Soccer
6 May, 2024
Falcons make league debut
The Horsham Falcons soccer team made their debut in the South West Victorian Football Association competition on Sunday in Ararat.
The seniors played Stawell and lost 16-0, The Under-14s played the Warrnambool Rangers and lost 16-0 and the Under-12s played Port Fairy and lost 7-0.
Horsham District Soccer Club President and senior coach Paul Barnett said it wasn't about the scores and that everyone played well.
"For the seniors, I only recently took over as senior coach last week and made a bit of a change in game style and we also had a few injuries," Barnett said.
"It wasn't about the scores today. Everyone came out and gave 100% and we started to have an identifiable structure to the team.
"We conceded 12 goals in the first half but frustrated them in the second to only concede four in the second half and they are going to be one of the best teams in the league. The camaraderie between ourselves and Stawell is unbelievable.
Barnett loved the support they got from Ararat locals.
"The way we played won a lot of respect as there was a lot of Ararat locals cheering us on," Barnett said.
"They could see we were the underdogs and saw our commitment and effort. It was nice to have that support in a foreign place.
Neykaw Wah and Beesee Mawkay both stood out for the Falcons.
"Neykaw was easily best on the ground for us and stood out. It was his first game as well," Barnett said.
"His commitment, speed and pressure was unbelievable."
Next week the Falcons host Warrnambool at Dudley Cornell Park in their first home game.
"It will be a big moment for us on Sunday and we are looking forward to it," Barnett said.
In other good news for the Horsham and District Soccer Club, Kianah Batty has been named in the representative squad for the country championships in June.