks being floated in by Dalben and Kastura caused concern for the Valley but the strikers failed to find the net. A corner in the 74th minute was put in low and hard by Fikret Korkaric and met by the low diving head of Stefanidis, he directed his header at goals which whistled just wide of the post. Rovers were now attacking in waves and were in control of the game and you could sense that with the pressure the break through would come. In the 82nd the breakthrough did come when on the left Shayan Alinejad pushed the ball across to Korkaric who let fly with at shot from 20 metres low and hard that whistled past the sea of defenders and the near post to put Rovers 1 - 0 up with 8 minutes to go. As the news filtered through that the league leader Northcote was losing at Eastern Lions the game became tenser. Diamond Valley through caution to the wind and pushed forward in numbers looking for at least a draw as they need the points to keep away from a potential relegation battle. Coach Biskic urged his charges to push forward and defend higher up the park and as the minutes ticked away it looked like 3 points to Rovers, except for a last gasp twist where the ball went out of play and the linesman pointed to for a goalkick, but the Referee overruled him and gave a corner in the 91st minute and from that corner Edward Awad rose above all the defenders and powerfully headed home the equaliser. Another last gasp goal denied Rovers the win and all the points. The draw puts the seniors in 2nd place on the ladder 7 points behind Northcote City and with five games to play. In the reserves it was also a case of two important points lost as the 3rd placed Rovers drew with the last placed Valley men. This put the young lad's four points off the top spot. This week the Doncaster Rovers play at home against a resurgent Peninsula Strikers, after a winless first half of the season for the seniors the boys from the coast will be in buoyant mood after a win last week lifted them off the bottom of the ladder for the first time this season. Whilst in the reserves it is the third placed Rovers taking on the second placed Peninsula, a must win for both teams if they are to stay in the hunt for the respective titles. The game is at Anderson Park this Friday 25th July 2008, the seniors start at 8.30 and the reserves at 6.30pm. Come support the Senior & Reserve boys as they look to cement their positions near the top of the ladder.  Womens SL3   Rovers have hard fought 6 -3 win away from home Doncaster Rovers fought back from a 2 nil deficit to defeat mid table Sandringham 6 goals to 3 away from home in windy & wet conditions on Sunday afternoon. Sandringham took the lead after only 6 minutes play and followed up with another goal 3 minutes later despite Rovers having had most of the possession. Rovers defence was lethargic early but that's not taking anything away from the young Sandringham side who pressured the Rovers side into making a couple of crucial defensive errors in the box. Rovers quickly pulled one back through a great goal from Larissa Dumitriu after a wonderful cross from the "The Exon Valdez" A few minutes later Rovers were back on level terms with a well hit strike from Christie Syrrafos from way outside the 18 yard box that lobbed the goal keeper and dropped into the back of the net. In the words of Henry David Thoreau the poet & philosopher; "In the long run you hit only what you aim at" and I can assure you Christie certainly did just that!! This was the turning point of the match which Rovers then went on to dominate and by half-time both Larissa and "The Exon Valdez" had added further goals and the score was 4 goals to 2 in Rover's favour. There was concern for Rovers ability to sustain their dominance as they only had one sub in Jacquie Pomogacs on the bench. Jacquie had a heavy chest infection but still took her place in the side despite her illness. Twice during the game Christie was forced to leave the field through injury and in both occasions Jacquie did a great job in her place despite her illness. The second half saw Larissa achieve her first hat trick for the season after a penetrating ball from Kirsty down the right and Rovers now had a 3 goal buffer with the score standing at 5 goals to 2. Sandringham kept trying though and their endeavours were rewarded soon afterwards when the referee inexplicably paid a goal that was kicked out of goal keeper Rebeka's hands. Rebeka took some time to regain her feet after the goal as she was also kicked in the head in the same incident. It was a most unusual goal to say the least. There were a few anxious moments as Rovers kept pressuring for more goals and Sandringham tried to get them on the break, but the 3 goal buffer was restored close to the final whistle when Effie Paparas beat a couple of defenders, and despite being forced up against the touchline scored an amazing 20 yard goal from the tightest of angles that completely flummoxed the goal keeper. The entire Women's team did The Doncaster Rovers Club proud on Sunday. With regulars of Anna, Corina, Kate, Katie, Megs, & Rania all unavailable, the rest of the side dug deep and played a full 90 minutes under windy and wet conditions away from home. Without the regular sweeper in Rania and another defender in Kate the defence had to be completely revamped. Laura did very well in the sweeper role and Emily, Kirsty and Sass all worked really well together after their early hiccup. The midfield & wings in Jade, Effie, Christie & Tata must be commended too, their work rate was incredible as they helped out in defence and contributed towards wave after wave of attack. No wonder they were all exhausted at the conclusion of the match. Rovers now have scored an amazing 52 goals and have a goal difference of 37 which is 7 goals better than their nearest rival in second placed Mornington Flames who they play at home at Anderson Park next week. What a match that will be!

2008 July 17th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 17th July 2008

In This Issue Meet the CoM Brazillian Trip Club Photos SL3 Women SL2 Men WPL www.DoncasterRovers.org    ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more.  Club Results after 400 games   Deepest Sympathies   The thoughts and sincere condelences from all at Rovers are with the Hargitay Families.   Sandra Hargitay passed away last Friday, mother of Andrew in our Reserves, Alex in the U16 Superleague and Eva.  To her husband Bill and the children your friends at Doncaster Rovers are thinking of you. Meet the Committee   Peter Apostolopoulos Peter is the rock upon which Rovers has been built in recent years and the font of knowledge on all things soccer.  In his 7th year as an elected club official, Peter is the clubs Treasurer and Registrar.  He has sons playing in the U16s and U13s and owns his own Accounting practice.   Contact details for the entire Committee of Management can be found at:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx  Brazil Trip Fundraising The fundraising also continues for our U15 girls end of the season trip with Tickets now selling for "DARK KNIGHT (BATMAN)" on Sat 19th July at 8pm  $15 for movie ticket and chocolate/twisties   To reserve tickets contact Tina Privitelli on 0417 054 976 or for more information email Pina Sernio at pina@sernio.com.au   or look out for parents & friends selling tickets at the club this weekend.

With only 6 weeks or so until we finish the winter competitions, preparations are well underway for our summer activities with the new artificial surface an exciting resource at our disposal.   Thanks to everyone who have helped so far this season.   If you have been wondering how you can be of assistance to the club, a simple way is to help out at the canteen on match days.  There is an added bonus of a refund of the canteen levy that all families paid at the time of registration.  Just make yourself known to Laney or one of the other helpers when you're next at Anderson Park. Club Photos  Reminder that the 2008 club photos are being shot over the next 2 Saturdays.  If you are unsure when your teams photo will be taken please contact your team manager before the weekend. It's a pretty green !    ..and it's not long before you'll be playing on it. SL3 Women Senior Women record hard-fought 3-2 win over Noble Park Tom Clancy said "We cannot fail to win unless we fail to try" and on Sunday night the Doncaster Rovers Senior women proved that saying to be true when they recorded a hard-fought 3-2 win over Noble Park at home on Anderson Park in artic conditions. Every single woman in the side gave it their all in Sunday Night's victory which saw Noble Park trailing 3 nil by the half-time break. The victory moves Rovers comfortably into 3rd place on the ladder and extends their winning streak to four games. They have now scored an amazing 21 goals in the past 4 matches and are averaging more than 4 goals a match this season to date. They will be pressing hard over the next few weeks to challenge the Division leaders; Albert Park & Mornington Flames. On Sunday, "The Exon Valdez" following up on her 6 goals lat week, struck 3 times for Rovers in the first-half to give Rovers a comfortable lead, however a five minute burst early in the second half enabled Noble Park to claw back to 2 goals to 3 by 15 minutes in. Jim had to call on all his coaching prowess to make some inspired substitutions and changes as Noble Park's increased intensity combined with some telling injuries to a couple of Rover's women took its toll. To Rovers credit they held on and counter attacked constantly, creating numerous more scoring opportunities than Noble Park in the second half. Rovers were extremely unlucky not to have added several goals to the half-time score. The game had an edge to it from the beginning as last time these two teams met at the Norman Luth Reserve the Rovers completely dominated that game but were pick-pocketed in the dying minutes by a doubtful off-side penalty that was granted to their Noble Park's very able striker. The Noble Park striker has a habit of tripping over her own feet and hitting the turf like she's been shot at regular intervals throughout the duration of a game. Her "Logie" winning efforts were to no avail last night as the referee had her measure, as did Sass, Kirsty & Laura who took turns in keeping her at bay most of the night. Last time these teams met the Rovers women were very distraught after the loss but in line with the old adage "Don't get angry, get even" on Sunday night they turned it round and won one of the hardest fought victories of their 2008 season. It was intense for the Rover's women and I can assure you that both Jim & myself on the sidelines were almost as exhausted and relieved as them when the final whistle blew after a very prolonged injury time. Any more matches as exciting as this this one and we'll need a cardiologist sitting on the side line with us "just in case"!! SL2 Men     Firsts defeated Northcote 3 - 1   Reserves defeated Northcote 4 - 1   Friday night was a game, both clubs have been waiting for since the first round when DRSC beat Northcote in a hard fought, tight game in which Doncaster Rovers won 1 nil. This result was the only loss Northcote had suffered for the year and they came to Anderson Park wanting to avenge the loss. What Northcote was not prepared for, was a Doncaster Rovers team that wanted, equally, to inflict Northcote's second loss for the year. The top two teams were set for a battle, and bragging rights as to the better team.   When the game started we saw two teams on the park pushing the ball around keeping possession till the opportunity had arisen to create a chance on goal. The first ten minutes was a battle of the midfield, with both teams trying to get the ascendency and control of the game. Doncaster, had its first opportunity in the 8 minute mark when a long cross from the right flank, by Pitruzzello, evaded the Northcote keeper as he came to get the ball and Robbie Ardesi headed the ball just wide of the post. Doncaster was now getting on top of Northcote and shutting down Northcote's top goal scorer in Trent Nixon.In the 15 minute mark a long ball by a Northcote player was about to be cleared by our goalkeeper who was caught in two minds and slipped, which allowed the Northcote player to get the ball and score a gift for his team. The celebrations by the players only seemed to spur the Doncaster team to new heights. Doncaster at this stage had complete control of the game and placing a lot of pressure on the defence of Northcote. It was only a matter of time before we scored. Along ball from a free kick was put into the box, Mladen flew in front of the keeper, who dropped the ball which fell at the feet of Shefgi, who banged the ball into the net. The scores now were 1 all, and all the ascendancy with Doncaster. Northcote players and staff were not happy with the decision of the referee and thought it was a foul on the keeper.   It was not long after when the second goal for Doncaster arrived when Ramon received a perfect pass from Micheal Santoro, which split the defenders and Ramon with pace and skill passed the defenders and in typical Brazilian style, eloquently chipped the keeper to make the scores 2 - 1 to Doncaster.   The second half started as the first finished with control to Doncaster, and more and more opportunities to score. Northcote, at times was controlling the ball quite well but at no stage was threatening the goal. The turning point in the game was when Trent Nixon the leagues top goal scorer in frustration of being denied the ball lashed out at our keeper Mark, receiving his second yellow and thus leaving the field of play. Northcote was now playing with ten men, this seemed to spur them on, and for the next ten minutes regained the ascendency putting pressure onto the Doncaster defence and limiting us to counter attacks. Although Northcote pressured and gained four corners in a row none had threatened our goal line and the defence stood firm. Joe Biskic at this stage lost Robbie Ardesi to injury substituting him for Jhoan Sebastion, and followed by another substitution by replacing Marco Dal Ben with Daniel Sahinidis.   These changes gave Drsc the momentum to score another goal and this came in the 75 minute mark when Ramon Dias received the ball just outside the box, dribbled two players and calmly slotted the ball passed the keeper to make the scores 3-1. It was all Doncaster now and with 4 minutes to go we received a penalty. Shefgi being the designated penalty taker allowed Ramon to take the penalty so he can score his third goal for the game. Ramon calmly steps up to take the penalty, and in unlikely Brazilian style missed the target completely and thus his hat trick. A disappointing end to a very good and entertaining game. WPL    Coming off a very disappointing last minute winner for Preston last week the girls seemed a bit flat during the warm up and it flowed over into the first half where we allowed Heidelberg a bit too much room and paid them too much respect. We lost Tara before the game with a slight strain, this after Nicole was unable to play as well so Rebecca came in and played in goal after playing in the reserves and had a very good game, her movement, confidence and talking were impressive. Both Heidelberg goals came from set pieces, one a free kick the other a corner where we just didn't defend well and allowed them to win headers far too cleanly and easily, God our girls are so nice and fair.......... Anyway we didn't really put them under too much pressure although Dee was unlucky not to score running on to a through ball from Enza, but the keeper managed to block the effort. Half time came and the score was 2-0 to Heidelberg, probably deservedly. Second half we changed it up and pushed an extra player into midfield and played more with two recognised strikers and it certainly helped, the game was much more even in the second half and while we didn't really threaten them we matched and probably ended up slightly the better side in the half. Heidelberg's busy striker was a constant source of pressure and from one effort when she rounded Rebecca, TJ got back and blocked her finish on the line throwing her body at it and deflecting the ball for a corner. We are heading in to the home stretch as far as games go and really need to win all the coming games to give ourselves a good show of playing in the finals, we regrouped on Tuesday at training and I am very confident that we will both win all our games and give a good account of ourselves in the finals, but as they say in the classics "If it is to be, it is up to me" and we all need to take this on board individually and get on with it, some coaching prowess would be good as well I suppose. Keilor on Friday night, bring it on.............. Reserves   A cold Sunday morning at the bumpy Olympic Village ground against a strengthened Heidelberg squad with the return of several first team players was potentially a tougher game than round one when we lost 4 - 0. After our usual warm-up there were some signs of life among the players including Tash and Emily coming out of their Sunday morning hibernation. A special mention to Alyssa for staying home again the night before a Sunday game so she was fresh for the match - only five more weekends to go!   The first half was fairly even with Heidelberg trying to use their pace up front getting behind our defence however Dana, Jess, Tania, Emily, Aimee and Alyssa were maintaining our defensive structure. Heidelberg did break thru once but Tara made a great reflex save to keep the score 0 - 0. We seem to be cruising along towards half time when we misjudged a long ball out of the Heidelberg defence allowing it to bounce over our back four for an easy chance to make it 1 - 0 to Heidelberg.   The second half was much like the first however we failed to mark one of their taller players on the edge of the six yard box at a corner and despite Beck Li Rosi's (Tara came off with an injury at half time) best efforts Heidelberg headed home for a 2 - 0 score line. We started to tire in midfield in the last twenty minutes with Heidelberg having more of the ball. Our back four and Beck in goals held them out and with 15 minutes left Tash played a ball into Caitlyn on the right wing who ran into the box and knocked the ball high into the net to make it 2 - 1. There were many shouts of offside from the Heidelberg bench but I think a defender on the far side of the box was just keeping Caitlyn on-side.   Well done girls for another improved performance however we need to take another step forward in the last five rounds particularly with keeping possession and building our attacking play.

2008 July 9th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 9th July 2008

In This Issue Raffle Fashion Show Movie Deal Womens Premier League SL2 Men SL3 Women www.DoncasterRovers.org   ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. Club Results after 370 games  Meet your Committee John Palomares   There doesn't seem to be a day go by when John is not helping out at the club.  A school teacher by day and a tireless stalwart at Rovers for many years, John has been an club official since 2006 and has a son in the U14s    Contact details for the entire Committee of Management can be found on our website at:  http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/ContactList/tabid/136/Default.aspx    2008 Club Raffle Over $4000 in Prizes including   Bed - valued at $2000 Hair Care Hamper - valued at $600 Framed Australian shirt signed by Marco Bresciano Boxed Pair of goalkeeper gloves signed by Mark Schwarzer Mounted soccer ball signed by Archie Thompson Drawn at half time in the last Senior Mens home game - Saturday 6th September   Tickets to be distributed over the coming week.     FASHION SHOW FUNDRAISER   Supporting the Under 15 Girls Brazil Tour   DOOR PRIZE - $100 GIFT VOUCHER   Where:  Anderson Park Clubrooms   When:  Tuesday 29th July, 2008   Time:  6.00pm - 9.30 approx.   10% of all sales go towards the tour costs    Exclusive Ladies Fashions supplied by   Postie Fashions     Sizes 6 - 28.

Clinics   Congratulations to all of the players who participated in the school holiday clinics and thank-you to everyone who contributed to the successful running of these events.   New Pitch   The new artificial surface at Anderson Park is all that much closer and a sign of the future at Rovers.  With the prospect of grounds not being available until well into the new year we can take some comfort in having an all weather surface available to get us going each season.  The new pitch will also provide us the opportunity to continue activities after our turf pitches are closed for summer rehabilitation.   Photos   Team Managers would have by now circulated information about the clubs photo days scheduled across the last 2 Saturdays in July.  Please check with your TM to confirm your teams time slot. Movie Tickets  The fundraising continues for our U15 girls who will be travelling to Brazil at the end of the season.  Tickets are now selling for "DARK KNIGHT (BATMAN)" on Sat 19th July at 8pm   $15 for movie ticket and chocolate/twisties   To reserve tickets contact Tina Privitelli on 0417 054 976 or for more information email Pina Sernio at pina@sernio.com.au  or look out for parents & friends selling tickets at the club this weekend. WPL  Well we looked forward to the game against our old foes Preston with some confidence, although we were missing Dee, Alex, Sarah, Nicole, and with Christie and Enza carrying injuries but determined to play.Our pre game stuff was better than normal but once we got out there it was the same old Eltham, second to the ball, lacking intensity and basically quite happy to be second to the ball in general and run beside people rather than in front. They never really created and they were happy to mark our key players and play in front of us, and Tara really didn't have much to do at all. We created a few chances but generally the game was played in midfield with very little in the way of enterprise and excitement. Both sides had penalty claims turned down and Preston played their normal "hard at it" game with the referee doing very little to maintain control and allowing a number of dodgy tackles to go unpunished. In the second half we tried to turn it around but it was obvious that certain players were intimidated by the Preston approach and tiredness was becoming a factor. Preston pushed their top scorer from right back where she was playing (see what I mean by enterprise) up front and from a defensive lapse with about three minutes to go she was played through and despite a last gasp tackle from TJ she stayed on her feet and placed it past Tara and it was 1 - 0 and no way back. To be honest we didn't deserve to come back and while they were no better than us they definitely wanted it more and were prepared to sacrifice more to get the result so all credit to them. It all goes to show that better football teams don't always win football matches, some times you have to battle as well and we need to learn that particularly against the Prestons, Sandringham's and Bendigo's of this world who have that attribute in spades.   We have Heidelberg next week in a must win game if we are to feel confident about featuring in the finals. Once again it is up to us but we need to think about Respect, attitude, determination and intensity.   Reserves   This was a game we expected to have a good chance of winning given our gradual improvement in the second half of the season. A number of players were unavailable which restricted our attacking options and resulted in most of the game being played out in midfield. The defences were on top in the first half with only some half chances being created and a 0 - 0 score line at half time. Preston was playing their usual style of football with late tackles and a lot of pushing resulting in a number of stoppages due to injuries. Just before half time Beck LR fell awkwardly and injured her wrist but fortunately it was probably not a break and after bandaging at half time Beck came back on in the second half. The second half continued the same as the first with both defences doing well without any real scoring chances being created (we missed Caitlyn playing up front).   A late tackle on Beck LR saw the Preston player needing to be carried off on a stretcher with a shin injury plus a yellow card and Preston were down to 10 players with 20 minutes left. Beck recovered from that tackle and went on to create a few scoring chances including one great shot that rebounded off the cross bar. Well done Beck for playing on and showing some determination despite the injury and late tackles.   The late tackles continued with Tash having to come off with a corked thigh, Jess having her shins given a good workout and we finished the second half with 11 players!  Unfortunately we did not/could not take advantage of the extra player in the last 20 minutes by using the wide areas and switching the play.   Well done girls for a solid defensive performance which we can take into the game next Sunday v Heidelberg. SL2 Men    Save after Save after Save   After the win last week Coach Joe Biskic decided to stay with the same young line up going into this away encounter with Casey Comets in Cranbourne.   The return from suspension of Michael Santoro and Dragan Jugovic and the return from injury of Robbie Ardesi and Fikret Korkaric meant that the Rovers had an exceptionally strong bench going into this game.   It was a different encounter to when the teams met at Anderson Park earlier this year, on that occasion Casey raced to a 3-0 lead inside 30 minutes and Rovers fought hard to come back to 3-2.   This time it was all Rovers, Casey had some early shots but nothing to worry Mark Torcaso in goals. But it was Rovers that settled and gave the Casey defends some headaches; good movement up front by Sefgi Murat, Jeff Stefanidis, Ramon Dias and young Stefan Pitzurrelli meant that the Casey defence often had to resort to fouls to keep the boys at bay.   A shot on target hit with venom by Dias in the 15th minute was met by Rob Acs with an acrobatic dive, not long after a diving header by Stefanidis was parried around the post, a shot by Murat whistled past the post. But it was Casey that went ahead in the 35th minute when an unmarked Paul Presti capitalised on a defensive slip up and curled the ball around the outstretched Torcaso.   In the second half Rovers were hungry and they hunted in packs as they gave the Casey players no room.  Acs was busy in the Casey goal with shots from Dalben, Santoro, Korkaric, Dias and Pitzurrelli all being saved. In the 67th minute Santoro worked his way into the box and it looked as though Acs had again thwarted the goal as he closed down Santoro who now turned to keep the keeper from collecting the ball. With his back to goal and with the keeper shielding him Santoro turned on a sixpence and hit the back of the net to make it 1 - 1.   Casey now had their backs to the wall and Acs again saved a shot from Korkaric, this time he saved with his feet. Then with only seconds remaining Dalben unleashed one of his specialities from long distance and it beat the keeper and dipped but not soon enough as it grazed the top of the bar to go over and it remained one each.   The reserves seemed to be coasting to a win at 3-1 up, but late in the second half Casey made it 3-2. In a bizarre last 3 minutes Casey scored twice and then with the last kick Rovers missed a penalty and went down 4-3.   This week the Rovers meet table topping Northcote City who have not lost a game since the Rover beat them 1-0 at Northcote earlier in the year.   The game is at Anderson Park this Friday 11th July 2008, the seniors start at 8.30 and the reserves at 6.30pm. Come see the boys put a dent in the ego's of the Northcote boys! SL3 Women    Report unavailable at time of print.   Round 11 was a victory over Ashburton 7 to nil with Natalie Exon kicking 6 of the goals !

2008 July 2nd

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter July 2nd 2008

In This Issue Movie Tickets SL2 Men WPL SL3 Women www.DoncasterRovers.org   ...follow the links from the club website to all of the latest results, fixtures, junior match reports, club contact information and much more. Club Results YTD

What a great time the kids are having at the school holiday clinic that has been running this week.  The feedback has been fantastic with a lot of happy young players soaking up the mix of skills & drills on the pitch and through talks with the likes of Melbourne Victory's National Youth League coach Mehmed Durakovic, Victory's Keeper coach Steve Mautone, A-League and Australian striker Danny Allsopp and our own Brazilian star Ramon.   A big THANK-YOU to all of these guys for coming down to support the clinic.   Movie Tickets  The fundraising continues for our U15 girls travelling to Brazil at the end of the season.  Tickets are now selling for the next movie deal being the Premier of MAMMA MIA next Thursday 10th July.  For more information please contact Pina Sernio by email at pina@sernio.com.au or look out for parents & friends selling tickets at the club this weekend. SL2 Men    5 CHANGES & 15 MINUTES After two away games the Rovers seniors were back at Anderson Park on Friday night to welcome back Chelsea for their second visit of the season. All the talk in the Chelsea camp was that they have been waiting and waiting for the eleven weeks to pass to avenge the 4 nil defeat Rovers gave them in the second round of the season.   Joe Biskic had to make five changes to last weeks team as defenders Michael Santoro and Dragan Jugovic were both suspended, whilst Davide Iacovitti was out with fractured bone, Captain Rob Ardesi was out with hamstring troubles and striker Fikret Kokaric was on the bench due to a saw thigh. Add to this five the fact that Shayan Alinejad was still out suspended, Rob Bresciano out with an ankle injury and John Strateas was again injured with a knee strain and the team was completely different to the one that beat Chelsea eleven rounds ago, ten players out meant it was time for the young reserves to step up to the plate!   Debuts were handed to Sebastian Barnio and Stephan Pitruzzello, and the team welcomed back Matthew Wilson for his first game since last season after he had an operation to his hip.   Chelsea started in its usual aggressive fashion fuelled by the ever effervescent comments from their coach Toby Paterson. The new structure of the Rovers seemed nervous and tentative and the early running was from the tough and fast forwards of Chelsea. John Petridis was back at sweeper and he marshalled his two stoppers, Kastura and Wilson but the pressure was on.   In the midfield new player Sebastian Barnio looked useful working hard and tackling hard, the endeavour was there but the players often found themselves on different wavelengths as they had not played as unit before this evening.   Early breaks down the right by Pitruzzello and surging by Ramon Dias and Sefgi Murat gave Chelsea's defence some real headaches. Dias could have scored when one on one with the keeper he put the ball just wide of the upright.   Mid way through the half Chelsea were applying the pressure and were getting the better of the game. Their reward came in the 27th minute when a long ball down the left saw the cross met by the incoming Kris Paterson to put the opposition a goal to the good.   The half time talk did the Rovers a world of good as the team came out more composed and more assured of themselves and the early nerves seemed gone. It only took 4 minutes after the restart and the ball was played to the right by Marco Dalben to Murat who knocked the ball behind the Chelsea defence for Pitruzzello to run on to it, he left the defenders behind and used the space to go around the Chelsea keeper who had advanced outside the area and he calmly rolled the ball into the empty net an equaliser and a goal on his debut!   Rovers were now the better team and Chelsea on the back foot, although there was always concern when Chelsea went forward. But it was only 10 minutes later on the 59th minute when a quick passing between Stefanidis, Pitruzzello put the young winger clear down the right wing, his cross was low and hard and the in running Murat whacked the ball with venom into the back of the net - what a come back 2 - 1 up and the team was playing nice football.   Chelsea now started committing players to attack and the gaps were being exploited by the fleet of foot Rovers players. On the 80th minute the hard working Pitruzzello nearly put the game beyond doubt when he unleashed a shot from outside the area that beat the outstretched keeper but cannoned back off the post.   However the last hoorah of the night went to Mark Torcaso when in the last minute he dived high and wide to get to a shot that was sneaking in under the cross bar, Torcaso stretched and got his finger tips to it and pushed it over the cross bar. With that the game ended at 2- 1 to the Rovers and the boys were back on the winning list.   The win puts the Seniors equal 2nd on the later and still chasing Northcote City who are clear on top by 9 points.   In the earlier game the Reserves met their nemesis of the past few seasons and were looking to turn around the 2 - 0 defeat they suffered in the second round of the year. The team played assure football and te skill level was beyond that of Chelsea. Having gone a goal down the young Rovers came back with at vengeance and won the game by a convincing 4 - 1 margin. This puts the boys into 2nd place only 4 point behind Knox City.   Next week it's a road trip as the team travels to Cranbourne to meet Casey Comets who inflicted the first defeat of the year on Rovers in round three. Reserves start at 1pm and the seniors at 3pm.   Comets Stadium, O'Tooles Road, Cranbourne, Melway Map 133 Ref G6 WPL    We were hoping for a follow up performance backing up from the big effort against Box Hill last week, and we had one of our new signings Jade available. Cranbourne was a cold and windy place and we knew it would be a battle. Well battle it was, and they were far more up for it than we were early on, making us look very pedestrian for the first 25 minutes or so. We were a bit shell shocked and after 20 minutes we were 2 - 0 down and struggling. Last year that may have been the end for us, but this year we rolled up our sleeves and dug a bit deeper. It's amazing what, an extra year's experience, some new players and a bit more self belief does. Unfortunately we lost CT with a slight hamstring injury which meant Jade came on as a centre back, and full credit to her she played very well in an unusual role. Dee and Enza began to have a bigger impact and with our midfield getting a bit closer we began to make some inroads. It's also positive that I believed we would get it back and thought that if we could just get one before half time we were in with a big shout. With about 12 minutes to go until half time Dee chased a ball she had no right to win, held off the defender and then calmly placed it past their keeper, 2 - 1 and our tails were up. 5 minutes to go and Dee collected a throw in, turned the defender on the line and squared the ball to Enza who had made a great near post run and she smashed it past the keeper giving her no chance at all. Half time 2 - 2 and we had the wind in the second half. We had to replace Nicole however as she suffered a groin strain and could not continue so Tara came into the side. It took Cranbourne a long time to actually get out of their half in the second half and we pressured them well for the first 20 - 25 minutes as we had talked about at half time. Dee scored her second, making another great near post run and getting on the end of a cross from the right hand side. It was an excellent goal and again demonstrated the benefit of getting across defenders and into dangerous areas, just a touch and the ball flew past the keeper. For some reason then gaps developed between our midfield players and our forwards and Cranbourne capitalised somewhat and had much more of the play from then on, was it fitness, or were we just trying to hang on. Tara made a couple of good stops, but we still looked dangerous on the counter attack and won a corner with about 12 minutes to go. Kat went across to take it and her wicked inswinger deceived the keeper and went in at the far post. We then lost Enza with an ankle injury but by then we were back in control and the game finished 4 - 2, a very good fight back against a Cranbourne team which really "had a go". Preston next Friday in what has become a grudge match of sorts. We will be without Dee who goes away with the State under 17 side. One other disappointing aspect is that Alex who was also going away and had been voted as captain of the side has had to pull out as her ankle injury sustained at Bendigo has not healed well enough for her to be able to go. Very disappointing for Alex and I know everyone in the team wish her a speedy recovery and hope to have her back playing again soon. (but not till she is ready)   Reserves   We arrived at Cranbourne to cold and windy conditions on a very bumpy pitch and with a limited squad of 13 players which became 12 in the second half. Casey Comets had given us a 7- 0 hiding in the first round so despite the conditions etc we were keen to show that we had improved and were a chance to win the game.   The first 25 minutes was fairly even despite Casey playing with the wind. Dana and Kat playing in an unfamiliar position were doing a good job in central midfield and our defence were restricting Casey to a few long range shots. A high ball played into the penalty area in the windy conditions bounce the wrong way off one our defenders and fell nicely for a Casey player to knock into the back of the net for a 1 - 0 score line. This was just some bad luck due to the difficult conditions. The girls lifted after this goal with Dana making a great run from midfield into the Casey penalty area where she lost possession but fought hard to win the ball back. Dana then played the ball across into the six yard area and Caitlyn ran forward to meet the ball and with a great finish past two defenders and the keeper made the score 1 - 1 at halftime.   The second half began fairly evenly although Casey did not have any clear cut chances however the girls' confidence grew and it was great to see them building up attacks from the back, switching the play and Tara using the fullbacks from goal kicks. We can still improve our defensive play, in particular pressing the opposition early and holding players in control of the ball however the overall defensive effort was a further improvement on the previous game. Some more movement and touches on the ball from our midfielders/forwards to keep possession when attacking will allow us to create more chances to score.   Well done girls for a much improved performance compared to round one and lets keep the momentum going next week v Preston. SL3 Women    State League 3 Women have another comfortable win. The Exon Valdez scored another two goals as did Lia Privitelli who stepped up from the under 15's to help out a depleted Doncaster Rovers in their 5-1 Women's 3rd Division win over Richmond at the Kevin Bartlet Reserve, in a game on Sunday that kicked off at 3:15pm and finished in almost darkness just after 5:00pm. Despite having six regulars out of the squad, Rovers started off briskly but against the flow of the game Richmond took the lead after 15 minutes with a suspect free kick just outside the box. From the subsequent kick, Richmond's striker superbly bent the ball around Rover's defensive wall giving Rebeka no chance. To their credit Rovers didn't drop their heads but lifted a notch and within 10 minutes were back on par when the Natalie - "Exon Valdez" left the Richmond defence in her wake and beating the keeper with sublime finishing. "Ms Flexibility", Laura Sernio was unlucky not to score from a poster that deflected along the goal line only to be claimed by the goalie at the last gasp. Shortly afterwards came the goal of the match when Laura again took possession of a ball on the edge of the 6 yard box and dumfounded the Richmond keeper with an absolute screamer, with her left foot, on the turn, through a crowded penalty area. When witnessing this goal I couldn't help but think of a quote from Bill Shankly the famous Liverpool coach who said: "If your in the penalty area and aren't sure what to do with the ball, just stick it in the net, and we'll discuss your options later" The half time break arrived and the Rovers had a comfortable 2 - 1 lead. Richmond went in hard in the second half but that didn't deter our Rovers women who continued to play solid, possession, attacking football as per Coach Jim's game plan. Like the 1st half it was one way traffic for most of the 2nd half with our goalie Rebeka really only being troubled once and forced to make a great save that would not have reflected the run of the game had it gone in. Christie Syrrafos was arguably B.O.G.as defensive midfield feeding a lot of dangerous balls through to our forwards and wingers that put Richmond under constant pressure for most of the half. I believe Christie was a little disappointed in the state of the ground as it was pretty good with no muddy patches for her to revel in like last week. Christie was ably supported by Anna Couch particularly in the second half when she too dominated the midfield, winning ball after ball and lofting high passes into the forward half of the field that enabled Rovers to mount attack after attack. Rover's defence was solid as per usual led by Rania, "The flying Doormat" and as a unit they squeezed the life from of Richmond's forward line. It was great to have Kirsty McInnes return to right back after a her recent illness and her aggressive runs down the right side in conjunction with Tata on the wing were delightful and kicked-off a number of attacking forays. On the left the Cipa sisters teamed up a number of times in turning defence into attack and Emily's formidable defensive skills were up to her usual high standard. Jim has been endeavouring to get the team to supply our potent and fast forward line with dangerous, high balls that split the defence wide open. He would have been well pleased with the yesterday's delivery. In conclusion, mention must be made of the other three under 15 players, Elise Kyrgios, Demi Mihaloudis & Renee' Zebic who all contributed to the win. Despite their youth they stepped up to the senior team brilliantly and performed like seasoned senior players in a team that dominated on the day. Elise was unlucky not to score a couple of times. Lia's 2nd and Rover's 5th goal was a delight and displayed amazing poise for such a young player. Lia won a ball that the keeper should have taken, beat the defence, beat the keeper and scored the goal by simply walking it into the net. Great stuff. Next week Rovers play Ashburton at Anderson Park which will not be an easy match as we will still be short of many senior women.

2008 June 25th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter 25th June 2008

In This Issue Atletico Holiday Clinics WPL SL3 Women SL2 Men www.DoncasterRovers.org  ATLETICO MINEIRO FOOTBALL ACADEMY    We are excited to announce the formal relationship established between Doncaster Rovers SC & Atletico Mineiro FC of Brasil. This new alliance establishes a pathway and access to one of the most sought after professional leagues and football programs for junior players in the world.   The provision of an optimal sporting preparatory program and realisation of high performance opportunities in Football  at an elite level, through the development of skills, attitudes and knowledge in players, via a high intensity  performance  &  matchplay training regimen based on a proven Brazilian curriculum that will enable the players to compete successfully at the highest levels on a regular basis. More details in the coming weeks. Committee of Management Announcement   The Committee of Management welcomes Margot Walker on to the 2008 Committee.   As previously communicated a vacancy occurred on the committee after the resignation of long standing member and Vice President George Moutafis.   Margot kindly expressed an interest in assisting the club and was co-opted to the Committee to fill the vacancy.   Having previously served a two year term on the committee in 2004, Margot is well versed in club life and the machinations of football.  Margot has had a son and daughter play at the club and has been involved in juniors both at the club and the FFV level and we see her as being of great assistance to the Rovers.   We value her input to the club and look forward to working with Margot for many years to come.   Steve Hargitay President

Mid Season Review   At the half-way point of the 2008 season the club is making good headway.  Our philosophy is to develop junior players so that they can achieve their potential and to see so many great results across the clubs 34 teams is a testament to the dedication of the coaches and the support from all sections of the club community.   Our senior women and junior girl sides are leading the charge with some exceptional results and deserved rewards.  You can read below of the WPL win over the fancied Box Hill, the genuine contenders in the SL3 womens title, the table topping U14 girls and the always impressive U15A girls who have had representative honours awarded to a couple of players - read more...   http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Juniors/Under15/Under15AGirls/tabid/191/Default.aspx   Our boys should not be forgotten with 6 sides to yet drop a game and 3 teams having won every match - congratulations to all involved.   With the new pitch only a week or so away and a promising future assured for our growing junior ranks, perhaps its an opportune time to remind all players, parents, officials and spectators of the club's code of conduct.  We have a reputation as a fair and friendly club that we should all be extremely proud of and work to maintain.   http://www.doncasterrovers.org/Home/CodeOfConduct/tabid/140/Default.aspx   Good luck to all for the second half of the season and GO ROVERS !! Holiday Clinics    SSG - one day clinic - Thursday July 3rd   U7 - U14 three day clinics - Tuesday July 1st to Thursday July 3rd      Registration forms can be downloaded from the club website and faxed to 9841 0161    http://www.doncasterrovers.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=gRQv2SW0XH8%3d&tabid=90&mid=684 WPL  We turned up on Friday night to play against the best side in the WPL over the past 5 years. We had the girls from the Doncaster under 16B side in the dressing room prior to the game to listen to a team talk which was positive without being over confident. We said that on our day we are as good as anything in this league and it was up to us now to go and prove it. For the first 20 minutes we could have been accused of admiring Box Hill's intricate passing in fact we enjoyed it so much we kept giving them the ball back so we could see more of it. It was mainly played in front of us though so there were no real concerns, and anything that did get behind our superb back four was captured by Nicole. We gradually got back into the game though and started to stretch their back three a bit more, Deanna's powerful running was starting to unsettle them a bit and she was well supported by Enza, so it was no surprise that they both featured in our first goal. Both made positive forward runs as big Kat was coming forward with the ball and she timed her through ball to Deanna perfectly and she finished so well as she usually does. The Box Hill girls were taken aback by this and dug a bit deeper but with Teej and Christie rock solid at the back and Vanessa and Steph supporting we never really looked like conceding, and half time came with us still in front 1 - 0. At half time we talked about trying to consolidate the midfield as that was and is Box Hill's strength, so we brought Steph S and Renee more inside, allowed Box Hill the width and pushed Enza a bit further forward to support Dee. Sarah and Kat then started to take more control and Steph and Renee got through a mountain of hard work and we started to believe that this was in our hands. In about the 70th minute Sarah dinked a lovely ball into a fast moving Enza who again finished superbly low across the keeper, a text book finish and a goal she richly deserved on her performance. Box Hill then became more and more desperate and with about 10 minutes to go Dee again went through on the goalkeeper, she knocked the ball past her and was then flattened, if she wasn't the last player then there must have been one of them hiding in the trees because I never saw anyone near them, anyway the referee in his wisdom only booked her and gave us a free kick just outside the left hand side of the box. There was only one person taking it tonight. Kat placed the ball and then went back on her run up and seriously I don't go that far on my holidays, as she began the run up you could see one of two nerves in the Box Hill wall and as she arrived at the ball those nerves became panic and the wall broke. Kat's well hit shot rocketed past the goalkeeper and into the net and the celebrations could start in earnest. We went into the club afterwards and had a quiet drink or eleven and savoured the moment, the first time we had ever beaten Box Hill. It was a terrific performance with each and every player contributing to the win. Well done and bring on Casey next week. Reserves   This was game three of a difficult run of games against the top three teams in the reserves competition. We started this match with two players unavailable and some of the squad carrying some chronic injuries. We are certainly looking forward to the Eastern Lions girls coming on board to avoid players being involved in both the reserves and first matches, provide some depth in our squads and ensure the reserves players need to earn their selection in the starting eleven.   Box Hill became the game well with their midfield dominating and playing through balls for the two quick girls up front. The back four did well to intercepted these passes for the first 10 minutes but a mistake in defensive positioning allowed one of the forwards to receive a thru ball with our defender on the wrong side of the play and we were 1 - 0 down. The remainder of the first half we defended well across the back however Box Hill continued to dominate the midfield as our forwards and midfield allowed too much space and did not consistently close players down. Tash and Beck P worked hard up and down the wings setting up some forward runs into the last third of the pitch however our final ball and runs off the ball were poor.   The second half was an improvement over the first with closer marking but we continued to struggle to set up scoring chances on the Box Hill goal. About 20 minutes into the second half Box Hill switched the play to the right wing with a nice diagonal ball between our central defender and left back for their right wing to run onto and score their second.  Overall it was a scrappy game where our backline defended reasonably well for three quarters of the game and the Box Hill midfield in possession for most of the game. SL3 Women  Another hat-trick from Natalie Exon Valdez re-ignited Doncaster Rovers chances of gaining top spot in the Women's 3rd Division SE. The scoring honours were shared as Tata, Larissa and Anna all chipped in with a goal apiece. Jade played an excellent attacking mid field role and was very unlucky not to be the fifth Rovers player on the score sheet with several near misses. South Melbourne pulled a goal back against the trend but were totally outclassed by a Rovers side who's starting line up was missing three reliable regulars in Kirsty, Laura & Effie. Laura made up for not playing by being a very vocal and supportive barracker on the bench! Nothing could get passed Rania, "The flying door mat" as she led the defense impeccably once again. Kate, Katie, Emily, Saskia & Megz were all rotated through the defense and put in great efforts in the back half. Rebeka put in another flawless performance in goal and her only blemish was being distracted by an injured pigeon with a death wish that kept wandering onto the field an into her penalty area. The centre of the ground was surprisingly muddy and a little treacherous where the summer cricket wickets are normally located. However Christie took to the thick, black mud like a duck takes to water and literally owned the mid-field. With Corinna and Jacquie dominating on both wings it was a very thorough performance all round. The shower and washing machine at the Syrrafos' residence would have worked overtime on Sunday night. After last weeks disappointing loss in a game that we dominated it was great that the team was able to emphatically bounce back away from home. The top of the table is pretty crowded and Rovers are a couple of games from the top spot with a game in hand and have a three goal superior goal difference more than any other team in the division. With a majority of home games still to come, many against the better sides we are still hopeful to win this division. SL2 Men     A BLEAK DAY   Not only was it bleak and cold weather wise on Saturday, but also the ground condition was bleak, soccer wise the standard was bleak and result wise it was simply dark!   Our seniors ushered in the start of the second half of the season in an almost complete reversal of what happened at Anderson Park on the first day of the season. On that night we beat Stonnington 5-1 after they had two players sent off. On Saturday we lost 4-1 after we saw Michael Santoro and Dragan Jugovic sent off.   Stonnington started the game intent on revenge for round one as they closed us down quickly and tackled with ferocity. They were doing to us what we did to South Springvale the week before. Rovers could not settle and could not find a rhythm. There were some early chances for both teams but it was Stonnington that went ahead after 12 minutes when on the left wing they broke clear, whipped in a cross to the on rushing forward to finish at the back post.   Rovers came more into the game and it wasn't beyond the team to come from behind to win. A long range shot troubled the Stonnington keeper as he dropped the ball and a one on one with Ramon Dias saw the keeper beaten and the ball bobble millimetres past the far post. Just as the second half seemed over another Rovers attack saw Davide Iacovitti fall awkwardly having to be carried off by stretcher.  The referee played over 5 minutes of injury time and with the last kick of the half a scramble between Mark Torcaso in the Rovers goal, Michael Santoro and the Stonnington striker saw the ball come free and trickle over the line making it 2 - 0 at half time.   The conditions did not make for pretty football but at least the Rovers were fired up for the second half. There were repeated assaults on the Stonnington goal but no real clear cut chances. After good attacks a through ball saw Dias chase the ball down and leave the defender chasing him for some 20 metres, this time he beat the keeper and it was now game on at 2-1.   But then it was the turn of the referee to take centre stage. Stonnington came forward for what could be said a rare attack in the second half, a cross from the right and half clearance saw the ball shot back in the area, the ball bounced badly and up on to Michael Santoro's arm, the referee immediately awarded a penalty, which was fair enough, but he also gave Santoro a Red Card for intentional hand ball. Stonnington converted and restored its two goal margin.   Despite the set back Rovers still came forward and pressured with 10 men but the referee was going to end the day for the Rovers when he adjudged Jugovic to have committed a foul and decided to give him a second yellow card that saw him dismissed from the game.   Stonnington exploited the 9 men of Rovers and got a late goal to finish the game off at 4-1.   The two red cards and the injury to Iacovitti, coupled with the still suspended Alinejad and the already injured Bresciano gives coach Joe Biskic some selection headaches when he plans to meet Chelsea this Friday night while Chelsea will be looking at avenging it 4-0 defeat in the second round of the season.    The reserves had a good win of 1 - 0 against Stonnington but it could have been far more. The players dominated the game and in reality the score could have been higher, the win puts them 3rd on the ladder.   This Friday night it's back to Anderson Park to play Chelsea. It is a must win for both our seniors and reserves to keep the season alive. Seniors start at 8.30pm, reserves at 6.30pm. Come enjoy the Gyros and what should be another hard fought game.

2008 June 18th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter June 18th 2008

In This Issue School Holiday Clinic Artificial Pitch Senior Men WPL www.DoncasterRovers.org Club Results

Thanks to everyone who attended last Saturday nights Trivia Night at the clubrooms, we had a great time and congratulations to the WPL table that took the final honours.   Our SSG gala day earlier in the day last Saturday was also a great success with many of our U5-U8 year olds playing their first matches against another club, our friends from Bulleen.   Reminder that U5 & U6 SSG players travel to Bulleen this coming Saturday for a return series of matches.  The U7 & U8 players should attend Anderson Park on Saturday morning as per usual.   Donvale Canteen is still in need of someone to operate during training nights Monday to Thursday.  To discuss an interest please contact Darren on 0408 686 272 School Holiday Clinic July 1st-3rd   Special Guest Appearances by A-League Players   Guest Coaches include Rovers Senior Coach Josip Biskic 3 Day Program for 7 - 14 year olds Each day runs from 9.00am - 3.00pm with Lunch Provided Every participant also receives a ball and shirt. Player appearances also include Brazilian 'Ramon' on loan from Atlético Mineiro, Brazil Professionally designed coaching program by DRSC Director of Coaching Milton Sakkos Cost for the 3 days is $165.00 per child inc. gst email: dsoccerclub@gmail.com for bookings and enquiries Artificial Surface at Anderson Park  The much anticipated artificial pitch is another step closer..    Senior Men     IT ALMOST RAINED GOALS   After two straight draws and four precious point dropped in the title race Rovers were visiting the hot and cold South Springvale who sat mid table. The team seemed determined to put the two draws behind them and come away from Warner Reserve with a credible win.   The home team was use to the bad pitch conditions and put together some good moves early in the game and our defensive line of Michael Santoro, John Petridis and Dragan Jugovic had closely watch the free scoring striker Ilias Dionitis in South's forward line.   One of the early chance in the game went to the opposition when they moved the ball down the left wing and the cross whipped in was hard and low and Dionitis met the header only to have it go wide. Mark Torcaso between the Rovers sticks had to complete some routine saves in the first half but in the second stanza his concentration was tested when for most of the half he had little to do and then all of a sudden from two attacks he had to save from point blank range and then foil a one on one.   With Shayan Alinejad suspended the Rovers Coach, Joe Biskic used Sefgi Murat on the right wing and Ramon Dias on the left with Fikret Kokaric and Jeff Stefanidis forming the striker partnership. South found the four of them hard to deal with and the defenders all but tore of each of these players shirts as they attempted to thwart the teams advances.   Stefanidis came the closest to scoring in the second half when he found himself unmarked in the box and his diving header met Dias' cross, with the keeper beaten the ball whistled past the upright.   Former Rovers keeper Tony Sango was busy all game but he made some excellent saves in the first half, saving shots from Kokaric, Murat, Dias, Ardesi, Iacovitti and Brecsiano and when he wasn't saving them the post came to his assistance.   The second half saw total Rovers dominance with the midfield totally in control, wave after wave of attack was mounted but the ball had still not seen the back of the net. The Rovers supporters thought that the goal had finally arrive when Dias broke the offside trap and went one on one with the South Keeper, with his usual balanced style he dummied Sango and flicked the ball goal ward but his aim on the bumpy pitch was slightly off and the ball rolled past the post.   However the breakthrough finally arrived much to the relief of the Rovers faithful who were now speaking of another daw from a game dominated by the team, a free kick from the right was dropped on to the penalty spot and the ball was scrambled away by South but only to substitute Marco Dalben who lifted the ball back over the pack of players to find Iacovitti who expertly put it past Sango and the lead was finally achieved.   With a goal to the good and dominating the game no one wanted to see the team concede a late goal again as in the last two weeks, so in the 81st minute Biskic makes a substitution taking off striker Stefanidis, who was busy all day, and bring on the giant defender Mladen Kustura who was back from injury. But to everyone's surprise Biskic had instructed Kustura to play up front.    With the South defenders all wondering who was going to mark the big man, we soon found out that no one was. A corner from the left just minutes after Kastura came on the pitch saw him control the ball on his chest and on the turn volley the ball in to the back of the net. His finish and style would have made Ronaldo proud and the master stroke by Biskic paid off, at 2-nil the points were in the bag and only minutes later the celebrations of being back in the winners circle could begin.   So at the half way mark of the season the seniors find themselves second on the ladder six points behind Northcote, but there are real threats from teams directly behind Rovers on the ladder. One of those threats come this week when the team takes on Stonnington who will be out for revenge after letting 5 goals in on the first day of the season.   Our Reserves team also enjoyed a 2-0 win against South Springvale and they are 3rd on the ladder and with a chance to pinch the title from league leader Knox City.   This week it's away again as we play Stonnington City on Saturday 21st June 2008. The game will be played at Kooyong Reserve No.3, Glenferrie Road, Kooyong. Melway Map 59 D3. Womens Premier League    First Grade   We started this critical game with our bench made up of players who had played much of the reserve game, how good it would be to have the same numbers as some other coaches and have fresh legs on the bench instead of tired legs. That being said, what a fantastic performance from the girls against a very good Ashburton side. The game started slowly for us and it took a little while to get going on a very bumpy and uneven pitch, gee we love Anderson Park!!. Nicole was called in to action a couple of times early and was well up to the challenge, making the saves look very comfortable. Steph Montalto made a fantastic goal saving tackle and gradually we got back in to it. Enza and Dee went close and then with about 10 minutes to half time Enza went through on a bouncing ball and was cleaned up by the goalkeeper, the referee must have got some sand in his eye as he missed it completely and waved play on. A few minutes later Dee went through on the keeper who saved well. We were playing good football, and keeping the ball in difficult conditions, Kat Enza and Sarah were controlling the midfield and Steph Simpson and little Kat were playing their part in stretching the Ashburton defence. Our back 4 of Ness, TJ Christie and Steph Montalto were rock solid with Teej and CT superb in keeping the dangerous Ashburton attackers at bay. Remember they had the league's top scorer, third top scorer and one of our leading attackers from last year all playing in their side. The second half was all us and it was a surprise when they opened the scoring 22 minutes in to the second half, with a shot which hit the bar and was signalled over the line by the linesman on the far side. In fairness we had no complaints so he probably got it right. We stuck to our guns and brought on Beck Lirosi for little Kat who had given her all. Our control and endeavour was rewarded when Dee outpaced the defence with about 12 minutes to go and coolly slotted it past the keeper. From then on it was all us and we looked likely to get all three points. The only down point of the game was a clash of heads which caused the Ashy attacker to fall awkwardly and play was suspended for about 18 minutes waiting for an ambulance. As darkness was closing the referee eventually abandoned the game with three minutes only left and the score at 1-1 which will stand. A very good performance by all the girls. Reserves   Game two against the top team in the reserves was a good opportunity to show how the team has improved after the 6 - 1 loss in round one v Ashburton.   The game started well as we defended the downhill end of a very bumpy pitch with possession fairly even. With 10 minutes gone in the first half we failed to clear the ball out of the penalty area and after the ball bounced off multiple players it fell to an unmarked Ashburton player who put the ball just inside the post to make it 1 - 0. Ashburton had the better of the play for the next 20 minutes with Tara making a great reflex save from a 1 v 1 in the box and then another one handed save from a penalty was awarded for a handball. Caitlyn and Beck Li Rosi came on with 20 minutes left in the first half and combining with Tash and Beck on the wings allowed us to setup a number of runs into the final attacking third however we could not convert those runs into scoring opportunities and the half finished 1 - 0 to Ashburton.   The second half saw Ashburton step up a gear pushing more players forward however our backline of Tania, Alyssa, Jess and Emily with Ella and Aimee working hard in midfield restricted the number of goal scoring opportunities. We did have some luck combined with some defensive pressure to see Ashburton hit the far post twice and the ball bouncing nicely into Tara's hands. Unfortunately, our luck deserted us for a moment with a rolling ball managing to evade Tara's hands and legs to trickle towards the goal for an Ashburton player to knock it in and make it 2-0 (must have been the bumpy pitch?).   Well done to our backline and midfielders for a solid defensive effort despite the difficult conditions and having limited options on the interchange bench. This was another improved performance compared to round one and with if we an achieve some player stability in the team while supporting the first team as much as possible and with a concerted effort at training we can start improving other aspects of team play over the remainder of the season.

2008 June 11th

Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club Newsletter June 11th 2008

In This Issue Club Vice President Trivia Night School Holiday Clinic SSG Gala Days Senior Women Senior Men Club Website www.doncasterrovers.org   Club Stats after 226 games     Committee of Management Announcement   We have regretfully received the resignation of club Vice President and Life Member George Moutafis from the Committee of Management.   George has had to relinquish his post due to family commitments and due to his coaching commitments which has been a long time passion of his. George joined the committee of the club in 1996 and has been a committee member continuously since then.   He has been instrumental in many projects at the club, too many to mention here, however some of the main projects that he has been a part of are the flood lighting of the Anderson Park pitches and the re-building of the Anderson Park clubrooms after our two fires. In his early years on the committee George worked hard at building our junior base, back in 1996 the club had 15 junior teams and under 300 registered players, where George even took on coaching roles next to his committee commitments.   In more recent times George has been driving the Senior segment of the club and he has seen the team gain promotion from the 3rd Division to the 2nd Division and cement it's place as one of the leading clubs in this division.   George continues to assist the club with his coaching role at the club and we at the committee wish him all the best with his team and his continued assistance with the club.   On behalf of all of us at Doncaster Rovers and the committee we sincerely thank you for your twelve wonderful years of service to the club and the selfless time you have given to the club over the years.   Steve Hargitay President

There are still a few table spots available for this Saturday nights first club function of the year.  If you haven't done so already please contact Laney to book your spot on 0408 382 956   The evening kicks off from 7pm Trivia Night      School Holiday Clinic    Spots for the clubs winter school holiday clinic are filling fast !   To be held over 3 days from Tuesday 1st July to Thursday 3rd July, each day will run from 9am to 3.30pm and the total cost is $165 inc. gst which includes the clinic, a ball, shirt and lunch on each day.   The clinic is only open for 7-14 year olds and there will be special appearances throughout the clinic by well known players.   Registrations are essential by contacting the Director of Coaching, Milton Sakkos, on 0447 799 850 or by email at milton@vikingsfutsal.com SSG Gala Day's    The first gala day for our Small Sided Games Players will be held at Anderson Park this Saturday 14th June against our friends from Bulleen.   The time is 9am as usual for Saturday game day.   A return event will be held the following weekend, 21st June at Bulleen. Senior Women  The Doncaster women continued their winning form with a 9 goals to 1 thrashing of bottom placed Knox United at the Egan Lee reserve in perfect weather conditions on Sunday. The long weekend and injuries had taken its toll on the First 18 for Rovers with five of the regular team unavailable. But in his usual meticulous preparation Coach Jim Paparas had arranged for three under 15 Rovers girls to be blooded in the senior team and support the undermanned senior women. All three under 15's in Tessa Sernio, Christina Katsambanis and Melissa Maizels did very well; with Mel even contributing a goal to the score sheet and Christina unlucky in conceding one goal in an almost perfect goal keeping stint for the entire second half. After a couple of disappointing 1 nil away losses in the past month Rovers could not afford to drop any more points against bottom placed Knox United which had beaten them when they last met in Second Division last year. But that never looked likely once Natalie Exon had slotted in 4 in the first half to pave the way for a torrent of goals after the break. "The Exon Valdez" added two more and Knox crumbled with further goals from Tata Iskander & Mel. This win and last week's win have emphatically revived Rovers chances of catching Albert Park for a top of the table place in the division. "Valdez" was forced to leave the field through injury halfway through the second half but her departure was the signal for Tata Iskander to step up and slot two more goals before the pain was over for Knox. Knox United, to their credit, never gave up and played honest, fair football for the entire 90 minutes. Effie Paparas was an early casualty in the first half and Jim didn't risk returning her to the fray as the Rovers dominance was such that it was not worth the risk. With Christie Syrrafos, Katie Cipa, Anna Couch & Jade El-Mohamed owning the wings and midfield.....there was no need. This potent win has kept alive the Rovers hopes of winning the third division title although it is still early days. Next week's clash with now top placed Albert Park should be a good indication of how realistic this goal is. The scoreline was Rover's biggest win that any of the women could recall. Rania Hatzopoulos was her usual impenetrable self as sweeper and she was very ably supported by Emily Cipa and Saskia Williams in defence. Jim rotated numerous other players through the backline which included Megz Rindfleisch who took the opportunity to demonstrate the defensive side to her game. Ms Reliable - Laura Sernio again proved how flexible she is and put in another great game in numerous positions all over the park! Like last week the whole team maintained its work ethic to the end and goalies Rebekah Morris & Christina were not troubled much throughout the match. Rebeka's brief but entertaining 20 minutes in the forward line was a treat to behold! Next weeks "Blockbuster" clash at 5:30pm on Sunday at our home ground "Anderson Park" will be a ripper game and should be a great exhibition for those who want to be thoroughly entertained. I recommend all Doncaster Rovers Club members and supporters should try t