A fun day for all fought hard on the pitch but with friendship and camaraderie of it.
Sunshine beamed down on the field while 130 players put their bodies on the line for their home towns.
The annual Town-of-Origin challenge between Tea Gardens and Bulahdelah Soccer Clubs delivered five quality games and 38 goals.
Bulahdelah were the eventual victors, winning the day four matches to one; but the real winner was the game of soccer.
The opening 11-12 years game went to Bulahdelah.
They led 2-0 early before Tea Gardens levelled just after the break.
With 12 minutes left it was 3-3 but Bulahdelah finished with a flurry of goals to win 6-3, the final score not a real reflection of the game.
The 13-14 years game followed.
This featured a very strong Bulahdelah outfit made up from two sides that play in the Manning competition.
Tea Gardens battled strongly and managed to find the net four times but were outclassed on the day.
The 9-10 years took to the field next and this is where Tea Gardens struck back.
Two goals in the opening three minutes sat Bulahdelah on their heels, a position they never recovered from.
Strong teamwork and a real hunger for the ball saw Tea Gardens shut Bulahdelah out of the game, finishing 6-0 victors.
The penultimate match was the 14s girls.
A real arm-wrestle with the scores locked at 1-1 early in the second half.
Unfortunately, injury left Tea Gardens with only one player on the bench and fatigue allowed Bulahdelah to show their skill with three more fine goals.
The final match, the open men’s game, started badly for Tea Gardens with Bulahdelah finding the net after two minutes.
A second goal sent them into the break with a good buffer but Tea Gardens didn’t lie down.
A beautiful strike from Jye Laver brought Tea Gardens back to within a goal but it was not to be.
An Ethan King volley from a corner penetrated the defence to end the day’s scoring at 3-1.
This was our biggest origin day to date and we would like to thank all the people who helped make it so.
The players, organisers, referees and especially the supporters.
The final scores were:
12s: Bulahdelah 6 (Ethan Wright 3, Nick Dallas 2, Jonathan Harvey 1 – most valued player Ethan Wright) defeated Tea Gardens 3 (Solomon Keys 2, Clanci Burns 1 – most valued player Daniel Williamson).
14s: Bulahdelah 10 (Trent Lamborn 4, Sam Smith 2, Jake Hacene 2, Tom Rietveld 1, Mitch Aquilina 1 – most valued player Trent Lamborn) defeated Tea Gardens 4 (Nathen Curry 2, Joshua Jones 1, Thomas King 1 – most valued player Nathen Curry)
10s: Tea Gardens 6 (Carl Williams 4, Samuel Webb 1, James Bowden 1 – most valued player Carl Williams) defefeated Bulahdelah 0 (most valued player - Damien Rae)
14s Girls: Bulahdelah 4 (Stephanie Blackwood 2, Jessica Shultz 2 – most valued player Jade Sumner) defeated Tea Gardens 1 (Sally Caulfield 1 – most valued player Clarissa Ardouin)
Open men: Bulahdelah 3 (Andrew Krause 1, Dave Williamson 1, Ethan King 1 – most valued player Dave Williamson) defeated Tea Gardens 1 (Jye Laver 1 – most valued player Jye Laver)
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