19 May 2025
It’s been a big month for our CHS soccer teams with both our girls and boys teams making the finals of the Riverina comp.
On Friday 9 May, our girls played Albury at Rawlings Park in Wagga Wagga. Our girls started off strong, especially in defence. For the first 10 minutes, they repelled Albury’s advances admirably. Eventually, however, the seasoned Albury girls managed to slot a few goals in in the latter part of the first half.
During half time, Coach Ali Zada rejigged the line-up, moving player Megan Callcut into striker. The gambit paid off, with Callcut managing to infiltrate the Albury lines and providing multiple scoring opportunities. Another strategic repositioning of player Allanna King to centre back made great use of her communication and knowledge of the game.
Despite these revisions, our girls just couldn’t turn these opportunities into points on the board. We ultimately would up being knocked out of the league by Albury.
“Overall the girls played really well,” explains coach Ali Zada, “Some of our players were pretty new to the game, but they represented the school to the best of their ability and fought till the end.”
Last Friday, our boys also faced off against two teams at their CHS knockout in Ian Barker Fields in Albury.
Deniliquin were the first pairing of the day. The western Riverina team managed to draw first blood, scoring off the back of a free kick. This, however, was a wakeup call for our Wade boys who kicked the game into gear and wound up dominating the match 5 – 1.
After a one-and-a-half-hour break, our boys then finally took on Albury in the finals. The match was a tough one, with the Albury team featuring players from the National Premier League.
Albury were strong right out the gate, dominating play in the first 25 minutes and managing to score three goals. Wade’s decision to commit to a more physical game challenged Albury’s dominance in the second half.
Beau Scott Cooper and Oliver Young managed to lead the comeback enabling Ali Zada and Lucas Signor to attack. Wade managed to resist Albury’s ferocious offence and even score a goal of their own. The match ended 3 – 1 Albury’s way.
“The Wade team performed above expectations this season,” explains coach Martin Maley, “They managed to maintain our run of three Riverina finals in a row.”
Well done to both of our teams for their perseverance and special thanks to coaches Martin Maley and Ali Zada for their hard work and expertise.
