As were staring off into the distance while the last post is playing in the background, we all think of the people who fought for us. Newington College, Lindfield was participating in The Gallipoli Cup at Amity Football College at Prestons in Sydney’s west. We were up against club teams and being the only school team, it was going to be a bit of a challenge. The clubs were two Amity FC teams, one being called Gallipoli FC, Galatasaray, Bossy Liverpool and Prospect FC. We had the two captains (Dimitri Vallas and Oliver Short) and Owen Ng, Cameron Lees, Will Linke and Will Lane, Harry Stuart, Jack Middleton, Sebastian Grehan and accompanied by Mr Edwards.

Our first game was against Prospect FC. We started a bit shaky with Jack Middleton, our fearless goalkeeper keeping us in the game but we picked it up quickly with Harry, Dimitri and Will Lane all scoring goals to make the final score 3-0. Our next two games were a bit disappointing but we realised our problem in defense and changed our style and positions.

The next game was a cracker and had everyone biting his or her fingernails but a last minute penalty taken by Oliver gave us the win. It was pretty funny actually. Ollie and Dimitri decided who would take the penalty using ‘scissors/paper/rock to take. Even though Dimitri won, he gave the chance to Oliver and as previously said he didn’t disappoint.

Our last game was against our hosts but we were so tired we missed 10 goal scoring opportunities. Luckily, it ended 0-0 and we finished second out of six teams.

Overall it was a great day and I know that we all enjoyed it. We also wanted to thank Mr Edwards for giving up his Anzac Day with his family to coach us during the tournament.

Oliver Short and Dimitri Vallas – Year 6B