Welcome folks to our weekly round-up of this week's events on the football
pitches of Melbourne. We have the usual mix of truth, lies and general
piss-take, none of which should be taken too seriously. Except if your name
is Peter Kelly, in which case yesterday did take a serious turn for the
worse. Carted off in an ambulance to have a nasty leg injury checked out.
Details are still coming in as we go to print, but his leg isn't broken,
much to the relief of all concerned. We'll keep you updated as the medical
report comes in.

Now on with the other action of the day. We headed off in the direction of
"far away". In actual fact "far away" was near the airport so technically
was closer to Adelaide. It takes 50 minutes to get from Adelaide to
Melbourne airport. It took us slightly longer to get there by car. Took
Eddie even longer as he got his freeway's mixed up. Western Ring road and
Tullamarine freeway sound so alike and can be so confusing. So Eddie
surpassed his previous personal best by being 30 minutes late. Good effort
mate. KUTGW.

We were at Meadow Park (by the way park is an anagram of krap, which is
German for crap). Whilst the welcome was warm enough the pitch left a lot to
be desired. Narrow, bumpy and sandy was about all that could be said.
Anyway, we were here to play football so we made the most of it. Read on to
see if we could make the trip worthwhile.

Round 7 v Meadow Park
Venue ... Gladstone Park Reserve (ask the Ambos', they didn't know where it
was either)
Weather ...  It did look black over Bill's mother's for a while, but it
didn't come to anything.

Reserves
Result ... 2-1
(Halftime score ... 2-1)
Scorers ... Prashan, Yureshan

There were 9 players unavailable this weekend for one reason or another, so
we had to ask the U18's to help us out. Making their debuts for the season
we welcomed Kenneth and Josh into the side. Kenneth we knew from last season
and would give us plenty of pace up front. Josh was new to the club this
season, but has played Super League in NSW, so he came highly recommended.
No other changes were made other than positional, so the reserves took to
the pitch looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

For the second week in a row we had a referee for the reserves match. The
question was did he wear red underpants. What he did have was a coin, which
he tossed gleefully into the air. Dan called correctly and against better
judgment decided to play uphill against the wind. Even their skipper looked
bemused. A gentle peep on the whistle got the game underway. For the first
10 to 15 minutes it looked as if things would not be going our way as all
the 50/50 balls seemed to favour the home side. Perhaps it was they who were
wearing the red underpants. Meadow Park, or "Parka's" as they seemed to be
called locally, did have more of the ball especially in the middle of the
parka. Sean and Sam did plenty of running but the ball bypassed them. From a
quick break down the right, a ball sent into the 6 yard box wasn't cleared
and to the delight of the locals, the home side went one up.

Time for the Larpent Legends to step up a gear. Dan got the boys fired up
and from then on started to use the flanks to good effect. Yureshan on the
right and Prashan on the left proved too hot for the Parka's defense.
Kenneth was also giving his defender a torrid time, the home side number 20
had to resort to verbal abuse to try and stop our very own formula one
racer. Once the pressure was applied it was only a matter of time before the
boys from the Glen would get back on level terms. Attacking down the right
Yureshan got past his man, and at the second attempt managed to squeeze the
ball in at the far post. Was he wearing the red underpants? From then on,
there was only one team in it, and the Meadow Park lads knew it. More
verbals and a little more physical was never going to work. The more they
tried to wind Sam and Kenneth up the more they got torn apart. Final goal of
the half and the game as it happens, fell to Prashan. Latching onto another
exocet missile throw from Dan, he snaffled up a typical poachers goal in the
6 yard box.

The second half become a bit of a war of attrition as the lads manfully held
their shape and discipline. The back line held firm again. Theo, Bill G, Dan
along with Josh filling in at right back and Steve between the sticks,
nullified anything the Parka's could throw at them. Perhaps they were all
wearing red underpants. Sean Weragoda playing up front alongside Kenneth,
ran his legs off for the cause and was eventually replaced by Eddie. Chances
were few and far between in the second half so it was time to lock the game
up. Murray on for little Sean and Matt S on for the exhausted Kenneth were
the final changes to help stifle any hope the home side had of getting a
result. Frustration was beginning to eat away at the locals and this boiled
over once or twice as their number 20 lost his bottle, dummy and his head.
Getting Sam on the ground, knee in the chest and hand on the throat was
worthy of more than a yellow card. If you are reading this pal, the card
colour matches you - yellow, the colour of cowards. He was intent on picking
on the youngsters, but it was the youngsters who had the last laugh. 3
points in the bag and the unbeaten run continues.

So into the rooms and the loudest rendition of the chant yet. Heard all over
the ground and probably in some of the houses too. Terrific stuff against a
tough local side who thought they had the minerals.
"Well done boys", seems a little tame.
"You bloody ripper" sounds better.
Perhaps we all wore red underpants.

We all hung around to see if the Seniors could match the effort and result
of the reserves. Let's see if that is indeed what happened

 

Seniors
Result ... 2-3
(Halftime score ... 0-0)
Scorers ... Tony, Micky V

The crowd started to reassemble after digesting the Meadow Park canteen
offerings and making sure they didn't soil the red underpants whoever had
them. The same referee took charge of the main game and hopefully taking
charge meant exactly that. Faced with a couple of forced changes, Steve V
had drafted Ian into the first team after a couple of decent showings off
the bench in recent weeks. Tony and Dean continued up front, and the
midfield had a familiar look to it with Savva, Kon and Greg all trusted with
making the team tick. Lloydy was welcomed back to the team taking his place
on the bench alongside Matey and Steve V. The main change was reserved for
the captaincy and with Justin dropped due to disciplinary reasons the
armband passed to a very proud Julian. Intent on letting no-one down, Julian
played through injury and performed admirably under the circumstances.

So the linguistically challenged referee got the game underway. From the
start it looked as if the boys from the Glen were up for it and to all
intents and purposes were the only team in the game. The lads were in
control and cruising. Perhaps the red underpants were playing their part,
but who had them? Was it Kon, because he was running the show in the middle?
Was it Ian because he seemed to have the measure of his bloke? Or maybe
Tony, he looks the sort of player who may need to have the influence of red
underpants to ensure maximum performance. Yes Tony, would appear to be
favourite as it was he who got the scoreboard ticking over. Grabbing the
first, - (again, details are sketchy because I wasn't looking) - Tony was
credited with the goal although there was some conjecture that a Meadow Park
defender may have helped it on its way. Never mind 1-0 up and playing with
verve and gusto, in fact as well as we'd played all season. It surprised us
all when the home side snatched an undeserved equaliser. All we can say is
we know who wasn't wearing the red underpants, as Alistair didn't quite race
off his line.

Still there wasn't anything to panic about, the lads were still in command
and looked to have things under control. Another attack was stifled by the
Parka's but Julian sent a volleyed clearance from the halfway line back into
the box. Micky V, yes Micky V was loitering with intent and placed a superb
lobbed header back over the keepers head into the net. This is gave us a
comfortable if not commanding lead going into the break. So could the lads
hang onto the lead and kill off the game in the second half? The question
was answered by a fired up Meadow Park as they struck pretty quickly.
Finally getting free of his man down the right, the Parka player rifled home
a super strike past a helpless Alistair. A red underpant wearer perhaps? A
strong candidate at least. However Alistair did bring himself back into the
frame by pulling off one of those breathtaking saves he's now becoming
renowned. He managed to fling himself to his right and at full stretch,
parried a 20 yard volley past the post. See the DVD highlights reel and
you'll agree it'll be close to save of the season. A definite red underpant
lad if there ever was one.

The home side started to look like they wanted it more, but the Glen
Waverley boys were still playing good football. Greg made way for Steve V as
we tried to wrestle back some control. The game swung back our way and Alex
was unlucky to see his shot cannon off a well positioned defender on the
goal line. Another chance went begging, with the goal keeper clutching
gratefully to another effort. Legs, bodies and lady luck coming to the
rescue of the Parka's more than once. Thanks to the red underpants perhaps?
Who knows.

Anyway, the game took a turn for the worse as Petey came off second best
while clearing a ball from the box. The game was held up for a lengthy
period as he was attended to. The ambulance was called and they arrived a
very prompt 40 minutes later. Although the first thoughts were he had broken
his leg, subsequent examination found only muscle damage. So maybe he will
see some of the season. He certainly didn't see too much more of the game,
which was just as well. The home side managed to grab a late winner and an
undeserved 3 points. The introduction of Lloyd and Matey (on for the
unfortunate Petey) had little influence on the outcome.

A sad end to the day, but the boys should be bolstered by the way they
played. They'll play worse than this and win. However they also need to
close out games when on top. You're not far off lads, keep at it and the
rewards will come. To help, red underpants will be issued soon, but
obviously this has to be ratified by the committee. Decision pending.

Ta ta chaps, all the best, and see you all at Larpent where we'll enjoy
taking all 6 points off East Bentleigh.