A Grade Men's Weekly Write Up

Coxy’s Foxes would roll out for their last game of the season as Champions of Division 2. They would go out looking to finish off their final game of the year with another win and close out the year as undefeated champions.
In front of the biggest crowd of the year at The Den the Foxes would do exactly that finishing off 3 – 1 winners against Para Hills United and celebrating their successful season as soon as the final whistle blew.

After a difficult game away from home earlier in the year where Para Hills would frustrate the Foxes and cause them to struggle to a 2-2 Draw. Coxy made no mistake sending out his strongest side to finish off the season in style.

The Foxes would come out of the gates strong like they have done in all of their games and dominate the possession of the ball and create the best chances in the game.

And it wouldn’t take long for the Foxes to break the deadlock with Ryan sending a ball into space for Hayden to run onto and like he has done all year he would make no mistake in front of goal scoring his 27^th goal of the season and putting the Foxes up 1 – 0.

And a few minutes later the lead would be doubled thanks to a Captain Hanger long throw that would take a double deflection off 2 Para Hills Defenders and end up in the back of the net.

The foxes were cruising and having fun while doing it playing free flowing and fun Football on the pitch knowing they had done the business earlier in the year and the final day of the year was a showcase of their talent.

Just before the Half Time whistle though the Foxes would end up conceding a break away goal, with Hanger going out wide to stop the counter attack and the Para Hills winger playing the ball into space behind him and finishing from the tight angle perfectly to reduce the deficit to 1 goal before half time.

Coxy would remind the boys there is still 45 minutes left to play in the season and the time to stop is after the full-time whistle.

The Foxes would come back out firing again and had control of the second half like they have done all season against every opponent they have faced but this second half they were unable to find the back of the net.

That would change when Kosta would win his battle on the edge of the Para Hills 18 yard box and strip the ball from the defender and lash his first time shot past the stranded Para Hills keeper.

That would be all the foxes would need to close out the game comfortably and finish of their season in style

The foxes would go on to be undefeated in the league and earn themselves back-to-back promotions and will play in Division 1 for the first time in the history of the club.

Goal Scorers

Kosta Tsalamangos – 1 Goal

Hayden Smart-Gilich – 1 Goal

Own Goal – 1 Goal

At the start of the year the foxes wouldn’t have dreamed of such a perfect season defeated all who stood in their way and winning the league by a massive 10-point margin over their closest rivals.

Leading goal scorer Hayden Smart-Gillich would have an even better season than the last scoring 24 goals in the league and being a huge difference for the Foxes on the road to taking out another league title and scoring more goals than any other team in the league.

The Foxes will head to Division 1 next season for the first time in the clubs history and will look to make a splash in the league and continue on their great form over the last 2 years.

The A Grade Foxes went into the Noarlunga game as champions looking to continue their perfect season. After the long trip down to Noarlunga and a late kick off time the Foxes would eventually run away 6-1 winners.

The game would start off not as planned though for the Foxes with all the team talk before the game about being defensively solid and keeping Noarlunga at bay and without extra energy but that would all go out the window within the first 5 minutes of the game with a poorly defended corner landing inside the box for the Noarlunga attacker to put past Kade in goals.

This would cause a big problem for the Foxes who would dominate possession and create a bunch of chances on goal but the Noarlunga keeper would pull of save after save to deny the Foxes the goal they needed to draw level.

That would be right up until the 49^th minute of the first half where a break away counter by Hayden which he has done all season long would result in him making no mistake and slotting the ball past the keeper and restoring parity right before half time.

After a half-time team talk about desire, motivation and execution the Foxes would come out in the 2^nd half and be drastically improved.

Much like the first half the Foxes would create batches of chances but this half the ball would find its way into the back of the net.

After a good ball from Brayden into Josh into space he would find Hayden on the wing and his trickery would take him past 2 defenders and right the hits they threw at him and he would finish underneath the Noarlunga keeper.

Moments later a good corner from the Foxes would be swung in and a Ryan flick on header would be saved but rescued at the back post by Dylon who would lash his front post shot past the keeper.

Once this goal went in the flood gates opened and Josh again would collect a loose Noarlunga ball and play a delicate ball over the defense for Hayden to run onto and finish past the keeper to round out his Hat-trick and lift him clear at the top of the goal scoring chart.

Next up would-be Ryan who would come off the bench and he would step on the field and make it his playground, after sitting down 2 defenders in transition and his shot would hit the post and go wide which Hayden would collect and look to drive across the box and Ryans follow up run to the front post into his back heel flick would find the back of the net.

This would be the start of Ryan doing crazy things and in a transition from Defense a ball into space for him to run onto he would get there before the keeper and win the 50/50 which would lead him inside the 18-yard box where he would push past the 1^st defender ball roll and sit down the 2^nd one, fake shot and sit down the keeper and then back heel the ball over the line from 2 yards out.

Probably one of the greatest goals of the season and surely will be in contention for Goal of the Month.

This would round out the day for the foxes and be an exact copy of their season where they are just able to run over teams late in the game due to their exceptional fitness and quality.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 3 Goals

Ryan Darmenia – 2 Goals

Dylon Johnston – 1 Goal

The Foxes are now 1 game away from the perfect season and the final game is the big one in front of the sponsors and the home crowd against Para Hills United.

Last time the 2 teams faced the Foxes were left frustrated and walked away with a 1-1 draw but this weekend they will be looking to get the Win and finish off the season with a final win and celebrate an excellent season afterwards.  

The first team went into the game on the weekend named as champions and with a drastically different looking team with key figures Hayden, Kyle and Jack all sidelined with injuries and Dylon out suspended after accumulating too many yellow cards and some other players under injury clouds.

But it would be a tough battle that would eventually end up a 1 – 1 draw despite the Foxes having another goal stolen from them for a terrible and incorrect offside call.

The Foxes would start the game like they have done all year which has led them to a successful league title, in control of the football and working their way up field and creating some great chances.

The Knights keeper would be the standout for the game keeping the Foxes out on numerous occasions in the first half.

But it would be the Knights who would strike first after a couple of long-range efforts 1 of which would rattle of the cross bar from distance.

But the 6^th minute the Foxes would fall behind and find themselves chasing the game early on.

But just like all year the Foxes wouldn’t give up and stop working and dying to score goals and keep them out of their net.

Nothing more would highlight this than a goal line clearance from captain Brayden who would do a spectacular overhead kick on the line to keep the score line 1 – 0.

The Foxes would find their goal after a good cross from a corner would find its way inside the box and after a bit of a scramble the ball would fall to Ryan who would lash his first-time effort into the roof of the net to bring the game level.

The first half would finish like this with both team’s level and both team’s fighting to win. Southern Knights needed a win to get close enough to secure their promotion to Division 1 next year and the Foxes didn’t want to lose and continue their perfect season.

The 2^nd half is where the Foxes have shined all season and this time round nothing was different with Josh, Kosta and Evan in the midfield running the Tempo of the game and creating chance after chance on the Knight’s goal with the keeper managing to keep the chances out.

But it would be ANOTHER contentious offside call from the ref who would steal a goal from the Foxes for the 2^nd week in a row.

With Evan playing a perfect through ball to Ryan to run onto and slot home, but after a lengthy break in play the ref deemed that Paul interfered in the play from an offside position but after inspection of the footage was in fact perfectly onside as well and didnt interfere in the play at all.

Despite having another game winning goal stolen from the Foxes the boys would continue to push and even with the Knights having a man sent off for abusing the Ref the Foxes would be unable to break through the Knights defense and would have to settle for a draw.

Goal Scorers

Ryan Darmenia – 1 Goal

Despite the frustrating day the Foxes remain unbeaten all season and with just 2 games left to play the Foxes are eyeballing a perfect season to round out an excellent year in preparation for Division 1 next season.

The Foxes head away to Noarlunga this weekend and will be looking to wear their shooting boots to pull ahead in the golden boot race for the league as well.  

WHAT A GAME!!! The A Grade went away to Modbury Soccer Club knowing all they needed was a point to wrap up the title and sure enough that’s what the Faxes came away with in an amazing 2 – 2 Draw. This was despite a clear goal being scored and being called offside incorrectly.  

The game started on the Astro turf which allows for the foxes to move the ball faster and cleaner than they can at home and that’s what they would proceed to do.

Dictating the play is what the Foxes have done all year and they would start the game off with some brilliant play down the left-hand side of the field where Dylon would be overlapping for fun and finding himself down the touchline whipping in crosses into the box which were just unable to be out home.

But it would be an early goal in the 7^th minute from Modbury that would see the Foxes behind and chasing the game something they havent had to do a lot this season.

But by going a goal down it would only spur on the Foxes to go up a gear an d10 minutes later a great bit of play down the left would end up with a ball across the box would find Jack at the back post who would tap the ball home to bring the game back level.

The rest of the 1^st half would be a physical one with neither team wanting to give up and going into clashes with full force.

Knowing all the foxes needed was a point to secure the title Modbury would keep pushing and would look for the long ball over the top to release their speedy asset but Nathan, Brayden and Jacob would keep him locked down and making Matt’s day in goals easier.

The second half started with the fire the first ended with. Both teams came out swinging but it would be the Foxes who would gain control of the game early in the second half and start to pin the Modbury team in their own half.

Again, it would be Dylon bombarding the Modbury RB on repeated attacks and would find himself inside the box on multiple occasions providing cutbacks for his team mates to finish but they would be unable to find the back of the net.

It would take a piece of masterful play by the Foxes youngest member Ryan who would control the Modbury CB and have him on his back and as the ball would go over his head roll off him and play a sublime first time ball between the defense for Hayden to run onto at his usual blinding pace and his first time shot would rifle past the keeper into the top corner to give the Foxes the lead again and the celebrations would ensue on the sidelines.

But only a few minutes later the Foxes would struggle to clear a long throw into the box and the veteran Modbury striker McGreevy would roll the Foxes defenders and put his shot past the stranded Foxes keeper Matt in goals to level the game again.

Despite the Foxes constant bombardment on the Modbury goal it would be hard to break through despite the Foxes scoring 2 more goals which were incorrectly ruled out by the Referee 1 for a very light push in the back and the other from a Kosta strike from outside the box and an “offside” call which was very wrong with Paul well infront of the defender which is very clear on the footage.

But it wouldn’t matter with the Foxes only needing a point to secure the title and that’s exactly what they got with the 2 – 2 draw.

The result is a massive one for the club wrapping up Back-to-Back titles in Division 3 and division 2 and taking the club to Division 1 for the first time in its history where the boys will be looking to make a huge splash with the best teams in the competition next year.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

Jack Robery – 1 Goal

It’s been a whirlwind season for the A Grade going flawless throughout the season to secure their first Division 2 title and push themselves into Division 1. With 3 games left to go the Foxes will be looking to have a perfect season something they have never done before and wrap up the league with 0 losses.

There is a massive game this weekend at The Den against their toughest opponent all year Southern Knights where a dramatic last 5 mins of the game played out earlier in the year.

Its sure to be a massive day at The Den this weekend so get around your champions and come and celebrate with them.

It was touted as another step towards promotion and that’s exactly what the Foxes did in a hard-fought battle against Rowe Park who dug in deep defensively the Foxes came away 2 – 0 Winners and in doing so secured their promotion to Division 1 next season.

The game would start off under complete control by the Foxes with the Backline shifting the ball around with ease opening up the play and creating space for Hayden, Tom and Ryan to work into but it would be the defensive effort from Rowe Park that would keep the Foxes out of their goal.

The best chance of the first half would come after the Rowe Park defender gave away a penalty and it would be Kosta who would step up to take it and after his Elizabeth Val heroics from the spot it would be no doubt in anyone’s mind, he would slot it into the goal.

But this would not be the case for Kosta with his shot blazing wide of the goal and letting Rowe Park of the hook.

This would give Rowe Park a boost for the remainder of the first half keeping he Foxes at bay as both teams would head into half time 0-0

The Foxes knew what they needed to do to realize their promotion dream and they went and did exactly that in the 2^nd half with the Foxes creating batches of chances but struggling to find the back of the net with the Rowe Park defenders & Keeper throwing themselves at everything.

But it would be Kosta who would come up with redemption after his earlier penalty miss after swinging a free kick into the box the rebound would fall to him outside the box and his first-time volley would fly into the top corner breaking the deadlock and Rowe Park hearts.

The foxes would continue to mount on the pressure and create a bunch of chances and eventually in the 81^st minute Tom would double the Foxes lead with an excellent left foot strike past the keeper that would find the side netting.

This would give the Foxes a solid lead for the remaining minutes of the game but a goal line clearance from Captain Brayden would seal the win and the Foxes first clean sheet of the League Season.

Goal Scorers

Tom Bain – 1 Goal

Kosta Tslamangos – 1 Goal

The win confirmed the Foxes promotion into Div 1 for the first time in the club’s history with the biggest showdown on the weekend coming up against Modbury Soccer Club. A win this weekend confirms the Foxes 2023 Division 2 Title so it’s a huge game for the Club and a massive week on the training ground getting ready for the biggest game in the Foxes history.

It was another day of utter dominance from the Sunday A Grade showing why they are top of the table and the best team in Division 2 coming away resounding 7-1 winners against our rivals from last year FK Beograd.

The game started of with the Foxes in complete control from the first whistle and it wasn’t long before their dominance showed on the scoresheet with a rare first half goal coming from a cross into the box which found its way to the back post where Hayden pulled of an amazing Acrobatic mid-air volley which will surely show up in the Goal of the Month contest for August.

This settled the Foxes and Fans on the sidelines and allowed the Foxes to play much freer on and off the ball with the Backline under complete control of the ball and the Foxes creating flashes of chances.

It would then be a familiar face who would double the Foxes lead with an excellent ball into the box by Dylon finding Kyle’s head off the back of the FK Beograd defenders and finishing cleanly past the keeper.

Just before the close of the half though FK Beograd would peg a goal back after a lucky kick into the box finds the FK Beograd striker who volleys past the Foxes defense and keeper.

Half time would see the 2 teams head in 2-1 but the Foxes were in complete control and the 2nd half would show how far they have come in 1 year against last years tough opponent.

It would then be early in the 2nd half a great ball out to Tom from Dylon would lead to a quick counter attack and Tom would cut back onto his right foot and finish between the keeper’s legs restoring the Foxes 2 goal lead.

This would start the snowball rolling with more goals to come from Hayden and Tom. A great bit of play out the back from Brayden to Dylon to Ryan and eventually through to Hayden who would slot past the keeper.

The flood of quick-fire goals would continue to come with some excellent midfield interplay leading to a slot ball between the defense turning into a cut back and finding Tom in the 6-yard box for the easiest of finishes.

Another goal would follow form a Dylon free kick into the box which would find Captain Brayden at the back post but the keeper would pull off a great save to keep it out the goal but his save would roll straight to the feet of Hayden who would tap home into the open net scoring another simple goal rounding out his hat-trick on the day.

To finish off the day a great switch ball would find its way to Tom inside the box eventually and he would make no mistake with his 1on1 finish rounding out his hat-trick and the eventual 7-1 scoreline for the Foxes.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 3 Goals

Tom Bain – 3 Goals

Kyle Platten – 1 Goal

The Result was massive for the Foxes with their rivals in 2nd and 3rd playing eachother which eventually led the Foxes to have a massive 10 Point gap between them and their nearest rival. With not many games left in the season the Foxes have almost locked up their promotion to Division 1 and in turn the Division 2 title.

With another 3 points on the table this weekend the Foxes must collect to finalize their season as quickly as possible the Foxes are back home taking on Rowe Park on Sunday. We look forward to seeing everyone there.

The Foxes would head into their game on the weekend on the back of an unbeaten season with the sense they could beat any team on the park.

The weekends cup action showed the Foxes are beatable despite being the team with more control, more chances and more composer they would go down 2 – 0 thanks to 2 first half goals from Unley.

The game would start off well for the Foxes with the away team controlling the ball and opening up wave after wave of attacks but it would be in the 15^th minute of the game that everything would change for the Foxes with an Unley attack seeing a cross sent into the box and despite the striker being clearly offside the ref would wave away the call and the striker would make no mistake finishing past the Foxes keeper.

This goal would frustrate the boys and with the Foxes wanting to build out from the back the ball would be at Matt’s feet and after some hesitation on the ball the Unley striker would intercept the ball and roll it into the foxes open net.

This would be a deflating blow for the Foxes and it would take the foxes 15 minutes to gather themselves and get back on the ball and start creating more real chances.

Half time would come soon and it would be needed for the Foxes who would go in a look to regroup and get their game plan back under control.

The Foxes would come out in the 2^nd half firing from the first whistle and the Foxes kicked up into the next gear and took complete control of the game.

But it would be Unley who would effectively park the bus against the Foxes. The number of players behind the ball would make it super difficult for the Foxes to breakdown, even for the quick feet of Ryan, Kyle, Hayden and Kosta they would struggle to wiggle their way through the thick lines of defense.

A great chance would fall to Hamish who would find himself drifting past 3 defenders and inside the box but despite a late challenge he would stay on his feet and no penalty would be awarded.

The Foxes would create a bunch of half chances but nothing clear cut enough to get past the Unley keeper.

The Unley keeper would find himself pushing shot after shot around the post and getting his hands on every cross coming into his box. This would be the most frustrating part of the game with no matter what the Foxes tried they would be unable to break through.

Despite even throwing Matt forward for free kicks and corners the Foxes would still be unable to break down the Unley defense and that would prove to be enough for Unley to come away with the win.

Goal Scorers

N/A

For the first time this season the Foxes tasted defeat despite putting in a gallant effort they would come up against an experienced and structured team that would prove to be a bridge to far for the Foxes to overcome in a half of football.

It would be the end of the Cup run for the Foxes but this now allows them to solely focus on their league title push and their charge towards Division 1.

The A Grade Foxes have been making things as dramatic as they can in the last few weeks and this weekend was no different with the Foxes coming away 4 – 3 winners against our rivals Elizabeth Vale to move 7 points clear at the top of the table.

The game would start off in typical Foxes fashion with the A Grade dominating the ball and creating half chances and playing around on the edge of the Vale 18-yard box but unable to penetrate the Vale backline properly.

But this wouldn’t last long with the Foxes conceding a freekick outside the Box and a ball hit inside the box would take a bounce skip past the Foxes defenders and past Matt in goals into the side netting giving the Vale a 1 -0 lead against the run of play.

They would then capitalize on this momentum and an over-the-top ball in behind the Foxes defense would see Captain Hanger miss his first-time clearance and clean up the Vale striker in the box and give away a penalty.

The Vale striker wouldn’t miss his chance and would double the Vale lead and this would put a lid on the Foxes in the first half with Vale defending excellently and the Foxes unable to create any kind of momentum or speed to their play and make any real chances.

This would signal half time for the Foxes and it would not be pretty with Coach Coxy and Assistant Coach Evan ripping into the Foxes questioning their desire to win the game and take the league they have worked this hard for.

But it would be Captain Hanger that would have his piece to say about desire, effort and putting your body on the line.

The half time talk seemed to resonate with the Foxes as they started the 2^nd half much more aggressive and assertive towards the Vale goal and would sting the palms of the Vale keeper with some efforts on target.

But it would be a defensive mistake that would see the Foxes concede another goal and it looked dead from there. With many people writing of the Foxes chances of a come back and succumbed them to their first loss of the season.

But the Foxes never doubted themselves on the park and the attacking quartet of Ryan, Hayden, Jack and Kyle would link up and it would be a slick Ryan run where he would beat 3 opponents get to the baseline and square a delicious ball across the box that Jack would be in the box to tap home from close range would breathe life into the Foxes and you could feel the momentum swing for the Foxes.

And it would only take 10 more minutes for the foxes to get another one back with Ryan proving to be to slick to handle in the box and the Vale defender would clean out his legs and give away a silly penalty.

Up stepped Kyle to take the penalty and he would pick his left-hand side and the Vale keeper would pull of a great save to keep it out but the young official linesman would have his flag up saying the Vale keeper had left his line early and would award the Foxes with a retake of the penalty.

Kosta would step up this time with Ice in his veins he would pick the same side but just a little bit better and hit his penalty home of the inside of the post and reduce the Foxes deficit again.

The momentum was really with the Foxes now and they wouldn’t stop with a great ball into the middle of the park finding Hayden’s feet and his turn of pace and good feet would get him inside the box and an outside the foot finish would find the side netting and the Foxes were back level and the sideline was buzzing.

The Foxes would continue to look for the winner and it would be a 78 min substitute coming up from the reserves Josh Frahm who would step on the field and within 2 minutes of his introduction he would prove to be the Hero the foxes needed.

Hayden would blitz down the right wing, beat his defender on the outside and find himself inside the box and square the ball across the box and Mr Speed would find his flippy friend Josh who would be there to tap the ball home from close range and give the Foxes their 4^th goal.

The best friends would wheel off together and turn into an acrobatic circus doing synchronized flips and spins in celebration of their massive comeback.

The Foxes would hold out the Vale onslaught of chances for the last 10 minutes and that would be it with the Foxes pulling off another miracle coming down from 3 -0 to end up 4 – 3 winners in the most dramatic fashion.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

Josh Frahm – 1 Goal

Jack Robery – 1 Goal

Kosta Tslamangos – 1 Goal

The result was huge for the Foxes with their closest rivals succumbing to a 6-0 defeat on the same day giving the Foxes a huge 7 point lead over 2^nd place and a 10 point lead over 3^rd. the Foxes now shift their focus to the cup match away at Unley where they will be looking to reach their first ever Semi Final of the cup in the History of the club.

Coxy’s boys sure do love to make everyone on the sidelines have a heart attack and leave things super late and this weekend was no exception.

The foxes would struggle to find the back of the net all day but it would be a 90th and 91st min goal that would seal the 3 points for the Foxes and put them into a commanding position heading into a big game against Elizabeth Vale next weekend.

The game would start off like most Foxes A grade games do with the Foxes dictating the ball and creating wave after wave of attack and it wouldn’t take long for the foxes to find the breakthrough with Ryan finding the back of the net in the 7th minute mark.

And after a period of dominance kicking toward the home end the whole crowd thought the Foxes had a 2nd when a perfect cutback would find Hayden staring at an open goal only for him to uncharacteristically miss from 2 yards out at the complete surprise of everyone on the sidelines and himself.

This would spur on the Raptors team to push forward themselves and in the 17th Minute they would find the back of the net equalizing the game and nullifying the Foxes for the rest of the half.

The Hayden miss & raptors goal would seem to shell shock the foxes with a bunch of half chances at best being created and the sweeping keeper of the WA Raptors shutting down any chances that would look to get in behind their defense.

The Foxes would go into half time with their heads held high knowing they were not at their best and still not behind while the WA Raptors team were playing out of their skin and only just holding level.

The 2nd half turned into a physical battle in the midfield though with clear attacking opportunities for the Foxes getting broken up by the WA Raptors physicality off the ball.

But the younger, fitter and more skillful Foxes would keep fighting with Kyle starting to become a man possessed with 1 in particular run starting at LB and he would weave his way past 5 defenders up the left flank and find himself 1on1 with the keeper and looking for an easy sweaty the last Raptors defender would slide in for a last-ditch tackle to clear the ball before a certain goal.

The day was looking like another one where a team would wall up defensively and the Foxes would struggle to breakthrough but it would be the substitution of Captain Hanger who would come on the field and change the game for the Foxes.

A deep corner in the 90th minute of the game would find him hanging around at the back post and his first-time volley towards goal would be parried into the middle of the box by the keeper and would land at the feet of Hayden and through the crowd of people in the way the ball would trickle into the back of the net giving the Foxes their much-deserved lead.

Literally less than a minute from kickoff for the Raptors the Foxes would break into attack again and after such a deflating goal the Raptors defense would lose handed out on the left wing and he would collect a superb pass from Ryan and slot it past the Raptors keeper.

The win would break a 4-game cycle of Draws for the Foxes and put them back in the winner’s circle and maintain their lead at the top of the table.

Goal Scorers

Ryan Darmenia – 1 Goal

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 2 Goals

The result maintains the Foxes 4-point lead over Modbury at the top of the table but most importantly an 8-point lead over 3rd place Elizabeth Vale who the foxes head away next weekend to take on.

A win against the Vale would extend their lead over 3rd place to 11 points and put the Foxes firmly in the box seat for promotion for season 2024.

After the reserves game stressed everyone out the First Team thought they would go 1 better and stress everyone out the whole game.

In what was touted as the rematch weekend this was the biggest game with old rivalries brought to the front and the memories of last season still in the back of the minds of the Foxes spurring them on to get the win.

The game would be a slug fest with pitch conditions hampering both teams and mistakes being the story of the day.

But the fight, desire to win and class of the Foxes would come through in the end with a 3-3 draw in full time and a huge 5-4 win on penalties.

The day would start of well for the Foxes with their potent attacking front line being on full display in the first half with Tom, Ryan and Hayden causing crazy amounts of problems for the USC Lions defense.

The problem would become prevalent though with wayward finishing being the issue with an early chance from Ryan on his left foot rolling wide of the goal.

This would be followed up by Hayden going on a crazy run past a few of the USC Lions defenders but his cutback would find a defender rather than a Foxes attacker and his good work would be wasted.

This would give the USC Lions a chance to get an attack going of their own and In the 29^th minute they would find the back of the net and give themselves a buffer.

This would stir up the Foxes and they would ramp up their waves of attacks and it would be again Ryan, Hayden and this time Kyle who would miss their half chances in the first half.

The 1 goal would be what would separate the 2 teams heading into half time and after a talking to by Coach Coxy the Foxes would come out all fired up ready to prove they are the better team.

The start of the 2^nd half would show the foxes control in the midfield and would lead to a batch of chances coming for the Foxes but again it would be wayward finishing that would let them down.

That would be until ever reliable Ryan would head home a chance that would bounce around in the box a few times ringing the teams back level.

But this would be the start of a goal fest of the 2^nd half and it would be the Foxes who would take the lead in the 78^th minute with a trademark Hayden run getting in behind the USC lions defense and he would slot his finish past the keeper racking up another goal to his tally.

But USC were not done striking back almost immediately after Brayden would fail to clear a ball in the box and the mistake would be capitalized upon by the USC Lions striker who would smash his finish past a stranded Matt in goals bringing the game back level at 2-2.

And it would remain like that until the added time where the game would look like Extra time was on the cards but in the 92^nd minute the Foxes would find themselves behind again when a clearance in the box would bounce of the back of the Foxes defender and luckily land at the USC Lions players feet who would box out the defenders and lash home from within the 6 yard box his finish into the roof of the net.

USC Lions thought they had done it and won the game in the dying minutes of the game and celebrated like they had.

But the Foxes are not accustomed to losing and did not want to start now. They would take kick off and quickly they would get a free kick just inside their attacking half. With literal seconds left on the clock Tom would deliver a peach of a cross from deep into the box and a Jack Robery would pop up out of the pack flying high like a majestic salmon leaping out of the river and his header would be perfect putting the ball to the far post stranding the keeper on the spot as the ball would find the back of the net sending The Den into raptures.

The kick off would be taken and no sooner as that would happen the full-time whistle would blow and it would send the game into extra time.

For 15 minutes the first half was tense with both teams wary of making any mistakes but both teams would go clattering into eachother not holding back on any tackles showing the desire both teams had to win.

The 1^st half of extra time would literally be a slog fest with both teams getting frustrated at eachother and unable to break through and make any real clear chances on goal.

The 2^nd half would come around super quick and this would open the game up again with both teams on their last legs and continuing to slug it out with eachother. But the chance of extra time would fall to ever reliable Hayden with a perfect ball over the top of the defense landing at his speedy little feet, he would take a great first touch beating the defender and putting him 1 on 1 with the keeper and he would go past him with ease leaving the exposed goal ready for him to finish the game off, that’s when the Mud would take over control of the ball with it stopping dead on him and ruining all his good work in the final instance, he would struggle to get it out and would get caught up tangled with the ball and the chance would eventually be cleared by the desperate USC defense.

And that would be that for normal time with the First Team going to penalties too.

Penalties for the 2^nd time in the day would be what was required to settle the game and it would be USC Lions who would take the first one.

Matt the Foxes goal keeper would step up looking to save his team early and give them a slight advantage but a good penalty was slotted past him.

Up first for the Foxes would be the Foxes main penalty taker om who would make no mistake putting his penalty past the USC Keeper restoring parity between the 2 teams.

Matt would look for redemption with the 2^nd USC penalty but again a good finish would send Matt the wrong way and the score would be 2-1.

Up would come Thunder foot Kosta who is known for his unstoppable penalties and he would make no mistake driving home a relevantly tame shot which would send the USC keeper the wrong way and surprise the Foxes fans.

The USC Lions 3^rd up taker would seemingly have all the pressure on him with him looking unconfident from the moment he put the ball down and this would show in his finish with his shot going wide and hitting the backstop sending the Foxes support into ruptures.

Kyle would relish the moment to take advantage of the USC mistake and he would step up confidently to take his penalty but the keeper would guess correctly and pull of a great save to keep both team’s level.

It would be the USC Lions turn and the penalty taker would make no mistake of hitting the target like the previous Lion to take a penalty and would convert from the spot making it 3-2 and putting the pressure back on the Foxes.

But Mr cool himself Ryan would step up with no worries, the guy that is always late to training, always forgets something after training and has no care in the world but all the talent would step up put the ball down and slot right past the USC keeper going down the middle like a mad man.

The shootout was looking like it would go to sudden death with the next USC Lions penalty taker stepping up and slotting past Matt in goals making no mistake of his penalty putting the pressure back on the Foxes.

Next up for the Foxes was Mr Reliable himself Flip Master Hayden, eradicating junior memories of missed penalties he would continue on his amazing goal scoring form smashing the penalty into the bottom corner.

No, we were in sudden death and the pressure was really on and up stepped the USC Lions taker and the crowd felt good about this one, he was shaky and lacked confidence from the second he grabbed the ball, now it was just up to Matt to get a hand on the shot and give his team the advantage and that’s exactly what he did. He would pick the correct side and dive well and the terribly struck shot would roll right into his hands and give the Foxes the chance to wrap up the tie.

Now the biggest pressure of the day would fall on a club mainstay and notable name Nathan Bassham. With no visible sign of pressure, he would cooly roll up wrap the ball place it down on the spot and with Ice in his veins, he would send the keeper the wrong way and slot his chance and give the Foxes the win and redemption from the year prior.

The result was a massive one with everyone coming up clutch in their own moments making the day a perfect story that couldn’t have been written better.

For the first time in the club’s history both teams have progressed further than round #4 of the cups and will look forward to the next round against an even more challenging opponent.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

Ryan Darmenia – 1 Goal

Jack Robery – 1 Goal

It was an excellent day for the Foxes with both teams progressing through to the next round of the cup and continuing on the A Grades great start to the season. They will look ahead to Round #5 of the cup where its now unchartered territory for the Foxes as they look to continue their push deeper into the season.

This weekend they are back in league action up against WA Raptors at the Den and after an excellent result this weekend the Foxes will be looking to get back to winning ways int eh league and extend their lea at the top of the table.

Another frustrating draw for the A Grade saw their lead at the top cut back to 4 points after a difficult physical slog against West beach in their mud pit of a ground.

The Foxes would struggle to move the ball at their speed with the pitch conditions hindering their ability to move from side to side and get out of tight places in the center of the park.  

This would force the Foxes to change the way they would normally play. But it would be West beach that would take the lead first with a scrappy corner bouncing through the Foxes defense and ending up in the 6-yard box and would subsequently smashed home by the West Beach striker.

This would force the Foxes to get more physical and get into 1 on 1 battles more readily across the park but the first half the foxes were unable to beat the West Beach keeper and would go into half time 1 -0 down.

The 2^nd half would start and the Foxes would come out in more control than the first half and creating waves of chances, and the forward pressure would eventually yield results with the Foxes being awarded a penalty.

Up stepped Kyle to take the pressure penalty and as calm as you like he would slot the ball past the West beach keeper and restore parity between the 2 teams.

And it wouldn’t take long for the Foxes to take the lead after a free kick would be floated into the back post that would eventually fall at the feet of Ryan in the box and he would shoot off his left and past the West Beach keeper.

But in what was turning out to be the story of the game the Foxes would concede a penalty of their own after a seemingly nothing ball would be played into the wide space at which the Foxes keeper Matt would come out for and cause panic in the backline and a random cross into the box would find the hand of Hamish and a penalty awarded.

The West Beach striker would step up and make no mistake slotting past Matt in goals and a 2-2 scoreline was what faced the Foxes.

The Foxes were not settled with this result though and would dig deep to try and restore their lead and eventually one of their waves of attacks would yield another penalty.

After slotting away his first one Kyle would step up to take the 2^nd and would make no mistake restoring, he Foxes 1 goal lead.

This would lead the Foxes to fight to keep their lead and defend behind the ball to stop West Beach attacks.

They would proceed to repel a bunch of their attacks but a 89^th minute throw in that would find its way to the back post would be lashed home by the West beach player on his left foot and beat Matt in goals to deflate the Foxes team and hand the Foxes back to back draws.

The result would see the Foxes lead at the top of the table cut to 4 points after 2 rough results.

Goal Scorers

Ryan Darmenia – 1 Goal

Kyle Platten – 2 Goals

The result was less than ideal for the Foxes but they are still undefeated in the league this season and the top spot is still in their hands.

This weekend they return home to take on USC Lions in a grudge match after last seasons Cup Loss and they will be looking to get back to winning ways after the last 2 draws.

Similar to the B Grade the Pitch was in an even worse state after the Reserves game took place on it and it really slowed down the Foxes attacks. This led to another dominant display but only a 1-1 Draw was able to be salvaged from a Sunday the Foxes would rather forget.

The game would start off as badly as the Foxes could have imagined with Para Hills pressing the Foxes backline relentlessly in the first 10 mins of the game.

This would force 2 moments early in the game for Para Hills, a goal mouth scramble and an excellent goal line clearance from Dylon would keep the Foxes level but it would only be a few minutes later that the Foxes would find themselves behind with another goal mouth scramble resulting eventually in a Para Hills goal.

The Foxes would then look to fix up their defensive mistakes and get back into the game and it would be Ryan who would force the error from the Para Hills defender who would knock his shot into his own goal.

The rest of the first half would be filled with Foxes chances after Foxes chances but none would find the back of the net with Hayden spinning a few shots just wide of the far post.

It would be goal keeper Matthew who would pull of a handful of unbelievable saves that would keep the game level putting in one of his best performances all season. 

The biggest turning point of the first half would be a Tom missed penalty that would have seen the Foxes take the lead heading into half time but the sandy bunker he took the penalty from caused havoc and the keeper would guess correctly and get a strong hand on the shot.

Half time saw the Foxes double down on the offensive pressure and 80% of the possession would be with the Foxes with Kyle coming close 3 times in the 2^nd half hitting both posts in attempts to push the Foxes over the line.

But it would turn out to be frustrating day away at Para Hills and the foxes would only be able to muster up a 1 – 1 draw.

Goal Scorers

Ryan Darmenia – 1 Goal

The Foxes still hold a 6-point lead at the top of the table with the next few rounds of the league up against the Top 4. The Foxes head away this weekend to West Beach searching for a win after their round 1 Draw.

After watching the B Grade struggle infront of the goal early the A Grade decided to try and go 1 better and make their lives even harder.
eventually the class would come through and they would win the game 6-1 in terrible conditions.

The Foxes would start the game off at their usual pace in control from the first whistle but it would be a half clearance that would land at the edge of the box and the Noarlunga player would take a swing and loop he ball into the far corner.

This would give Noarlunga confidence within the game from here on out forcing the Foxes to get super creative with their build up play and try and create clear cut chances over and over.

But the Noarlunga keeper in the first half was a brick wall and would not let the Foxes score, with him coming up clutch atleast 6 times in the first half saving shots from all of the Foxes forward line.

The worst of the lot would fall to Ryan who would be 3 yards out from the goal line and would sky his easy tap in clear over the bar.

This would send the Foxes into half time 1 – 0 down scratching their heads how that first half happened.

After a change and some talking to the Foxes would come out in the 2^nd half and look a lot more like their usual selves, with Hayden scoring 1 minute into the 2^nd half and this would kick open the door for him to go on and have a field day bagging 4 goals all up taking his season tally to 15 goals.

A notable mention would be to Brayden who would score his first goal of this season with a trademark corner to the back post that would hit him in the face and he would put past the keeper on the goal line.

With Tom scoring the other goal to further increase his tally and show what a dominant duo Hayden & Tom have become over the last 2 seasons.

The result was an excellent one in the end for the Foxes with other games results going their way and finding them clear top of the table by 6 points and flying yet to drop a game all season.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 4 Goals

Tom Bain – 1 Goal

Brayden Platten – 1 Goal

The Result see’s the Foxes remain at the top of the table and will head away to Para Hills United and look to kick on again get another win and finish the first half of the season of without losing a game.

The A Grade would head into their game with the weather conditions getting worse and the pitch conditions following suit with the ball skidding all over the park and a slip and slide forming in the midfield.

But the Foxes would be in control of the game all day but would struggle to find the winners until extra time where they would eventually get a 4 – 1 win over Stirling.  

The game would start off in Windy and wet conditions making the prediction of the ball in the air much harder than it needed to be and when the ball was on the ground the skid and mud would make getting your footing even harder.

The Foxes would be in control of the ball and tempo of the game all day though and this would be highlighted with Hayden getting a few early 1 on 1 chances with his defender struggling to stop him when he was in full running flight.

Hayden would unload a vicious shot early towards the far post but the Stirling keeper would make a great save and keep things level.

The Stirling Midfield and Defense would be difficult to breakdown and create any real chances especially in the first half with a bunch of attack from the Foxes fizzling out.

Matt the Foxes keeper would be called into action late in the first half to make a decent long range save from a Stirling effort but this would be the extent of their chances in the first half.

The 2^nd half would see the Foxes start to win the Midfield battle more frequently, and an early chance created from Kyle where he would drift past 2 midfielders and send a perfect ball over the Stirling defense for Hayden to run onto and his outside the foot shot would come off the post and the Foxes would be unable to finish the follow up chance.

But this would be the start of the Foxes in full flow and the break through would come through from a Foxes throw in that Hayden would take perfect control of, he would dribble past 4 Stirling defenders and finish past the Stirling keeper with ease showing just why he has 11 goals already this season.

The foxes would continue to create chance after chance but would struggle to put the ball in the net.

This inability to score would eventually cost the Foxes with part time podcaster and full time Stirling midfielder Finlay sending a long ball from their defensive half into the swirling wind, the Stirling striker would track the ball in the air perfectly and would finish first time over the outstretched Matt in goals and would bring both teams back level.

A very very late chance would fall to Bailey who would have a shot from outside the box with the Stirling keeper getting his hand on the ball and tipping it onto the post but this would be the end of regulation time and send the match into Extra time.

Goal Scorers

Ryan Darmenia – 3 Goals

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

The result was made a lot harder thanks to the weather conditions making the Foxes game style slower and harder to play but the quality of the Foxes showed through once again and their superior fitness levels and passing ability would be what separates the Foxes from other teams.

The Foxes now have a weekend off thanks to the June long weekend but will come back and look to take on bottom of the table Noarlunga at home and will be looking to continue their great league season.

They say when your hot you are HOT!!!

And the A Grade are currently on fire.

After the long trip down South, the Foxes would turn on the heat and come away 4 – 2 winners.

It would start with a first half display where the Foxes would be in complete control of the game, the tempo of the game was in the Foxes hands with passing motions and the style of play being played at the Foxes pace.

The clear open opportunities wouldn’t come so easily though with the Southern Knight’s defense well set up to keep the foxes forward line threats at bay.

But it would be a simple piece of play that would open the scoring for the foxes with a good ball swung into the box cleared by the Knight’s defender finding the feet of Josh who would play a simple ball to Tom inside the box wo would finish to the far post easily and give the Foxes a 1 – 0 lead.

The rest of the first half was controlled and dictated by the Foxes and the Southern knights would struggle to find a path in to the Foxes goal.

As the 2^nd half started the Foxes came out with an increased amount of speed and quality and I wouldn’t be long before that quality turned into a goal.

A cross sent into the back post would find Tom’s head and his header would come off the under side of the crossbar and seemingly cross the line only for the knight’s defender to clear the ball out of the box, just for Jack to collect the ball and fire a missile into the Knight’s goal and double the Foxes lead.

The foxes would go on to create a bunch of chances but unable to put them in the net and their costly misses went and got punished by the Southern knights when at the 75^th minute a free kick would be floated into the box and after a scramble and a seemingly offside the ball would be swept over the line and reduce the deficit.

But as per usual the Foxes would bounce back quickly and in just 3 minutes Hayden would get himself on the scoresheet blitzing his defenders and slotting past the keeper to restore the Foxes 2 goal lead.

With 2 minutes left in regulation time a defensive lapse from the Foxes would see the Knight’s midfielder pick up the ball inside the 18-yard box spin and first time smash the ball past Matt in goals again reducing the Foxes lead to 1 goal.

And in what would be a frantic final 5 minutes of the game the Southern Knights would lift up their intensity and try to take the fight to the Foxes to steal a point from them.

It would be another free kick outside the box that would be swung into the penalty area and the resulting flick from the knight’s striker would drift to the back post but it would be Hero Tom who would rise out of the pack like a majestical seal who would header the ball of the line and save a certain goal to which he would be bundled into the net from the Knight’s striker.

The resulting ball would land at Dylon’s feet who would send a excellent ball to Hayden who would break away from everyone and meet the Knight’s goal keeper outside his 18 yard box take the ball on the bounce around the keeper and smash home the winner on the goal line to seal the 4 – 2 win and 3 points for the Foxes.

Goal Scorers

Tom Bain

Jack Robery

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 2 Goals

The result see’s the Foxes extend their lead at the top of the table to 3 points over 2^nd place Modbury and has the Foxes on a 6-game win streak in the league.

The last-ditch effort on the line from Tom to save his team shows the desire across the whole squad to win and put their bodies on the line for eachother.

The Foxes now head back to The Den this weekend to take on Sterling in the cup and then a well-deserved break for the June long weekend.

In what was touted as the top of the table clash the game lived up to its hype with the Foxes putting on a masterclass showing why they are having an amazing season and undefeated all year.

The game would start off with a whirlwind attack after a Modbury Jets turn over would land to Hayden who would cut in front of his defender and cut the ball back to Josh who would put the ball in the net early to give the Foxes a super quick 1 – 0 lead.

 And it wouldn’t be long before the Foxes had a 2^nd with some slick play out wide would find Hayden again who would put in a great cross onto Ryan’s head which the keeper would save and bounce of the post but Hayden would be there to finish the rebound and put the Foxes up 2 – 0 early.

But the lead would be cut in half not to long after when free kick was swung into the box and Matt would come out to punch the ball but miss the punch which would land at the feet of the Jets striker who would sweep the ball home to make it 2 – 1.

This would be the gap between the 2 teams heading into half time after a chat and some confidence had been put back into the Foxes they would come out and be the dominant team in the 2^nd half and a great 50/50 win from jack would allow the foxes to break in transition and a bad clearance from the jets would land at the feet of Hayden who would slot the ball away with ease.

And it wasn’t long before another one was on the board with Hayden skipping between 2 Jets defenders and opening up the attack with a perfect ball played through for Tom to chop his defender and finish under the keeper.

But the 3 goal lead wouldn’t last long with a Goal kick heading straight to the jets midfield and a lack of pressure on the bouncing ball would land at the Jets strikers feet who would shoot on his left and put it past Matt in goal.

But the foxes were the better team all game and would hold out the jets team for the remainder of the game to take clear top spot on the table.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 2 Goals

Tom Bain – 1 Goal

Josh Taylor – 1 Goal

The Foxes are firing on all cylinders with goal scorers all across the team, the midfield and defense holding their own and working together as a complete unit. The Foxes will look to continue their great season as they come up against Southern Knights this weekend and look to extend their gap at the top of the table.

With all the Sunday games not going ahead all eyes were on the A Grade game as the Foxes looked to continue their great staart to the season and they did exactly that getting the 3 – 1 win. 

the Foxes would start by showing their quality with the opening half the Foxes were in complete control and probably turned out their best first half performance of the season. 

The Scoring would be opened by Jack who hit a long range bullet past the stranded FK Beograd keeper who was unable to get close to Jacks thunderbolt. 

And it wouldnt be long before Hayden would get back on the score sheet again after Ryan would go on one of his trademark snaking runs past a bunch of defenders only to have his shot stopped but the follow up chance would fall into Haydens lap and he would smash it home like he has been doing all year. 

The first half goals wouldnt end there with another Jack missle going past the keerp and a shot which was better than the first and surely in contention for goal of the month of May. 

But as good as the first half was the Foxes 2nd half would go in the opposite direction with FK Beograd fighting their way back into the game and even winning themselves a penalty which would be missed after the penalty taker would rattle their shot off the crossbar. 

But the 2nd half dominance from FK beograd wouldnt go unwarranted as they would capitalize on a defensind error by the Foxes and Brayden on the line would be unable to keep the ball out of the net. 

but the Foxes would respond and gain control of the game back and start to create a bunch of chances but the Luck wouldnt land with the 2nd half Foxes as Ryan would spur the best of the lot missing a 1 on 1 with the keeper at the end of the game. 

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goals

Jack Robery – 2 Goals

The Win from the Foxes keepers them at the top of the table equal with Modbury as they head into the weekends game as a 1 vs 2 battle with the winner sitting in the box seat for the league at this early stage. 

The A Grade turned up and looked to finish off the clean sweep of results for the Men’s teams and boy did they come out firing early with a 4 – 0 lead inside 25 mins.

The Foxes would come into this game looking to stay at the top of the table and put the pressure on Rowe Park early and boy did they do just that.

A great corner into the box would find Jacob’s head and he would finish it expertly giving the Foxes an early lead, and the pressure wouldn’t let up from there with Striker Ryan finishing a Hat-trick within 25 minutes.

Ryan’s typical silky feet, physicality and great finishing would cause the Rowe Park defense all kinds of problems, the highlight of his finishes would be when he dribbled past 3 defenders into the box with not a single defender being able to lay a tackle on him and he would calmly slot the ball past the Rowe Park keeper.

After the Foxes would go up 4-0 they would switch of for a little bit of the game and find themselves conceding 2 goals from turnovers and simple mistakes.

Half time would come around though and the Foxes would reset their gameplan, regaining composure and focus and look to finish off the game

And the 2^nd half wouldn’t be too old before Tom would find the back of the net and restore the Foxes control.

The rest of the 2^nd half was the Foxes battering the Rowe Park defense but unable to put the ball in the back of the net.

This was until the 88^th Minute when Tom would step up to convert from the penalty spot to give himself a double in the game.

And a minute later a corner into the box would fall at the feet of Bailey to knock home and round out a comprehensive 7 – 2 win for the Foxes

Goal Scorers

Ryan Darmenia – 3 Goals

Tom Bain – 2 Goals

Bailey Trussler – 1 Goal

Jacob Powell – 1 Goal  

The result would see the Foxes stay attached at the top of the table with Modbury and after a FK Beograd game this coming weekend it is looking like a Modbury vs Angle Vale title battle for the season.

It was the climax of the day the A Grade taking on the Elizabeth Vale A Grade, a game that over the years has seen some classics.

And this weekends game was no exception with the boys putting on one hell of a show and eventually coming away 3 – 1 winners to round out 3 wins in 3 games.  

The game started off with the Foxes in control of the possession but unable to break out of their defensive half and create any real chances.

And it would turn out that it would be Elizabeth vale who would get on the score sheet first after Hayden would be disposed in the midfield and a first-time pass would open up the Foxes defense leading to a 1 on 1 with Foxes keeper matt which the Vale striker slotted away.

But this would just rally the Foxes with the boys now pushing their way out of their defensive half and starting to create chance after chance going forward.

And it would be a Jack Robery banger from outside the box that would draw the 2 teams’ level after 40 minutes.

The Foxes would come out after half time a new and revitalized team and their forward attacks would be more direct and aggressive with Kyle and Hayden causing the Vale Midfield and defense all kinds of problems.

But on a weekend of mourning for Kyle and Brayden, Kyle would step up with a goal of the season contender smashing a long range shot of the inside of the post to beat the Vale keeper and send the Foxes supports and players into jubilant celebrations.

The Moment had well and truly swung in the favor of the Foxes as a bad turn over from Vale would lead to Hayden breaking past the Vale defense and running 1 on 1 with the keeper and slotting it past him to give him his 5^th goal of the season in 4 games and rounding out the day in his usual acrobatic flipping style.

The result see’s the Foxes unbeaten to start the season and equal top of the table after 3 league games.  

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

kyle Platten – 1 Goal

Jack robery – 1 Goal

The Foxes couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season heading into Division 2 and will now look to continue to build upon their great start and fight for a promotion spot.

The Foxes go away this weekend to Rowe Park and look for another win to consolidate their spot at the top of the table.

Talk about a day of 2 different halves for the foxes with the A Grade no exception to this rule. First half slow and out of energy and then a 2nd half blitzkrieg on the WA Raptors backline taking a first win for the season for the A Grade Foxes.

The game started not great with a early WA Raptors goal going in giving them a spark of life and thinking they would be able to compete with the Foxes passing ability, speed across the park and physicality.

This would be the story of the first half with the Foxes being a step behind WA Raptors and unable to create some clear chances. 

After a half time talk and a reshuffle of the desire of the team and tactically readjust the foxes would come out firing. 

Hayden would turn up in beast mode in the 2nd half and within 20 Minutes the foxes were up 3 – 1. 

With Hayden running rings around the WA Raptors defence. 

The Raptors would eventually pull back a goal to make the contest interesting but Hayden would soon turn from scorer to provider assisting Feyai to get his first goal for the Foxes A Grade. 

It would turn out to be a great 2nd half for the Foxes and provide the club with its first win in Division 2 for many years and stamp out a statement to the league that the Foxes are here to fight for the league. 

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 2 Goals

Feyi Bayankindagiye – 1 Goal

1 Own Goal

This was a great moment for the Foxes who showed the league they are here and not just to be present but compete for this league. With a massive grudge match this weekend it will highlight just where the Foxes sit in division 2 with a win over Elizabeth Vale putting them into the top 3.

After the heartbreak of the Reserves game the A Grade setout to turn around the day’s mood and get a result from the first weekends league fixtures at home.

It was a very tough and physical challenge from west Beach who were a well drilled and physical team but the Foxes managed to get a strong 1 – 1 draw to start of their season.

The game started with a frantic pace as all A Grade games do and the Foxes looked to move the ball into their dynamic front 3 as quickly as they could and isolate the West Beach defenders 1 on 1.

As usual Hayden started causing the West Beach defenders all kinds of problems with his diagonal runs and fast skill moves but the West Beach defense repelled their attacks as best as they could.

But it was West Beach who came the closest in the opening moments of the game with Matt making a routine save.

The biggest moment of the game would fall to Kyle the Foxes go to midfield maestro where he ended up in a 50 / 50 battle with the West Beach Midfielder which he won only to land in another 50 / 50 battle which again he won he then pushed past the 3^rd midfielder into space and an excellent Diagonal run from Hayden and a perfectly weighted ball from Kyle found his feet and after taking a touch to steady himself he slotted the shot past the West Beach keeper.

West Beach looked to rally and had a great chance to draw level with a free kick given away right on the edge of the 18-yard box but the free kick taker was unable to get it on target.

This would see the end of a great and controlled first half from the Foxes where they dominated the possession and avoided needless turnovers.

The 2^nd half would start and it would only take a minute for disaster to strike for the Foxes who turned the ball over from kick off in a dangerous area where Ryan would end up in a tackle with the West Beach striker who’s trailing leg would cop Ryan in the face right below his eye.

Despite this the all played from the striker to the West Beach winger would prove to be good enough for him to latch onto and outpace Hanger the Foxes center back and with no cover from his center back partner the West Beach winger would be able to run 1 on 1 with Matt the Foxes keeper but despite getting his leg on the ball the shot would find its way into the back of the net making the scores even inside 2 mins of the 2^nd half.

But the Foxes were not willing to let a point slip away after a good first half and it would be led by the Foxes Captain Hanger who would throw his body on the line 75^th minute where a 50/50 ball came to the striker and he would launch himself at it and clear the ball whilst getting cleaned up on the half way line and taking a visible knock to the shoulder.

The game would draw down to a bit of a stale mate for the next 15 minutes with just a Foxes free kick being put into a dangerous area but unable to be knocked home.

It would be the final minutes of the game that would bring about the next stage of excitement with West Beach making a fast attack down their Left Wing and breaking past the Foxes backline if not for substitute Josh getting between the West Beach striker and the low ball across the box the Foxes would surely have conceded here and probably lost the game.

But just like his captain before hand Josh would continue to put his body on the line for the team and block the follow up shot and repel the West Beach attack.

This would see the end of the game and the Foxes take a hard fought 1 – 1 draw in their first game of the season.

Goal Scorers

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

It was a very physical encounter with a strong and well-structured team but a good result in their first game in Division 2 and one the Foxes will look to build upon.

The Foxes head away this weekend to WA Raptors a foe unseen from the Foxes A Grade before and one they will look to collect their first 3 points of the season.

The season started off well for the First team Foxes who went up against Croatia Vukovi looking for some payback from a could years ago where they knocked the foxes out of the cup.

The game started off with a flurry of chances and a whirlwind of excitement but eventually the Foxes came away 6 – 2 winners in a good start to the season for the Foxes.

The game started off well for the Foxes with the home team in possession of the ball and creating a lot of chances but it was some last ditch defending from the Croatia defender who was able to keep up with our explosive winger Hayden and stop him 1 on 1 with the keeper twice inside the first 20 minutes.

Eventually the first big moment of the game was a ball over the top into space where the keeper came out to meet the ball vs Hayden and handled the ball outside his box and got himself a Red Card.

This changed the layout of the game for the Foxes with Croatia now down a man the Foxes became ball dominant and started to dictate the play of the game and eventually converted one of their chances thanks to a turn over intercepted by midfielder Ryan who played a great ball through to Hayden to run on a finish excellently past the back up goal keeper.

But the 1 – 0 lead would only last 10 minutes where a poorly defended throw in and a mix up in the backline lead to an easy ball into space for the striker to run onto and 1 on 1 put the ball past keeper Matt to even up the game.

But in just a short 5 minutes the Foxes would reclaim the lead through a great ball into the Box for Hayden to get onto the end of where the defender would take his legs out from behind and gave the Foxes a penalty in which Tom would step up to take and calmly convert from the spot.

But the Foxes like to make their life hard and within 3 minutes of the restart the Foxes gave away a penalty of their own after some poor defending from Josh who threw a trailing arm behind him which a mistimed shot from the Croatian attacker bounced into.

Despite a good dive to the right from keeper Matt he was unable to get his hands on the ball and keep it out of his net.

This would close out the first half for the Foxes heading in 2 – 2 at the break and a man up, it would need a better performance in front of goal in the second half to close out the game and see the Foxes through to the next round.

The Second half asked for a more dominant display from the Foxes and that is exactly what they delivered.

It took a while for the Foxes to break through the Croatian defense despite creating a number of chances but eventually the fitness levels and ability of the Foxes came through with a pinpoint cross into the box from Kyle which found the head o josh who perfectly flicked the ball home to the far post to redeem himself from his earlier penalty he gave away.

From this moment onwards the flood gates opened and it was some quick interplay down the wing with Bailey and Hayden which Bailey found himself inside the box and managed to slot home a finish to the near post to register his first goal for the Foxes.

And it wasn’t long before he smashed in his 2^nd goal for the Foxes after he collected a lose ball down in the corner flag and started off a well worked goal where a simple cut back across goal from the LB Dylon found Bailey again after he started the move off.

The day was then finished off with a sublime half field shot from Dylon who collected the loose ball from the keeper who went for a bit of a run outside his box before passing Dylon the ball who took a nice pot shot from the half way line and put it into the net to give the Foxes a resounding but hard fought 6 – 2 win.

Goal Scorers

Josh Taylor – 1 Goal

Tom Bain – 1 Goal

Hayden Smart-Gillich – 1 Goal

Bailey Trussler – 1 Goal

Dylon Johnston – 1 Goal

This game highlighted again the firepower the Foxes have all over the park with 5 different goal scorers and excellent performances from everyone involved. The Result kicks off the start of the Foxes season and moves them into Round 3 of the Cup where they will be looking for a long cup run.

The Foxes will face in Round 1 of the league West Beach and will be looking for another win to get their league season of to the perfect start.