Eurobodalla's best footballers kick for victory at Southern Branch Championships

A senior men's, women's and under 18s men's and women's team represented the region in the Southern Branch Championships, which gave talented players from the Broulee Stingrays, Clyde United Soccer Club, Moruya Football Club, Narooma Soccer Club, Batemans Bay Football Club and Bodalla Soccer Club the opportunity to play at a regional level.

The teams took to the fields at Berrambool Sporting Complex near Merimbula on October 21 and 22, backed by coaches, families, the Eurobodalla Football Association and Football NSW's Southern Branch.

President of the Southern Branch Sue Kinsey said the weekend was successful for the carefully-picked sides and it gave Eurobodalla players the chance to mix with other South Coast athletes and even test their skills against second division National Premier League teams from the Nowra-based South Coast Phoenix Football Club.

"If there is a vacant position [in the competition] we offer an outside team to come along," she said, which opened up the doors for South East Phoenix FC.

"In the last couple of years we have run [the championships] to include the under 18s because there are not many extra competitions once they pass the under 16s level," said Ms Kinsey.

On Saturday, October 21, all four teams played qualifying matches against Shoalhaven, Phoenix, the Tablelands and Far South Coast sides before settling into another qualifying game and grand final on Sunday.

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Under 18s women's coach Rachel Dunne said her team worked hard and rallied together to deliver a thrilling result in the grand final to overcome the Far South Coast 2-1.

"It's next-level competition," she said.

"They're a young team - there were three under 17s players, one under 18s player and the rest are 15 and 16 years old."

She said a penalty kick in the second half fired up the Eurobodalla side.

"They scored within 40 seconds of the restart.

"Charlotte King had an awesome assist on that goal - it just pulled them all together, it was pretty powerful that they were backing each other up."

Batemans Bay FC player Charlotte Welsh scored both her team's goals.

Ms Dunne is a stalwart in the Moruya FC, having already coached the Moruya Youth Girls to win their grand final and the under 16 rep girls who won the branch championships this year.

"Everyone really pulled together - there was a total shift in mindset."

The icing on the cake for some players on the under 18s Eurobodalla team was getting scouted for trials by the South East Phoenix FC, which may lead them to play in a prestigious Sydney league.

The Eurobodalla senior men's team also left the tournament as branch champions after overcoming Shoalhaven 1-0 on Sunday.

The under 18s men's side narrowly lost to Shoalhaven in the grand final (2-1) after a convincing win over the Tablelands earlier in the day (4-1).

Meanwhile, the senior women experienced a weekend of mixed results. Saturday saw them go down 4-1 against Shoalhaven and the Far South Coast (2-1). Unfortunately, their victory in the Sunday qualifier against the Tablelands (4-0) was not enough to bring them into the grand final.

Ms Dunne said football is stronger than ever in the Eurobodalla, with the club's Summer Soccer competition at capacity.

"We had 350 registrations which is slightly higher than last year. We would have had more teams but we just don't have the timeslots for them," she said.

All are invited to watch the social competition of under 12s, under 15s and all ages teams play every Wednesday from 6pm at Gundary Oval in Moruya until March 2024.

See photos of the action (by Razorback Sports Photography) at the Southern Branch Championships, Berrambool Sporting Complex, October 21-22: