Off we went again to the green oasis in the middle of paradise, otherwise known as Darebin. And after much wenting, we were assuaged with a vista worthy of a Baghdad suburb, after a bomb went off. The locals had toiled long and hard, but unfortunately they hadn’t toiled too much on the pitch. There were two bits of good news though – we had full squads for both games and there was a referee for both matches. Excellent, until the whistle blew to start the first game. Things started to go downhill from there – we lost both games. Anyway the adventure story follows …
Reserves
Darebin Legends (3) 4 v 1 (0) Glen Waverley
The main focus of the Reserves this week was to keep the opposition scoreless for as long as possible as the last game against this lot saw them 2 goals down in the blink of an eye. Anyway with a number of players available for selection from the Firsts, this game plan was largely met with gusto. Dan at centre of defense, and Sav in the middle gave the Reserves that solid core. Going forward the lads looked like they meant business and Ari was unlucky not to open the scoring in the first 5 minutes, managing to slice a shot wide. Good use of the flanks again with Alex on the left and TzeKin outstanding in the middle led to plenty of chances. However they just couldn’t score. The missed chances were always going to hurt and so it proved, as the home side managed to score three in rapid succession late in the first half. Not to be disheartened, the “Ressies” continued to play the better football. Michael Theos, playing his first game of the season, rattled the bar with a raking 20m drive and Eddie also managed to hit the woodwork (sorry, metalwork, if it was wood it would have been burned down by now!). Finally the lads got some reward for all the adventurous football, with TzeKin getting his first for the season, following up the rebound after having his first effort saved by the keeper. The score line doesn’t reflect the game at all as the Reserves on the day, were by far the better side and not bad against the second placed team. Their first win is just around the corner, and this was confirmed by Sir Alex after the game. “Their first win is just around the corner” he said. “We just have to keep believing and playing good football.” Or was it “keep believing we are playing good football.” Anyway, there was not a lot of reward for their efforts but plenty of optimism leading up to this weekend’s fixture.
Seniors
Darebin Legends (1) 6 v 0 (0) Glen Waverley
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Are they Man City in disguise? Maybe not, Man City managed to score! (Sorry, Steve had to get that in.) Now on with the proper stuff.
The Firsts were looking forward to the “return” match against the Legends and were brim full of confidence after their stunning draw two weeks previous. Training had concentrated on ball retention and movement off the ball and for large parts of the first half, the Waverley lads outplayed the locals. Steve was unlucky to have all of his first choice backline unavailable, and this proved to be the Achilles heel. Although Micky V tried manfully to stem the tide the lads got caught too many times on the break. However with only one goal separating the teams at halftime, there was still everything to play for. What the lads didn’t bank on though was the desire shown by Darebin. Too many times giving up cheap position in the middle, meant the backline was under pressure, and too often the pressure told. A penalty, a soft free-kick and some quick breaks were enough for the home side to secure the points. Even a late penalty by Kon was saved, so the lads from the Glen had nothing to savour from the game. Still there should always be positives from any match and the first half saw some encouraging signs. With the backline restored hopefully next week and some potential changes looming, Steve is still optimistic. “I’m still optimistic” he said “We just have to keep believing and playing good football”. Obviously, Steve and Sir Alex went to the same Cliché Clinic. Steve also said “We need to string some wins together, but we can’t string them together until we start with one.”
Now the lads have two weeks in a row gracing the hallowed turf of Larpent. We’ll be back next week, at the same place with all the news from the weekend’s action.