HANWOOD Football Club under 12’s claim Griffith Sports Team of the Year honours during Griffith’s Australia Day proceedings, on Thursday.
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The young side bet out several other well-deserving teams after a stellar season, claiming wins on a local and state level.
The team recently claimed the Champions of Champions rank after a hard-fought win against Hornsby RSL in October.
Things didn't start well for Hanwood FC in the grand final as Hornsby RSL’s Geren Ligon opened the scoring in the fifth minute with an expertly taken drive from a corner.
Hanwood FC ramped up their defensive efforts – in particular goalkeeper Sebastian Piccinin who made some big saves – to keep Hornsby at bay.
The breeze had been a hindrance to Hanwood during the first half but was an advantage on the restart.
The side capitalised on the breeze when Ryan Zanatta put on some fancy footwork to score.
Ligon continued to wreak havoc but Hanwood FC held Hornsby out before securing the golden goal win.
As the boys accepted their win, Luke Testoni reminded the audience of thrilling golden goal victory.
"The boys wanted to give their parents somewhat of a heart attack in their final game, they waited until extra time to get the golden goal victory, well-done boys," Testoni said.
Sebastian Piccinin accepted the award on behalf of his team
"I really want to thank our parents for taking us to all our games especially the Champions of champions games,” he said.
“Congratulations to all the candidates, I really want to thank our couch Basti for taking us to victory and being a couch that encourages us to win.”
Coach David Bastianon told the Area News earlier in the year the success of the team came because of their do or die attitude.
“They’ll keep working for each other because they play as a team.
“A lot of sides have those one or two individual players but our side is well-rounded.”
The coach said leading into the final he was proud of his side no matter the result.
He praised his sides training ethic and there ability to learn and knew this held them in a good position heading into the final.
I really want to thank our parents for taking us to all our games especially the Champions of champions games.
- Sebastian Piccinin
This was the second time Bastianon has coached a side to Champion of Champions glory after he steered the Hanwood under 17s, alongside Anthony Marcanio, to victory in 1998.
“Not many teams have opportunities to win these tournaments and for myself to coach two sides is special but it’s all about the kids,” Bastianon said.
