The following is an account of the Colts trip to the Young Lions carnival.

When the Under 10 draw was released we knew that the Colts would have to probably win all their games to progress past the group stage but that did not daunt this never-say-die team of talented youngsters (mostly under 9s).

The Colts warmed up in this game, and whilst not being their best performance of the day they certainly showed enough that it was going to be a great day. Patryk Bylinski got the scoring started, Steven Taseski grabbed a goal and the highlight was a hat trick from Sebastian Luke.

Some of the boys remembered the hammering they got from this team last year. But the Colts played some great possession football to completely dominate the strong home team and give the goalposts a solid workout. Great finishing from Patryk Bylinski and Thomas Hipwell rounded off a performance that deserved a lot more goals. The Young coach complemented on the style of play and skill that the Colts showed.

After the Colts got off to a bright start through Patryk Bylinski again, this fantastic game of end-to-end football kept the parents’ emotions all over the place. Cootamundra equalized from a free-kick just before half-time. The Colts knew a win was a must and showed great determination and patience in the second half to keep playing the ball around until Sebastian Luke smashed home the winner.

No other team on the day had got within 4 goals of the Cowra Carnival finalist. After weathering alot of early pressure the Colts were very unlucky to concede a soft penalty kick which Parkes converted. It would have been easy for the Colts to get their heads down but instead they came out and totally dominated the second half and were finally rewarded with a great long shot from Thomas Hipwell to equalize. At the final whistle the Colts had the Parkes side completely rattled and were unlucky not to get a winner.

Parkes United and the Gungahlin Colts were equal first in the pool, with Parkes United going through to the semi-final on superior goal differences. Congratulations to this great little team – Alex Pizzano, Antoni Timotheou, Brodie Simsons, Daniel Zerial, Ethan Suillivan, Giacomo Shannon, Josh Arlott, Mathew Preston, Patryk Bylinski, Sam Whithear, Sebastian Luke, Steven Taseski, Thomas Hipwell – great play and great behaviour on and off the field. Well done boys.

Lastly a special mention to two Colts that could not make the trip – Chris Kazolis and Dimitri Karapanagos (we were thinking of you), and to the families on the sideline who made the day special for the players with their fantastic support. Another great Fathers Day at Young.

Chris Timotheou and Phillip Pizzano

Coaches