Albury Eagles travelled the short distance to local rivals Ewhurst for a friendly keen to impress against a new side with little experience. Unfortunately due to several factors they were low on numbers so thankfully a couple of our boys were happy to swap teams.

P1 - Rui started brightly for the Eagles shooting just wide early on but it was Ewhurst who took an early lead thanks to Leo who was playing for the hosts. Jack too got on the scoresheet for the home side scoring from a corner! Peter did plenty of running in his defensive role and wasn’t afraid to put in a few challenges which shows great progression from the start of the season.
P2 - saw the introduction of Tommy who relished the chance to go up against his pal Leo. Tommy pulled a goal back for the Eagles before loanee Leo scored again for the hosts. Alexander was between the sticks and showed no sign of his late night pulling off a fine save. Digby was rewarded for his hard work with a fine goal to reduce the deficit to 2-3. The first half drama wasn’t over and Ewhurst were rewarded with a penalty after a foul in the area. Unfortunately for the home side the penalty kick hit the post and Ewhurst took a narrow lead at the half.
P3 - Leo and Jack returned from their loan period and Tommy and Alfred joined the Ewhurst fold. Jack went close with a shot for the Eagles before Digby scored again to level the scores. Ashton was battling well in defence and putting in plenty of well timed tackles. Ewhurst did manage to break through forcing Leo to make a save before Max put Eagles into the lead for the first time with a fine goal. Eagles experience and teamwork began to show and Digby extended our lead with his hat trick goal. Then came the moment we had all feared when our two most determined players locked horns in central midfield. Alfred who was on loan to Ewhurst came up against Digby and neither was going to pull out of this 50/50! Both players went into the challenge with full commitment and fairly, and fortunately both came out unscathed. It was the ball I felt sorry for!
P4 - Tommy and Leo resumed their friendly battle, and Christopher showed several nice touches as he and Alexander protected Max in goal. Leo made up for his 2 goals for Ewhurst by scoring twice for the Eagles including a thunderbolt which took us all by surprise and Jack did too scoring his first in Albury colours, congratulations Jack!
All in all a thoroughly entertaining and fun game to watch and for the boys to be involved in. The willingness to play for the other side from all our boys showed great understanding, maturity, and empathy. Well done to all particularly Eagle of the Week Alfred who played brilliantly for both sides!