Marconi Under 15's take out Borneo Cup Final

A colleague of mine, veteran football journalist John Economos, reports exclusively on the tournament from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia:

MARCONI'S Under 15's squad gallantly battled sweltering heat to crush South Korean side CAU MIDDLE SCHOOL 3-1 at the University of Kota Kinabalu Stadium in Sabah, Malaysia, to win the Borneo Soccer Cup Final.

A brilliant brace scored by Marconi mobile striker Jake Douglas, (a goal in each half), spearheaded the Sydney Club's meritorious Cup success whilst industrious central defender Steve Papoutsis galvanised the win with a glorious header seven minutes from fulltime that flashed inside the right post.

Lanky Douglas in the 11th minute gave Marconi a shock early start by latching onto a lovely through-ball out wide on the right. This lethal marksman outpaced the South Korean cover defence, swerved into the box to round the goalie before placing a firm low drive into the far left corner of the target.

Hard working central defender Papoutsis in the 20th minute almost doubled the score line following a corner slung in from the right, but his crashing header shaved the wrong side of the left upright.

Marconi employed a very well-disciplined hot-weather strategy, almost totally dominating the entire first session in the searing heat.

Diminutive right sided midfielder Andre Guzman tirelessly won possession and precisionally fed his frontline whilst attacking midfielders Manuel Duarte and Judah Clevr solidly supported in the 'engineroom'.

Twin centre-backs Papoutsis and Eoin Montford were totally defiant against the mobile, technically astute South Koreans.

Just before halftime Marconi doubled the score line through tenacious defender Papoutsis with a well-drilled piece of set play.

Following a long looping corner slung in from the right, a Marconi player out climbed the South Korean defenders to head on to Papoutsis who failed to disappoint by crashing his header inside the right post.
Seven minutes from the bell Marconi despite relinquishing their first half authority, trebled the scoreboard when again lethal marksman Douglas nailed the target in the bottom left corner.

In the whole Tournament, Marconi remained undefeated, scored no less than 14 goals, (goal-ace Douglas nailing eight of them), whilst the Sydney side conceded three.

The South Korean second-half dominance was rewarded two minutes from fulltime when their midfielder bent a Beckham-like shot from 20 metres that sailed into Marconi's net, but the 'bus had gone' for the tough Asians and the Borneo Cup trophy was on its way to Bossley Park for the second time in three years.

Marconi's elated co-coaches Alex Watson and Nick Valageorgiou later briefly reflected on the Sydney Juniors success.

"Being fully alert to the high temperatures,we elected to play a much smarter, tighter defence and pressure much higher up the pitch. This tactic yielded us a lucrative dividend" Watson summed up .

"Our strong defensive pattern was the base of our strategy and we focussed on keeping our solidarity throughout the match" added Valageorgiou.