Seniors
THE Daylesford Saints have won the Hepburn Shire soccer derby against Creswick.
The Saints celebrated the return of acrobatic goalkeeper Nick Jansen with a hard-fought win over Creswick on
Sunday.
The much-anticipated local derby was fought with dirty boots and hard knocks all the way to the final whistle,
with both teams putting on a fine performance.
The Saints showed dexterity and teamwork from the opening whistle and came close to scoring through Dylan
Nulty, who hit the post from a well-placed, 20-metre shot.
The midfield set up many opportunities, with mounting pressure on the Creswick defence in the opening 20
minutes.
The first goal came 25 minutes into the half, when the Saints put together a brilliant series of passes out of defence,
which found Ivan Carter with room to slip through the middle and lay off the ball to Tobias Schmidt, who swang
the ball onto Dylan Nulty's feared right foot.
Nulty made no mistake and slotted the ball home from 10 meters.
David Ramage worked well with midfielders Tobias Schmidt and Teneka Costa, who shut down the Creswick
engine room, leaving the Saints ahead 1-0 at half time.
After a silent half-time speech from the Saints, the team came out kicking in the second half.
Dazzling wizard David Ramage was in everything, making several good runs and tackles, with good support from
Stuart Delite and Carter.
The momentum forward eventually won the Saints a penalty, which was placidly slotted into the back of the net
by Schmidt, who's calmness from the penalty spot showed why he is held in high regard among Saints' fans and
critics alike.
The Saints' defence was in total control by this stage and didn't allow Creswick a chance to get back into the
match.
The final whistle saw them with a good 2-0 win, building the groundwork for a successful season to put the team
back on the soccer map.
The Saints will be without Stuart Delite next week, but will see the return of influential wild cannon Dwight Bear
in defence.
Final score: Daylesford Saints defeated Creswick 2-0.
Goals: Dylan Nulty, Tobias Schmidt.
Best: Tobias Schmidt, David Ramage, Stuart Delite, Ivan Carter and Daniel Royal.
Under-11
THE under-11 team played away to Vic Park on May 11 at Creswick.
Enthused by the previous weeks win, the Saints got a big shock as Vic Park swarmed on Daylesford Goal,
attacking swiftly and shooting from range. Connor Scott, Aiden Major and Madi Barnes chased and tackled well,
however, constantly under pressure could not keep out the long range shots on Ned Johns in goal. Giving him no
chance of saving Saints were 3.0 down at half time.
Daylesford changed around player formation in the second half in an attempt to stop Vic. Park attacking quickly.
All saints' players rallied to peg back the score. Jordy Barnes scoring with a long range chip over their keeper.
Cameron Ralph, Ned Johns and Jack Thomas took control of the midfield and John Villiers hit another goal with
10 mins to go. Bonnie Cooper in goal saved well, the Saints battled until the end of a very entertaining game. Final
score was Vic. Park 3 defeated Saints 2.
Under-13 girls
DAYLESFORD met Sebastopol under-13 girls at Dean.
Saints starting line up missing two players and Cam Ralph and Bonnie Cooper carrying injuries, but hobbled out
for their team! surprisingly having an impact on the game, tackling and passing through to Jordy Barnes who scored
first. Ned Johns, Aiden Mayger and Madi Barnes dominating in their positions against the bigger opposition. The
end to end entertainment continued in the second half with some good passing moves from both sides. Final score
Daylesford 2 lost to Sebastopol 3.
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