BDSA Senior Soccer Presentations

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 01:24:00 GMT

Ballarat & District Soccer Association Presentation Night 2008 by Rebecca Schenk

Sebastopol Vikings’ Anton Maggi was initially lost for words when he accepted the Scott Anwyl medal for Best and Fairest Senior Player at the Ballarat & District Soccer Association Senior Presentation on Friday evening. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to win” he said, “there were a lot of other deserving players from my team and I thought that someone from another club would win, seeing as we were taking votes from each other”. Maggi polled 27 votes from referees over the 2008 home and away season, beating out nearest rivals Rob Esposito from Ballarat Junior Devils and Tim Lai from North United, who polled 19 and 14 votes respectively.

When accepting the pennant for Senior League Champions, Sebastopol coach Rod Oppenhuis credited Maggi as being a key player for the team throughout the season. “Anton leads by example when on the field, it is a great quality for a captain to have and the boys respect that” Oppenhuis said.

It was a three way tie for the Life Members Reserve Best and Fairest medal with Anthony Barresi from North United, Dylan Nulty from Daylesford & Hepburn United and Mark Magri from Vic Park all polling 17 votes each.

Sebastopol Vikings’ Daniel Aggett has completed his collection of senior awards by winning the Seniors Highest Goal Scorer, after kicking a massive 18 goals in the 2008 home and away season. “I’ve been playing seniors soccer since my under 16 days and receiving this kind of recognition is fantastic” he said. “My biggest supporters are my fiancée and children plus my team are always behind me 100 percent”.

Anton Maggi accepts the Scott Anwyl Best & Fairest Award

All Awards

2008 Senior League Champions – Sebastopol Vikings

2008 Reserves League Champions – Vic Park

Life Members Medal for Best and Fairest Reserve Player – Anthony Barresi (North United), Dylan Nulty (Daylesford & Hepburn United) and Mark Magri (Vic Park).

Reserves Highest Goal Scorer – Dylan Nulty (Daylesford & Hepburn United) and Matt Smith (Sebastopol Vikings).

Seniors Highest Goal Scorer – Daniel Aggett (Sebastopol Vikings).

Bill De Jong Memorial Award for Best & Fairest Senior Referee – Stan Burns

Scott Anwyl Medal for Best & Fairest Senior Player – Anton Maggi (Sebastopol Vikings)

2008 Grand Final Report

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 10:37:00 GMT

Ballarat & District Soccer Association Grand Finals – Rebecca Schenk

Under 13 girls

North United VS Sebastopol Vikings 3-0

Goals North United Courtney Farrell, Simone Green 2.

Player of the Match Simone Green

Under 13

Warrnambool Rangers VS Sebastopol Vikings 2-5

Goals Warrnambool Dylan Johnstone, Matthew Van Rooy

Goals Sebastopol Bradley McCaw 2, Zach Whiteford-Scott 2

Player of the Match Zach Whiteford-Scott

Under 15 girls

North United VS Forest Rangers 1-0

Goals North United Keely Shepherd

Player of the Match Paige Watts

Under 15

North United VS Warrnambool 0-4

Goals Warrnambool Brady Gunn, Dylan Johnstone, Harry Mills, Martin Van Rooy

Player of the Match Shannon Kearns

Under 17

North United VS Ballarat 2-3

Goals North United Lachlan McLean, Leigh Reddrop

Goals Ballarat Jordan Attwell, Tom Gillett, Adam Swards

Player of the Match Jack Morrison

Reserves

Vic Park Red VS Ballarat 2-0

Goals Vic Park Red Kevin Agius, Mark Magri

Player of the Match Kevin Agius

Seniors

North United VS Sebastopol 2-0

Goals North United Chris Berry, Justin Forysth

Player of the Match Carl MacKenzie

North United went into the Ballarat & District Soccer Association Grand Final as underdogs, they defied the odds and came out victors by defeating league champions Sebastopol Vikings 2-0. After finishing last season in second last place, North United could not have predicted playing in the grand final, let alone holding up the cup at the end of the match.

Tempers flared early in the match with an incident behind play resulting in a
Sebastopol player being given a yellow card. Both teams were initially moving at a frantic pace although North United seemed to settle into the rhythm of the game first. Despite numerous attempts on goal by both teams, the score board remained blank until around the 20 minute mark when North’s Justin Forsyth evaded Sebastopol goalkeeper Matt Smith and found the back of the net.

Another tussle between players resulted in a free kick to Sebastopol and another attempt on goal, this time by Vikings’ super striker Daniel Aggett. Unfortunately for Aggett the ball sailed over the cross bar, leaving the scoreline 1-0 to North United at half time.

After the half time break, North United got the upper hand early catching Sebastopol on the back foot. North’s quick attacking style of one touch football seemed to be no match for Sebastopol’s defense, which lost shape very quickly. Aggett moved into a midfield position where he was man marked well by North’s Shane Kozaris, who all but stopped Aggett from making any successful plays or passes. North continued to attack hard and when Smith left his goal exposed, Chris Berry took advantage and scored a second goal for North.

Celebrations erupted once the final whistle was blown with spectators running onto the field to congratulate the victorious team. The win was a dream come true for North United who have not won a grand final since 1985 and have not played in a grand final since 1987. For Sebastopol it was a heartbreaking finish to a brilliant season.

During the presentation at the end of the match, Sebastopol coach Rod Oppenhuis said “we had a great season, we just can’t seem to make it happen in finals. All credit to North United, they played well.”

North United coach George Taylor thanked his team saying “the players made the job easy for me this season and I want to thank them and all of our supporters for standing by us”.

Ballarat & District Soccer Association News

BDSA Senior Soccer Presentations

2008 Grand Final Report