Round 8 | 29.5.19
Glen Waverley 1-2 Seaford (Sen)
O.G 50
Glen Waverley 3-6 Seaford (Res)
Tony Giannikos 1 (pen)
Ozkan Mehmetoglu 10,85

Reserves

Venue ... Glen Waverley North, South, East and West
Pitch ... not bad
Weather ... overcast with a slight breeze
Canteen ... Fantastic, as usual. The Seaford ladies were very envious.
Crowd ... new record attendance 132 plus 2 dogs.

G'day good folks. Welcome to this week's take on what transpired in the
exalted atmosphere of Provisional league division III. Finding ourselves at
Glen Waverley North for the second time this season, we were hoping to make
the best of the user-friendly facilities. A large crowd was expected and as
usual our visitors didn't disappoint as their large band of travelling
supporters descended on our ground. Was their journey to be a wasted one or
not? Read on to find out ...

Turning to page 24 in the book "Soccer for Dummies", the reserves were faced
with the challenging prospect of playing the 3,2,4,3,1,2,1 formation. So who
was called on this week to try and turn theory into practise? Ian, Bill and
Kon were back in the starting XI, but apart from these three the team
remained largely unchanged. We're not quite sure on which page it says
change a winning line-up, maybe that's the page we used when the loo roll
ran out. Anyway, some players were given the opportunity to show what they
could do in other positions, and experience the difficulties other players
face.

We were delighted to see we had a referee for the ressies, and it was a
shrill blast from his whistle that got the action started, and what a start
it was. Giving no indication of the mayhem to follow, the Glen Waverley boys
blasted out of the blocks. A lightening break by Ozzie down the left, who
then whipped a ball into the box. Muzz turned and was then sent tumbling by
the keeper. An easy decision for the ref as he pointed to the spot. Up
stepped our new striking sensation, Tony G, who buried the spot kick and it
was 1-0 after 60 seconds! Oddly enough, no yellow card.

Three minutes later and it was 1-1. A long ball over the top caught our
backline square and the keeper was left stranded (perhaps a hint of
offside?). The new formation was still giving our lads something to think
about, but it was also confusing the Seaford lads as Ozzie latched onto a
long clearance from Steve S and calmly slotted home to retake the lead. The
dodecahedron formation seemed to be working and maybe there was something in
this new master plan. But no, all was to avail, as again the visitors cut
through down the left to make it 2-2. The midfield trio of Lloyd and Murray
tried to stem the tide and got some help from Dean as they quickly realised
a trio needed three players. Dan was marshalling the backline the best he
could, with Kon, Ian and Pete S all trying manfully under pressure. Some
sporadic attacks didn't produce the goods as first Dean blazed a shot over
the bar, Bill G sent his effort wide and Ozzie had another shot saved.

The visitors again playing another ball over the top caught Steve between a
rock and a hard place, and they went into the break 3-2 up. Hopefully some
semblance of order would be restored at halftime and whatever was said in
the sheds, seemed to fire the boys up. Lloydy fired a shot wide, following
up on a rebound. Ozzie was still causing some problems with his pace and
going forward it looked like more goals were likely. And so it proved - from
Seaford! Three times in quick succession and so in a 20 minute blitz they
sailed off into the sunset from 2-3 to 2-6 and it was game over. The
introduction of Sean, Yure and Theo had little effect other than to get a
consolation goal in the dying minutes for Ozzie.

A nine goal free-scoring bonanza will have both teams defensive coaches
scratching their heads. The lads never stopped running, but ultimately
couldn't come up the answers on the pitch.  A whole week to work on a few (a
lot) of things and hopefully get it right against the Redbacks on their
plastic pitch. Remember, when your backs are to the wall, the only way you
can go is forward.

So we went to sample what was on offer from our wonderful canteen, and I
came back with a delightful burger in bap, with accompanying rabbit food and
les onions. This soon became "sans onions" as they couldn't overcome the
earth's gravitational force and my antiquated balancing skills and fell
gently into the dog turd I was trying to avoid. Rejoining the crowds, pitch
side we looked forward to seeing if the seniors side could get a long
overdue win to keep the season on track.

Game Rating

Seniors
Reserves
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Seniors

I'll try my best and report the facts of the game, but if the truth be known
I did spend a lot of time socialising (or fraternising) with our guests
yesterday. Nice to meet up with a lot of blokes from the homeland, so
forgive me if I get stuff wrong and ask Johnny to fill you in with the exact
happenings.

4 matches unbeaten, the lads were looking to add a win to the run and put
some daylight between them and the bottom teams. The starting line up has
been unchanged for the last few games but Paul was forced into one changed
with Just(in) for Kimon, who'd succumbed to a tight hamstring. The other
change was Garry, who's good recent form got him a start ahead of Kon, who
dropped to the bench.

Believe it or not, we also had three officials for the match. This is quite
a costly extravagance, but thanks to the Seaford lads, the bar bill helped
cover most of this. One of the men in black got the game underway and from
the start it was clear both sides were pretty evenly matched. Neither side
took control, although the visitors probably just shaded it on the early
chances. The only couple of things of note would be the yellow card to
Justin for his a) solid but fair challenge or b) late, scything, cynical
butchery on their midfielder (you chose) and the long range effort from
Johnny which clattered off the bar. Estimates say he hit it from 40metres,
so must have been a mishit long ball into the box then. I'm now waiting for
the email/facebook/forum comment that will reveal the truth.

No score at half time and probably fair. Seaford are a tough uncompromising
unit, although Julian seemed to be having an easy time against his opposite
number. Gary was enjoying his first start for the seniors this season and
would appear to have done enough to hold down his spot in the side. Downside
to his day was drawing Honduras in the World Cup sweep. The action continued
into the second half with a few tackles flying in. Johnny was the next name
in the book for an ungainly challenge, but like Hoppy he was only trying to
get the lads revved up. We seem to be muscled out of a lot of challenges.
Too many times we were second to the ball, and allowed the ball to be taken
off us too easily.

Anyway, the lads got themselves into the game and Brian was clattered in a
challenge on the left just outside the box. Their lad got himself booked for
enjoying himself in a bit of push and shove. This unsettled them a bit and a
few minutes later we had another free-kick this time on the right. The ball
was sent in to the back post and the Seaford no 14 positioned himself
perfectly and headed the ball home from close range. Take note lads, class
finish and back post too. Sign him up quick. By the way, OG's are now on our
list of top scorers.

65 minutes in and the home side were on top, and most of us felt that one
goal would be enough in a tight match. Seaford had other ideas and with
their experience and no little brute force created and scored from 2 half
chances, so within 9 minutes had gone from 1-0 down to grabbing an unlikely,
and ultimately 2-1 win. Sloppy defending or just wanting it more. I'm not
sure and it would be harsh to point at the defence since Jules, Justin and
Micky V all had pretty good games. It didn't look good but the watching
supporters were given some light relief with this beauty of a one liner,
from Dean of all people, when he said "We should never be put in charge of a
dog's home." " Why?" we said. "Because we can't keep hold of a lead," said
Dean.

The score could have been worse as the visitors were awarded a harsh penalty
in the last 15 minutes. It was given for handball although in the fading
light, we're not quite sure how the ref could have seen it. Anyway, the
light wasn't dim enough for Alistair as he pulled off a blistering save low
to his right. Would this be the catalyst for a final charge from the lads?
Partly, but Seaford held firm and took home 6 points out of 6.

A huge disappointment for the players today as both teams were full of
anticipation and optimism. We keep saying that next week we'll get it
together and get our season rolling. The season is now 1/3 over, so we must
get out the shovels and start digging deep. Never more have we needed to get
together and pull for each other, support each other and work our bollocks
off for each other. We all have our ideas about how things should be done,
but working together has got to be the way to go. We've not been playing
well but with a bit of balls and a huge amount of heart, we'll get it right.