Our lads welcomed the big boys from Avon Old Farms on a lovely Saturday afternoon in late September. Both teams started the game with good energy and enthusiasm that lead to good scoring chances. Avon opened the scoring in the sixth minute as two very big lads went right down the middle and put the ball behind the Taft goalkeeper Aidan Chan. Taft fought hard after that and tallied the next goal. Taft earned a free kick from about 40 yards out that Abdullah Alkazemi sent into the AOF box where Will Henderson used a header-flick to send the ball into the Beavers’ goal in the 24th minute, a sweet goal for the Rhinos. Avon then scored the next two goals in the 33rd and 36th minute due to greater size, athleticism and skill. The first half ended with Avon ahead three one. Taft came out fired up in the second half and scored in the 48th minute as Connor Walsh sent in a lovely corner that ended up at Will’s feet. Quick shot and score to bring the lads in red to within one. Alas, a surprise draw or win was not to be as Avon scored the next two goals of the match in the 54th and 56th minute. Our boys played very hard for the entire eighty minutes. The score could have been eight or nine two without the stout goalkeeping of Aidan Chan for the whole match. Kevin Gunawan again played well and was joined by many boys who really tried hard today after a good two days of practice. Ayden Cinel played well at centerback, also. I feel our team is on the upswing. I am looking forward to playing Westie on Wednesday after a good two days of practice Monday and Tuesday. I hope to see you at Taft then!