Young Comets fire

By Marc McGowan
THERE may not have been too many highlights during the Casey Comets’ Mixed East under-12 F-grade team’s 2007 soccer season, with one win in 12 rounds, but the past two weeks have more than compensated for it.
Two weekends ago coach Kevin Nolan slipped into a tutu after losing a bet with his side, when he challenged it to score a goal.
On Sunday the Comets came up against the Eastern Lions that are winless and the only club they have managed to defeat.
The tightness of the affair was demonstrated in the first 25-minute half when neither squad could score, despite having several chances.
Billy Allan, the goal-scoring whiz who consigned Nolan to the ballet dress the previous Sunday, changed all that on resumption to put Casey ahead.
Eastern hit back only minutes later to level the ledger, which caused the excitement on the sidelines to equal the tension on the pitch.
Ultimately, the game ended in a fitting draw and Nolan could not have been happier.
“It was nice to be playing against a team with the same philosophies and ability level, instead of being thrashed every week,” he said.
“Eastern haven’t won a game at all, but all their parents were clapping and cheering and it was pretty good actually.
“It was a good result and the kids really did enjoy themselves and stood around congratulating each other.”
Nolan believes the contest was an example of what junior sport should represent.
“Last week, when we played Oakleigh, they were 10-0 up and the coach was screaming at them from the boundary line,” he said.
“Some people need to stop living their own failed sporting lives through their kids and remember what it’s really about.”