GIRLS SOCCER: Teachers 3-0 Grade 7

With the help of Lena, Line, Saskia and Elif, the teachers took the battle to Grade 7 and emerged victorious.

The game was still tied at half time, thanks largely to Daria in goal.

The entrance of Miss Shamash at half time seemed to galvanize the teachers and the quality of football improved. Miss Teresa was their most dangerous attacker and, when she received a ball wide on the right from a pass by Miss Curria, her acutely angled shot surprised Hannah at the near post: 1-0.

The teachers continued to pour forward. Miss Shamash came through a crunching tackle and passed to Line who made it 2-0 and a third goal was added at the death by Miss Shamash.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Daria

Perù 3-1 Brazil

Continua la marcia trionfale delle Peruviane che tritano anche il Brasile, orfano di Aurora, ma con gli importanti inserimenti di Emma, Margot e Isabel. Nel primo tempo è il Perù a fare gioco, mentre il Brasile si limita a difendere e accenna a una flebile reazione solo dopo essere andato in svantaggio con il bel gol di Carlotta (oggi Player of the Match), dopo un'azione personale.

Nel momento migliore del Brasile il Perù raddoppia con un errore difensivo che lascia sola davanti al portiere Camilla.

Nella ripresa il Perù passa per la terza volta, su rigore dopo un mani plateale in area del capitano Line, con Olivia, la cui conclusione potente viene intuita ma non trattenuta dalla brava Lavinia. Il gol della bandiera del Brasile arriva con Joanna, a pochi minuti dal termine, troppo tardi per una rimonta. Nel finale altre belle occasioni vengono sventate da Lavinia e dall'ottima Saskia, sempre più difensore di qualità, che merita diversi punti-torneo.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Carlotta 10, Saskia 6, Lavinia 3, Julia 2.

England 6-1 Italy

In the absence of record buy Matteo Toti, the risky side of captain Borghese's strategy in the transfer market was exposed by a determined England.

Simone was first on the scoresheet when he took a pass from Ludo and smashed it past Ale B, who might have done better on this occasion. Ludo sent Simone through again but Ale B saved this one and then turned another shot wide from Marco T. From the corner, Ale Z was unlucky not to score with a well-timed header which came back off the bar, but then Simone made it 2-0 with a delicious lob over Ale's head. Marco T made it 3-0 at half time and Oliver was booked.

Marco T struck again early in the second half (4-0) but Player of the Match Luca played a neat one-two with Oliver and scored to give the Italians a glimmer of hope. But Marco T silenced them again - and the watching crowd - with a fantastic goal from the half-way line. Marco T scored again to make it 6-1.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Luca 8, Oliver 6, Marco T 5, Ludo 1, Tim 1

BOYS SOCCER: Teachers 4-3 Grade 7

A high-speed, high-scoring, high-intensity match saw the teachers win to keep their 100% record for the season alive... just about!

Francesco S opened the scoring when he got behind the defence and lobbed Enrico. Mr Antonio spurned an easy chance to equalise when he hit the bar from 2 meters out but he made up for it shortly afterwards to make it 1-1.

Early in the second half, Mr Corcoran took a pass from Mr Guarnieri and put the teachers 2-1 up.

but Max responded immediately: 2-2.

Mr Gianluca calmed the teachers nerves with a 'doppietta', the second a tricky back heel at the near post, but Francesco S made the teachers suffer until the last second with the students' third goal.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Max.

Ambrit Boys Crash Out in Semi-Finals!

The Grade 6 team:

Ambrit vs. Marymount 3-1
Scorers: Simone, Nawin, own goal
Man of the match: Cerri

Ambrit Rome International 2-2
Scorers: Simone, Sgambati
Man of the match: Danilo

Ambrit - Southland 0-4
Man of the maatch Sgambati

The Grade 7 team drew their first match 0-0 against New School. Francesco S hit the post but there were few other chances.

In their second game, they found themselves 3-0 down within five minutes but then fought back to 3-1 (Francesco S). Ambrit then hit the post twice and Francesco S blasted an easy chance over before Oliver pulled the score back to 3-2 with a beautiful strike from 20 meters out. Ambrit kept pressing but exposed the defence and ended up losing 4-2 against St. George's.

The Grade 7 team went on to salvage some pride against Marymount, winning 2-1 with an own-goal and another fantastic long-range strike from Oliver.

The Grade 8 team started the day well against Marymount. A Marco S throw-in found Marco T in space and his pass set up Jakob for the opening goal. Ambrit should have gone 2-0 up on numerous occasions but were foiled by some excellent goalkeeping and then they fell to the sucker punch minutes from the end when Marymount equalised. The match finished 1-1.

Their second match, a convincing 3-0 over Castelli, came after a long wait. Jakob scored a goal, sandwiched between two from Marco T who, unfortunately, had to leave before the semi-final against Rome International. RI won the game 1-0 with a shot which was deflected past Ambrit's Player of the Tournament, Enrico Aloi.

Turkey 6-3 Spain

Turkey gobbled up Spain to keep their hopes of a semi-final place alive and condemned Spain to bottom place with zero points from three games.
Francesco Gallo (Today's Player of the Match) could have opened the scoring early on but shot wide to the right. Firat put the Turks 1-0 up with a nice drag'back and left-footed shot into the bottom corner. Jakob made it 3-o after Andrea S and Francesco T had both missed glaring chances.
Captain Emre was booked for a late tackle and then his side gave a goal away to Andrea Sgambati, finishing off a good Francesco S pass.
Jakob added two more to make it 5-1 and the Spaniards looked finished but a late surge brought two goals from Francesco S. But it was too little too late and Francesco G capped a good performance with the last goal.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Francesco 12, Jakob 4, Caue 2, Andrea S 2, Firat 1

Perù 2-1 Argentina

Un match combattuto ed esaltante, quello disputato oggi nell stadio Ambrit dalle due squadre favorite per la vittoria finale. All fine è prevalso il Perù, grazie a una doppietta del bomber Camilla, ben supportata da Carlotta e Julia. Sul fronte opposto buon lavoro di contenimento per Allegra e Clara, quest'ultima autrice della rete dell'1-2.

Il primo tempo si è chiuso col punteggio di 2-0 per il Perù, ma nella ripresa l'Argentina ha tentato più volte di riaprire l'incontro, riuscendo a passare con Clara, solo a un minuto dalla fine. Buone le giocate di Olivia M., autentica barriera a centrocampo, di Emma e delle due portiere, Daria e Hannah, che hanno reso difficile la vita alle pur brave attaccanti.

Molto difficile attribuire la palma del Best Player, dato che molte ragazze hanno giocato un'ottima gara. I giudici si sono espressi, come al solito, considerando le prestazioni in base alle potenzialità delle singole giocatrici, e hanno deciso di premiare Clara, Allegra, Daria e Olivia M.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH POINTS: Clara 4, Olivia M. 4, Allegra 4, Daria 4, Carlotta 2, Isabel 1, Hannah 1, Julia 1.

Germany 0-1 Greece

The rolling juggernaut that was Germany before this match was brought to an abrupt halt by Greece in a keenly-fought match today.

The only goal of the game was scored by Antoine in the first half when he pounced on a loose ball and turned it past Enrico who was caught off-guard for the only time in the game.

In fact, the Greeks might have extended their lead in the second half, but Enrico made two excellent saves from shots by Max and Andrea M.

The judges were divided for the Best Player award today and, in truth, there was no outstanding candidate.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Alex H 4, Andrea M 4, Enrico 4, Rocco 4, Max 3, Nawim 2

Ambrit's Youth Policy paying off!

Well done to the Ambrit Primary School teams who have added two more trophies to the cabinet in recent tournaments.

Below are pictured the BOYS team which came SECOND in the tournament here at Ambrit on January 29th and the GIRLS team which also finished SECOND in the tournament at St George's last Saturday, February 5th.

Great work by Mr Hough and his able assistants: keep it up!

Spain 0-3 Germany

Two defeats in a row for Spain, two wins in a row for Germany after a match in which the Germans dominated despite playing in 7 against 8.

Captain Marco Sgambati opened the scoring when he turned neatly on a throw-in and launched a thunderous shot into the opposite top corner. Marco then played the pass which set up Giovanni for a well-struck second and the Spaniards were reeling. Enrico made a good save to preserve their lead and then Giovanni tested Ale dB again but the goalkeeper made a good save.

Giovanni had another chance soon after when Joanna found him with a clever pass and Rocco had another shot stopped by Ale dB.

In the second half, Giovanni turned provider and played a lovely pass to Andrea S but he shot wide. The score stayed at 2-0 until the very end when Joanna scored a well-deserved goal.

The Player of the Match judges had a heated and dangerously confrontational meeting to decide todays's award which could have gone to any one of four players, and Joanna too would have been awarded some points but, as a guest player, was ineligible.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: Giovanni 6, Rocco 6, Alex H 5, Marco S 4

Brazil 0-0 Uruguay

Possibly the worst Intramural match ever witnessed ended inevitably in a scoreless draw. The traditional exuberance of the Brazilians was missing entirely; the Uruguayan defense was as strong as expected but Elif was isolated in attack.
The best chance fell to Aurora near the end but her shot was over the bar.
BEST PLAYER POINTS: Asia 10, Aurora 4, Joanna 3, Elif 2, Lena 1, Cyrielle 1

Italy 6-3 Turkey

A match of ups and downs for both sides erupted in controversy mid-way through the second half when Referee Corcoran enraged the Turkish supporters with a free-kick against Gregory ("for handball", claimed Corcoran afterwards) and an even more controversial penalty for a seemingly inocuous challenge on Dariush.

Matteo put the Italians ahead. Jakob equalised when he followed up a Francesco G shot that Ale B had pushed away.

Oliver played a lovely one-two with Dariush and tucked away the return pass - 2-1 - and Matteo went on a solo run and scored to make it 3-1 at half time.

Italy seemed well on top and went 4-1 ahead early in the second half (a delicate chip from Matteo) but the Turkish revival was not far away and the catalyst was Francesco G. His cross from the right was finished off by Jakob: 4-2. Then Francesco himself scored with an unstoppable shot into the top corner and Turkey suddenly looked dangerous.

But Mr. Corcoran's interventions robbed them of the vital momentum and Dariush (penalty) and Matteo made it 6-3.

BEST PLAYER POINTS: David 9, Matteo 6, Francesco G 5, Ale B 1

BOYS SOCCER: Ambrit Teachers 5-2 Grade 6

An easy win for the teachers against a willing but physically inferior team who, despite going 1-0 up, never really looked like pulling off an upset.

The first goal came after Ale B (in goal for the teachers) made a brilliant save from Simone but the rebound fell to Mattia.

After missing several chances, Mr Antonio cancelled out the lead before half time and then added a second. Mr Corcoran made it 3-1 and the teachers were cruising.

But the students pulled another goal back through Simone to make it 3-2 to half time and the crowd was now baying for some teacher blood.

But the second half belonged to the more experienced team and, despite some good goalkeeping from James, Mr Gianluca made it 4-2 and Mr Suspanic made it 5.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH: Antoine.