Day Two of the CommBank Emerging Socceroos Championships was lit up by an outrageous bicycle kick that would be running in highlight reels all over the planet had it been in overage football.
Jacob Elkordi’s 27th minute piece of athletic improvisation after a scramble in the box opened the scoring for NSW Navy in their under-15s clash at Valentine Sports Park on Monday, but Hamid Hakimi ensured Victoria Blue snatched a point in a 1-1 draw.
Elkordi was later involved in a heavy tackle and was unable to finish the match, but his vice captain Fergus Duffy could not believe what he’d seen from his teammate in the first-half.
“Bicycle - don’t see that every day, especially in a state tournament,” he exclaimed.
Has he ever pulled off anything like that? “No, no way,” he quipped. “Nothing like that!”
In their first taste of this type of tournament, where some 500 of the country’s most talented teens assemble for a rare chance to pit themselves against the best in each state in a tournament scenario, Duffy said it was a great opportunity for him and his teammates.
“A lot of good exposure and experience,” he said. “(We’re) making new mates in the hotel with the boys.”
As for the game, he assessed: “The boys played well, we all fought for each other; it was a hard game, difficult, but we all fought for each other and pushed each other. Disappointing, but still a point at the end of the day.”
Also in Group A, Queensland Silver edged Capital Football 1-0 via Carragher Piddick’s 59th minute strike.
Elsewhere, there were plenty of goals in Group C, where Northern NSW beat Northern Territory 3-1 courtesy of Ronin Mcvey, Thomas Donnelly and Oscar Bibb’s goals, while NSW Sky cruised past South Australia 4-0 with goals from Mateo Barroso, Harry Parsa, Revan Jamwal and Jacob Sousa.
Group D saw NSW Regional edge Victoria Country 3-1 via Rovic Vicente, Cristian Vidal and Darcy Eaton, with Orlando Kozina nabbing Victoria’s goal, while John Leonidas and Alex Sawyer helped Western Australia to a 2-0 win over Queensland White.
There are many ways to impress the slew of scouts watching on from Football Australia’s national team departments, A-League clubs, Member Federations, National Premier League clubs and even scouts. One, of course, is great goals - and there were plenty of others on day two.
In the Under-16s, Tasmania’s Taiga Nakamura dazzled with an individual run and finish in a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Charles Perkins XI in a Group B that featured nine goals today.
Connor Store found an equaliser after a brace from Lachlan Blayden had the Charles Perkins XI up 2-1 at half-time, while Victoria White’s 3-2 win over Queensland Maroon saw the lead swing after Christian Lykopoulos’ opener for Victoria, before Lucas Strbac and Zachary Harrison put Queensland back in the lead before second half goals from Lykopoulos and Baxter Romanovski sealed the deal for Victoria.
In Group A, Queensland Silver defeated Capital Football 3-0 courtesy of Carter Young, Max Peach and Luiz Flaksbard, while NSW Navy beat Victoria Blue 2-1. Alex Catania and Tyler Hogan shot Victoria out to a two-goal lead, and they hung on despite Mikey Cohen’s 54th minute goal.
There are probably no guesses required for figuring out South Australian attacker Godfrey Nicholas’ hero. He finished with aplomb from inside the box against NSW Sky in a 2-0 win before wheeling off to the corner to backflip much like former Adelaide United star and now Socceroos sensation Nestory Irankunda.
Ross Tsiros opened the scoring in the 2-0 win, while Northern NSW eased past Northern Territory 3-0 with goals from Jack Middleby, Indie Hill and a clever low free-kick from Levi Van Haren.
Group D was the tightest of Monday’s action with two 1-0 wins; Aidan Rayner helping NSW Regional edge Victoria Country while Dhaniel Brown’s 48th minute goal was the difference for WA over Queensland White.
More to come...
HOW TO WATCH
KommunityTV is your destination for exclusive live streams of the 2026 CommBank Emerging Championships with News Corp full digital subscribers having exclusive access to watch the action.
Every match will be available to watch live and on demand. Live streams of all fields will be available for each day of the tournament, with replays posted at the end of each day.
FIXTURES & RESULTS
The Tournament Hub has all the competitions and results while the Tournament Guide features all the groups, fixtures and key information.
Stay tuned to Football Australia's website, Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok for updates and social coverage.
This article was originally published on football360.com.au
