All eyes were on Flinders Street for the mouthwatering clash between Roma and JJ Athletico, with the history of these 2 suggesting an extremely fierce battle with an equally tough set of weather conditions. This semi final was regarded by some as the tie of the competition and with a record crowd of 60 all eyes were on the boys to march Roma into the final.
With Shea and JP failing a late medical it was down to the 9 boys in the match day squad to ensure victory. The ref blew for the start of the game and as predicted the tackles flew in, you could easily have said this was a Royal Rumble as opposed to a football match. The ever present Harry seeking a hatrick of hatricks caused havoc on the right side with some fine play and within 4 minutes the magician had conjured up another goal out of his hat which sent the Roma ultras wild. 1-0 Roma.
With the game end to end it was a great pass from Joe which saw Ryan through on goal only to be denied by a great piece of JJ defending, the crowd delighted by the Fantastic Furlong and cheering his every touch, it wasn't long until the ball fell to his feet at the edge of the box and he hit the ball with pefection only to see it crash against the cross bar almost causing a joyous riot in the capacity crowd.
With the game pressing the ball was picked up by Ryan who could only be thinking one thing... a halfway line shot which was hit so sweet the RAF sent up fighter jets thinking it was a missile, it raged into the back of the net and too stunned to speak manager Shields just looked on. DELERIUM. 2-0.
With Evan and John powering away in midfield, scrapping for every ball in a physical midfield it was a lose ball that saw Alfie, hailed the new Virgil, clean up. With the closing seconds a foul was conceded by Roma and the resulting free kick sailed into the box for a hand to reach up and the ref to award a penalty where Sam guessed correctly but couldn't keep it out. 2-1.
With the whistle for half time the team allowing a brief restbite for the boys in bitter conditions it was not the start they needed in the second half with JJ scoring early on after some poor defending left Sam exposed. 2-2.
Bitterly disappointed to be level the Roma heads dropped and the game seemed to be slipping away and in need of freshening up it was John who made way for Kaden to enter the battle.
The ball continued to threaten both goals but an attack from Roma saw a corner which was taken by Ryan, the ball pinged around the outside of the box on the right hand side only for the sweet left foot of Captain Fantastic to send a bullet of a shot straight into the JJ goal and almost burst the net. 3-2. Deserved.
With an edgy game it was again Alfie who covered at the back stopping attack after attack with ease.
A further sub saw Kudzai introduced for the ever battling Joe and with huge shoes to fill it was Kudzai who got off to a blistering start almost getting through on goal in his first minute on the pitch.
Midway through the second half the ball fell neatly to Evan who picked his run and crashed the ball into the net and wheeled off with hos trademark celebration and the Roma ultras left dreaming of their day at Flinders in the final. 4-2.
With the game drawing to a close the boys battled to keep their lead and the referees whistle to finish the game was met with delight and celebrations from the Roma boys who worked incredibly hard to secure the win. All round a perfect day and deserved win.
MoM Ryan. Mr Incredible.
