| Glen Waverley Soccer Club - Mens Seniors & Reserves |
Round 3 | 24.4.10
|
|
Good afternoon/evening/morning everybody, wherever and whenever you are.
Apologies for the slight delay in getting the match reports, but the long
weekend got in the way. Anyway, it gave us enough time to reflect on what
was a pretty good Saturday. Started off with a visit to MVFC's new home at
"Bubbledome", and we cannot wait for the new season, where the atmosphere at
the new ground will be fantastic. So with spirits high we drove the short
distance up to Moonee Ponds to take on table toppers Essendon. How did we
fare? Read on and all will be revealed.
Weather ... Murray will confirm it was a typical Melbourne autumn day,
sunny, cloudy, sunny, then rain so a bit of everything.
Pitch ... Grassy, but undulating and trapezoidal in shape.
Crowd ... Not many but did include their resident nutter
The lads were looking to get back on the winning trail this week, after
their narrow loss to Brighton last week. Some changes were rung with Ozkan
coming back into the squad along with Met and Murray, who were both
returning from injury. Kimon was given a run in the ressies to get him some
game time. Otherwise the squad was full of familiar faces.
A quick squiz at the opposition told us they were a young squad, and
although they had taken a couple of wallopings, they couldn't be taken for
granted. So the referee, got us underway and he promptly took up residence
in the centre circle. He decided he could see most of what he needed to from
there. Absolutely nothing to do with his less than anorexic girth and
distinct lack of mobility. Never mind, he did an excellent job nevertheless.
He was kept busy too as both sides set out to attack from the word go.
And it was the home side who got the early breakthrough. A none too
convincing clearance was pounced on and the youngsters from Essendon were
one up. This shook the Glen Waverley boys from their slumber and from there
on it was one way traffic. Within 5 minutes Met had grabbed the equaliser
and five minutes later he slotted home his and the visitors second. Looks
like someone wants his spot in the seniors back.
There really wasn't much for the backline to do from then on. Dan taking up
his customary throw-in duties when the need arose. Tony swept comfortably
when needed and Kimon was calmness personified. The midfield was working
efficiently too, but it was Bill G on the right hand side who was on fire.
Challenging fiercely and creating chances all afternoon. Another sensational
long throw in from Dan into the box midway through the half was not dealt
with and Lloyd turned and slotted in the third.
3-1 at half time and cruising. The lads needed to maintain the intensity, as
it would have been too easy to get complacent. So the Glen Waverley boys
continued where they left off. Constant pressure on the home team saw them
crack again as Ozzie beat the offside to grabbed his 5th goal of the season.
After 15 minutes of the restart, Muzz who was tiring, this being his first
match back after a layoff, was replaced by Sean W. It took him only 10
minutes to grab his first goal for the club. A super run from the middle of
the park and he calmly put away a neat finish near post. It was great to see
as well, as Sean had some fantastic touches in midfield and started a lot of
the good moves.
The lads had relaxed by now and were enjoying playing some good football.
Savva especially, playing alongside Gary in the middle of the park. Sav had
a couple of long range efforts either blocked (one by his brother Tony) or
narrowly miss. However the last goal was worth waiting for. Peter Kav, on
for the knackered Gaz, played a one-two on the left then whipped in a super
cross, which was met by Sav on the volley. The shot seared into the far
corner leaving the home keeper grasping at thin air.
That was it after that. A good win against a young and inexperienced
opposition. At this point it would right to mention the Essendon players.
We've been there and know what's it like, so we can only wish them well and
hope they keep at it, because they'll get their rewards in time. Well done
both sides, for differing reasons. Now we all enjoyed the wonderful
facilities, hospitality and cuisine on offer, and sat back to watch the
senior boys strut their stuff. This is how the strutting went....
Apologies for the slight delay in getting the match reports, but the long
weekend got in the way. Anyway, it gave us enough time to reflect on what
was a pretty good Saturday. Started off with a visit to MVFC's new home at
"Bubbledome", and we cannot wait for the new season, where the atmosphere at
the new ground will be fantastic. So with spirits high we drove the short
distance up to Moonee Ponds to take on table toppers Essendon. How did we
fare? Read on and all will be revealed.
Weather ... Murray will confirm it was a typical Melbourne autumn day,
sunny, cloudy, sunny, then rain so a bit of everything.
Pitch ... Grassy, but undulating and trapezoidal in shape.
Crowd ... Not many but did include their resident nutter
The lads were looking to get back on the winning trail this week, after
their narrow loss to Brighton last week. Some changes were rung with Ozkan
coming back into the squad along with Met and Murray, who were both
returning from injury. Kimon was given a run in the ressies to get him some
game time. Otherwise the squad was full of familiar faces.
A quick squiz at the opposition told us they were a young squad, and
although they had taken a couple of wallopings, they couldn't be taken for
granted. So the referee, got us underway and he promptly took up residence
in the centre circle. He decided he could see most of what he needed to from
there. Absolutely nothing to do with his less than anorexic girth and
distinct lack of mobility. Never mind, he did an excellent job nevertheless.
He was kept busy too as both sides set out to attack from the word go.
And it was the home side who got the early breakthrough. A none too
convincing clearance was pounced on and the youngsters from Essendon were
one up. This shook the Glen Waverley boys from their slumber and from there
on it was one way traffic. Within 5 minutes Met had grabbed the equaliser
and five minutes later he slotted home his and the visitors second. Looks
like someone wants his spot in the seniors back.
There really wasn't much for the backline to do from then on. Dan taking up
his customary throw-in duties when the need arose. Tony swept comfortably
when needed and Kimon was calmness personified. The midfield was working
efficiently too, but it was Bill G on the right hand side who was on fire.
Challenging fiercely and creating chances all afternoon. Another sensational
long throw in from Dan into the box midway through the half was not dealt
with and Lloyd turned and slotted in the third.
3-1 at half time and cruising. The lads needed to maintain the intensity, as
it would have been too easy to get complacent. So the Glen Waverley boys
continued where they left off. Constant pressure on the home team saw them
crack again as Ozzie beat the offside to grabbed his 5th goal of the season.
After 15 minutes of the restart, Muzz who was tiring, this being his first
match back after a layoff, was replaced by Sean W. It took him only 10
minutes to grab his first goal for the club. A super run from the middle of
the park and he calmly put away a neat finish near post. It was great to see
as well, as Sean had some fantastic touches in midfield and started a lot of
the good moves.
The lads had relaxed by now and were enjoying playing some good football.
Savva especially, playing alongside Gary in the middle of the park. Sav had
a couple of long range efforts either blocked (one by his brother Tony) or
narrowly miss. However the last goal was worth waiting for. Peter Kav, on
for the knackered Gaz, played a one-two on the left then whipped in a super
cross, which was met by Sav on the volley. The shot seared into the far
corner leaving the home keeper grasping at thin air.
That was it after that. A good win against a young and inexperienced
opposition. At this point it would right to mention the Essendon players.
We've been there and know what's it like, so we can only wish them well and
hope they keep at it, because they'll get their rewards in time. Well done
both sides, for differing reasons. Now we all enjoyed the wonderful
facilities, hospitality and cuisine on offer, and sat back to watch the
senior boys strut their stuff. This is how the strutting went....
Seniors
At this juncture we would be happy to give a full-blown account of the
Essendon canteen menu, since we are still in awe. Under normal circumstances
such a gastronomic delight would have scored a mighty 10 out of 10, however
we did have to mark it down slightly. Reason being, too many choices meant
too much time looking at the menu and losing our place in the queue. Being
after Tony, then made it hard. So we had to make do with watching the
football. We did get a burger with the lot, which then ended up as a burger
with the lot except lettuce, as the said lettuce ended up on the floor.
Their being not enough room in the bap for everything. Sorry we digress, on
with the football. By the way did we mention the wraps? Enough .....
Team news - the main breaking story was new signing Daniel Jak?????vic.
Signed late in the week, Dan comes with a goal-scoring reputation and was
hoping to add some much needed strength up front. Other news was the
inclusion of Pete Stoiloudis and Stevie Wong in the squad, giving us some
extra mileage off the bench.
Essendon were sitting joint top, by virtue of two wins in the opening two
rounds. So it wasn't going to be easy for the Waverley boys as they were
still looking to open their account. As we enjoyed the burger and a rather
delightful tea, the game kicked off. Playing on a decent surface both sides
had enough in them to play some bloody good football. But it was Glen
Waverley who had the better of the early exchanges.
It was also clear early on that Dan was going to be an asset to the side as
he got involved in most of the visitors attacks. Steve H enjoyed the freedom
he now had as he played off his new partner. But the opening goal game from
an unlikely source, Pete Kelly. Galloping in from the right, Pete crashed
home a shot from a scooped pass from Dan. The lead was deserved but Essendon
still had enough of the play to remain a threat. As we were still enjoying
the burgers, wraps and stuff, the little fella (no 11, I think) on the right
hand side took off like a whippet and rasped a shot past the despairing
Alistair. The local fans in the rooms made a noise and were soon cheering
again, as they took the lead through what was a rather dubious penalty. From
our far off distant bench it was hard to tell, but this scribe was adamant
the lad took a dive. Julian was in no doubt either. Although Jules went to
ground, he wasn't anywhere near the player but the lad did what all good
Italians do in such circumstances, go down as well and hope for the best.
So they went into the lead and that's how it looked to be staying heading
into the break. It was Justin who thought otherwise, getting his head to a
well-taken corner and grabbing the equaliser. This was good reward for the
hard work done at training during the week and shows we can now be a threat
at set-pieces.
The second half flew by with both sides creating plenty of chances. Essendon
had a goal disallowed, correctly, for offside. We also scored late in the
game from a corner, but it too was disallowed. No-one is quite sure why, but
the ref said there was a block or push on the keeper. Ah well, that's the
breaks. The burgers were good though as were the wraps.
So performance wise, everyone had to be happy with that. There was some
excellent football played and some good individual performances. Brian had
another solid contribution in midfield, John looked like he was enjoying
himself and Peter K was outstanding down the right. Julian had a better
second half and Peter Stoiloudis did nothing wrong when he made his seniors
debut in the second half. Difficult to single anyone out though on what was
a good all round team performance.
First point of the season, and against the league leaders as well, so well
done lads. Now let's get the first win of the season at home next week in
front of the massed ranks of fans at Larpent.
Essendon canteen menu, since we are still in awe. Under normal circumstances
such a gastronomic delight would have scored a mighty 10 out of 10, however
we did have to mark it down slightly. Reason being, too many choices meant
too much time looking at the menu and losing our place in the queue. Being
after Tony, then made it hard. So we had to make do with watching the
football. We did get a burger with the lot, which then ended up as a burger
with the lot except lettuce, as the said lettuce ended up on the floor.
Their being not enough room in the bap for everything. Sorry we digress, on
with the football. By the way did we mention the wraps? Enough .....
Team news - the main breaking story was new signing Daniel Jak?????vic.
Signed late in the week, Dan comes with a goal-scoring reputation and was
hoping to add some much needed strength up front. Other news was the
inclusion of Pete Stoiloudis and Stevie Wong in the squad, giving us some
extra mileage off the bench.
Essendon were sitting joint top, by virtue of two wins in the opening two
rounds. So it wasn't going to be easy for the Waverley boys as they were
still looking to open their account. As we enjoyed the burger and a rather
delightful tea, the game kicked off. Playing on a decent surface both sides
had enough in them to play some bloody good football. But it was Glen
Waverley who had the better of the early exchanges.
It was also clear early on that Dan was going to be an asset to the side as
he got involved in most of the visitors attacks. Steve H enjoyed the freedom
he now had as he played off his new partner. But the opening goal game from
an unlikely source, Pete Kelly. Galloping in from the right, Pete crashed
home a shot from a scooped pass from Dan. The lead was deserved but Essendon
still had enough of the play to remain a threat. As we were still enjoying
the burgers, wraps and stuff, the little fella (no 11, I think) on the right
hand side took off like a whippet and rasped a shot past the despairing
Alistair. The local fans in the rooms made a noise and were soon cheering
again, as they took the lead through what was a rather dubious penalty. From
our far off distant bench it was hard to tell, but this scribe was adamant
the lad took a dive. Julian was in no doubt either. Although Jules went to
ground, he wasn't anywhere near the player but the lad did what all good
Italians do in such circumstances, go down as well and hope for the best.
So they went into the lead and that's how it looked to be staying heading
into the break. It was Justin who thought otherwise, getting his head to a
well-taken corner and grabbing the equaliser. This was good reward for the
hard work done at training during the week and shows we can now be a threat
at set-pieces.
The second half flew by with both sides creating plenty of chances. Essendon
had a goal disallowed, correctly, for offside. We also scored late in the
game from a corner, but it too was disallowed. No-one is quite sure why, but
the ref said there was a block or push on the keeper. Ah well, that's the
breaks. The burgers were good though as were the wraps.
So performance wise, everyone had to be happy with that. There was some
excellent football played and some good individual performances. Brian had
another solid contribution in midfield, John looked like he was enjoying
himself and Peter K was outstanding down the right. Julian had a better
second half and Peter Stoiloudis did nothing wrong when he made his seniors
debut in the second half. Difficult to single anyone out though on what was
a good all round team performance.
First point of the season, and against the league leaders as well, so well
done lads. Now let's get the first win of the season at home next week in
front of the massed ranks of fans at Larpent.
