| Glen Waverley Soccer Club - Mens Seniors & Reserves |
Round 14 | 17.7.10
| Match Rating
Seniors Reserves
|
Venue: Larpent Mud Dome
Pitch: See venue
Weather: Started sunny but got bitter by the end
Canteen: Excellent as always - burgers and snags done well by little Stevie
Crowd: 35 or so normal plus one screaming lunatic
Pitch: See venue
Weather: Started sunny but got bitter by the end
Canteen: Excellent as always - burgers and snags done well by little Stevie
Crowd: 35 or so normal plus one screaming lunatic
Reserves
Hi folks. Guess what? It rained in the week but we managed to get some games
in at Larpent. Tuesday and Wednesday's rain didn't fill us with confidence,
with Larpent being in the state it's in. Anyway, the sunny and windy weather
towards the end of the week, dried the pitch sufficiently, and we could get
the scheduled games underway. The pitch was still soft however and it proved
to be a stern test for the players. However, better that way than having a
backlog of catch-up games later in the season. All good. The players were
primed and ready, and believe it or not, this was only the seniors third
game of the season at Larpent and we're in round 14!
So how did it pan out? Read on to find out.
First on the ground, resplendent in their new warm-up tops, were the
reserves as usual. There were a couple of changes from last week, with Dan
out through injury and Ian unavailable. Replacing them this week we had
Brian and Hoppy and the team was set up with Steve as usual in goal. Tony G,
Kon and Billy G in the back. Hoppy, Brian and Muzz in the middle, flanked by
Sam and Yure. Dean and Ozzie were the potent strike force. The bench this
week had a solid look (made out of wood, with a colour-bond surround).
Keeping the bench company though were Lloydy, Theo and eventually Sean.
Playing the bottom side can go two ways - you either give them a pasting or
you can lower yourself to their standard and let it slip. The performance
today fell somewhere in between, and on another day the score should have
been a lot higher than it was. The lads did enough to get the three points
but maybe needed to make the score line confirm their dominance. Re-capping
our match notes for the first half, the local boys were on top from the
first whistle but went in at half time 1-1. Dean and Ozzie had numerous
chances, with Ozzie squandering the first in the 8th minute following up a
spilled save and blazing over. Moments later Dean also shot over the bar. It
was Dean though, who got the score board moving, after a through ball sent
him on his way. He rounded the keeper and calmly slotted home. Maybe the
lads would settle a bit and put some daylight between them and their
visitors. We chuckled at their keeper (without gloves) but he pulled off
some good saves and kept his side in the game. So with their only attack of
the half, Essendon were given a free-kick about 25 metres out. Their striker
hit a terrific shot off the bar which bounced down into the 6 yard box. With
our defence doing a passable impression of the Maoi statues, the visitors
pounced and grabbed an unlikely equaliser. Sam, Hoppy and Ozzie all had
shots fly high, wide and handsome as the Waverley boys tried to get back in
front before half-time.
So with the half-time bollocking still ringing in their ears, the ressies
took off out of the blocks in the second half and almost immediately went in
front. Lloydy taking advantage of the confusion in the 6 yard box, got his
head/shoulder/chest or something on the ball and scrambled it over the line.
The initial shot from Tony just caused enough mayhem and the lead was
restored. 5 minutes later and it was that man Ozzie who is making scoring a
regular habit, smashing in a long range effort. That takes him into double
figures for the season. The local lads were flying now and Dean got his
second and the team's fourth. Following on from a corner, Dean latched onto
the loose ball and fired home. Chances continued to come as Tony had a
towering header and Lloydy had a shot saved by the comical keeper.
At 4-1 and cruising, the ressies took their collective foot off the pedal
and were shocked into action as Essendon grabbed a late consolation goal. A
little bit generous from Tony and the boys but the win was there and it was
a relatively comfortable at that. Players of the match? Tony was the
cornerstone at the back, and Sam and Yure were willing runners out wide and
Sean was equally comfortable on the right when he came on, sending in one
delicious cross for Lloydy. A solid performance and back on the winning
trail. Now to push on for a top three spot with plenty to play for in the
coming weeks. So how were the burgers? Tasty as always and enjoyed immensely
as we sat back and checked out the senior boys.
in at Larpent. Tuesday and Wednesday's rain didn't fill us with confidence,
with Larpent being in the state it's in. Anyway, the sunny and windy weather
towards the end of the week, dried the pitch sufficiently, and we could get
the scheduled games underway. The pitch was still soft however and it proved
to be a stern test for the players. However, better that way than having a
backlog of catch-up games later in the season. All good. The players were
primed and ready, and believe it or not, this was only the seniors third
game of the season at Larpent and we're in round 14!
So how did it pan out? Read on to find out.
First on the ground, resplendent in their new warm-up tops, were the
reserves as usual. There were a couple of changes from last week, with Dan
out through injury and Ian unavailable. Replacing them this week we had
Brian and Hoppy and the team was set up with Steve as usual in goal. Tony G,
Kon and Billy G in the back. Hoppy, Brian and Muzz in the middle, flanked by
Sam and Yure. Dean and Ozzie were the potent strike force. The bench this
week had a solid look (made out of wood, with a colour-bond surround).
Keeping the bench company though were Lloydy, Theo and eventually Sean.
Playing the bottom side can go two ways - you either give them a pasting or
you can lower yourself to their standard and let it slip. The performance
today fell somewhere in between, and on another day the score should have
been a lot higher than it was. The lads did enough to get the three points
but maybe needed to make the score line confirm their dominance. Re-capping
our match notes for the first half, the local boys were on top from the
first whistle but went in at half time 1-1. Dean and Ozzie had numerous
chances, with Ozzie squandering the first in the 8th minute following up a
spilled save and blazing over. Moments later Dean also shot over the bar. It
was Dean though, who got the score board moving, after a through ball sent
him on his way. He rounded the keeper and calmly slotted home. Maybe the
lads would settle a bit and put some daylight between them and their
visitors. We chuckled at their keeper (without gloves) but he pulled off
some good saves and kept his side in the game. So with their only attack of
the half, Essendon were given a free-kick about 25 metres out. Their striker
hit a terrific shot off the bar which bounced down into the 6 yard box. With
our defence doing a passable impression of the Maoi statues, the visitors
pounced and grabbed an unlikely equaliser. Sam, Hoppy and Ozzie all had
shots fly high, wide and handsome as the Waverley boys tried to get back in
front before half-time.
So with the half-time bollocking still ringing in their ears, the ressies
took off out of the blocks in the second half and almost immediately went in
front. Lloydy taking advantage of the confusion in the 6 yard box, got his
head/shoulder/chest or something on the ball and scrambled it over the line.
The initial shot from Tony just caused enough mayhem and the lead was
restored. 5 minutes later and it was that man Ozzie who is making scoring a
regular habit, smashing in a long range effort. That takes him into double
figures for the season. The local lads were flying now and Dean got his
second and the team's fourth. Following on from a corner, Dean latched onto
the loose ball and fired home. Chances continued to come as Tony had a
towering header and Lloydy had a shot saved by the comical keeper.
At 4-1 and cruising, the ressies took their collective foot off the pedal
and were shocked into action as Essendon grabbed a late consolation goal. A
little bit generous from Tony and the boys but the win was there and it was
a relatively comfortable at that. Players of the match? Tony was the
cornerstone at the back, and Sam and Yure were willing runners out wide and
Sean was equally comfortable on the right when he came on, sending in one
delicious cross for Lloydy. A solid performance and back on the winning
trail. Now to push on for a top three spot with plenty to play for in the
coming weeks. So how were the burgers? Tasty as always and enjoyed immensely
as we sat back and checked out the senior boys.
Seniors
So with the chemical composition B2Ur4G-er4S, otherwise known as burgers
with the lot, making its slow passage to Werribee, we looked forward to
seeing if the senior boys could continue their good form from last week. The
biggest question though, was would Steven Harvey find the back of the net
regularly since he'd broken his duck last week.
Joining Steve on the pitch were Alistair in goal as usual, Justin, Julian
and Micky V in defense. The midfield has sorted itself out and now looks
well balanced with Michael P on the left and Petey on the right. Gaz, Kon
and Johnny tie up the middle and Met, as usual is Steve's ever willing
assistant up front. Hoppy, Prashan and Pete S were this week's back-up
should the need arise.
How did it go, we hear you ask. Well Steve certainly answered the first
question. He'd waited one year and two weeks to score his first for the
club, then got his second a week later. He didn't take long either. The boys
had won a free kick on the left hand side just inside the touch-line.
(according to us, 25m out, according to Steve 45m out). Either way he
whipped in a sublime ball, which managed to elude/confuse or whatever
everyone and found its way into the back of the net. Justin was too slow to
get a touch otherwise Steve would be getting applause for the assist. Anyway
it was 1-0 and things were looking good. However it wouldn't be Glen
Waverley if we were to show anything resembling consistency, and it took the
visitors only 2 minutes to get back on level terms. A poorly defended
free-kick found its way to the edge of the box and it was rifled home
through a sea of legs to bring the scores level.
An electric start to the game and a free-kick to the home side was sent
narrowly over the bar. Essendon were playing the ball well out of the middle
and using the width then took control from 15 minutes in. This minor
domination had its rewards as Justin who, was isolated one-on-one with their
attacker, mis-timed his challenge and conceded a penalty. The penalty was
converted and the home side were behind. This quickly turned into a 2 goal
deficit. A ball was played down the right to their player - who was at least
half a mile offside, well at least 2 metres anyway and he found it
relatively easy to run straight to goal and slot home their third. The
linesman must have been day-dreaming to have been caught out as easy, as it
happened right in front of him. Not their first mistake of the day either.
We managed to get 4 teams (56 players), officials, supporters and spectators
all to the right ground, when the referee and his henchmen sat at GWN
wondering why there was a pile of ashes for a clubroom and no-one else
around. Communication for the ground change went something like this ...
email from GWSC to FFV, FFV email then to Essendon. Due to age of referees,
FFV then send carrier pigeon and posted letter to referee's. They'll find
out sometime in September where we played today. Bless. They were nice
blokes though, but maybe stick to football in black in white, fella's.
Back to the football, and Paul had seen enough in the first half to vent his
spleen on the players at half-time. He even apologised in advance to the
canteen staff for any unsavoury language that might ensue. On the scale of
things, it wasn't that bad, but still shook the lads from their lethargy and
got them fired up for the second half. Within 60 seconds of the re-start
Steve H fired a free-kick just over. A flurry of activity for the next few
minutes was interrupted by another free-kick. This time Kon stepped up to
try his luck and from 30m out fired home a superb shot into the top corner
of the net up where the spiders live. Now we all know Kon well enough to
know that he is not the speediest and most agile of movers around the park.
However, we can guarantee that no-one got near him as they chased him to
celebrate his goal. He only slowed down in the sticky patch near the coaches
boxes, but it was a worthy celebration, this now being a contender for goal
of the season. Bloody hell, we've scored some crackers this year, just wish
we didn't concede so many.
For the rest of the second half, the Glen Waverley boys camped in the
visitors half. A few sporadic breaks were all that could be mustered by
Essendon but Alistair was the equal of these. As time wore on though, the
points were slowly slipping away. Pressure was applied and surely it would
only be a matter of time before they would get the deserved equaliser. Met,
Johnny and Prashan all had good chances from long range efforts, but it was
left to the now prolific Steve Harvey to finally pounce. With only seconds
left on the clock and Paul throwing caution to the wind (from the burgers)
Steven slotted home his second of the game to get the lads back on level
terms.
The referee, by this time had seen enough and blew the whistle one last
time. An exciting end to the game - 1 point gained or 2 points lost? With 5
minutes to go, the point would have been grabbed if offered, however the
lads are better than the score suggests and they lost an opportunity to jump
2 places on the ladder. However these are the games that would have slipped
away earlier in the season, so it's good to see some intestinal fortitude in
getting back on level terms after being 2 goals down.
As for players of the match, Steve H was obviously up there, now he's
re-acquainted himself with his goal scoring touch. Kon has now added
consistency to his game and Julian also had a solid game in the backline.
Alistair too, pulled off some excellent saves when needed.
In the next four rounds the lads play the three teams below them, so the
opportunity is there to put a healthy gap between them, as they head towards
mid-table security. Everything to play for boys, roll on next week as we
head to Noble Park. See you all then.
with the lot, making its slow passage to Werribee, we looked forward to
seeing if the senior boys could continue their good form from last week. The
biggest question though, was would Steven Harvey find the back of the net
regularly since he'd broken his duck last week.
Joining Steve on the pitch were Alistair in goal as usual, Justin, Julian
and Micky V in defense. The midfield has sorted itself out and now looks
well balanced with Michael P on the left and Petey on the right. Gaz, Kon
and Johnny tie up the middle and Met, as usual is Steve's ever willing
assistant up front. Hoppy, Prashan and Pete S were this week's back-up
should the need arise.
How did it go, we hear you ask. Well Steve certainly answered the first
question. He'd waited one year and two weeks to score his first for the
club, then got his second a week later. He didn't take long either. The boys
had won a free kick on the left hand side just inside the touch-line.
(according to us, 25m out, according to Steve 45m out). Either way he
whipped in a sublime ball, which managed to elude/confuse or whatever
everyone and found its way into the back of the net. Justin was too slow to
get a touch otherwise Steve would be getting applause for the assist. Anyway
it was 1-0 and things were looking good. However it wouldn't be Glen
Waverley if we were to show anything resembling consistency, and it took the
visitors only 2 minutes to get back on level terms. A poorly defended
free-kick found its way to the edge of the box and it was rifled home
through a sea of legs to bring the scores level.
An electric start to the game and a free-kick to the home side was sent
narrowly over the bar. Essendon were playing the ball well out of the middle
and using the width then took control from 15 minutes in. This minor
domination had its rewards as Justin who, was isolated one-on-one with their
attacker, mis-timed his challenge and conceded a penalty. The penalty was
converted and the home side were behind. This quickly turned into a 2 goal
deficit. A ball was played down the right to their player - who was at least
half a mile offside, well at least 2 metres anyway and he found it
relatively easy to run straight to goal and slot home their third. The
linesman must have been day-dreaming to have been caught out as easy, as it
happened right in front of him. Not their first mistake of the day either.
We managed to get 4 teams (56 players), officials, supporters and spectators
all to the right ground, when the referee and his henchmen sat at GWN
wondering why there was a pile of ashes for a clubroom and no-one else
around. Communication for the ground change went something like this ...
email from GWSC to FFV, FFV email then to Essendon. Due to age of referees,
FFV then send carrier pigeon and posted letter to referee's. They'll find
out sometime in September where we played today. Bless. They were nice
blokes though, but maybe stick to football in black in white, fella's.
Back to the football, and Paul had seen enough in the first half to vent his
spleen on the players at half-time. He even apologised in advance to the
canteen staff for any unsavoury language that might ensue. On the scale of
things, it wasn't that bad, but still shook the lads from their lethargy and
got them fired up for the second half. Within 60 seconds of the re-start
Steve H fired a free-kick just over. A flurry of activity for the next few
minutes was interrupted by another free-kick. This time Kon stepped up to
try his luck and from 30m out fired home a superb shot into the top corner
of the net up where the spiders live. Now we all know Kon well enough to
know that he is not the speediest and most agile of movers around the park.
However, we can guarantee that no-one got near him as they chased him to
celebrate his goal. He only slowed down in the sticky patch near the coaches
boxes, but it was a worthy celebration, this now being a contender for goal
of the season. Bloody hell, we've scored some crackers this year, just wish
we didn't concede so many.
For the rest of the second half, the Glen Waverley boys camped in the
visitors half. A few sporadic breaks were all that could be mustered by
Essendon but Alistair was the equal of these. As time wore on though, the
points were slowly slipping away. Pressure was applied and surely it would
only be a matter of time before they would get the deserved equaliser. Met,
Johnny and Prashan all had good chances from long range efforts, but it was
left to the now prolific Steve Harvey to finally pounce. With only seconds
left on the clock and Paul throwing caution to the wind (from the burgers)
Steven slotted home his second of the game to get the lads back on level
terms.
The referee, by this time had seen enough and blew the whistle one last
time. An exciting end to the game - 1 point gained or 2 points lost? With 5
minutes to go, the point would have been grabbed if offered, however the
lads are better than the score suggests and they lost an opportunity to jump
2 places on the ladder. However these are the games that would have slipped
away earlier in the season, so it's good to see some intestinal fortitude in
getting back on level terms after being 2 goals down.
As for players of the match, Steve H was obviously up there, now he's
re-acquainted himself with his goal scoring touch. Kon has now added
consistency to his game and Julian also had a solid game in the backline.
Alistair too, pulled off some excellent saves when needed.
In the next four rounds the lads play the three teams below them, so the
opportunity is there to put a healthy gap between them, as they head towards
mid-table security. Everything to play for boys, roll on next week as we
head to Noble Park. See you all then.
