The Barkers’ league season reached its conclusion at the weekend, with goals galore, two junior teams becoming champions, two finishing second, and one looking forward to finals next week.
On Saturday, the men’s seniors drew 1-1 at home to champions St Kilda. They went behind to a Mark Walsh goal just before half-time, but a header from Ryan Smith late in the game earned a point. It was a very young Barkers side, and a fifth place finish shows promise for next year. The reserves side featured two 15-year-olds as they went down 1-4 to St Kilda (also champions), with the Barkers goal coming from Jack Dixon.
On Sunday the Barkerettes travelled to Melbourne University. In a howling gale at Princes Park, two goals from Charlotte McCullough just before half-time secured a 2-0 win and a sixth place finish. The team was promoted to State 2 last season. After a tough start with only three points from six games, they hauled themselves up to mid-table safety with some fine performances, and finished only four points off third spot.
Meanwhile at Ashburton, the women’s State 4 side broke a long winless run with a 2-1 win. The goals were scored by Savannah Jobling and Alifya Loka. The league will be restructured next season, and the Barkers’ second women’s state team are likely to be in State 6 as the regions are collapsed from four to two.
The Barkers’ junior sides also finished their seasons with plenty to celebrate and enjoy. Pride of place goes to the boys under 14B side, who wrapped up their campaign with a 5-2 win at Bulleen Lions, the goals coming from a Ben Kerr hat-trick, Blake Brindle and Thomas Thorvardson. They are champions of their league, and will compete next week in the 14B finals series against sides from other regions.
Also champions were the boys under 13B side, who won 4-1 at home to Manningham United. The goals were scored by Isaiah Locantio (3) and Rafel Cura. Sadly, due to the multiple regions at under 13B level, this wasn’t quite enough to propel them into the finals series.
Two sides also finished runners-up. The boys under 13C confirmed second spot with an 8-0 win at home to Middle Park. There were hat-tricks from Archer Piltz and Koby Ryff, with singles from Beau Canning and Samarjit Chahal. Archer is the overall club top scorer this season, with 42 goals.
Not to be outdone, the under 12 girls secured second spot with a 4-0 win at Manningham United. All four goals were scored by Azari Patterson-Leonard, who missed out on the Golden Boot for the whole division by a single goal.
The Community Premier League (CPL) saw the girls under 13, under 15 and under 17 pitted against Manningham United at Pettys Reserve. This was an emotional occasion, as matches between these two clubs are now designated as Louis Gibson Memorial Round, in honour of a young boy who left us far too soon, and has family connections to both clubs. Players, supporters and officials wore orange ribbons for the occasion.
The series began with the under 13s, who battled bravely against a strong side, and went down by only 0-1. Then it was the turn of the under 15s, featuring Louis’s twin sisters Tess and Annabelle. This was a crazy game in a strong wind. First half goals from Tess and Annabelle saw Barkers trail 2-6 at half time. Within seconds of the restart, Tess made it 3-6. Then pocket rocket Audrey Vogels chipped the keeper from an impossible angle to make it 4-6. Next, Mikayla Frogley cleared the ball from her own half, the wind took it all the way to the Manningham keeper, who misjudged the bounce and it was now 5-6. Alas, Manningham caught Barkers on the break to make the final score Manningham 7-5 Barkers.
Barkers saved the best for last. The under 17s, lying at the wrong end of the ladder, pulled off a 3-2 win against second-placed Manningham. Audrey Vogels, playing up an age group, scored twice, and Charlotte Jacobs got the third, to cap off an emotional day.
This has been an exhilarating, exhausting season at the Kennel – fielding 35 teams is a challenge for coaches, team managers, match officials and administrators. However, it’s also great fun, and there’s nothing better than seeing kids enjoying outdoor sport with their mates. Time for a rest before it all cranks up again – see you down the Kennel!
