| Glen Waverley Soccer Club - Mens Seniors & Reserves |
Round 4 | 1.5.10
| Game Ratings
Reserves
Seniors
|
Reserves
Saturday morning's are now coming round on a weekly basis. We are becoming
accustomed to our Saturday routine, which sort of follows along these lines.
We take a quick glance out of the window to check Murray's weather forecast,
then "enjoy" a couple of visits to the thunderbox to contemplate the day.
Next is to load the car with everything imaginable including the kitchen
sink. This weekend was no different and with round 4 grabbing us by the
short and curlies we took off to Larpent full of nervous anticipation. Did
the lads settle our nerves or provide us with an overdose of laxatives?
You'll have to read on to find out.
Venue ... a bloody fantastic looking Larpent Green Reserve
Weather ... it was as Murray said. Sunny and windy.
Crowd ... Gradually built up through the afternoon to a healthy 80 or 90
For the first time this season, the reserves had the unlucky task of playing
a tough and uncompromising opponent without an official ref. However Louie G
was called into action at the last minute and he helped keep a lid on a
bruising encounter. There were a couple of changes to the line-up with
Stevie Wong and Dean dropping into the ressies for some much needed game
time. Ian was back into the squad, choosing to play only the home games cos
they're easier to get to. Missing in action was Dan, Theo, Bill and Gaz, who
was promoted to the seniors.
Noble Park were third on the ladder, so it had all the makings of a tight
match. The Waverley boys took the game to the visitors from the off and it
was Dean who was sent through in the first couple of minutes for an early
chance. Peter Kav also had a glorious opportunity, but saw his chance
clatter off the bar from close range. So the first 15 minutes were pretty
much one way traffic and the local lads made this pressure tell with a
contender for goal of the season. The ball had been worked down the left,
and found its way to Sav. He turned inside a Noble Park player then passed to
Murray who played a perfect square ball into the path of Stevie Wong. Stevie then
struck the ball as sweet as he's ever hit one before, from at least 25 metres, and the ball
screamed into the top right hand corner of the net. Although Theo will
argue, this has to be one of the best goals scored by our club in its short
history. Get the DVD and enjoy the moment.
The moment was worth savouring, but it was just that - a moment, because
within 10 minutes Noble Park were back on level terms. The result of a
muddle in the 6 yard box, the visitors grabbed their first and with 5
minutes to go in the half they took an undeserved lead. Again taking
advantage of some slack marking in the box. Some of this could be put down
to the defensive re-shuffle caused by Peter S having to go off after 25
minutes with what looked like a pulled hammy. So the lads headed to the
rooms with their heads down and wondering how, after being on top for so
long, could they be behind.
The brains trust then took the decision to bring on the young guns, Lloydy
and Sean W to try and get back into the game. This decision proved to be a
masterstroke as the Glen Waverley boys never looked back from the whistle.
Dean was having his best game of the season and got his reward by grabbing
his first goal of the season and the equaliser on the day. A great header
from a super cross (remind me of who it was please). The new backline of
Muzz, Ian and Kon K looked a little unsure of themselves to start with, but
gradually grew in confidence as the game wore on. Steve S in goal doesn’t
always get much of a mention, especially when things are a little easy, but
he did all that was asked of him today on a wild and windy day. The midfield
made sure not too much was getting past them either, and Lloydy, Sean, Yure
and Stevie had fun all over the park.
Chances came thick and fast. Peter Kav had another shot go narrowly wide and
Lloyd also blazed over. It took another wonder goal though to get the lads
noses in front. It was Dean again who conjured up some magic from a
free-kick. A blistering strike snuck in low to the keepers left and it was
3-2. It was also nothing less than the boys deserved. There was a late heart
flutter as one of the few chance Noble Park had in the second half managed
to scrape a post, but fortune favours the brave. And it was certainly the
brave hearts of the Glen Waverley boys that won the day.
Football tends to suffer from an overdose of clichés and "bottle" is one of
those that gets dragged out from time to time. However today the lads proved
they had plenty of bottle, and their reward at the end was top spot on the
ressies ladder. Might not mean much to some folk, but don’t tell that to the
11 lads who came off the pitch after 90 minutes of solid graft yesterday.
After that heart-stopper of a game, we wondered if we take another 90
minutes of thrill-a-minute football, but we did and this is roughly how it
went ....
accustomed to our Saturday routine, which sort of follows along these lines.
We take a quick glance out of the window to check Murray's weather forecast,
then "enjoy" a couple of visits to the thunderbox to contemplate the day.
Next is to load the car with everything imaginable including the kitchen
sink. This weekend was no different and with round 4 grabbing us by the
short and curlies we took off to Larpent full of nervous anticipation. Did
the lads settle our nerves or provide us with an overdose of laxatives?
You'll have to read on to find out.
Venue ... a bloody fantastic looking Larpent Green Reserve
Weather ... it was as Murray said. Sunny and windy.
Crowd ... Gradually built up through the afternoon to a healthy 80 or 90
For the first time this season, the reserves had the unlucky task of playing
a tough and uncompromising opponent without an official ref. However Louie G
was called into action at the last minute and he helped keep a lid on a
bruising encounter. There were a couple of changes to the line-up with
Stevie Wong and Dean dropping into the ressies for some much needed game
time. Ian was back into the squad, choosing to play only the home games cos
they're easier to get to. Missing in action was Dan, Theo, Bill and Gaz, who
was promoted to the seniors.
Noble Park were third on the ladder, so it had all the makings of a tight
match. The Waverley boys took the game to the visitors from the off and it
was Dean who was sent through in the first couple of minutes for an early
chance. Peter Kav also had a glorious opportunity, but saw his chance
clatter off the bar from close range. So the first 15 minutes were pretty
much one way traffic and the local lads made this pressure tell with a
contender for goal of the season. The ball had been worked down the left,
and found its way to Sav. He turned inside a Noble Park player then passed to
Murray who played a perfect square ball into the path of Stevie Wong. Stevie then
struck the ball as sweet as he's ever hit one before, from at least 25 metres, and the ball
screamed into the top right hand corner of the net. Although Theo will
argue, this has to be one of the best goals scored by our club in its short
history. Get the DVD and enjoy the moment.
The moment was worth savouring, but it was just that - a moment, because
within 10 minutes Noble Park were back on level terms. The result of a
muddle in the 6 yard box, the visitors grabbed their first and with 5
minutes to go in the half they took an undeserved lead. Again taking
advantage of some slack marking in the box. Some of this could be put down
to the defensive re-shuffle caused by Peter S having to go off after 25
minutes with what looked like a pulled hammy. So the lads headed to the
rooms with their heads down and wondering how, after being on top for so
long, could they be behind.
The brains trust then took the decision to bring on the young guns, Lloydy
and Sean W to try and get back into the game. This decision proved to be a
masterstroke as the Glen Waverley boys never looked back from the whistle.
Dean was having his best game of the season and got his reward by grabbing
his first goal of the season and the equaliser on the day. A great header
from a super cross (remind me of who it was please). The new backline of
Muzz, Ian and Kon K looked a little unsure of themselves to start with, but
gradually grew in confidence as the game wore on. Steve S in goal doesn’t
always get much of a mention, especially when things are a little easy, but
he did all that was asked of him today on a wild and windy day. The midfield
made sure not too much was getting past them either, and Lloydy, Sean, Yure
and Stevie had fun all over the park.
Chances came thick and fast. Peter Kav had another shot go narrowly wide and
Lloyd also blazed over. It took another wonder goal though to get the lads
noses in front. It was Dean again who conjured up some magic from a
free-kick. A blistering strike snuck in low to the keepers left and it was
3-2. It was also nothing less than the boys deserved. There was a late heart
flutter as one of the few chance Noble Park had in the second half managed
to scrape a post, but fortune favours the brave. And it was certainly the
brave hearts of the Glen Waverley boys that won the day.
Football tends to suffer from an overdose of clichés and "bottle" is one of
those that gets dragged out from time to time. However today the lads proved
they had plenty of bottle, and their reward at the end was top spot on the
ressies ladder. Might not mean much to some folk, but don’t tell that to the
11 lads who came off the pitch after 90 minutes of solid graft yesterday.
After that heart-stopper of a game, we wondered if we take another 90
minutes of thrill-a-minute football, but we did and this is roughly how it
went ....
Seniors
The crowd was getting a little restless as kick-off drew near. Looking
forward to the game? No, it was because the beer was still being chilled and
the burgers were still not totally burned, sorry, cooked. Anyway, they were
on their way so tempers cooled and the crowd could turn its attention to the
game as the lads made their way onto the pitch.
The boys in green had a familiar look - they were all in green, and with
white shorts and socks looked rather fetching in the matching ensemble.
Noble Park however were decked out in a rather confronting red and black
number which said "I'm here and I might do nasty things". The referee did
look rather lonely today as he didn't have the luxury of official assistants
so we had to make do with the obligatory cheating and selective myopia from
the visitors linesman and the absolute and honourable total honesty from our
bloke.
Team news saw little change from what is becoming a settled first XI. With
the football being played of a good standard it's getting harder to get into
the first XI than out of it. Justin was a late withdrawal due to injury and
Kimon was drafted in as a late replacement. Hoppy came back into the team
after a week off. The bench had a couple of changes with Gaz and Met both
getting the nod.
So stuffing our faces with the now fully burned burgers, we enjoyed the
opening exchanges. Glen Waverly were clearly on top and like the reserves
before them, were unlucky not to be in front early. The bar was rattled,
John missed a chance, Steve H too and Hoppy well, what can be said. Steve H
was brought down in the box and the ref pointed to the spot. Up stepped
Hoppy (that really would be something to see!!) and looked to have hit a
screamer of a penalty. However the keeper pulled off a blinder of a save and
kept his side in the match. Mind you, I wish Hoppy had hit the penalty as
well as he hit the beer bucket. He didn't miss that, in the rooms at
halftime.
There was lot of niggle in the game, and the visitors tried to take
advantage wherever they could. Not wishing to be too controversial, gravity
did seem to be playing a bigger part in today's game than normal. Maybe the
red shirts are more susceptible to gravity than green shirts. Cheating's a
word that springs to mind and maybe we're not too good at it. It did have
its reward though as the visitors got the break through right on the stroke
of half-time. Their big centre-forward after just getting a yellow card,
found himself free in the box and turned in a shot past Alistair's
outstretched hand.
The team was like a wounded animal as it left the pitch, but there was a
resolve in the players eyes that said they would be stepping up a gear and
getting back into the game. This they did and the second half was almost
exclusively played in their opponents half as they went in search of an
equaliser. First Hoppy who rattled the bar, then Kon and Petey had chances
to score. It was only going to be a matter of time before Noble Park would
crack. To make things easier, the visitors even resorted to stupidity. The
big No 9, who'd just won the free-kick felt the need to discuss the matter
further with Jules. In this discussion he re-inforced his argument with a
head butt - in full view of the referee, or is that in "fool" view. Anyway
with one idiot less to worry about, the Glen Waverley boys piled on the
pressure. Still the goal wouldn't come and we wondered if it was to be one
of those days.
Sometime though a goal comes from an unlikely source. We won a throw-in on
the near side of the pitch and up stepped Kimon to launch a "Rory Delap"
into the box. It was left for a Noble Park defender who placed a superb
glancing header into the far right hand corner. Although arsey it was
deserved and surely the floodgates would open. Plenty of chances were still
being created, but with Jacko getting a red card, things got a little
tougher. The game ended with the Waverley boys well on top and maybe with
another 10 minutes we might have got the winner, but it wasn't to be.
On the day Julian had another cracker of a game, Micky V was cool and calm
and Alistair did nothing wrong in goal. Johnny lead the team from the front
and Kon showed everyone he still wants his place in the team. No shame on
any of the others either as the only thing we didn't do was score. It's
coming lads and it'll be soon. Keep the faith, keep playing quality football
and the rewards will be there. Sooner or later someone is going to get a
shellacking. Let's make it next week.
Now for today's casualty list:-
.... Peter Stoiloudis - knackered hammy
..... Drink's bottle holder - old injury (recurring)
...... 3 or 4 training balls - disappeared without trace (abducted by
aliens?)
........ Drinks bucket - broken side
......... No 3 shirt - torn ligaments
forward to the game? No, it was because the beer was still being chilled and
the burgers were still not totally burned, sorry, cooked. Anyway, they were
on their way so tempers cooled and the crowd could turn its attention to the
game as the lads made their way onto the pitch.
The boys in green had a familiar look - they were all in green, and with
white shorts and socks looked rather fetching in the matching ensemble.
Noble Park however were decked out in a rather confronting red and black
number which said "I'm here and I might do nasty things". The referee did
look rather lonely today as he didn't have the luxury of official assistants
so we had to make do with the obligatory cheating and selective myopia from
the visitors linesman and the absolute and honourable total honesty from our
bloke.
Team news saw little change from what is becoming a settled first XI. With
the football being played of a good standard it's getting harder to get into
the first XI than out of it. Justin was a late withdrawal due to injury and
Kimon was drafted in as a late replacement. Hoppy came back into the team
after a week off. The bench had a couple of changes with Gaz and Met both
getting the nod.
So stuffing our faces with the now fully burned burgers, we enjoyed the
opening exchanges. Glen Waverly were clearly on top and like the reserves
before them, were unlucky not to be in front early. The bar was rattled,
John missed a chance, Steve H too and Hoppy well, what can be said. Steve H
was brought down in the box and the ref pointed to the spot. Up stepped
Hoppy (that really would be something to see!!) and looked to have hit a
screamer of a penalty. However the keeper pulled off a blinder of a save and
kept his side in the match. Mind you, I wish Hoppy had hit the penalty as
well as he hit the beer bucket. He didn't miss that, in the rooms at
halftime.
There was lot of niggle in the game, and the visitors tried to take
advantage wherever they could. Not wishing to be too controversial, gravity
did seem to be playing a bigger part in today's game than normal. Maybe the
red shirts are more susceptible to gravity than green shirts. Cheating's a
word that springs to mind and maybe we're not too good at it. It did have
its reward though as the visitors got the break through right on the stroke
of half-time. Their big centre-forward after just getting a yellow card,
found himself free in the box and turned in a shot past Alistair's
outstretched hand.
The team was like a wounded animal as it left the pitch, but there was a
resolve in the players eyes that said they would be stepping up a gear and
getting back into the game. This they did and the second half was almost
exclusively played in their opponents half as they went in search of an
equaliser. First Hoppy who rattled the bar, then Kon and Petey had chances
to score. It was only going to be a matter of time before Noble Park would
crack. To make things easier, the visitors even resorted to stupidity. The
big No 9, who'd just won the free-kick felt the need to discuss the matter
further with Jules. In this discussion he re-inforced his argument with a
head butt - in full view of the referee, or is that in "fool" view. Anyway
with one idiot less to worry about, the Glen Waverley boys piled on the
pressure. Still the goal wouldn't come and we wondered if it was to be one
of those days.
Sometime though a goal comes from an unlikely source. We won a throw-in on
the near side of the pitch and up stepped Kimon to launch a "Rory Delap"
into the box. It was left for a Noble Park defender who placed a superb
glancing header into the far right hand corner. Although arsey it was
deserved and surely the floodgates would open. Plenty of chances were still
being created, but with Jacko getting a red card, things got a little
tougher. The game ended with the Waverley boys well on top and maybe with
another 10 minutes we might have got the winner, but it wasn't to be.
On the day Julian had another cracker of a game, Micky V was cool and calm
and Alistair did nothing wrong in goal. Johnny lead the team from the front
and Kon showed everyone he still wants his place in the team. No shame on
any of the others either as the only thing we didn't do was score. It's
coming lads and it'll be soon. Keep the faith, keep playing quality football
and the rewards will be there. Sooner or later someone is going to get a
shellacking. Let's make it next week.
Now for today's casualty list:-
.... Peter Stoiloudis - knackered hammy
..... Drink's bottle holder - old injury (recurring)
...... 3 or 4 training balls - disappeared without trace (abducted by
aliens?)
........ Drinks bucket - broken side
......... No 3 shirt - torn ligaments
