Doveton Soccer Club

DOVETON’S Under-12B side went undefeated through 38 games – and only needed to beat Green Gully to be crowned State champions of their age group – but a heart breaking last-minute goal gave Green Gully the 2-1 win, and denied the Doveton side a fairytale finish.

The Doveton season – that yielded over 200 goals and conceded less than 15 – was made even more special given that the under-12 team was made up of kids all under the age of 11.

Because the team is made up of nine and 10-year-olds, coach Julien Costin decided to play them in both the under-11 competition last Saturday and the under-12b competition last Sunday.

“They just wouldn’t be challenged, playing in their right age group,” Costin said.

As was expected, the juniors cruised through the under-11 season winning all of their games by an average margin of five goals.

Costin registered his team in the under-12b competition as well, but after consecutive 10-0 victories in rounds three and four he quickly realised his team was something special.

“We were just far superior,” Costin said. “We have been together for so long … nearly five or six years. “They’re all good mates and while training sessions are serious they have fun, too.

“That’s the hardest part, balancing the seriousness with having fun… but you learn things over the years and every year we just build on what we’ve got,” Costin said.

Such was the dominance that the juniors had this season that when it came time for finals, they easily accounted for their cross-league opponents.

After beating both Bulleen and Aspendale 3-1 within the one morning of finals, Doveton earned the right to play off for the title at the Darebin International Sports Complex against Green Gully.

Green Gully stood head and shoulders above their younger opponents and mocked the size of the visibly smaller Doveton team – not that this was anything new to Doveton.

“They don’t get intimidated by playing bigger opponents ... they play them week-in week-out, it is like second nature to them,” Costin said.

“We use our small size to our advantage.

“When we are in our pre-game huddle, we’ll say when our opponents walk past ‘geez, they are a big side’ and it makes them think the game will be easy, but it actually has the reverse effect,” Costin said.

As soon as the kick-off whistle was blown in the grand final, Doveton began to show the speed and skill that has characterised their season.

Doveton dominated possessions, but could not penetrate the solid wall set by the Green Gully defence and in the second half Green Gully used their stronger attackers to crash the goals.

After an entertaining spectacle, it was a last-minute goal that crushed the hearts of the Doveton players and spectators.

Despite this, the exhausted players quickly found reason to celebrate when they were driven to a nearby restaurant for take-out.