GRIFFITH'S rising soccer stars have reminded the entire region just how good they really are after dominating in the Riverina Branch Titles, claiming two championships and a runners-up trophy.
Four local representative teams travelled to Albury, Wagga and Gundagai at the weekend to take part in the contest and test their talents against the best other cities in the region had to offer.
Playing at Rawlings Park ground in Wagga, the Griffith under 11s side started their weekend in dangerous fashion when they devastated South West Slopes, winning the match 8-0.
With barely time to breathe between games, the under 11s then smashed Wagga 6-0 before tussling with a determined Albury and came out victorious with a 5-2 scoreline.
When day two came around the young Griffith players were feeling the effects of their previous three wins and, despite a hard-fought match, went down to Albury 3-1.
But the talented troupe soon stepped up the pace to again dominate South West Slopes 7-1 before dismissing Wagga 5-0.
Coach Adrian Serafin said he was extremely proud of his side, who were crowned champions of the title contest, and their performance showed the future of soccer in Griffith was in good hands.
"They really did a very good job," Serafin said. "Albury are traditionally very good in their first year but we just had better shape. Winning this now means the boys will go to the Country Cup in June and 10 of the boys were invited to go to the Riverina team trials, the boys were pretty ecstatic about that."
While the under 11s were dominating in their comp, Griffith's under 14s side was matching its stellar performance on the grounds right next to the younger stars.
Opening the contest in style, the under 14s squad kept a clean sheet against Wagga, beating the home side 3-0 before taking on Albury and once again walking away victorious with a 3-1 scoreline.
On the second day of the competition the under 14s continued their good form to defeat Albury 5-2 and then sealed their undefeated championship victory when they beat Wagga 2-1.
Coach Sharif Moursi said his squad showed both determination and skill at the weekend trial and was proud of their performance.
"Those incredibly talented boys have shown some quality football, playing the most exciting style of the modern game," Moursi said. "They all stood up to the challenge, stepping up many levels in their game, dominating their opponents and coming home with the winning trophy.
"They have been crowned Riverina champion for the fourth year in a row and will proceed to represent Riverina in the next level of competition, the Country NSW championship."
Over in Gundagai, Griffith under 13s squad looked to defend their 2010 championship title against a hungry Albury side who were out to snatch the crown.
For most of the competition it looked like the local side would be successful, dismissing South West Slopes 5-0 and then repeating the performance with Wagga 5-0, but it wasn't able to continue the momentum against the Albury team and lost 3-2 on the first day and then 2-0 on the second to the side.
While the under 13s was able to once again defeat South West 4-0 and Wagga 4-0 before the day ended, its efforts weren't enough and it lost the championship crown to Albury but managed to gain the runners-up title of the competition.
Coach Brian Bertolin said he was extremely proud of his team's performance.
"The kids performed exceptionally well but Albury just pipped us for first place," Bertolin said. "Albury spelt it out clearly they wanted to beat us and they managed to achieve that but 10 of our guys were chosen for the Riverina (rep) team which is the highest representation for the entire region (in under 13s)."
Over in Albury, Griffith's under 15s division were looking promising at the start of the competition when they defeated Wagga 5-1, but a 5-1 loss to Albury at the end of the first day and a 1-all tie with the side destroyed Griffith's title hopes while a second loss to Wagga 5-4 just edged the local side out of runners-up position.
Coach Bryan Salvestro said, despite the disappointing result, his side performed well under an injury cloud.
"We didn't come away with the result we wanted but we had a small squad with a lot of injuries and the effort the boys put in didn't show up in the results," Salvestro said.
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