In the final match of the Southern Tablelands Football Association (STFA) Crookwell Red kept Workers FC scoreless to win the 2017 All Age Men’s Premiership two goals to nil.
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In recent years Crookwell has dominated the STFA competition and this year’s Crookwell team like the Workers Side was similar in make up to previous seasons.
On Saturday the teams played in the mild evening temperature but still had to endure gusty winds.
It was end to end football with both sides having chances to score but the attack was defended valiantly with both goalkeepers finding themselves the last line of defence where the slightest miscalculation could cost their team a goal.
With the strong wind accuracy in kicking and passing suffered and both teams had to work harder to maintain possession.
Finally Crookwell broke through and gave Workers goalkeeper Josh Buck little chance of saving the goal.
Crookwell went to the half time break one goal up.
After the break the game reverted to end to end football and despite several opportunities Workers could not find the gap out of reach of Crookwell’s keeper Luke Cummins and not over the top or to the wrong side of the post.
At the other end Buck made some great saves too.
Crookwell’s Captain Robbie Johnson was controlling the midfield play and directing his players to keep the ball mostly in their attacking half and pressuring the Workers who were defending solidly
With a lead of just one goal the Workers side looked a little deflated and instead of rallying mistakes started to increase around the middle of the second half. It was not long before Crookwell had another scoring opportunity with a penalty given for an infringement inside the box.
These are always tense moments for the keeper, who cannot move until the ball is struck. The Crookwell kicker made no mistake and drilled the ball past Buck into the net.
The task of getting two goals seemed a near impossible target for Workers to attain as time slipped away. Play never the less was quite intense. Scoring opportunities at both ends were being deflected away. Workers seemed unaware that time was running down for them to score and when in possession were unable to make quick transition from defence to attack. Crookwell retained the trophy for the third year running. Robbie Johnson was named Player of the Match.