Round 1  - Glen Waverley v Brighton

Back by popular demand, we have the first of our weekly match reports.
Hopefully bringing you a slightly tongue-in-cheek view of the weekends
matches. Some serious comments from time to time, but mostly an attempt to
give our local and worldwide audience a chance to get a taste of the action
in the South Eastern suburbs of this great city of ours.

So here we go again.

Round 1 v Brighton
Venue ... Larpent Reserve (aka Barry Plant's Paddock)
Weather ... Gorgeous
Crowd ... 50 or so, plus one or 2 who stopped to try and work out what was
happening.

Reserves
Result ... 2-2
Scorers ... Theo G, Tony G,

Resplendent in the new shirts, the reserves had the distinction of opening
up our campaign in the Provisional league division 3. Captaining the side,
Bill Giannikos was interviewed prior to the match saying "The boys are up
for this today and we are really looking forward to challenge of the new
season." So with kick-off fast approaching we started to wonder if we should
rename the side Giannikos FC, as there were 5 members of the same family on
the pitch. Is this a record? We'll have to ask our resident statistician
Geeky Graham, if this is so. For those unfamiliar with the team, or are
living in Wales and have no clue what we're on about the 5 members are
Savva, Tony and Bill all brothers along with Theo the cousin. The fifth
family member was Father Giannikos (not a priest, I just don't know his
first name), who refereed the game.

So back to the action on the pitch. Brighton, started brightly and strung
together a few passes. An early long range effort was not dealt with
comfortably but with early nerves it was understandable. The boys in green
pushed forward and were rewarded with a free kick just outside the box. With
so many Giannikos's on the field it was odds on that one of them would
score. Up stepped Theo with a Beckhamesque free-kick of exquisite quality.
Even the goalkeeper stopped to enjoy the quality as the ball whistled into
the top left hand corner. That was that as far as the detail goes, but it
was a bit of an arm struggle as both teams tried to gain the upper hand.
Brighton forcing the play won possession on the right hand side, leaving the
winger one-on-one with Alistair. Our keeper got a hand to it but the ball
crept in off the near post.

Level at halftime all to play for in the second half. The home side were in
control for all of the second period and this dominance resulted in a second
goal for the team and for the "G" family. Sam as always, chased a lost cause
into the corner, whipped in a terrific cross into the box leaving Tony G the
easiest of taps in's to make it 2-1. That's the way it stayed until 1 minute
from the end. A lapse in concentration from the ever dependable Bill O
allowed the quick-witted Brighton centre forward the opportunity to slot
home a hardly deserved equaliser.

2 points lost would be the order of the day and is not what the boys
deserved. Savva especially, who was outstanding on the day. Special mentions
to Sam, who ran his legs off,  Metin who gave a sense of order into midfield
second half and Theo for that free-kick. A big welcome to the new boys to
the team - Tony G, Theo G, Alistair, Sam, Metin, Eyyup, Tarks and Sean, all
proving valuable additions to a strong squad.

A good start boys. Roll on next week.

Seniors
Result ... 1-4
Scorer ... Greg T (aka Fructus)

The Reserves completed their days work and left the stage to the new look
seniors. The seniors squad also looked resplendent in the new kit, adorned
rightly so with our new sponsors logos. At this point we would like to thank
Barry Plant, Auswide Communications and the Commonwealth Bank. Without their
support we would be still running around in the old gear, which even Greg
would struggle to look good in. With nerves jangling in the dressing rooms,
the last few minutes before kick-off were a tense affair. Steve V was
understandably anxious, but did respond to our interviewers questions. "This
is where the lads have to step up and prove themselves. All the talking's
over, now we've got to get out there and do it for the team."

So out they went to "do it for the team". The only problem was, we forgot to
tell Brighton that this was supposed to be our day not theirs. The game
started off in nervous fashion with both sides making plenty of errors and
struggled to keep any decent possession. The heat and the hard pitch did
have some effect, but in the main the ball was given away too often too
easy. Greg and Kon were looking to control midfield, but Brighton's defence
was too well organised and dealt with any threat from the Waverley boys.
Dean and Ian struggled up front as both were trying to feed on scraps.

As it was, Brighton took the lead midway through the first half and held
onto the lead until halftime. It could only get better in the second half,
or could it? It did for Brighton as they broke the shackles twice more to
take a 3-0 lead into the last 15 minutes. Throwing James on up front at
least gave the home side a slight cutting edge as he tried to outpace the
Brighton centre back. A couple of long range efforts were all the Larpent
boys could manage up until then. Alex M was a late replacement and got some
reward from a penetrating run into the box, earning a penalty from a clumsy
challenge by the keeper. Greg stepped up and calmly claimed his first goal
for Glen Waverley. There was still time to snatch an unlikely draw as the
home side applied the pressure, but an excellent solo effort from the
visitors left winger sealed the win for them.

Although not the result we were looking for, or indeed expecting, it was
good to see where we need to be in this league. A lot of our players didn't
play at their normal standard, but that's doing Brighton a dis-service, as
they were well organised. So next week lads, we will have to step up a gear.
We have to earn the points, they're not given to us on a plate.

Finally we should also note and make welcome our debut players today - Greg
T, Steve S and James. All put in good performances in an otherwise average
performance.

See you all at Seaford where we say a big hello to Zapp Branigan