ALPHA

🏆 CHAMPIONS OF ALBANY 🏆
Not only did Alpha cement their status as undefeated 5-a-side champions earlier in the week, but we also took out the big trophy at the QBE Mixed 7-a-side tournament today, unbeaten!

The morning group stages started out a little slow, winning 2-1 in the first game. But it wasn't long before the Alphas soon found their rhythm and the goals started flowing, with back-to-back wins 3-1, 3-1, and 6-0 consecutively, ending the group stages strong.

The afternoon brought much tougher games, with tired legs beginning to show. A tidy Martin-to-Martin combination saw the team through to the final with a close 1-0 victory.

Heading into the grand final was Manchester T***y, current winners of the Mixed 5-a-side in Albany. With plenty of doubters heading into the final, Alpha was ready to get stuck in again! Straight from kick-off, Alpha found themselves on the back foot after a heap of early pressure and an unlucky deflection off the referee in midfield. The game was soon tied at 1-1, with Daniel Cyra heading home a well-delivered corner — a much needed response! Alpha then began to heap on the pressure in the second half, with Aneka Mittendorff and Molly Flynn bossing the midfield, and thanks to some connecting play from Arabella Maynard around the box, Alpha was awarded a direct free-kick — Asher Trotter finishing bottom corner with a curling outside foot shot, making it 2-1. Alpha had only just reset themselves when they were again under quick pressure, with Manchester T***y levelling the game once again, 2-2. Some quick breaks followed, and a well-weighted through ball from Casey Klyn found Asher who calmly finished, 3-2 with 5mins to go. Alpha really had to dig deep, with every able player doing full laps to defend and Andrew Creevey a barrage of powerful shots from Manchester's (rumoured-to-be-All-White) male players — only then to find Jon Burns just past halfway, smashing home the cushion, with the game ending 4-2 to Alpha.

Alpha will be meeting Manchester T***y again soon, with our highly-anticipated return to our unbeaten 5-a-side arena next week!



Photo credit: Alex Prior :*

BY THE WAY, WE WON (AGAIN)
Alpha's unbeaten Men's 5-a-side squad has added yet another trophy to their cabinet, beating Boca Masters 13-5 in a hard-fought final! The boys are resting up this week, with the first event of Alpha's 2017/18 7-a-side campaign starting this Saturday at QBE Stadium.


P.S. Alpha will be returning for Men's AND Mixed 5-a-side next season!

ALPHA CONFIRMS NEW SIGNING
The English international, Jon Burns, put pen to paper on a long-term contract after completing his medical yesterday for a fee of £9.8m. "It's a dream come true", Jon said in his first pre-match interview, "Obviously I’m delighted. There’s been a lot of speculation over the last couple of weeks but I’m glad that the deal’s finally been done and I’m an Alpha player."

Jon is set to make his debut in about 30 minutes. Stay tuned for a full highlight reel of Jon's first Alpha appearance 😎