Last Thursday night the Derry Boys U-12 Soccer Club traveled to Londonderry United FC with a chance to clinch first place and the top seed in the upcoming GSYSL Playoffs. The boys from Derry did not disappoint their supportive fans posting a 4-0 victory.
On a cold and wet evening Noah Davis made his minutes matter, assisting with a perfect crossing pass to Jonathan Forbes who sent the ball into the back of the net to open the scoring. The score remained 1-0 until the 35th minute when Ryan Forkey took control of the ball in the midfield and passed it to Davis on the right wing. Davis made a beautiful right footed cross to find Marshall Halpin at the far post to plant it into the goal making it 2-0.
Seven minutes later Sweeper John Durant stole the ball from a United striker and passed it up field finding Trevor Morrison. Morrison saw Davis breaking to the middle, finding him with a touch pass between the United defense. Davis acknowledged the fine pass by depositing it into the goal for a 3-0 lead.
"When we are focused and motivated, our team is one of the best in the area.", Derry coach Dave Halpin said. "We are working very hard to improve our ball skills every day in practice."
With the score 3-0 and the minutes waning, the Eagles Andrew Branchina took a pass and with one swift motion, settled the ball 8 yards out, shielded it from a defender and fired a rocket into the United net, 4-0 Derry.
The Eagles defense led by Jason Flood, Tommy Wood, Cody Gadsby and Geo Baker-Occeus stifled the opposing offense. Goalie Hayden Pavao continues to be solid posting nine saves in the shutout.
"This is a huge win for us as the weather has not cooperated. It allowed us to get back into real game situations. We look forward to building on this momentum", said Derry Coach Glenn Davis.
On Saturday, the Eagles traveled to Nashua to take on a tough World Cup FC team in the last game of the regular season. Derry took struck early with a quick goal in the opening minutes from Jonathan Forbes. Forbes would strike again later in the game off a pass from Ryan Forkey.
Derry peppered the Nashua defense all day with precision ball control and passing. When the day was over Sean Muller, Matt Rizzo (2) and Geo Baker-Occeus recorded goals for the Eagles.
With the wins Derry (9-0-2) clinched first place and the number one seed in the GSYSL Playoffs.
