IT’S been a phenomenal week for the Northern Storm under 16s who bounced back from a first day loss and an injury crisis to finish the week crowned 2022 Champion of Champions (Coc), defeating Valentine FC 3-1 on penalties.

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’ was the mantra from the sidelines as the heroics of Storm goalkeeper Gurkirit Dhariwal, who saved three penalties, won the championship.

But there was little time to celebrate, only to recuperate, as their zone football semi-final against Coffs United beckoned less than 24 hours later.

In a roller coaster week, Storm coach Rob Newberry reflected on the tournament which started badly.

“After a 2-0 loss on day one we were confronted with three games on day two with the bare 11 against two quality opposition teams in Alstonville FC and Valentine FC,” he said.

“At the end of the day we finished with two wins and a draw to book a final spot on day three.

“The final was against Valentine and the boys dug deep after conceding an early goal and were suffering from a lack of field position and possession.

“Against the run of play Benny Dove scored an equaliser with less than 10 minutes to go, holding on to force a penalty shoot out.

“Gurkirit Dhariwal saved three of their penalties and Taylan Kapakuya, Jono Summersell and Jonty Kadwell converted three,” said Newberry.

“The win meant a lot to the boys, especially the effort with no subs.

“I was pleased as the win was a bonus having entered the comp before realising it was just before the major semi final.”

With less than 24 hours to recover the Storm backed up to do it all again against the roaring Coffs United Lions.

“The boys then played Coffs Lions on Saturday, the legs were sore but the boys were buzzing from the CoC result,” he said.

“Coffs came out firing, landing an early goal before Storm equalised shortly after through a well constructed goal finished off by a deftly placed shot in the bottom corner by Matt Newberry.

“Coffs then scored again to go in at the break 2-1 up.

“Storm came out with the wind behind their backs in the second half and the game was fairly even before Coffs again slotted a nice shot to extend their lead to 3-1.”

Running on fumes, Storm coach Newberry explained how the team dug deep.

“Given the amount of football played over the last week, the team dug deep and found a wide running Riley Elks on the right who made a run and was able to slot it calmly past the keeper to get back to 3-2.

“With some momentum, Storm had a couple of other chances before winning a free kick outside the box.

“Benny Dove stepped up and was able to shoot around the wall and find the net to leave the scores.

“From another string of passes, Storm found striker Taylan Kapakuya who got through on goal drilling a fourth past the keeper.

“Storm were able to then cut off a number of runs from Coffs to eventually hold out winners 4-3 in an intense game.”

A few cold ones at their sponsor’s venue, the Moonee Beach Hotel, were put on ice as Newberry laced up the boots to play in the men’s third grade semi-final straight after.

The centre-forward helped the Storm to a 4-0 win over Nambucca in men’s division 3 to secure a place in the grand final in what has been a near perfect week for the Storm.

By David WIGLEY