Round 19  |  21.8.10

Seaford 7-0 Glen Waverley (Seniors)

Seaford 2-3 Glen Waverley (Reserves)
                      Ozkan Mehmetoglu 26, 31, 45

Match Rating

Seniors
Reserves
Venue: North Seaford Reserve, Seaford
Pitch: Not sure if we're in any position to comment, but the ground had seen better days.
Weather: A bit of everything - nice and sunny for the most, but a bit of
precipitation in the later game (raining goals too!)
Moon: Waxing gibbous
Canteen: One of the best, worthy of praise indeed
Crowd: Large, vocal and boisterous. i.e. full of wind and piss.

Ladies and Gents, good afternoon/evening/morning wherever you are. You join
us as we try to paint another mental picture of our weekend's action. This
week we journeyed south to the picturesque suburb of Seaford. Well, they do
have a better class of graffiti. However we were warmly welcomed, by the
locals and we all looked forward to getting onto the park. Both teams faced
a tough challenge as Seaford's reserves and seniors were looking to firm up
their title aspirations. So would our lads be up to the task and put a dent
in the locals hopes? Read on and we'll do our best to capture the action.



Reserves

As you will see from our happy snaps, there were a few unfamiliar faces in
the line up this week. Shouldn't say unfamiliar really, as most of the
youngsters are known to us. Since we had a number of players out through
injuries, sickness and "awayness", the U16's and U18's were called upon to
help us in our hour of need. Up stepped Stevie F, Christian Martin, Alex
Martin, Erick and Darren. All taking their place alongside Yure, Muzz,
Lloyd, Ozzie, Sean, Stevie W, Steve S, Kon and Bill G. Indeed little Stevie
was getting his first start in the reserves, which was ample reward for his
efforts this season.

So the referee, who was wearing a rather fetching, natty blue kit for the
day, got the game under way. Seaford, as befitted their status as one of the
top teams, came out all guns blazing. Within the first 10 minutes, they had
one shot smartly saved by Steve and another sail narrowly wide. The early
pressure snapped our lads into action and from then on took control of the
game. The interplay and passing was exceptional and the young lads certainly
played their part. Showing no fear, they were always willing to take on
their men. In fact it was Erick who got the first Waverley shot on goal,
only to see it go past the post.

From then on it was one-way traffic and impartial onlookers would have
thought it was the visitors who were sitting top, since all the pressure was
on the Seaford goal. Ozzie, Yure, Lloyd and Muzz all had chances to open the
scoring, Ozzie especially should have buried one chance with the goal at his
mercy. Steve S sent a long punt downfield and Ozzie latched onto the loose
ball and you would have bet your house on him burying the opportunity. Would
we rue the wasted chances? We didn't have too long to wait though, as
eventually when you create enough, one will surely be taken. It was left to
Ozzie to make up for the earlier misses, by crashing home from short range
after a corner kick wasn't cleared properly.

So with the opening goal and all things going the visitors way, it came as a
surprise and totally against the run of play, Seaford were awarded a
penalty. We didn't realise they had Greg Luganis in their side, but his dive
was rewarded and the centre-forward (George, we think) effortlessly slotted
home the equaliser from the spot. Never mind, it proved to be the only
blemish on a near perfect performance from the ressies, in the first half
anyway. Within a minute of the restart the ball was back up the other end
and Stevie F came within a whisker of covering himself in glory, but had his
shot well saved. Moments later though, that man Ozzie got the team back in
front, with a shot many will consider for goal of the season. Hit from all
of 30 yards, the screamer flew into the top right hand corner leaving the
keeper helplessly flapping at fresh air. (Joey Barton's just scored one for
Newcastle, exactly the same)

The game was now fast turning into the "Ozzie Show", and he had a number of
other chances to score his hat trick. It took until the last minute of the
half to finally grab the glory with another shot, this time from inside the
box. So at half-time it finished Ozzie 3 - 1 Seaford, and a deserved lead it
was too.

The second half saw a resurgent and determined home team come out fighting.
To their credit they forced the issue for most of the second half and it was
left to the young inexperienced lads to play mostly backs-to-the-wall
football. Steve S was called into action and kept the home side at bay with
a couple of fine saves. The dam finally broke midway through the half as
Seaford snatched a goal back. A long throw into the box was poorly dealt
with and the ball ended up being poked home. As the home side pressed on for
the equaliser, the Waverley boys tried to catch them on the break. Christian
M got free a couple of times but could only manage a snap shot which didn't
trouble the keeper. And just for not cleaning his room, his Dad, who was
running the line, kept flagging him offside. Still the young lads kept
running and battling. And battle they did as they held out til the end. An
excellent win, made all the more sweet knowing we'd snuffed out any chance
Seaford had of winning the reserves league. But more importantly, knowing
that we now have such a talented crop of youngsters ready to step up to the
senior ranks. (A special mention to Dan, who stepped aside today and gave up
his spot so one of the young lads could play. Thanks Dan.)

A great three points, which now gives the lads perhaps a sniff of second
place, or more realistically third place on the ladder. With three games to
go, let's see if we can finish on a high.

Seniors

The season is well and truly into the home stretch, and for us, it is one of
the toughest run-in's we have had, if not the toughest. All of the final 5
games are against teams above us in the league and three of those games are
against teams looking for promotion. Not least the tough and uncompromising
Seaford. With a game on Monday night against Rowville to back up this game,
it was always going to be struggle.

The late withdrawal of Julian was a headache Paul could have done without,
but Pete S was drafted in to cover the loss. Gazz had been pretty sick in
the week, but was given a start even though he was only 82.35% fit. Steven
was back in to the side, taking the place of Met who was another who was
confined to the sickbay.

We pride ourselves on our strength in depth, and we had a team to take the
park. The ref got the game underway and in the early stages, the Waverley
boys looked composed and in control. Some early forays down the left were
dealt with easily by Seaford, but 6 minutes in Johnny almost opened the
scoring. He met a great cross with a fierce header, which cannoned off the
cross bar, with Zapp well beaten. So close, moments later though, Seaford's
early nerves settled and they too had an identical chance just clear the
visitors bar. End to end stuff. Back up the other end a bit of complacency
set in to the Seaford backline and a casual backpass to a keeper who'd gone
walkabout, again almost crept in. This time the lucky escape triggered
Seaford into serious action and with Mickey Mouse's hands showing 17 past
the hour, the home side were in front. How? No clue, but the ball rolled
slowly over the line to give the ref something to write in his book. He was
busy again 1 minute later as Seaford extended their lead. A shot was smartly
saved but the follow up header was enough just enough to make it 2-0.

A couple of minutes of madness and the boys were playing catch-up. The home
side were putting in challenges all over the park and the referee let a fair
bit go. Our lads didn't deal with it too well and were on the back foot
pretty much for the rest of the half. Micky P had a shot well saved on the
26 minute mark, so there was still life left in the team. Seaford also
scrambled a shot off the line a few moments later and the visitors were left
to rue their luck. Their luck, if they had any in the first place, well and
truly dried up as the ref awarded Seaford an innocuous free-kick late in the
half. With the final kick of the first period they crashed home their third
of the afternoon, much to the delight of their noisy supporters in the
stands.

There isn't really too much we can say about the second half, as Seaford
scored 4 more without reply to romp away to a comfortable win. With both
Tony and Gazz replaced at halftime, the lads tried manfully, but to no
avail. Micky V was also replace midway through the second half with a calf
injury and Justin hobbled off after a hefty kick on the knee. We finished
the game with 10 men, but it's to our credit that we continued to try to
play football. We hit the post twice, their keeper made a blinding save from
a Steve H free-kick and Prashan made some scintillating and mazy runs. Games
like this happen, not too often though, so we move on, lick the wounds and
get ready to face the challenge presented by Rowville on Monday. Hopefully
the tired and sore bodies will be rested enough to be ready.

Thanks to the Seaford boys, who were genial hosts post-match. The food and
grog was much appreciated.

Final mention of the day goes to Darren Thomas, getting his first game for
the seniors, coming on for Micky in the second half. He did exactly what was
required of him and showed enough promise to ensure he'll be a regular
seniors player in years to come. Well done.

Ok, so that's it for this weekend. Where to next? Oh yes, Darebin on Monday
night where we play Rowville in a catch up game. See you then where
hopefully we'll have some better news.