Round 17 as it happened ...

It was a clear blue sky that welcomed us back to the lush pastures of
Larpent. And as the fans made their way to the stadium, the players
entertained thoughts of another big weekend. After collecting 6 points out
of 6 last week at Ringwood, would our heroes be able to continue on the
winning path against our old friends from Darebin? All would be revealed as
the afternoon wore on, so read on to find out whether they were champs or
chumps ....

Reserves

Glen Waverley (2) 3 v 1 (1) Darebin

The Reserves were able to field a largely unchanged side this week, but only
had the luxury of one on the bench. However the lads have been showing
plenty of steel in the last few games and got stuck into Darebin straight
from the off. They never let the visitors settle and it wasn't long before
chances started to be created. First Matt Soon saw a shot go wide and Alex
Martin also couldn't get his shot on target. Savva, Eddie and Ian were
running the show and Bill O was keeping order in the backline. After scoring
a hat trick last week, Matt managed to miss a hat trick of chances this
week. It was beginning to look like it wasn't to be our day, but up stepped
Ian to slot home from close range, taking advantage of some shambolic
defending. From then on it was one way traffic. Remember this was the side
that had beaten our Reserves in 3 games out of 3 this season, scoring 16
goals in the process. They looked a shadow of their former selves. To make
matters worse they even managed to get one for us, with one of the best own
goals you'll see in a long time. The ball was partially cleared to the edge
of the Darebin box from a corner, falling to one of their midfielders. In
trying to clear, he managed to lob the keeper from about 20 metres. The same
player did manage to get side back in the game as he pulled one back before
the break. Against the run of play it has to be said. The second half
followed the same pattern, but at 2-1 the game was always on a knife edge.
It was left to our new goalkeeping sensation - Sir Alex MBE, VC, BBC, ABC,
VB and bar - to keep the lads in the game. A quick break caught our defence
square, but Alex saved brilliantly low down to his right. As the game wore
on and the chances mounted it was only a matter of time before the Reserves
would get their reward. It was Savva who got the third, and in the process,
became  the 20th different scorer this season. A fantastic team effort again
this week with 2 wins in a row.
Sir Alex was again in ebullient mood "I'm extremely ebullient" said Sir
Alex. We all agreed, as he definitely looked ebullient. No-one thought
anyone could look so ebullient but there we were. I think it was the save
that did it. He now believes he really is a goalkeeper - an ebullient one at
that. Or do we mean brilliant.

Seniors

Glen Waverley (0) 0 v 0 (0) Darebin

The casual observers in the crowd did notice that the Darebin team was made
up of largely the same players who had just been put to the sword by the
Reserves. So were the Seniors in for an easy ride in the second game of the
day? At least that's what most of us thought. The plan was to take the game
to their tired opponents and press from the start. Things turned out
slightly differently as Steve's lads found Darebin a tough nut to crack. It
was clear the tired visitors were going to pack the defence and play for the
draw. Dean on the right and Lloyd on the left used their pace to probe down
either flank, but the ball never seemed to run kindly. Justin and Alex T
were always in control in the middle of the park and it did seem just a
question of when rather than if the first goal would come. A key moment in
the game came after only 20 minutes though, when influential midfielder
Alex, limped off with a hamstring injury. The team then lost a little bit of
momentum and struggled to make any meaningful headway up to halftime.
Darebin were never in the game at any stage, so patience was the byword as
sooner or later the breakthrough would come.
The second half may as well have been played on a half pitch - the Darebin
half. Steve who was playing in goal this week, in the absence of
Nick/Tommy/Ari/Liam/Donuts/Sean/ etc was largely a spectator. However he did
give the home support some "heart in the mouth" moments in classic David
James style, slipping once at the vital moment on the edge of the box. He
also saw one shot graze the bar as it whistled past his outstretched beanie.
Never mind Steve, no damage done. Changes were made with Theos coming on for
Dean and TzeKin for Lloydy, but to no avail. No matter how much possession
or how many chances were created, Darebin rode their luck to keep the score
blank and go home with a point for their efforts.
Steve looked a little less ebullient, and was struggling to come to terms
with what he considered 2 points dropped. "They are proving to be our bogey
team" he said "it didn't matter what we did, we didn't look like scoring".
Anyway, the lads are unbeaten in the last three and should take some
positives from this as they look for revenge against St. Kevin's next week.
Someone is going to get a shellacking one of these weeks, let's hope it's
the Saints.