Five talented Eurobodalla soccer players traveled to Wagga Wagga for the NSW under 14s state titles last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For more local news and photos grab a copy of the Bay Post or Moruya Examiner.
Jamie Leddy (Batemans Bay), Brian Jamba (Narooma), Luke McCann (Batemans Bay), Grady Cadogan (Moruya) and Jesse Taunton (Long Beach) represented Country Southern which is a team representing the South Coast, Southern Tablelands and Southern Highlands area.
The five day tournament during the first week of the school holidays brought together the best players from around the state and is the part of the selection process for the NSW Metro and NSW Country teams.
Country Southern started the titles pitted against three of the tournament favourites. The first game was against Metro West and for the first time ever Country Southern held their highly fancied opponents to a 2-2 draw.
This was followed by a courageous and hard fought 1–0 loss the Metro East.
In their next game, Country Southern lead Metro Far South before they conceded three goals in five minutes to go down 3–1.
This placed Country Southern in last place after the first three games, but the closeness of those three games suggested that things would turn around soon.
The fourth game was against Country Riverina. The first half turned into a goal feast with Brian Jamba scoring twice and Country Southern skipping away to a 4–2 lead at half time. The second half was a lot tighter and the eventual score was 5–2.
The next game against Metro South featured more goals as Country Southern began to showcase their attacking flair. Brian Jamba scored again as did Jamie Leddy and Country Southern led at half time 3–2. The second half saw Country Southern take control of the game, running out 5–2 winners. Two more wins followed in the form of a 1-0 victory over Metro Far North and a 4-1 defeat of Metro North with Brian Jamba scoring once more.
With other results going their way it meant that Country Southern were in fourth place when the last round of games were played. Metro West held third spot but were beaten in their last game. This meant Country Southern would play Country Western knowing a win would allow them to grab third spot on goal difference.
Nerves and fatigue probably played a part as the fluent football that Country Southern had played all week was suddenly stilted as they missed several chances to seal the game. Brian Jamba had scored early and the Country Southern held a 2–1 lead with three minutes to play. Totally against the run of a play Country Western scored a spectacular equaliser that dented the top three hopes of Country Southern and the game ended 2–2.
Country Southern under 14s were the highest placed Country team and were crowned Country Champions. They finished fourth overall and accumulated the most points the team had ever achieved at this level with 14 points. Brian Jamba was the top goal scorer for the team. Luke McCann was voted Country Southern player of the tournament. Jesse Taunton had the honour of captaining the side.
All five Eurobodalla players were included in the four day NSW Country selection camp in the second week of the school holidays at Narrabeen. If selected in the NSW Country team they will compete at the under 14 Australian National Titles at Coffs Harbour in October.
