What a day at Country Week! Our ESHS boys’ soccer team just won the B Grade championship, beating Halls Head 2-1 in an absolute thriller of a final.
The boys came out firing from the start. Abner Roderick made a perfect run onto a through ball and tucked it away nicely to put us 1-0 up early. You could see the confidence boost immediately.
Halls Head hit back just before halftime though, and suddenly it was anyone’s game. The second half was tense – both teams were pretty evenly matched and it felt like it could go either way.
Then with about five minutes left, we got a corner. The boys could sense this might be their chance. The ball came in, there was a bit of a scramble in the box, and Jeriah Roderick managed to get on the end of it. Their keeper made a bit of a mess of it and suddenly we’re 2-1 up! The sideline went absolutely mental.
After that it was all hands on deck. Our back three – Polkington, Townsend, and Ormsby – were rocks at the back, throwing themselves at everything. In the middle, J Roderick, Grant, and Ramalepa were everywhere, breaking up play and getting us going forward. Fleeton and Rymer on the wings ran their socks off, tracking back whenever Halls Head tried to counter.
Up front, Jarzabek, Blunt, and Abner kept rotating and caused all sorts of problems for their defense. We didn’t have a proper keeper available, so Ramalepa and Jarzabek took turns in goal and both made some brilliant saves when we needed them. Jones came on late and nearly grabbed us a third.
Honestly, this team just never gave up. They played for each other and you could see how much it meant to them. One of the best Country Week results we’ve had in years.
Massive well done to all the boys, and thanks to everyone who’s helped them get to this point.
ESHS B Grade Champions 2025!
Mr Miller – Coach
