Omonia Youth FC applaud in solidarity for Ronnie!

Community grassroots club Omonia Youth FC, sponsored by Diamond Corp. Ltd. united in their support for Ronnie Wraith and his family this week. This was following the tragic story of the 12-year-old boy from Broxbourne, who is fighting for his life, after being struck by lightning on a football pitch last Monday. The many teams of Omonia Youth FC took it upon themselves to observe a minute’s applause before their matches, in an act of solidarity and support of Ronnie and all those affected by the natural disaster.

Savva Zavros & David Poncia’s U18 Gold boys team got the weekend underway with a convincing 5-1 win in the Watford Friendly League U18 White Division.
“A really good performance today from the lads” said Coach David Poncia. The Golds put on a great performance to see off a very strong footballing team, coach Poncia added “our opponents reminded me of what the Golds looked like last season – trying to always play against the older teams but not having enough weapons to deploy.”
Coach Zavros proudly added, “This year our boys are really coming of age and are taking the different concepts that we introduce at training and applying it to matches to win, and had the finishing been sharper it could have been double figures”.
A hat-trick of goals from Ky and a goal each for Leo and Nathan, topped off by a shared player of the match award for Ky and Mustafa, outlined a comfortable win for the Golds.

Jack Markou’s U13 Green boys were also flying this weekend, with a 7-2 thumping of their opponents.
Leading the scoring was Leo with a hat-trick, as well as goals for Cos and Dimi, and a brace for Ivan.
Coach Markou commented, “Another three points on the board and another assured performance by the boys. We were a little sluggish at the start but grew into the game with every minute. Once the passing improved, so did the confidence.”

Kyri Eleftheriou and Myri Demetriou’s U15 White boys’ team had a hard and gritty contest in their U15 WFL Red Division league game, triumphing over their opponents in a battle which ended 2-1 in their favour.
Goals from Lewis and Nicholas proved the worthwhile difference in a game, where the boys worked really hard to win their first game of the season. “Ironically, they played much better last week than they did this week but didn’t get their just reward in that game. We were a little sluggish at times and hesitant in our play, so it meant the boys had to put in a lot of hard work to get anything out of the game”, said Coach Kyri. And so they did through Lewis with a sharp finish at the back-post to give the boys the lead at half time.
The game progressed in the second half as the opposition came out strong, intensifying the battle even further. Their opponents capitalised on the turn of tides, with an equaliser but the U15 White boys kept their focus. If anything, it galvanised them as they started to win their individual battles, ultimately getting a goal back through Nicholas to cap off a well-deserved win.

Nick Paraskeva and George Agrotis’ U13 White boys provided an enjoyable spectacle for their observing fans this weekend in their WFL U13 Green Division tie. They produced an attractive passing game, goals galore, and another clean sheet in a monumental 10-0 victory over their title challengers. This was a game of hat-tricks, with a trinity of goals from both Roman and Omar, as well as a triad of assists for Kernius.
“Following last week’s win into the next round of the Middlesex cup, we were back to business in the league today and continued where we had left off – total domination,” said coach Nick. The U13 Whites maintained control of the majority of the game, playing high up the field and keeping their opponents caged in their own half. It did seem that the opposition would claim a consolation goal in the dying seconds with a test for goalkeeper Aref. The opposition’s striker broke through to a one-on-one, causing Aref to acrobatically dive to his right and tip the ball past the post.
“Unbeaten and Top of the league we remain”, added coach Nick.

Samuel Arthur and John Frangou’s U14 Green boys proved that every rainbow has its rain, losing 7-2 in their league contest.
“Today was unfortunate, we had a few last minute dropouts. To rub salt on our wounds, we didn’t switch on for the entire first half, with most opposition set pieces taking place before we had even got back into position”, said coach Samuel.
The Greens reentered the pitch for the second half looking reinvigorated and as though they had understood what needed to be done after their half-time team talk. The U14 Green boys started the second half strong but couldn’t sustain the momentum further into the half to narrow the score.
Coach John added, “The game was a valuable lesson in what happens when you abandon the fundamentals and play with little urgency. We get to play them again next week in the reverse fixture. This result should spur them into action and drive a better performance next week.”

Ali Emir and Tony Sylvan’s U11 Wildcat girls were also in action this weekend, in a friendly against one of their Girls Super League opponents. Both teams put in great effort and showed signs of promise and prospect for the future of female football.
“Playing a friendly is always great and emulates the match day experience, of which most of these young ladies are not used to at such a young age. It’s great to keep the girls active, and even better to arrange an amicable competition with a fellow team in the league to evaluate each other’s game. Also, what’s great about a friendly is you can experiment freely and still maintain a light contentious atmosphere”, claimed coach Ali.

As a club, we would like to send our best wishes to Ronnie, his family and all those affected by the harsh weather conditions in the school football tournament at The Sele School on Monday October 2nd. Our thoughts go out to their family and friends and wish them a speedy recovery.

Should you feel enthused and want to know more about Omonia Youth FC, you can contact the club at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]), via the contact page on the club’s website www.omoniayouthfc.com (http://www.omoniayouthfc.com/), as well as following the club on twitter @OmoniaYouthFC and Instagram @omoniayouthfc1994.